Lagarde named best bantam AA player

BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI



The bantam AA major Lac St. Louis Cardinals finished with the best regular season record in the Montreal Metropolitan Baseball League (MMBL). Observers agreed Alexandre Lagarde was its best player.

Dan Nathan became the first manager to ever lead a Lac St. Louis provincial squad, which included Lagarde, to a gold medal and consequently a trip to the national championships. He also took a group of hungry and determined bantam AA major Lakeshore/Trois-Lacs Yankees to an MMBL playoff championship.

For their accomplishments, Lagarde and Nathan recently received the highest honour bestowed upon a player and manager by Baseball Quebec. Lagarde, a Pierrefonds resident known to friends and family as Sasha, was named best provincial bantam AA player while Nathan, also a Pierrefonds resident, best bantam AA manager in the province at Baseball Quebec’s annual gala awards night Nov. 11 in Ste. Adèle.

It was the first time since 2004 Lac St. Louis representatives came away with coveted plaques. That season, Alex Levis was named best provincial mosquito player, Yannick Chiasson best in the peewee category while Phillippe-Alexandre Valiquette won for best performance of the year.

“It came as a real surprise,� said Lagarde, a 15-year-old left-hand hitting second baseman with power who hit .444 at provincials, including two home runs and five RBIs during a huge upset over South Shore, as well as .571 at nationals where he was named the all-star second baseman. “I actually had no idea my name would be called. I have to thank my coaches for helping me a lot this year. They taught me how to handle a curve ball, and how to go to the opposite field with the pitch. That was the big difference for me this year.�

One of those coaches, Cards manager Jason Starr, said Lagarde was by far his team’s Most Valuable Player.

“Matt Leblanc had a good year, but what Sasha did for our team was huge,� said Starr, who led a mosquito AA Cards team to an MMBL playoff title in 2004 and was an assistant coach under Ernie D’Alessandro on this year’s Canadian

university champion McGill Redbirds. “He was a coach’s dream, a good prospect who showed lead-off type speed combined with a three-hitter’s power. He always wants to get better and learn, and would take that extra ground ball or extra batting practice. He simply wants to win. That’s something you can’t teach a

player.�

Speaking of winning, Nathan’s major bantam Yankees did just that in convincing style during the playoffs, displaying dominant pitching and timely hitting en route to a three-game sweep over the Milles-Îles Royals in the final. His provincial Lac St. Louis troops meanwhile overcame a 3-1 deficit in the sixth inning in the final against Quebec by scoring three unanswered runs to win 4-3.

“It was just nice to receive a little recognition,� said Nathan, who plans to move up to the junior AA level next season as an assistant coach with Pierre David Labre’s Lakeshore Braves. “You know, I don’t even know if this was my best year of managing. I’ve had some teams my assistants and I have been coaching during the past five years I have felt very good about. It’s nice somebody outside the region finally took a little notice.�

One of those assistants was Jason Katz, about whom Nathan said played an integral part in helping him take the Yankees to the title this past season.