Lethbridge's Ty Penner with the WCBL championship trophy at Spitz Stadium. (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Lethbridge’s Ty Penner honoured to bring WCBL championship back home

Aug 23, 2021 | 8:09 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Bringing a championship back home to Lethbridge is the culmination of a lifelong baseball journey for Lethbridge’s Ty Penner.

Penner and the Lethbridge Bulls captured the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) championship Saturday night, with a 16-5 win over the Edmonton Prospects. It’s the first time the Bulls have won the title since 2015.

READ MORE: Lethbridge Bulls defeat Edmonton to win 2021 WCBL championship

This was the first baseman’s second full season with the Bulls, and he was one of the returnees to the roster from the 2019 year, alongside Torrin Vaselenak and pitcher Kyle Poapst. Penner said the team has come a long way from the beginning of the year, especially after the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

At a championship celebration at Spitz Stadium Sunday, Penner said, “it feels really good to do it with this group of guys.”

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“We bonded, really, over the course of this whole entire year. I was really unsure [because] we really didn’t know what we were going to get with the whole entire year.”

He remarked that the title win still hasn’t fully set in but is overjoyed to have brought the championship trophy back to his hometown.

“I’ve been treated so well in the Lethbridge baseball community for, really, my whole life growing up here. It’s just unbelievable to bring the trophy home and to have that sitting behind me is just something really special.”

Winning the WCBL crown was a full-circle moment for Penner, as he used to be one of the fans at Spitz Stadium, watching the Bulls on the field.

He said, “I watched these guys growing up my entire life. I was the little kid down the line that I see now that’s asking for my autograph; I was that same kid asking for the autograph.”

Penner’s playing started with the Lethbridge Little League organization, and he suited up with the Lethbridge Elks program.

He noted that he’s “had so much help from everybody in Lethbridge, [as well as] the staff here that we have at the Bulls, coaches, teammates, trainers.”

“It’s been unbelievable and to bring it [the championship] back to my hometown is really surreal, to be honest with you, so I’m just really happy that I could do it and you know, proud to be from Lethbridge, for sure.”

Penner said the next step in his baseball career is to go back to the University of British Columbia for the upcoming school year, where he plays for the Thunderbirds.

NOAH OR

Penner’s UBC teammate Noah Or suited up for the Bulls for the first time this season. The catcher was named a runner-up to the Most Valuable Player award in the playoffs (his teammate Bryce Oriold-Fraser earned the honours).

He said it felt good to be playing again, following a summer with no baseball.

Or noted the existing and new bonds between players helped the team capture the WCBL championship.

He said he has “a few teammates from UBC that all came out here together, so we have a lot in common already, but a lot of guys grew up together, especially being an all-Canadian league this year.”

“There’s only a few guys to pick from and a lot of them hail from the same high school team or college team, so we were all able to come together really close.”

Or believes the returnees gelling so well with the new players on the Bulls this season speaks to the professionalism of the young club. He said everyone’s mindset was focused on the team, and not individual play.

Like Penner, Or is set to return to the UBC Thunderbirds this coming season.

FIRST TIME HEAD COACH

Lethbridge’s head coach Chance Wheatley said he’s very proud of his roster for pulling together four straight playoff wins on their way to the championship. This season marked Wheatley’s first as the main bench leader for the Bulls.

READ MORE: Play ball: Lethbridge Bulls open 2021 season Friday night

Wheatley said that, “this is kind of why you take the job, is to win and to be able to do that my first season, it’s pretty special. A lot of people coach for a really long time and never get to experience this, so it’s amazing.”

Lethbridge Bulls head coach Chance Wheatley with the WCBL championship trophy at Spitz Stadium. (Lethbridge News Now)

The Bulls suffered a few losses down the stretch of the regular season, leading to a third-place finish in the standings going into the post-season. Wheatley said his players were able to bounce back and ‘reset’ going into the playoffs.

“Guys were looking forward to the playoffs and looked past the few games [lost] there. When playoffs started, guys showed up and competed and played fantastic.”

On what the vibe was like this season, with the WCBL comprised solely of Canadians due to the pandemic, Wheatley noted there was a lot of comradery between players league wide.

“Before very game, guys are talking to everyone on the other team, because…it’s an all-Canadian league, everyone’s played against each other, growing up or at college or whatever and for those guys to have those bragging rights going back to school with those guys and stuff like that, it’s awesome.”