Cross-border scout Kevin Gillies IT WAS a snapshot of American culture but with a clearly Canadian twist. The setting? A muggy summer night in Asheville, North Carolina. ’ The crowd settled into their seats for a Class A South Adantic League baseball game pitting Albany (a Montreal Expes’ farm team) against the hometown heroes (in the Colorado Rockies’ system). ... Standing on the mound for Asheville was North Vancouver's Brent Crowther. At bat was Albany third baseman Simon Pond —— also from North Vancouver. ~ His first time at bat, Pond crushed'a double. The second time, Crowther struck him out. Ironically, it was the first time the two locals faced each other on the baseball diamond. Crowther attended Windsor Secondary School. Pond went to Argyle. Crowther played with the National Baseball Institute in Surrey as:J the Coquitlam Athletics. Pond, 18, came up through the Jocal system before playing shortstop with the North Shore Twins. Last June he was selected in the eight round by the Expos. Trading in his aluminum bat for a wooden one in the Gulf Coast League, Pond hit .259 with 38 hits in 147 plate appearances. He also drove in 15 runs and finished in the top 205 of the league’s hitters. But Pond’s absence from the Twins this season has not stopped the herd of radar gun-toting scouts from attending Twins’ games. The latest phenom to come out of the North Shore organization is 18-year-old righthander Ryan Dempster who has pitched for the Canadian National Youth team (under 18) for the last two years. Two weekends ago, in his last out- ing at Penticton’s Best of the West tournament, Dempster struck out 15 batters in six innings against the home team. Dempster is the most scouted baseball player in Canada this year and was on the mound last Saturday night in Whalley Stadium, fresh from a trip to South Bend, Indiana as a guest of the Notre Dame coaching staff — one of more than two dozen American Tynn Valiey Orthopaedic and Sports Physiotherapy 983-8514 Centre . 45-1199 Lynn Valley Road Lynn Valley Shopping Centre "Saranne Drew, Philippe de Clerck, Siobhan O'Connell; Michelle Begg Physiotherapy Shirley Lecker Hollyburn Physiotherapy ng universities trying to woo him onto their campuses. On Saturday night, as the Twins prepared to take on the Fraser Valley Chiefs, about 15 scouts jockeyed for position behind the backstop for the optimum radar gun position. Others milled around the stadium. Practically every Major League team was represent- ed. The supervisor of Canada's central scouting bureau, still look- ing a little rumpled from an after- noon flight from Toronto, was also taking in the game (in fact, most had just flown in from somewhere to catch the ball game before whisking off for another game else- where). A buzz vibrated from the huddle of scouts as Dempster began warm- ing up with Twin catcher Toby Puga. Their LED screens flashed speeds from 89-92 m.p.h. Dempster threw for four innings, striking out four, but the Twins were losing. When he didn’t take the mound in the fifth, the guns were put away and the scouts made for the door. The only thing scouts appear to fear more than a players’ strike is being quoted in a newspaper. They don’t want to make predictions or have a news clipping produced dur- ing contract negotiations. But Tom Vatcke, supervisor of the Canadian Major League See Scouts page 45 py CONSULT IIa | NEWS photo Paul McGrath NORTH SHORE Twin pitcher Ryan Dempster is one of the most highly tcuted (and scouted) Canadian players leading into the June Major League Baseball draft. % 987-5236 Physiotherapy conan Services Chronic Conditions « Neusomotor Problems ¢ Children @ Adults 119-255 West Ist Street North Vancouver Suite 109-520 17th Street — West Vancouver Dawn Siegel, Anthea Cameron, Ruth Byman, Shirley Muller 4361 Gallant Avenue North Vancouver Rosalind C Ferry, D. Paige Larson “Lonsdale ‘Physiotherapy. Clinic — PACIFIC COAST REHABILITATION CENTRE—-— #202 - 267 West Esplanade North Vancouver Sylvia Slosel, Acma Persad, Christina Miller 2908 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver Nancy Brandt Charland, Cheryl McNeight, Jill Elliort Gunnel Gavin Physiotherapy . Associates 984-8731 #201-132 East 14th Street North Vancouver Cleveland . 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