Few gave the Burnaby Braves bantam baseball team much of a chance in their first-ever AAA season. But head coach Jason Smith was not one of them.
Together with longtime minor co-coach Brian Moebes, Smith put together an excellence performance program at Burnaby Minor that is already having encouraging results in the 15-and-under league.
A little more than one month into its inaugural season, the Braves were 8-7 in April, including a narrow 11-9 loss to powerhouse Richmond earlier last month.
"We were hoping to finish .500 in April, and we did," said Smith, who played ball at Canada's National Baseball Institute for a couple of years before beginning a career in sales.
"(There) I picked up work ethic - the little fundamentals - the little things of baseball that make sure kids are smiling," Smith said.
Initial results appear to indicate the program is gaining traction.
Without a network of high performance to build on, Smith and company are building the Burnaby Minor program around mentorship at both the coaching and player levels.
Smith, who also oversees the AA program in Burnaby, invites minor teams and their coaches to train with the AAA Braves to show others the core training and other techniques that go into building a high-calibre program.
He received a good initial response when more than 40 kids, double the number he expected, turned out for initial tryouts.
Smith has also set up training dates with midget Premier Baseball League clubs Coquitlam Reds and Vancouver Cannons later this month.
With seven of the 12 bantam players from Burnaby, Smith already has a core group to build upon.
He is equally encouraged by the strength of his bullpen, which boasts three or four chuckers who toss heat in the high 70s to low 80s. He also possesses a batting lineup that is learning quickly how to make contact at the plate.
"By the time June and July comes around, I believe we will have the team no one wants to face. We've got good talented kids," said Smith.
This month, Smith expects to further tighten up the lineup and with more team bonding he fully expects the result to be, 'We believe.'
"Will we finish top 3? - 'No way,' top 5? - 'I don't think so', but top 7 - 'We have a chance,'" he said. "The top 10 make provincials, and I expect us to be there."
The provincials will be held in Kamloops from Aug. 1 to 5.
