Reid Bannerman of Lloydminster and Keaton Smith of Kitscoty are on a season-long road trip, of sorts, as impactful members of the 15U AAA St. Albert Cardinals baseball team.
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Head coach Ben Grabia says the two small-town players not only have brought their game-breaking talents to the Cardinals, but they’ve also helped shape the culture of the Baseball Alberta Provincial League club.
“The most important thing I can say about Reid and Keaton is that they never complain,” Grabia said. “They just do their work and bring a liveliness to the team.
“They immediately brought life to the group. They fit in right away and were not shy to intermingle with the group of guys.
“They’re both just really mature kids for that age. I’m a teacher as well, so I’m around a lot of kids this age, and the two of them have above-average personal skills and social skills, which is really good to see.”
Commuting from home for practices three times per week, plus games essentially every weekend, Bannerman and Smith and their parents have made an all-in commitment that has carried from winter to spring and now to summer.
Even during school days throughout the spring months, they still made regular trips to St. Albert for evening practices.
“They’re expected to be there just as early as the other guys, and they always show up early and don’t complain and get to work,” said Grabia, whose roster otherwise includes 11 players from St. Albert and one from Edmonton.
“I think Reid and Keaton have brought a lot of perspective to the team, ‘If these two guys can put in a two-and-a-half-hour drive each way, every single day, these (other) guys can put in the same amount of work.’ It’s kind of brought a really good culture to our team.”
BATTING HIGH IN THE ORDER
Bannerman and Smith will celebrate their respective 15th birthdays just three days apart in July. They’ve been ringleaders with a St. Albert team that sports a 14-10 record in Tier 1 league play. (The Cardinals spent the Canada Day
weekend in Delta, B.C., for a tournament).
Bannerman as a catcher/outfielder and Smith as a pitcher/third baseman have been constants for the Cardinals. Both players are slotted high in the batting order. Bannerman is at No. 3 of late and Smith is at cleanup, sporting .327 and .366 batting averages, respectively.
Those assignments are a clear measure of the respect the Cardinals’ coaches have for their Lloydminster-area imports, who showed up for tryouts in March after the demise of the Prairie Pirates AAA program at home.
It didn’t take Grabia long to realize that he wanted the duo to stay for the summer.
“It was middle of March,” he recalled. “They both walked in (to tryouts) together. I saw them take five swings and I knew that they were on the team, for sure.
“I remember the first day we took (batting practice) outside with them and they’re both just lacing baseballs all over the field — opposite, pull side, up the middle, it doesn’t matter — and our group of guys were like, ‘Yeah, we’ll take these guys. They can play.’
“They’ve both been super. They’ve been in our top five players, for sure.”
In early June, with the Cardinals’ other catcher injured, Bannerman caught all four games in St. Albert’s weekend series against the Parkland Twins.
“Reid caught every game the whole weekend and didn’t complain, and his play didn’t dip at all,” Grabia said. “That’s the value he brings to our team. He’s a very fluid athlete and does a lot of the little things really well.”
BANNERMAN AT HOME CATCHING
It’s no wonder Bannerman loves everything about being a catcher, even getting dirty from blocking balls, dusty plays at the plate, and his basic-but-trusty catching gear.
“I like throwing people out,” he said with a smile. “That’s always fun. There’s lots of action. You’re kind of in the play a little bit more. You’ve always got something to do, plays to be yelling. It keeps me more involved. That’s the way I like it.”
He pitches on occasion but mostly he’s behind the plate or in the outfield.
“I think I’m a pretty solid hitter, too,” said Bannerman, the Cardinals’ leadoff man early in the season.
He remembered hockey season was still going when he and Smith thought about making the move to St. Albert to continue playing baseball at a high level.
Bannerman played defence with the Lloydminster Blazers 15U AA hockey team that was a provincial finalist the past season.
“I’ll see how I do in ball this year and see what happens after that,” he said about possible hockey plans for the coming season. “I’ve always kind of liked baseball a little bit more. Just found it a little easier and been a little better at that than hockey.”
Bannerman comes from a baseball family with farming roots near Turtleford. His older brother Jared, back home from college, plays senior with the Mervin Flyers in the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League. Youngest brother Jace is part of the 13U AA Prairie Pirates in Lloydminster.
