BMOC XVIII: Andreychuk, McEachern, Onyshko, Orchard, Thibideau

Carter McEachern (Thunder Bay, Ont.) double and homered finishing with four RBIs as the Trinity University Tigers won the Division III National Championship tournament

BMOC Week 18
By Matt Betts
Canadian Baseball Network
College baseball is in full postseason mode with NCAA Division I kicking off conference tournament play this past week. Canadians are yet again front and centre when it comes to their teams top performers. We also have our first Canadian national champion. Here are those top performers from the past week.

McEachern, Trinity win DIII National title
The Trinity University Tigers took home the ultimate prize. They would go 5-0 in the Division III National Championship tournament to claim the title. Their first game would come against Wisconsin La Crosse and they would take that one 8-0. Carter McEachern (Thunder Bay, Ont.) would hit a double and a home run while finishing with four RBIs in the win. He would collect another two hits and a walk against Cortland the Tigers would win their second game 9-7. It would be Cortland again in Game 3 and again Trinity would walk away with the win, this time by a 5-2 score. McEachern would have another hit and RBI. That win would clinch their spot in the championship series against Keystone. Needing two wins to claim the national championship they would get off to a good start by winning Game 1 14-6. McEachern would have another two hit game in that one as well as an RBI. Trinity would clinch the title with a 10-7 Game 2 win, sealing the best-of-three series at 2-0. He would earn a walk and a free pass in the final game. On the year McEachern hit .347 with three home runs and 47 RBIs in 51 games.

Canisius goes 2-2 in MAAC Tournament
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference sure got off to a good start for the Canisius Golden Griffins. They took down Marist 15-8 to kick things off behind seven hits from Jake Lumley (Windsor, Ont.) and Liam Wilson (Ayr, Ont.). Lumley would go 3-for-4 with a pair of walks and score three runs in the win. Wilson was just as good collecting four hits and a RBI in the win.

Siena would provide the opposition in Game 2 and the Griffs would battle their way to an 8-4 win. Lumley would again collect three hits while walking once. Iannick Remillard (Valleyfield, Que.) picked up his 17th save by going the final two innings. He would walk one and strike out one along the way.

Things began to turn sour for the Griffs in Game 3, however. Up against the Stags of Fairfield they would lose their first game of the tournament, 8-5. Lumley stayed red hot at the dish in the loss, going 2-for-4 with a RBI. Fairfield took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth and added two insurance runs in the eighth.

It would be Siena who would end the Griffs postseason run with a 5-0 victory in Game 4 of the tournament. Canisius mustered just five hits, Wilson collected one of them.

Iannick Remillard was also named the 2016 MAAC Reliever of the Year. HE was also named to the All-Conference team along with fellow Canadian teammate Lumley. Canisius finishes the year with a 32-27 record. They made the MAAC tournament for 10th straight season.

Stony Brook’s season comes to end with championship game loss
Canadians Toby Handley (Whitby, Ont.) and Johnny Caputo (Toronto, Ont.) helped their Stony Brook Seawolves reach the America East Tournament Championship game but in the end it wasn’t enough. The Tournament started with a 1-0 win over Maine. Game 2 would end in heartbreaking fashion as they dropped a 7-6 final against Hartford. Caputo would chip in with a hit in that one. Both Canadians would have their best games to date in the tournament in Game 3, a 10-4 win over Albany. Handley would go 2-for-5 with two RBIs while Caputo would also have two hits and two RBIs. They would keep things rolling in Game 4 and punch their ticket to the title game with a 3-2 win over Hartford. Handley would have a hit and Caputo would walk in the victory. Despite a pair of hits from Handley and a single one from Caputo in the championship game the Binghamton Bearcats edge the Seawolves 6-3 to take the crown. They use four runs in the top of the fifth to bury any chance Stony Brook had.

Stony Brook finishes the season with an even 27-27 record. Handley finished the year third on the team in average with a .288 mark.

Black Bears out in 2
Jake Marks (Sarnia, Ont.) would make two appearances in the Maine Black Bears three conference tournament games this past week. He would throw 1/3 of an inning in their opening 1-0 loss to Stony Brook. He would follow that up with a scoreless inning in his teams 11-1 Game 2 win over UMBC. Maine would lose their third game 9-6 to Albany to end their campaign. Jake Osborne (Burlington, Ont.), Pat Coughlin (Cambridge, Ont.) and Matt Coppens (Ajax, Ont.) also play for the Black Bears.

Bearcats headed to College Station
Luke Tevlin (Toronto, Ont.) and his Binghamton Bearcat teammates are off to College Station, Texas for a regional berth after claiming the America East Tournament championship. They ran the table in the tournament and now have a date with regional host and national powerhouse Texas A&M in Game 1 of regional. Tevlin is currently hitting .250 on the year in 13 games played.

