Photo By Wilson
Wong of The Ubyssey.

Jeff played for the Young Alumni team, consisting of players who finished at UBC in 2002 or later. His teammates included Cory Stuart, a closer who is coming off a very good year with the Staten Island Yankees; 3-1, 0.83 ERA, and 50 strikeouts.

The Old Alumni won the game 8-3, primarily because neither Francis nor Stuart threw a pitch. Instead, Francis played center field and first base, and Stuart played shortstop. However, Francis, who has demonstrated some recently-acquired ability to hit the ball with the NL Rockies, was two for three at the plate.

When asked about Francis' significance to the UBC program, Coach Terry McKaig said, "He's been really important, to be drafted in the first round, and be our first player that's made the big leagues. What he showed Canadians kids is, you don't have to go to the United States to play college baseball. There's a program now, at UBC and in Canada, that will get as much exposure as any US Division I school. So Jeff's importance was to show Canadian kids that you can be at UBC, and don't have to be at USC or somewhere to get noticed by scouts."

In a post-game interview, Francis said that he has adjusted well to life in Denver. He doesn't qualify as a local celebrity; the Rockies are not attracting much attention because they aren't doing well. He believes that this will change, because the Rockies were getting great fan support a few years ago. As to what will make this change happen, Jeff said that he didn't have any more information on this other than what has appeared in the press; the Rockies have a lot of good young players, and they will try to hire a veteran catcher and a better bullpen to help these young players along.

The Alumni game was preceded by an intra-squad game for the current UBC team. Richard Smythe and Fletcher Vynne hit the ball hard, and McKaig said he is "expecting good things" from Smythe in 2006. Brad Ashman and Jeff Tobin put in good performances on the mound.

Baseball became a varsity sport at UBC in 2000, after an absence of 30 years. The Thunderbirds compete in the NAIA, but their schedule for this spring includes seven games against Division I teams, including Pepperdine, Cal Poly, and Washington. They won Region I pennants in 2003 and 2005. With most of last year's team returning (including MLB draftees Tobin, Adam Campbell, and Joe Forest), and the addition of Shawn Schaefer and Joey Benda to the pitching corps, the Thunderbirds have a very good chance of making their first trip to the NAIA National Championship Tournament in Lewiston, ID this spring.