Jeff Francis, 38, set 11 team records and was twice named an NAIA first team all-American in his three seasons at UBC en route to an 11-year big-league career.
There will be a UBC reunion this weekend as part of the Thunderbirds retiring Francis’s No. 16 jersey during a Saturday doubleheader against the visiting Corban Warriors.
“What does mean a lot to me is all the guys I see coming back to town for this. Teammates are the best thing of playing any sport at any level and I had some of the best teammates and friends while I was at UBC.” Adam Loewen, a left-hander from Surrey, was picked fourth overall that year by the Baltimore Orioles. It was a draft Canadian baseball will likely never see again.
There have been 22 players drafted since UBC re-started the baseball program in 1997. Terry McKaig was head coach during Francis’s tenure. He’s since moved to program director and Chris Pritchett, a former first baseman with the triple-A Vancouver Canadians, is now bench boss.
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