Reid Bannerman is going into Grade 10 at Lloydminster Comprehensive High School. On those long car rides to and from St. Albert during the school year, he did homework and sometimes slept before and after practices. He said it was important to keep on top of his studies and “not goof around” at school, especially on days the local boys were leaving class early for baseball.
Bannerman’s natural smarts and high baseball IQ have served the Cardinals well.
“He’s a lot quieter than Keaton, but Reid has a really mature sense of knowing when to talk,” Grabia said. “He knows what to say to his teammates at the exact right time, and when just to stay quiet.
“Reid asks a lot of questions and brings that (information) to the team. He wants to learn and he’s always asking myself and the other coach as much as he can, because he’s catching and he’s playing such a thinking man’s game, which is awesome to see.”
From the get-go, Grabia made a personal connection with Bannerman. Grabia’s girlfriend is from Paradise Hill, Sask., and she and Bannerman’s cousin are close friends.
“It’s a small world,” Grabia said. “That was kind of my first interaction with Reid — ‘Hey, you’re a Bannerman’ — and then we started talking.”
Bannerman already describes it as a constructive and enjoyable summer on and off the field.
“We decided to give it a shot in St. Albert and see how it went,” he said. “It’s turned out great.
“Maybe the drives get a little long. On the way back home, they’re a little bit tiring. But, overall, it’s been fun.”
Bannerman and Smith have played on the same ball teams for three consecutive summers, so that familiarity and friendship made the adjustment to playing far from home that much easier.
“It’s great,” Smith said. “It’s like having a brother out there. Someone to rely on and someone you know really well. You’re not going in blind.”
At the same time, the Cardinals’ hometown players have welcomed the Lloyd-area boys with open arms, Smith said.
“Oh yeah, they’re super nice guys.”
SMITH SHOWS SPEED, SKILL
Grabia rates Smith, a big right-hander, as the team’s top pitcher, a powerful hitter and as fast a runner as he’s seen at the 15U level.
“He has above-average speed and strength,” the former 18U coach said about the gregarious Smith. “Keaton is also one of the funniest guys I’ve ever been around. He brings a lot of joy to the team. He’s super personable.
“On the field, he’s overpowering to other teams. He’s our best pitcher. He also plays third base and we’re kind of transitioning him to the outfield, because I think that’s a long-term place for him, just with his speed.
“Keaton is a plus-plus athlete. He’s the best athlete I’ve seen.”
The Cardinals and their opponents have seen some of that athleticism this season.
Smith, six-foot-two and 180 pounds, pitched a no-hitter through five-plus innings during a June 1 victory in smoky conditions at Fort McMurray.
He’s a weapon at bat, too, as evidenced during a Calgary tournament on the May long weekend at the spiffy new Webber Wildcats facility.
“One of our games was on the 18U field, so it’s probably like 340 (feet) to the corner,” Grabia recounted. “In the third inning, Keaton hit one over the fence. I just knew off the bat that it was gone. It was cool. Something I’ve never seen before, for a 14- or 15-year-old kid to do that.”
Even with their roles entrenched in the St. Albert lineup, Smith and Bannerman make an extra effort not to miss any practices. On off days, they also work out together back home.
“You’ve got to get your reps in, or else you can’t get better,” said Smith, bound for Grade 10 at Kitscoty High School. “Practice makes perfect.
“My fastball is usually my (best) pitch. It averages around low 80s, high 70s, and my curveball is usually high 60s, low 70s, and then my changeup is usually low 70s to mid 60s range.”
Smith also studied or slept for much of the spring practice trips and sometimes listened to Major League Baseball broadcasts of his favourite team, the Toronto Blue Jays.
Hockey is on Smith’s plate, too. He had an 80-point season last winter with the U15 A Tier 1 Kitscoty Knights, who won their league and took silver at provincials.
Smith is proud of those accomplishments and his older brother Rhett’s achievements as a football player with the Alberta Tier 3 provincial champions from Holy Rosary High School in Lloydminster.
Coach Grabia believes his Cardinals are in solid contention for a Tier 1 berth in the provincial 15U AAA baseball championship Aug. 1-3 at Red Deer, home of the first-place Braves.
Regardless of how the summer ends, the Cardinals hope Bannerman and Smith return to St. Albert to play in the 18U program.
“The two of them would fit right in,” Grabia said. “I know that.”
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