Announcement
At the Baseball Ontario Awards Gala held at the Delta London Armouries on November 19, London Badgers head Coach Mike Lumley received the 2011 Baseball Ontario Coach
of The Year Award while Badger Midget player Byron Reichstein of St. Thomas was named Baseball Ontario Adult Player of The Year. Lumley’s Midget Badgers captured the Gold Medal at the 2011 Baseball Canada Midget Championships in Regina. It was the second Gold Medal in three years for the London Midget Badgers to go with a bronze medal in 2010. Reichstein was an integral part of this year’s Midget Badgers posting a .404 bating average, and he is currently attending Texarkana C.C. in Texarkana, Texas on a baseball Scholarship. In 2010 Reichstein was a member of the Ontario Youth team that won a Silver Medal in the 2010 Canada Cup.
In addition to Lumley and Reichstein receiving honours, London and District Baseball Association Umpire-In-Chief Rob Companion was named Baseball Ontario Level 5 Umpire of The Year. Companion put in long hours developing the curriculum for the Level 3 Umpire Super Clinics in 2011, as well as working on the field in the Baseball Canada Junior Championships in Windsor where he successfully received his endorsement for International eligibility.
Bantam Badger head coach Steve Cochrane explained why he thinks Mike Lumley is one of the best baseball coaches in Canada,
“Mike is truly a fantastic coach when it comes to game management. He has the innate ability to read opponents defenses and offenses. It is uncanny how well he can anticipate plays prior to them unfolding. No doubt he is a student of the game and has over tens of thousands of innings developed his abilities as one of the best coaches in the nation.”
Reichstein is the fourth Midget Badger Player to win Baseball Ontario Player of the Year honours. Previous winners include: Chris Robinson 2001, Jamie Romak 2002 and
Ryan Zimmer 2009.
