BMOC VIII: Beeton, Dimitroff, Osborne, Pilgrim, Rose, Williams

BMOC Week 8
By Matt Betts
Canadian Baseball Network
Week eight of the Big Man On Campus brings us more new faces that are putting together standout weeks for their respective schools. Eight weeks in and things are certainly heating up at all levels of college baseball. Let’s take a look at who stepped up for their school.

Diewert dazzles for Polk State
Might as well kick off the new week with a new name. Zach Diewert (Chamainus, BC) would get his week started with a hit, a RBI and a pair of runs scored for Polk State in their 12-6 midweek win over Hillsborough Community College. Florida Southwestern would provide the opposition on the weekend and Diewert would make their pitchers pay for their mistakes. In Game 1 he would make his lone hit count by launching a home run in the 5-3 win. He would also add an additional RBI. Game 2 would be pushed back a day but that wouldn’t slow Diewert down. He would go 2-for-6 with a double, a RBI and a run scored. Polk State would drop that one 7-6 in 11 innings. He would have arguably his best game of the week in the finale, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored in the 8-2 win. Polk State improved to 20-10 on the season. Diewert is now hitting .299 with four home runs, 15 RBIs, 28 runs while swiping 12 bases. 

Beaton helps EMU down Dayton
It was Matthew Beaton (Guelph, Ont.) picking up the win for Eastern Michigan in their game with Dayton this past week. He would toss 1 1/3 of relief and did not surrender a hit or a run. He walked no one and recorded a pair of strikeouts. He is now 1-1 on the campaign.

Williams with big weekend for UAPB
Josh Williams (Toronto, Ont.) would have a hit in all four games this past week for the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff. He would get it started in a 6-5 midweek loss to Memphis. He would have a hit, a walk, a RBI and a run scored in that one. Next up was a weekend set with Prairie View A&M. In the Game 1, an 11-1 UAPB win, Williams would again have a hit and a walk, this time he would cross the plate twice. Game 2 would be another blowout win in favour of the Golden Lions, this time by a 12-0 score. Williams would go 2-for-2 with another walk, two RBIs and two runs scored in that one. He would round out his week with a hit, a walk and another two runs in the 21-1 Game 3 win. Arkansas Pine Bluff would outscore Prairie View A&M 44-2 on the weekend.

Tampa drops 2-of-3
It was a disappointing weekend for the University of Tampa Spartans as they dropped a pair of games to the Sharks of Nova Southeastern. J.D. Osborne (Whitby, Ont.) did his part to try and lead his team to victory. First lets take it a step back however, to a Monday game against Bridgeport. Osborne would go 2-for-3 in that game with two RBIs and two runs scored in the 17-4 Tampa win. He carried that momentum into the weekend series with conference rival Nova Southeastern. Game 1 would see Osborne have another multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 in the 4-1 loss. Tampa would grind out their only win of the series in 10 innings in Game 2. Osborne would again go 2-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs while crossing the dish with the winning run on a throwing error by the second baseman. He also had a double in the extra inning that scored teammate Danny Lee to tie the game. In the final game of the series, a 7-4 loss, Osborne would again double and score a run. Tampa takes on Valdosta State at home and then head to Daytona Beach, FL for a date with Liam Goodall and the Embry-Riddle Eagles.

Goodall keeps gaining steam
It was two midweek games with the University of West Florida Argonauts where Liam Goodall (Nanaimo, BC) would get his week off to a good start. In the first game he would have an RBI double in his teams 4-1 win. The next night he would double again on route to going 2-for-4 in Embry-Riddle’s 3-2, 11 innings win. Florida Southern would slow down the Eagles on the weekend by taking 2-of-3 but they had a hard time slowing down Goodall. In the opener he would go 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. In the third and final game of the series he would explode for a 4-for-5 day that included a home run and a walk.

