* Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.), of the Ontario Blue Jays, showed his stuff at the Perfect Game All-American Classic before 6,438 fans at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif. .... 2014 Canadians in the Minors … Canadians in College 2015 Canadian draft list Letters of Intent

 

By Bob Elliott

Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) was hitless in two at-bats with a stolen base for the West in a 7-0 win over the East at the Perfect Game All-American Classic before 6,438 fans at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif.

DH Naylor, the second Canadian to be named to the Classic, hit a ground ball to shortstop that appeared to be a possible double play ball, but instead a miscue on the feed to the second baseman ended up in the outfield and the runner came around to score the game’s first run. Parker Kelly, former Markham Mariner and brother of former St. Louis Cardinals farmhand Carson Kelly was then hit by a pitch, loading the bases with still no outs.

Naylor later scored on the second of two wild pitches.

Naylor tossed flipped to the pitcher covering for the final out and send both teams into a frenzied dog pile between first base and the pitcher’s mound.

 

First teamer: Brett Siddall (Windsor, Ont.) has earned Perfect Game Summer Collegiate First-Team All-American. Siddall was one of 17 players from eight summer leagues across the country to be named to the First Team.

Siddall played for the Lakeshore Chinooks, who won the Northwoods League championship and was named the Perfect Game Summer Collegiate Team of the Year.

He hit .313 with 13 doubles and nine home runs to go along with 43 RBI and 32 walks. Siddall earned Northwoods League Mid-Season All-Star honors, won the Home Run Derby and received post-season All-Star honors from the league as well.

Siddall, son of Blue Jays broadcaster Joe Siddall, also was named the No. 27 prospect in the Northwoods League on Wednesday.

During the 2014 season, Siddall hit .333 with 11 doubles, three triples and three home runs to go along with 43 RBIs en route to being named to the All-MAAC First Team and the MAAC Player of the Week twice.

 

WBC-ing you: South Dakota State Jackrabbits 3B Jordan Varga (Port Coquitlam, BC) had a pair of hits for the San Diego Waves in a 4-3 win over the Fairbanks Gold Panners to advance to the semi-finals at the 80th National Baseball Congress at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in Wichita, Kan.

In the opener of the 16-team tournament, Varga doubled and drove in a run in a 6-4 loss to the Hays (KS) Larks.

Next, Varga had two singles and an knocked in a run as San Diego beat the San Antonio Titans 6-4 as the Waves evened their record at 1-1 in the double knockout tourney.

Varga again had two hits and drove in a run as the Waves best the Wellington (KS) Heat 7-6.

After beating Fairbanks, San Diego advanced to the semis where Varga was hitless in a 5-1 loss to the Santa Barbara (CA) Foresters, the eventual champs.

Varga had the best average with the San Diego team batting .389 (7-for-19) with a double, three RBIs and an .865 OPS.

At South Dakota State, Varga hit .214 with four doubles, 13 RBIs and a .553 OPS in 37 games, making 29 starts.

The NBC has seen the likes of Hall of Famers like: Whitey Herzog, Satchel Paige, Tom Seaver, Don Sutton, Dave Winfield, Ozzie Smith, Tony Gwynn.

All are in Cooperstown and the WBC Hall of Fame as well, along with the Bob Boone, Joe Carter, Chris Chambliss, Ron Guidry, Rick Monday, Allie Reynolds, Roger Clemens, Graig Nettles, Mark McGwire, John Olerud, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Kirk Gibson, Mark Grace, Will Clark, Robin Ventura, Burt Hooton, Mike Hargrove and Lance Berkman.

 

Medal counts: There were eight Baseball Canada championships up for grabs.

Who fared the best?

Well do you go by total medals or golds which is the debate each Olympic year.

Quebec won the most golds, while Ontario had the most medals

 

Province Gold-Silver-Bronze-Total

Ontario 2 3 3 -- 8

BC 2 2 2 -- 6

Quebe 3 0 2 -- 5

Alberta 1 2 0 -- 3

N.B. 0 1 0 -- 1

Manitoba 0 0 1 -- 1

 

Ontario 8: 2 golds (13U, 15U), 3 silver (senior, women’s senior, womens 16U), 3 bronze (21U, senior Ontario 2, 13U host London).

British Columbia 6: 2 gold (Canada Cup, senior), 2 silver (13U, 21U), 2 bronze (15U, women’s senior).

Québec 5: 3 gold (18U, 21U, women’s 16U), 2 bronze (Canada Cup, 18U Quebec 2).

Alberta 3: 1 gold (women’s senior), silver (Canada Cup, 18U).

New Brunswick 1: silver (15U).

Manitoba 1: bronze (women’s 16U).