Virginia set to host regional
The Virginia Cavaliers will be one of 16 host sites for the NCAA Division I regionals as announced this past week. In ACC championship pool play, the Cavs went 1-2. Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) would have two hits and two RBIs in the Cavs opening game 5-4 loss to Clemson. He would again have a pair of hits and RBIs in Game 2, but it wasn’t a better outcome as Wake Forest walked away with a 10-9 win. They would pick up their lone win over Louisville by downing the Cardinals 7-2. Pinero would have a hit and draw a walk in the win. Charlottesville, Va. will be the host city for a regional with the Cavaliers kicking things off June 3rd with a game against William & Mary.

Osprey take home pair of wins at Atlantic Sun Tournament
There was no time waste for Chris Thibideau (Dartmouth, NS) in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. He would jump all over Florida Gulf Coast pitching in the opening game, collect a pair of hits, a walk and a RBI. North Florida would win the game 12-6.

After winning a 1-0, 10 inning nail biter against Lipscomb, things would go down hill for UNF. Thibideau would earn free pass and drive in a run but the Stetson Hatters would drop the Osprey 7-6 in Game 3. Florida Gulf Coast would get their revenge in Game 4 of the tournament for UNF by shooting down the Osprey 3-2, ending their tournament. Thibideau would have a hit in the deciding game loss.

Orchard contributes for FGCU
He may not have been in the lineup for Game 1 of the Atlantic Sun Tournament but Zachary Orchard (Cambridge, Ont.) made his presence felt in a 6-0 Game 2 win over Kennesaw State. Orchard would go 2-for-3 in the game with a walk and RBI while guiding the pitchers from behind the dish. His play earned the sophomore another start against North Florida. They would win the game 3-2 behind a hit from the Canadian. The run would end with a 5-4 loss to Stetson in the championship game. Orchard would make the start behind the plate for FGCU. Big things are sure to be on the horizon for the Cambridge native.

Stetson heading to Coral Gables, Fla.
The Stetson Hatters are off to a NCAA Regional in Coral Gables, Fla. after winning the Atlantic Sun championship. Ben Onyshko (Winnipeg, Man.) started and went 3 1/3 innings in a 7-6 win over North Florida. The win secured Stetson’s spot in the championship game. They will open up regional play with a tough test against Miami.

Bulldogs set to play host
It may have been a 1-2 finish at the SEC Tournament for Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) and the Mississippi State Bulldogs but they were still selected as a host site for a NCAA regional. Things would get off well for MSU as they took down Alabama in Game 1 of the tournament, 4-1. Robson would chip in with a hit against the Tide. Louisiana State would hand the Bulldogs their first loss of the tournament by a score of 6-2. Robson would have a hit and one of the two RBIs in the game. Game 3 was just straight up ugly and over in seven innings as the Florida Gators strolled to a 12-2 win and eliminate MSU. In that game Robson would earn a pair of walks.

Seattle loses in WAC Championship game
Seattle University lost in the Western Athletic Conference for the second straight year. Griffin Andreychuk (Nanaimo, BC) was a member of both of those teams. In the opener of the 2016 tournament, Andreychuk would walk twice and knock in a run as Seattle topped Sacramento State 5-4. Utah Valley, who would be Seattle’s downfall, took a Game 2 win over Seattle by a 13-8 score. To earn their shot in the championship game Seattle had to beat New Mexico State and they did just that, 12-10. Andreychuk had a monster game to push Seattle to the final by going 2-for-5 with four RBIs. In the final against Utah Valley he would have a hit and a walk but it just wasn’t enough at Seattle was shutout 4-0. Seattle is currently 37-21.

Greenough named Academic All-PacWest
It is not necessarily just the play on the field that gets players recognized in the BMOC. Harrison Greenough (Markham, Ont.) was recently named to the Academic All-PacWest team. In order to qualify players must have a cumulative 3.0 GPA.

Other Greenough named to 1st Team
Right handed pitcher Hunter Greenough (Markham, Ont.) who is the brother of the Greenough above was named to the Western State Conference South All-Conference First team. On the year the righty was 0-1 with a save over 19 appearances 3.62 ERA. He threw 31 1/3 innings with 27 strikeouts and nine walks.

Misic doesn’t miss a beat
It was a outstanding finish to the year for Cooper Misic (Surrey, BC) of Galveston College. He would wrap up his year with two solid appearances. The first would come against Panola, he would go 2 1/3 scoreless with a strikeout in the 3-2 Galveston win. Galveston would lose their final game to Alvin, 5-4, in the Region XIV Tournament. Misic would throw 1 1/3 scoreless innings again with two strikeouts. Not a bad way to personally end the season. He did not allow an earned run in his last four appearances that spanned 17 2/3 innings. He struck out 12 and walked none over that span.

There no doubt is more to come from Canadians in college baseball as postseason play goes on. The Junior College World Series titles are up for grabs with plenty of Canadians suiting up while others go for their respective titles. Canadians are still playing at all levels across the board. It is as exciting time as ever to be a college baseball fan. Make sure to check back next week to see what’s news in the BMOC.

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