VanOstrand, Team Canada Hall of Fame Bound

CORPUS CHRISTI - Corpus Christi Hooks first baseman Jimmy VanOstrand and the 2011 Team Canada Senior National Team will be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on June 23 in St. Mary's Ontario.

Former major leaguers Rusty Staub and Rheal Cormier and long-time baseball executive Doug Melvin, GM of the Milwaukee Brewers, headline the 2012 class.

Managed by Ernie Whitt, the Senior National Team took its first-ever gold medal at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. That followed a second straight bronze medal at the World Cup, held in Panama City. Canada is ranked sixth in the world by the IBF (International Baseball Federation), an all-time high.

Whitt had only three ex-major leaguers on his roster: Scott Richmond, Shawn Hill and Mike Johnson.

At the Pan Am Games, Canada opened with a 5-4 victory over Puerto Rico before falling to Cuba 9-5. After beating Venezuela 4-1, Canada edged host Mexico 5-3 in the semi-finals and took down the undefeated USA 2-1 to win gold. VanOstrand, of Richmond, British Columbia, led the club offensively with a .474 batting average (9-for-19), .565 on-base percentage and .579 slugging mark.

VanOstrand had both RBIs in Canada's 2-1 gold medal triumph on October 25. He stepped to the plate with two men on base in the top of the sixth inning and doubled down the right-field line, scoring Chris Robinson and Tim Smith. Robinson and Smith had two-out singles to start and stoke the rally.

The losing pitcher was former Hook Andy Van Hekken.

In the World Cup, the Canucks compiled an 8-3 record. When rains canceled the third-place game against the United States, Canada was awarded bronze based on an earlier defeat of the Americans.

VanOstrand's 167 runs batted in are the most in Hooks history.