Pilgrim pitches Northwest Nazarene to win
It was a seven inning affair between Northwest Nazarene and Western Oregon in Game 4 of their series over the weekend and it was a Canadian pitching the visitors to victory. Justin Pilgrim (Pitt Meadows, BC) would improve his record to 3-0 on the year by going four innings, allowing three hits and a run with no walks or strikeouts. Northwest Nazarene would take the game 4-2.

Bednarski picks up win
Daniel Bednarski (Victoria, BC) would also pick up a win on the weekend for Colorado Christian University. He would break his personal goose egg in the win column by going 4 1/3 innings of relief, giving up just three hits and a run. He wouldn’t walk a batter and would strikeout four. The Cougars downed the Metropolitan State University of Denver 9-7. Bednarski now sits at 1-3 on the year.

Honeysett sets the tone for Central Washington
It was a lead by example kind of game for Darren Honeysett (Port Coquitlam, BC) in his teams opening game against Saint Martin’s. He would go 2-for-4 which included a double, two walks, two RBIs and four runs scored in the 17-9 Central Washington win. He would hit another double, walk twice and score two more runs over the rest of the series. Central Washington took three of a possible four games against Saint Martin’s.

Rose reaches five times
It was a disappointing weekend for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds as they were swept in their three game series with the College of Idaho. Brendan Rose (Calgary, Alta.) would have himself a solid weekend despite the team results. He would go 2-for-4 in the 8-2 opening game loss. It was a hit, a RBI and a stolen base in Game 2 for the third year player. He would collect another hit while also walking and scoring a run in the finale.

Charron goes yard
It may have been an ugly 22-7 loss for Jacob Charron (Ottawa, Ont.) and his Crowder College team against Neosho County, but he did provide some fireworks along the way. He would swat a home run for Crowder while walking and scoring another run. After getting a hit against Connors State, he would leg out a triple against St. Charles. He would also add a walk and a run scored to top off his weekend. 

Dimitroff knocks in six in three games
Bryce Dimitroff (Burlington, Ont.) provided the punch for the Connors State Cowboys this past week. In their first game against Ozark University, an 8-2 win, he would collect a hit, a RBI and a run scored. He would then go deep on route to a four RBI game against Coffeyville. He would have another hit as well in that contest, which Connors State won 18-0. In the final game against Jacob Charron and Crowder he would go 2-for-6 with a double, a RBI and a run scored. 

Swift six
Austen Swift (Etobicoke, Ont.) had six hits over the last week for Blinn College. The highlight of the week was a 4-for-4 game against Laredo in which he homered and doubled. He finished that game with two RBIs and three runs scored.

Cina solid for NCCC
It was a hit and a walk in Niagara County Community College’s opener against Itasca that got Zarley Cina (Kitchener, Ont.) going over the weekend. After being held off the board in the second game he would go 3-for-4 with an RBI in their third game against Minnesota State. He would then walk and turn it into a run in the second game against the Spartans.

Renaud driving in, scoring runs
Laine Renaud (Hamilton, Ont.) had a hit, a walk, two RBIs and a run scored in Niagara County Community College’s opener against Itasca. He would also have a pair of hits and a run scored in a 7-0 win over Minnesota State.

Lee was loose
It would be hard not to get in a rhythm playing for Mohawk Valley Community College over the last week as they played seven games. Dylan Lee (London, Ont.) would have four hits and three walks over that span. He would also toss 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief along the way against Montgomery. He wouldn’t allow a hit or a run while walking one and striking out one.

VanSnick slick for Camden
Ryan VanSnick (Baxters Corner, BC) had a busy week as well playing for Camden County. VanSnick and his team would play six games and he would have four hits an a walk. He would also knock in a pair of runs while scoring three himself.

It was another exciting week for Canadians in college baseball. New faces continue to pop up while some of the reoccurring players try to become household names. It will be interesting to see what week nine has in store.

If you know of someone deserving of a mention in the weekly BMOC column please email Matt Betts @ mattbetts41@gmail.com