Welland Jackfish's Essery named IBL manager of the year

Welland Jackfish skipper Brian Essery has been named the Intercounty Baseball League Manager of the Year. Photo: IBL

September 18, 2025

Official Intercounty Baseball League News Release

Less than a week after guiding Welland to a Dominico Cup title, Brian Essery (Vancouver, B.C.) was named Intercounty Baseball League Manager of the Year.

It’s the second time Essery has earned the Troy May Memorial Award after winning in 2022. He joins Dave Rosenhahn (Toronto), Kevin Hinton (Guelph), Jeff Sharpe (Barrie), Angus Roy (Barrie), Roop Chanderdat (London) and Dean Castelli (Hamilton) as multi-time winners.

Welland was the class of the IBL in 2025, finishing atop the regular season standings with a 31-11 record – eight games ahead of Barrie and London. The Jackfish’s plus-190 run differential was 162 runs better than the next team.

It was the same story in the playoffs, as Welland went 10-3 and beat Kitchener and Guelph on its way to the final. The Jackfish defeated Barrie in five games to capture its second title in three seasons.

IBL Managers of the Year:

1994 Dennis Schooley, Stratford

1995 Dave Rosenhahn, Toronto

1996 Tom McKenzie, Kitchener

1997 Nick Noonan, Guelph

1998 Dave Rosenhahn, Toronto

1999 Alf Payne, Brantford

2000 Dave Rosenhahn, Toronto

2001 Ian Buglass, Waterloo

2002 Nick Owen, Barrie

2003 Rick Johnston, Toronto

2004 Kevin Hinton, Guelph

2005 Jeff Sharpe, Barrie

2006 Jeff Sharpe, Barrie

2007 Brian Bishop, Kitchener

2008 Kevin Hinton, Guelph

2009 Tim Harkness, Toronto

2010 Scott Van de Valk, Mississauga

2011 Angus Roy, Barrie

2012 Dave teBoekhorst, Guelph

2013 Matt Fortuna, Hamilton

2014 Angus Roy, Barrie

2015 Kyle MacKinnon, Burlington

2016 Roop Chanderdat, London

2017 Angus Roy, Barrie

2018 Dean Castelli, Hamilton

2019 Dean Castelli, Hamilton

2020 No season

2021 Roop Chanderdat, London

2022 Brian Essery, Welland

2023 Bill Matetich, Kitchener

2024 Dino Roumel, Guelph

2025 Brian Essery, Welland