* RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) an Ontario Terriers grad was named the top prospect in the Coastal Plain summer college league by Baseball America. .... 2014 Canadians in the Minors .… Canadians in College 2015 Canadian draft list Letters of Intent

 

By Bob Elliott The summer reviews are in and Baseball America has tabbed RHP Cal Quantrill the No. 1 prospect in the Coastal Plain summer college league.

Pitching for Morehead City (NC) Marlins he walked nine and struck out 33 in 23 innings, while going 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA in four starts.

As a freshman at Stanford last spring, Quantrill struck out 98 and walked 34 in 110 2/3 innings posting a 2.68 ERA while compiling a 7-5 record with a 2.68 ERA in 18 games, making 17 starts.

The review:

1. Cal Quantrill, rhp, Morehead City (So., Stanford)

Quantrill ranked No. 95 in the BA 500 before the draft in 2013 largely because of his advanced feel for pitching. He’s still showing that feel after a year with Stanford and in the Coastal Plain League. Quantrill’s three-pitch arsenal includes a fastball that sits in the low 90s and bumps 94-95, a plus changeup and a 79-81 mph breaking ball—all of which he will throw in any count. One CPL coach called his feel for pitching “off the charts.” Quantrill has started to fill out his 6-foot-3, 185-pound, helping him add some velocity on his fastball. The combination of stuff, command, size and toughness make Quantrill a premium draft prospect for 2016.

 

Coach K: Christian Kowalchuk was a rarity amongst Canadians playing college ball south of the border when he pitched for the Arkansas Razorbacks in the 2009 College World Series in Omaha.

And now Kowalchuk (Saskatoon, Sask.) is one of the few Canadians working at the NCAA level.

He’s the fourth Canadian coaching NCAA Division I and the first Canadian in the Southeastern Conference.

Mike McRae (Niagara Falls, Ont.) is the boss of the Canisius Griffins in Buffalo.

Brad Cochrane (Burlington Ont.) is an assistant coach for the Buffalo Bulls.

Lawrence Scully (East York, Ont.) was pitching coach/recruiting coordinator for the Murray State Racers last spring, becomes the pitching coach with the Bradley Braves.

Coach Dave Van Horn hired Kowalchuk to be one of the assistant coaches after Kowalchuk spent two years pitching for the Seward County Saints, making the first ever NJCAA Div. 1 USA all-star team and also making the Athletic Directors honor roll.

Then, he moved on to pitch two years for the Razorbacks and two years as a manager of the Arkansas team.

Kowalchuk will work alongside pitching coach Dave Jorn with the pitchers, outfielders, hitters and serve as the first base coach.

Kowalchuk earned a degree in economics, his master’s degree in education in December of 2013, and has completed his first semester toward achieving his master’s degree in sports management.

The University of Arkansas honoured Kowalchuk “outstanding master’s student” at the master’s level after achieving a perfect 4.0 GPA in April of 2013.

 

High marks: Connor Panas has been named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference male

student-Athlete of the Year in a vote of the league’s sports information directors. Panas is the second Canisius baseball player to win the award in the past four years as Sean Jamieson (Simcoe, Ont.) claimed the award in 2011.

“I am extremely proud of Connor’s achievement,” coach Mike McRae said. “This award epitomizes the marriage of athletics and academics. Connor’s passion and drive has enabled him to be extremely successful on and off the field. The MAAC has rewarded a very deserving young man.”

Panas (Toronto, Ont.) a former Toronto Met, claimed a number of awards after a prolific junior season including Louisville Slugger second-team all-american, Capital One academic second-Team all-american, ABCA third-team all-american, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year and ECAC Division I first-team all-star. A unanimous choice to the All-MAAC first team, a Louisville Slugger national player of the week, a two-time MAAC player of the week and an ABCA Northeast all-region first-team selection.

Panas, who has a 3.77 GPA and is majoring in physical education, was third in the MAAC in batting average (.362), first in home runs (six), RBI (51) and slugging percentage (.574), second in doubles (16) and fifth in on-base percentage (.443). The third baseman was one of four players at the Division I level with a .350 batting average, 50 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Panas reached base in 43 of 47 starts, including the final 18 games of the season, and 10 of 19 times in the MAAC Championship. He had a career-long 15-game hitting streak and led the team with 22 multi-hit games.

Briefly: The Toronto Mets 18U won a Pan Am 2015 Test Event Tournament played at the Ajax Sportsplex where the Games will take place next July. The Mets 18U started out losing to the Great Lakes Canadians as LHP Matt Jones had a good outing. They then beat Etobicoke Midgets, Ontario Terriers 17s and a very close game with the Mets 17U.  A tie with the Ontario Terriers 18U left them 3-1-1 in the round robin and semi-final matchup with the Terriers 18U. A 2-0 victory got the Mets 18U to the finals against the Great Lakes Canadians again and after a strong CG performance by RHP Austin Tanfield, the Mets won the championship with a 8-0 win ... LHP Steven Dressler (Burlington, Ont.), an Ontario Blue Jays grad, of the Cisco Wranglers will pitch in the Texas/New Mexico JUCO all-star game in Round Rock Tex. Sept. 25-27.