OTTAWA-Andrew Albers (North Battleford, SK) has been named Male Athlete of the Year for 2011 by Sask Sports Inc. The left-hander was the winning pitcher last October when Canada defeated the United States 2-1 to claim the Gold Medal at the Pan Am Games.
Albers became the first baseball player to win the Male Athlete of the Year honours which is part of the annual Saskatchewan Sport Awards. Nominated for the award by Saskatchewan Baseball, Albers beat out two other nominees to claim the prize.
The product of the University of Kentucky was dominant in his month with the Senior National Team that saw him used as both a starter and reliever at the IBAF World Cup and Pan Am Games. Albers started the World Cup opener against Puerto Rico and threw 5 shutout innings to pick-up the victory. He followed that up with five combined innings of shutout relief in wins over Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands where he gave up only two hits.
When Canada faced a must win situation against South Korea with a medal round spot on the line, Albers came through with another five inning shutout performance to earn the win. Canada would go on to capture the Bronze Medal.
Albers continued to dazzle in relief as he threw three solid relief innings as Canada opened the Pan Am Games with a win against Puerto Rico.
After a loss to Cuba, Canada defeated Venezuela and host Mexico in the semi-finals which booked a date with the United States in Gold Medal game.
Manager Ernie Whitt handed Albers the ball and after surrendering a run in before the bottom of the first he shutdown the US and struck out eight batters before being removed with two out in the bottom of the seventh.
Canada went on to win gold after Scott Richmond (Vancouver, BC) recorded seven consecutive outs in relief of Albers to secure the 2-1 victory.
Albers will head to Spring Training later this month with the Minnesota Twins where he pitched at Double-A New Britain last season.
