Peragine, Nivins, Black all-conf, plus PG, BA ratings & more

* SS Cole Peragine (Belle Ewart, Ont.), above, and OF Tanner Nivins (Kitchener, Ont.) both of the Stony Brook Seawolves, plus 2B Troy Black (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Maine Black Bears earned spots on the America East pre-season, all-conference honours. ....  2012 Most Influential Canadians 2012 All-Canadian Team 2012 All-Canadian stats

2013 Canadians in College  Letters of Intent 2012 Canadians in the Minors  2012 Canadians Drafted 2012-13 Canadians at Canadian schools

By Bob Elliott

The title at the top of the list of all-conference players read America East.

It could have been renamed North America East.

No less than three Canadians earned pre-season America East all-conference honours in selections by the highly-respected, Perfect Game Scouting Service.

SS Cole Peragine (Belle Ewart, Ont.) and OF Tanner Nivins (Kitchener, Ont.) of the Stony Brook Seawolves earned spots, as did 2B Troy Black (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Maine Black Bears.

Peragine earned America East Rookie of the Year and All-America East Second Team honours, as well as Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and NCWBA second team freshman All-American honours last spring.

A former Ontario Terrier under coaches Danny Thompson and Scott Van de Valk, Peragine hit .304 in 66 games with 11 doubles, six triples and 39 RBIs with a .797 OPS in 2012.

Nivins earned First Team America East honours last spring after hitting .306 in 62 games with 11 doubles, three triples, two homers and 34 RBIs. Another former Terrier who played for Thompson, he had a .417 slugging percentage, a .377 on-base mark and a .794 OPS.

Black hit .338 with 21 RBIs. The Team Ontario grad played for coach Murray Marshall.  

Both Peragine and Nivins earned Second Team honours in 2012 on the 13th annual Canadian Baseball Network all-Canadian college team, while Black picked up Honourable Mention honours.

Writes Kendall Rogers for Perfect Game: Stony Brook had one of the most famous campaigns in college history last season by winning the Coral Gables Regional and LSU Super Regional on the way to the College World Series. Though the Seawolves have some holes to replace, they still should be very entering the spring. The Seawolves welcome back five of their top eight hitters, including outfielders Steven Goldstein (.337/4/34) and Tanner Nivins (.306/2/34) in addition to catcher Kevin Krause (.33/3/40), shortstop Cole Peragine (.304/0/39) and first baseman Kevin Courtney (.293/4/38). Nivins had a great fall showing great bat speed, while Peragine is a good defender and switch hitter with gap power. Also keep an eye on big-time freshman third baseman Johnny Caputo, who was a 12th-round pick to Oakland last summer ... SBU should have a solid starting rotation and pitching staff this spring. Junior right-hander Brandon McNitt tallied a 2.76 ERA in 104 1/3 innings last season, while fellow right Frankie Vanderka is coming off a great fall. Vanderka is 85-88 with his FB, while he also mixes in a CB and SL with good command. Also keep an eye on outstanding freshman left-handed pitcher Daniel Zamora. Zamora is 87-89 from the left side with a good breaking ball and command, while junior Josh Mason is 88-90 FB with a hard and sharp breaking ball.

And more honours: Mike Ellis (Langley, BC), Florida International, earned pre-season Sun Belt First Team and Pitcher of the Year honours. Ellis had a 3.13 ERA with a 3-2 record, striking out 88 in 83 1/3 innings, showing an 90-92 MPH fastball. Florida International opened the season Saturday by hosting Stony Brook ... Mid-Atlantic Conference pre-season Perfect Game honours to two of Mike McRae’s (Niagara Falls, Ont.) Canisius Golden Griffs: RHP Devon Stewart (Maple Ridge, BC) 6-4 with a 3.80 ERA walking 31 and striking out 60 in 94 2/3 innings last year. RP Jon Fitzsimmons (London, Ont.) Canisius, was 3-2 with a 3.42 ERA, picking up 11 saves. In 25.1 innings he walked 17 and fanned 34 ... All-Southern Conference pre-season First Team honours 3B Trevor Edwards (Toronto, Ont.) North Carolina-Greensboro Spartans, coming off .282 average, 11 HRs, nine doubles, 28 RBIs.

