TORONTO – Right-handed pitcher Zach Danilewitz and outfielder/pitcher Shael Isenberg were key to Vaughan Vikings winning a bronze medal at the Canada Boys Bantam Baseball Championship held this summer in Vaughan.

Isenberg, 15, participated in basketball and wakeboarding, while growing up in North York. He started playing baseball at nine, “as my mom told me my uncle (Mark Halberstadt) and his team won the 1979 Canadian Junior Softball Men’s Championship.”

He played centrefield for the Thornhill Reds AA team for three years and was catcher and a left-handed pitcher the fourth year.

“I pitched for the most part that season, as being a left handed catcher was a bit unusual for that position,” said Isenberg.

The 6-foot, 14-year-old Danilewitz grew up in Thornhill playing tennis, snowboarding and volleyball. He also started playing baseball at age nine.

“I always loved pitching,” he said. “The game is not too fast so you have to know what you’re doing mentally, more than what you’re doing physically.”

He joined the Thornhill Reds at age nine and credited coach Corey Vyner “as being the first individual to help me with pitching mechanics with his vast knowledge of baseball.”

Isenberg joined the Vikings for the 2008 season. “I knew Vaughan was one of the best ‘AAA’ teams around, would be a step up from my ‘AA’ Reds experience and I would have a better chance to reach the nationals.”

He said that Vikings head coach Silvano Boatto had a two-year plan for the team to succeed, “and with Zach coming aboard this season, we medalled this year’s Bantam Championship.”

Isenberg said his fastball has been clocked 75-76 MPH and can go as high as 80-82 MPH. He credited Boatto for helping him “mentally to calm down and keep my composure when I’m on the mound.”

Isenberg added that spending the past spring training at the Fundamental Baseball Instruction facility in Barrie “helped me become more flexible, depending whether I played outfield or pitched.”

Danilewitz joined the Vikings this season after hearing from Isenberg how competitive the quality of baseball was. He praised Boatto for teaching him pitching mechanics and helping with his velocity.

“My fastball is at 78 MPH and I also have an effective change up and curve ball.”
His self-scouting report included having “plenty of stamina and not giving up. I can hit targets and I’m not afraid to go inside to strike out the batter. I stay calm at all times and I’m confident in my pitching repertoire and decision making. I’m an okay batter who gets on base.”

It shouldn’t come as a shock that his favourite ballplayer is  Toronto Blue Jays star Roy Halladay, who “is always focused, calm, knows what’s going on and is ready to pitch right away, once he gets the ball.”

Isenberg’s two favourite players are New York Mets centrefielder Carlos Beltran and New York Yankees relief pitcher Mariano Rivera.

“As a centrefielder, I appreciate Beltran’s skills and especially what he went through with the long rehab with his knee to return to the Mets lineup this September. He showed you could come back from a bad injury. Rivera gets batters to pop up, ground out or strike out very consistently.”

Danilewitz and Isenberg enjoyed their experiences, at the Bantam Championship.
“Compared to the York Simcoe Baseball Association (Vikings finished first in the regular season, at 19-2-1), we played top teams from all over Canada,” said Danilewitz. “It was a lot more competitive with many higher quality players to compete against.”

For Isenberg it was “a great experience” on and off the field.

“Meeting players and coaches from across Canada, teaches you responsibility and people skills.”

Both players performed very well during the championship. Isenberg went 5 for 10 (including two doubles and one triple) in six games with 6 RBI. In the 8-3 Vikings bronze medal win over New Brunswick, he went 2 for 3 (one double) with 3 RBI, 1 stolen base and won his second MVP Batter of the Game of the tourney. Danilewitz was 0-1 with a 2.16 ERA in four games. In 8.1 innings he allowed 9 hits, no walks and 8 strikeouts. He threw the last 1.1 innings against New Brunswick retiring all four batters, with 1 strikeout.

Danilewitz and Isenberg were both ecstatic about winning the bronze.  

“We all went into the championship wanting to medal – it didn’t matter which one,” said Isenberg. “We talked to each other after the tough loss (5-4 to Ontario) earlier that day, knowing it was our last game of the season and to give it our all.”

Danilewitz said he was a little nervous coming into the New Brunswick game.

“I got the nerves out of the way early and focused on getting the outs. At the last out it was amazing to have my teammates rush to me on the mound in celebration.”

Boatto commented that Isenberg “keeps the team loose, is a good presence on the bench and always a good teammate. He’s so quick that he usually comes into bases standing up. We both jokingly commented on his need to eventually start sliding more in the future.”  

Boatto said Danilewitz played some first base, but mostly pitched this season.

“Zach is a very good pitcher and was our ace this year. He won the City of Vaughan Baseball Association Rep and Select Pitcher of The Year. He closed out the bronze game at the Nationals and won the semifinal and final games of the Michael Kim Memorial Tournament that our team won in Mississauga this past May.”

He added that Danilewitz shut down Georgetown completely in the Kim Memorial final, which was Team Ontario at the Bantam National Championship. “Zach is a strong, big kid who is very poised on the mound; nothing seems to faze him. If someone gets on through a hit, walk or error, he picks himself up and shuts the other team down.”

Both players are excited about returning to the Vikings in 2010. Boatto acknowledged their future baseball potential.

“Zach has a pretty good chance for a baseball scholarship, but will need to continue honing his pitching craft. We hope to help him add another pitch, improve his batting and work on his pickoffs and field positioning. As for Shael, we’ll also work on his pitch mechanics and for him to gain more confidence in his pitching ability. If he can put in the work and extra practice, he’s got all the tools – speed, strength and power – to succeed.  I have confidence he can also obtain a baseball scholarship.”

Jack Borenstein can be emailed at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it