Award Sponsored by the Sac. County Deputy Sheriff's Assoc.
Three short years ago the West juggernaut known as SoCal Lockdown was an upstart small market team known as CYA Lockdown. The team was comprised of correctional officers from the California Youth Authority (Chino, Ca.) and played primarily in the local Guns N Hoses events. Then Brandon St. Aubin stepped in as manager and restructured, refocused and revamped the small market team into a legitimate heavyweight contender.
The team, now known as SoCal Lockdown made their first appearance on the big stage in 2009 when they were supposed to play in the small market World Series but instead accepted a bump into the open division. Most expected them to go 0-4 or 1-3 at best, but St. Aubin and his crew went into spoiler mode and started eliminating some high caliber open teams. Lockdown was one of the few teams left standing late on Saturday night when they were finally eliminated by the Bluegrass Lawmen. But by that time, they had already put themselves on the map. As St. Aubin walked out of the complex that night he told Ps.Com tournament directors that he was on a mission to establish his team as a legitimate heavyweight contender and he had a plan.
In 2010 St. Aubin led the team to a 3rd place finish in the Gold division of World Series VI and an overall ranking of 17th in the West. In the off-season St. Aubin made some major moves and essentially staked claim to the entire San Diego area talent pool. At the beginning of this year the team hit the circuit like a sledgehammer and the impact changed the face of the West circuit. Lockdown routinely began posting scores of 30+ per game and routinely began defeating teams that were previously entrenched in the West top 10. Lockdown approached 2011 with a swagger where they now expect to win, not just hope to win. St. Aubin's mindset permeated the team as one of his players posted on the message board that the team would no longer consider even playing in the Gold division. They were designed as a Majors team and wanted to face the best competition, win or lose. In October, they will have their chance.
In addition to being the team's manager, St. Aubin is also a player and rapidly becoming one of the West's top sluggers. Not only has the Lockdown team elevated their game collectively (currently ranked 9th in the West), but St. Aubin has also elevated his game as an individual. Based on the accomplishments of SoCal Lockdown and the leadership & direction given to the team, policesoftball.com is pleased to announce that Brandon St. Aubin is the 2011 West Manager of the Year!