Adam Nelubowich (Stony Plain, Alta.) Washington State, ranked 99th.

Freshmen on Perfect Game’s top 100 list: No. 37 LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) Arizona State; No. 85 OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) Mississippi State.

Top freshmen in conference: Perfect Game and Baseball America’s choice in the America East -- 3B Johnny Caputo (Toronto, Ont.) Stony Brook; Perfect Game’s Mid-Atlantic -- OF Brett Siddall (Windsor, Ont.) Canisius, Siddall No. 2 on Baseball America list.

Draft ratings 2013: RHP Nic Pivetta (Victoria, BC) New Mexico JC ranked No. 3 on Perfect Game’s top 200 JUCO prospects; No. 6 on Baseball America’s top 25 JUCO list after hitting 97 MPH six times in Halloween scrimmage ... OF-3B Adam Nelubowich (Stony Plain, Alta.) Washington State, 13th on Baseball America’s top 15 from Pac-12, Nelubowich 20th on Perfect Game’s top 20 prospects from Pac-12 ... Rest of Perfect Game’s top 200 JUCO prospects No. 124 RHP Andrew Cooper (Belle River, Ont.) Sierra; No. 135 OF Bryan Saucedo (Toronto, Ont.) Riverside; No. 168 RHP Skylar Janisse (Maidstone, Ont.) Salt Lake; No. 197 LHP Jake Hansen (Fort McLeod, Alta.) Pensacola State ... Best of Mid-Atlantic: RP Jon Fitzsimmons (London, Ont.) Canisius, No. 5 on both Perfect Game and Baseball America’s top five rankings ... Perfect Game’s America East top prospect 3B Alex Calbick (Burnaby, BC) Maine ... RHP Dylan Rheault (Sudbury, Ont.) Central Michigan, No. 3 on Baseball America’s top Mid-America Conference prospect list; No. 5 on Perfect Game’s top 10 ... OF Jordan Boston (Brampton, Ont.) Alcorn State. eighth on Baseball America’s top 10 list from Southwestern Conference ... RHP Ryan Thompson (Calgary, Alta.) Franklin Pierce, No. 3 on Baseball America’s top 10 NCAA Div-II list, 19th on Perfect Game’s top 25 list ... LHP Conor Lillis-White (Toronto, Ont.) UBC, 10th on Perfect Game top 25 NAIA list, RHP Matt Thornton (Campbell River, BC) UBC, 16th and C Greg Densem (Toronto, Ont.) UBC, 25th.

Draft ratings 2014: OF Gareth Morgan (North York, Ont.) Ontario Blue Jays/Team Canada Jrs. ranked No. 14th on the Perfect Game’s list of the top 300 high schoolers, down from seventh ... No. 1 in America East: SS Cole Peragine (Belle Ewart, Ont.), Stony Brook; No. 3 on Baseball America’s list ... Best of the Mid-Atlantic Conference: No. 2 on top three list: RHP Devon Stewart (Maple Ridge, BC) Canisius;

Draft ratings 2015: OF Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, Ont.) Ottawa Nepean Canadians/Team Canada No. 158th on Perfect Game top 200 HSers list; OF-1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) Ontario Blue Jays/Team Canada Jrs. No. 176 ... America East top prospect: 3B Johnny Caputo (Toronto, Ont.) Stony Brook ... Best of the Perfect Game Mid-Atlantic Conference: No. 1 OF Brett Siddall (Windsor, Ont.) Canisius.

Letters of intent: LHP Michael Bucci (Toronto, Ont.) has signed letter of intent to Niagara University ... RHP Jake Shaw (St. John, NB) Northern Kentucky University ... INF Raphael Gladu (Trois-Rivieres, Que.) to Galveston College; INF-RHP Luke Manuel (Surrey, BC) San Jacinto College ... RHP Riley Pollard (Brampton, Ont.) to El Paso Community College ... 3B Jean-Philippe Rousseau (Blainville, Que.) New Mexico Jr. College ... RHP David Ertl (Hamilton, Ont.) to Southwest Tennessee Community College ... RHP John Lamanna (East York, Ont.) to Niagara County Community College