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People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Mr. Devery "Canuck" Van De Keere
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Home Phone: 780-674-4809 Devery definitely in zone April 28, 2006 – Van De Keere’s hitting has spurred Cajuns’ streak. Dan McDonald Devery Van De Keere’s recent numbers are almost to the point of being ludicrous. “It’s the kind of zone that you get in maybe once or twice a month,” Van De Keere said. “But usually, it only lasts maybe a day.” The Canadian transplant’s zone is now at one month and counting, and he takes the Sun Belt Conference’s hottest bat to Little Rock, Ark., today for a league series against Arkansas-Little Rock. That’s not good news for the Trojans (22-23, 3-12), who have lost nine straight Sun Belt games. “At first, it was kind of a shock, to be in a zone like this every time I go to bat,” he said. “I’d sure never done anything like this. Now it’s almost like I expect it.” His rampage hasn’t been against poor competition, either. The three Sun Belt series in which he’s seen extensive action have been against established teams, and Van De Keere’s gone 5-for-10 against South Alabama, 7-for-12 against New Orleans and 7-for-15 against Florida International. He had four RBIs in each of the last two series. It’s not surprising that the Cajuns are on win streaks of seven games and 15 of 17. “If you talk to any hitter that’s going good,” said Cajun coach Tony Robichaux, “he’ll say he’s seeing the ball well. That’s why we’ve moved him up in the lineup (at the No. 3 spot now) to make sure he’s getting an extra at-bat.” “I attribute it to putting good swings on good pitches, and taking balls out of the zone,” said Van De Keere, who has struck out only four times in 52 at-bats in April. “It’s a mental discipline … just feeling comfortable up there.” His hitting actually began against USA in late March – 4-for-5 in that opener – and coincided with a visit by his parents from Barrhead, Alberta. “I don’t see them but two or three times a year,” he said, “and that gave me a lot of energy. It wasn’t until after they left that I started realizing what was going on.” What’s currently going on is a nine-game hit streak, the team’s longest, and multiple hits in seven of those nine games. He leads the Sun Belt in conference-game hitting at .514. “When coach (John) Szefc recruited him, he said he could be both an offensive and defensive utility guy for us,” Robichaux said. “Those guys are hard to find. He can play more than one position, and that makes the 25-man roster to much further. “The biggest thing is that we’re getting power from him. He’s not just a singles guy … he’s had some big-impact hits for us. Sometimes we’ll categorize guys as base hitters, gap power or that can hit it out of the park, and he can do all of those.” As with any hitting streak, the object is to keep it alive and not change anything in the routine. Van De Keere takes two bats to the on-deck circle, twirls one to the right, around his neck and to the left, takes two swings with both bats, puts one away, loosens the left wrist, then the right, and then focuses on the pitcher. “In the past I focused on mechanical things,” he said. “Now I just try to think clearly and let it happen.” The routine changed this week when (shudder) Van De Keere got a haircut. His teammates couldn’t believe he’d do that in the middle of a streak like this. “The guys were really harassing me,” he said. “I’m going to show them this week that hitting has nothing to do with my hair.” CAJUNS AT UALR 6 p.m. today, 2 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday, Gary Hogan Field, Little Rock, Ark. ON THE AIR: KPEL-AM (1420) in Lafayette and KANE-AM (1240) in New Iberia with Jay Walker. Air time is 30 minutes prior to first pitch. The broadcast is available online at www.ragincajuns.com. RECORDS: UL 27-13, 10-2; UALR 22-23, 3-12. COACHES: UL, Tony Robichaux (12th year, 425-277 at UL; 18th year, 669-427 overall); UALR, Jim Lawler (1st year, 22-23 at UALR and overall). SERIES: UL leads 28-12 including a 14-7 advantage in games played in Little Rock. UL took two of three in last year’s series in Lafayette, winning 9-5 and 17-1 and losing 7-2, and has taken a 2-1 advantage in each of the last four series between the teams. LAST TIME OUT: UL finished off a weekend sweep at FIU with a 14-3 win in Miami. The Cajuns had a Tuesday home game against Lamar rained out. UALR topped Central Arkansas 6-3 at home Wednesday in a rain-delayed game. PITCHERS: UL, Hunter Moody (So., LH, 7-2, 1.51) today, Buddy Glass (So., RH, 6-1, 1.36) Saturday, Jason Fernandez (Jr., RH, 6-1, 1.67) Sunday. UALR, Trevor Clay (Sr., RH, 4-2, 4.67) today, Adam Miller (Jr., RH, 6-4, 4.59) Saturday, Rob Harmon (Sr., RH, 1-4, 6.45) Sunday. PROBABLE STARTERS: UL – C Jonathan Lucroy (So., R-R, .278), 1B Jefferies Tatford (Jr., L-R, .326), 2B Devon Bourque (Jr., L-R, .248), SS Jameson Parker (Sr., R-R, .273), 3B Devery Van De Keere (Jr., L-R, .408), LF Alex Preciado (Sr., R-R, .330), CF Josh Landry (Sr., L-R, .288), RF John McCarthy (Sr., L-L, .325), DH Scott Hawkins (Fr., R-R, .274). UALR – C Tyler Mason (Jr., R-R, .254), 1B Brett Lawler (Jr., R-R, .240), 2B Brian Asbill (Jr., R-R, .326), SS Derek Eilers (Sr., R-R, .271), 3B Brian Smiley (Jr., R-R, .304), LF Matt Garlington (Sr., R-R, .267), CF Ryan Gotcher (Jr., L-L, .360), RF Jacob Stover (Sr., R-R, .373), DH Matt King (Jr., R-R, .309). NEXT: UL hosts Southeastern La. at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Moore Field. LAGNIAPPE: UL infielder Tim Santiago (wrist) and pitcher Greg Harmon (knee) are on the Cajuns’ 25-man roster for this weekend. Santiago has been out since April 15 and Harmon since April 4 … UALR had lost 11 straight games before Wednesday’s win over Central Arkansas. The Trojans have lost nine straight Sun Belt games, being swept at Arkansas State, at home against South Alabama and at New Orleans over the last three weekends … In the psuedo-RPI rankings as of Thursday, UL is 52nd in WarrenNolan.com and 55th in BoydsWorld.com. The Sun Belt as a league is 7th in the Nolan listings and 8th in Boyd’s World … UL is on a season-high seven-game win streak, and has outscored opponents 55-14 and compiled a team 1.77 ERA in that streak. Originally published April 28, 2006
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