The pride of North Delta is back for his second straight summer at Nat Bailey Stadium.
Last week the 2023 Vancouver Canadians coaching staff was named for its 12th season in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.
Brent Lavallee returns to helm the C’s for a second year after leading the team to the playoffs in 2022 and bringing postseason baseball to The Nat for the first time in half a decade.
Originally hired by Toronto to manage the C’s in 2020, Lavallee made his professional managerial debut in 2021 with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays before his promotion to High-A in 2022.
Prior to joining the professional ranks, Lavallee served on the coaching staff in multiple capacities at Louisiana State University Shreveport (LSUS), his alma mater, culminating with three seasons as the head coach. He went 126-56 as the skipper of the Pilots baseball program and 396-147 with five conference titles, seven conference tournament titles and two appearances in the NAIA World Series in his nine seasons on the program’s staff.
As a player, Lavallee played in 200 games over the course of four seasons at LSUS. In his senior year, Lavallee hit 18 homers and drove in 78 runs to earn him 1st Team All-Conference, 2nd Team All-State, NAIA All-American Honorable Mention, 1st-Team All-Canada, Delta Sports Amateur Athlete of the Year and runner-up for the 2009 Canadian College Baseball Player of the Year.
It was back in December 2019 when Lavallee stepped down as head coach of the LSUS Pilots baseball program to join the Blue Jays organization. He spent 15 years in the LSUS program — initially as a catcher on a scholarship then moving onto the coaching staff.
As a head coach, he compiled a 126-57 career record which included leading the Pilots to three consecutive NAIA Regional appearances, two Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Tournament Championships in 2017 and 2019 and back-to-back RRAC Season Championships in 2018 and 2019.
Lavallee was also named the RRAC Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2019.
