Morgan cut by Ontario, Mets' Botter pitches no-no in Indy
* Toronto Mets RHP Christian Botter no hits the Oakland Whitecaps 3-0 on 84 at the Pastime National 18U championships in Indianapolis .... 2012 Canadians in the Minors 2012 Canadians Drafted 2012 Canadians in College Letters of Intent Canuck$ with $ix-figure $igning bonu$e$ MLB to stage open workout camps
By Bob Elliott
You can find Gareth Morgan on the Perfect Game scouting service list of prospects for 2014.
He’s ranked the eighth-best prospect in North America.
You can find Morgan with the Greg Hamilton's Canadian Junior National Team.
The North York outfielder usually hits in the middle of the order and is about to begin his third year with the program.
Yet you won’t find him in London next Wednesday as the annual Canada Cup begins with Ontario playing Quebec at 9 a.m. at Labatt Park.
Coach Marc Picard didn’t select Morgan for his roster.
“Does Gareth have all the tools to be an outstanding ball player? Yes he does,” said Picard from Windsor. “At this point in time as a staff we thought there are more polished players defensively in terms of this tournament.”
Instead, the Ontario outfield will consist of Oakville’s Danny Beaver, a speedy centre fielder; Brampton’s Daniel Bignall; Whitby’s J.D. Osborne; and Essex’s Justin Orton, who can also play third or catch.
“We were happy Gareth came out, he didn’t have to, he’s already with the Junior Team,” said Picard, referring to how the Cup leads into the junior national team feeder system.
“We look forward to Gareth being a part of the next year,” said Picard, looking for his 14th Canadian title.
Ontario’s Canada Cup roster includes players from:
--The Toronto Mets, coached by Ryan McBride: Christian Botter, Brent Cleland, Adam Jafine, Zachary Lampreia, J.D. Osborne and Michael Bucci, who also plays for East York.
--The Windsor Selects, coached by Chris Soulliere: Matt Glassman, Matt Deneau, Jake Lumley, Daniel Procopio and Justin Orton. Lumley, Procopio and Orton are the only three holdovers from last year's gold-medal winning team.
--Ontario Blue Jays, coached by Dino Roumel and Chris Darling: Malik Collymore, Joshua Williams and Sean Ratcliffe.
--The Oakville A’s, coached by Jim Findlay: Blake Weston and Danny Beaver.
--Team Ontario, coached by Murray Marshall: Daniel Bignall.
--The London Badgers, coached by Mike Lumley: Andrew Warner.
--The Oakville Royals, coached by Jason Booth: Nathan Halliday.
SOLID SECOND: Finishing second isn’t much fun.
Second out of 100? Now, that’s an accomplishment.
The Toronto Mets lost 13-3 to Razorback Baseball in the final of the Pastime National 18U championships in Indianapolis.
To get there, the Mets went 3-1 in round-robin play, advancing as the 32nd seed.
The Mets beat the two-time defending champion Ohio Warhawks 6-5 in the semi-finals as shortstop Mitch Triolo had three hits including a double and two RBIs, while Connor Ledger and Dave Marcus had two hits apiece.
Lefty Jack Dennis pitched a four hitter, his second complete game, to beat Team Pro Player (McHenry, Ill.) 10-1 in the quarters. Brent Cleland, Johnny Caputo, Ledger and Triolo had two hits each.
Yuji Suzuki worked five innings for the win and Jordan Giller gained the save in a 7-3 win over the Green Bay Rays as Triolo and Caputo had three hits.
Ledger had four hits, including a homer, knocking in six as the Mets beat No. 1 seed Fort Wayne Cubs 15-7. Caputo knocked in three.
Right-hander Christian Botter no-hit the Oakland Whitecaps 3-0 on 84 pitches in round-robin play. Botter walked one and struck out eight.
The Mets opened with a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Gamers, beat the Top Tier Nationals 6-2 on Triolo three hits and Dennis’ arm and edged the Kentucky Elite 4-1 as Cleland pitched six innings and Shawn Lee had two hits.
The Mets first hitters in the order did the damage: Lead-off man Ledger hit .433 (13-for-30) with four doubles, a triple, a homer and eight RBIs, Triolo hit .516 (16-for-31) with three doubles, a triple and nine RBIs and No. 3 man Caputo hit .400 (12-for-30) with three doubles, three triples and 11 RBIs.
Dennis pitched 14 innings (two earned runs) walking two and striking nine to run his record to 8-2.
Overall, the Mets 18U went 7-2 on the tournament.
ROYALS REIGN: The Oakville Royals reached the playoff round in Indianapolis as the 28th seed beat 5th-seeded Bloomington, Ill., 5-3. Patrick Pinlac homered.
Pitching on short rest, Mark Wilush was outstanding for the Royals in a 3-1 loss to the Ohio Warhawks. Chase Dobbie doubled and scored on a Cam Wilkie grounder.
Adam Prashad pitched six innings as Oakville lost its opener 3-1 to the Dayton Classics.
Matt Lahn hit a walk-off single in a 3-2 win over the Indiana Breakers. Oakville then beat Penn Gold 7-3 and Team Fastball USA 7-2.