Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Friday, Jul. 10, 2009

WHATCOM CONNECTIONS: Blaine duo reunited in Brewers' minor league system

It may be too soon to start setting up the orange and black athletic pipeline from Blaine to Milwaukee, but just wait a couple of years.

By then - if all goes as Borderites faithful would like - no fewer than three of their native sons could be rubbing elbows with the likes of "Laverne and Shirley" in Wisconsin.

Not bad for the tiny town on the U.S.-Canada border with a population of only 4,700.

Luke Ridnour is already in the Brew City. The former Blaine basketball great, who led the Borderites to back-to-back state championships in 1999 and 2000, just completed his first NBA season with the Milwaukee Bucks after playing his first five closer to home with the Seattle SuperSonics.

And two others are on their way. Former Blaine baseball teammates Joey Paciorek and Kyle Dhanani have been reunited in the Milwaukee Brewers' minor league baseball system. The duo already is playing together again with the Helena Brewers in the rookie-level Pioneer League.

"It was kind of weird looking up to see him taking groundballs across the infield from me again," Paciorek said in a phone interview. "It was kind of like a blast from the past."

Paciorek and Dhanani played in the same varsity infield for two years at Blaine High and together at various levels in the youth baseball ranks while growing up. In 2005 they helped the Borderites to a third-place finish in the Class 2A state tournament - matching the program's best finish since winning the 1990 state championship.

"We had some great times playing together back in Blaine," said Dhanani, who graduated from Blaine after that 2005 season, two years before Paciorek.

While Dhanani chose to continue his baseball career at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, Paciorek was selected out of high school by Milwaukee in the 15th round of the 2007 draft.

Paciorek spent his first professional season with the Arizona League Brewers, hitting .281 with 13 RBI and two homers in 40 games. He also ranked fourth in the league with his .416 on-base percentage.

But last year, rather than taking a step forward and advancing up the ladder, the Brewers returned Paciorek to the Arizona heat for another year of extended spring training and a second season in the Arizona League.

"It was a grind, just like everywhere else," Paciorek said of his experience in Arizona. "But the heat definitely makes it a little tougher than most places."

So do the morning practice sessions before each game, which is played under the blazing Arizona afternoon sun.

Paciorek struggled at the plate in his second season, as his batting average dipped to .165 and his RBI to only three in approximately the same number of games and at-bats he saw in 2007.

"It's tough in that Arizona league," said Brandon Newell, who scouted both Paciorek and Dhanani for the Brewers. "It's really tough on those guys to do all those intensive drills in the morning and then play a game in the afternoon. Now that Joey has moved up to Helena, he'll get a little more normal season. He's be showing up for evening games most of the time, and for a lot of these guys that's a whole lot easier mentally.

"Plus Joey struggled through some injuries in his first couple of years. Now he's finally healthy and he's comfortable with the instruction he's gotten the last couple of years. Hopefully that will be exactly what he needs to have a breakout season."

Dhanani is hoping for the same after he got to skip the Arizona League and go directly to the Pioneer League after the Brewers selected him in the 43rd round of last month's draft.

Newell said he feels Dhanani has the ability to handle that jump.

"I've know Kyle since he was very young," Newell said in a phone interview. "The biggest thing for Kyle is he has finally reached the physical maturity level that will allow him to do some of the things he's always wanted to do. He has always been a very good baseball player, but it took him a while to get strong enough to do everything he wanted to do. He's worked hard to get stronger, and he got some great experience at Thompson Rivers, and I think he is ready for this level."

Dhanani helped the Wolfpack to the Canadian collegiate national championships in 2007 and 2009. He was also selected a Canadian College Baseball Conference all-star this past spring.

"College was a great experience, but it has definitely been a learning experience for me since I arrived here," Dhanani said in a phone interview. "It's more challenging hitting here than in the league I played in Canada. I'm still trying to find my hitting touch."

In 11 games with Helena so far this season, Dhanani is hitting .156 (5 for 32) with six RBI, two doubles and two stolen bases entering play on Friday, July 10.

But at least his adjustment to the Brewers system has been aided by having a friend and former teammate who already has two years of experience playing pro ball.

"It's been really nice having Joey around," Dhanani said. "He called me up right after I got drafted, and he's told me some of the guys in the system to get to know and which ones to watch out for. He was really excited to have me join the organization, and he's been a big help to me."

Though they don't live together, their host families are close, and Dhanani and Paciorek often share rides to the ballpark together or go out to see a movie when they need a break from the game.

"It feels more like home to have somebody here that I already know," said Paciorek, who is hitting .250 (9 for 36) with a homer, four RBI and three stolen bases in 11 games so far this season entering play Friday. "We both come from the same small town, and it's great to have somebody here rooting for me to succeed, the same way I'm rooting for him to succeed."

Even though they're both infielders and even trade positions in some games, Newell said he sees Paciorek becoming more of a corner infielder, while Dhanani will focus on becoming a middle infielder.

"They're both great athletes," Newell said. "That's what immediately draws you to both of them. They both have some very good flexibility in their defensive games, and that's nice to have from a manager's perspective."

So there's no reason they couldn't progress up the Brewers' system together, if all goes right.

Who knows? They might even some day join Ridnour in Milwaukee playing at the top professional level of their sport.

"There are two things those three guys all share," Newell said. "It's athleticism and the desire for success. If you have those two things, people will find you. It is a pretty big coincidence that all three of those guys come from a small town like Blaine. But that desire to compete at a high level intertwines among all three of them. All three of those guys have an innate ability to step up their game when they play better competition. I see no reason they all can't make it."

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2271.