2009 BULLS SEASON RECAP

The Bulls opened the season on a cool, rainy night in May

against the Medicine Hat Mavericks and wrapped up the season on another overcast, dreary night in August against Medicine Hat. The Bulls won their home opener, a rain-shortened game, with Matt Bannister getting the pitching victory. The wrap up of the season was the deciding game of an opening round best-of-five play off series. The Mavericks beat the Bulls to take the series

3-2 and advanced to the meet the Okotoks Dawgs in the West Division Final.

In between the home opener and play off finale the Bulls compiled a record of 25 wins and 21 losses, finishing second in the WMBL's West Division seven and-a-half games back of Okotoks. The Bulls were 16 and 7 at home in 2009, but were only 9 and 14 on the road. The team's losing record on the road and struggles against Okotoks were the two negative factors in an otherwise solid regular season. (The Bulls had a 3 and 7 record against the Dawgs in 2009.)

Scott Rhodes took over the team as Head Coach last year and is back for a second season in 2010. His coaching staff included John Henry Marquardt and former Bulls standout and league Most Valuable Player

Ken Fuglerud. Marquardt has returned for a second season, and Fuglerud is coaching this season with the Vauxhall Spurs in American Legion Baseball. Ryan MacDonald has joined the coaching staff for 2010 after three seasons in the Bulls line-up.

The team was led offensively by shortstop Dustin Bissonnette, third baseman Jesse Sawyer, and rookie outfielder Zach Rhodes. The veteran shortstop returned

to the Bulls after one season with the Swift Current Indians and led the team with a .345 batting average and an on base percentage of .473. Sawyer led the team in three offensive categories: home runs (7), runs batted in (43) and total bases (78). After graduating from he Prairie Baseball Academy as the program's all time hits leader Rhodes made a smooth transition into the Bulls line-up. The sweet swinging lefty led the team in hits (51) and doubles (16).

Two solid righthanders who return to the Bulls this season were the workhorses of the starting rotation on the mound. Adam Reynolds had a record of 5 wins and 3 losses, pitched the most innings on the club (56.1), and recorded 40 strikeouts. Right behind Reynolds was Alex Tufts, with 51.2 innings pitched and 43 strikeouts. Two members of the bullpen led the team in three of the key pitching categories. Richard Pharr had the most wins with a 6 and 1 record and also had the most strikeouts with 60. Steve Hogue had the lowest earned run average at 2.20.

Catcher/Designated Hitter Joel Blake was named the Bulls Most Valuable Player. The Prairie Baseball Academy grad was second on the team with a .312 batting average, collecting 44 hits and 57 total bases, with a .404 slugging percentage. He was moved up to the lead off spot in the batting order midway through the season and served as the catalyst for a number of offensive rallies.

The best-of-five divisional semi-final series opened at Spitz Stadium, with Medicine Hat winning game one 8-5 and the Bulls bouncing back to take game two 7-5. The series switched to the Gas City for games three and four. The Bulls won the third game 16-10 and the Mavericks took game four 1-0. Medicine Hat closed out the series with a 6-1 win at Spitz Stadium in game five, breaking open a close game in the late innings. The fourth game was the turning point in the series. After hammering 17 hits in the third game the Bulls could only manage three hits in the fourth game. Rookie righthander Brandon

Petite was the hard-luck losing pitcher, going the distance and allowing only five hits with ten strikeouts. His one mistake was a solo home run.

Canada Day, July First, was the highlight of the season for the ball club. The game on Canada Day 2008 was wiped out by a record rainstorm, but the Bulls made up for it last year. After a pancake breakfast at Spitz Stadium in the morning the team hosted the Edmonton Prospects for a day-night doubleheader.

The game in the afternoon was being made up from an earlier rain out. Four Bulls pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts in a 7-1 win. Prior to the evening game the Bulls held a special ceremony to recognize the team's tenth anniversary. President and General Manager Kevin Kvame paid tribute to the Bulls original owner Doug Jones, who brought the team to Lethbridge in 1999.

The game that followed was played before a record crowd at Spitz Stadium, estimated at 1850 people. All the seating was sold out and an overflow standing room crowd filled every other available space in the ballpark. The game went eleven innings, with Jamie Mitchell scoring the winning run in a 3-2 victory on a sacrifice fly by Zach Rhodes. Just as Mitchell slid into home with the winning run the fireworks started to go off over

Henderson Lake, as the fans went down on the field to celebrate Canada's birthday and a full day of fun at the ballpark.

Since the unscheduled day-night doubleheader was such a success on Canada Day last year the Bulls have added it to the team's schedule for 2010. The Bulls host the Medicine Hat Mavericks for two games on July 1 this year, 2:05 pm for the first game, and 7:35 pm for the nightcap, with fans invited to remain at Spitz Stadium after the game to watch the fireworks.