The ABC's Simon Lusignan (Varennes, Que.) was part of a combined no-hit win in the finale of the 16U Perfect Game finale.

By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network

Take your choice.

There was the 1998 Atlanta Braves pitching staff of Greg Maddux (18-9, 2.22), Tom Glavine (20-6, 2.47), Denny Neagle (16-11, 3.55), Kevin Millwood (17-8, 4.08) and John Smoltz (17-3, 2.90)

Maybe you prefer the 1986 New York Mets with Ron Darling (15-6, 2.81), Dwight Gooden (17-6, 2.84), Sid Fernandez (16-6, 3.52), Bob Ojeda (18-5, 2.57) and Rick Aguilera (10-7, 3.88)

Or maybe the 1971 Baltimore Orioles with Mike Cueller (20-9, 3.08), Pat Dobson (20-8, 2.90), Jim Palmer (20-9, 2.68) and Dave McNally (21-5, 2.68).

And some older people might chose the 1954 Cleveland Indians’ staff consisting of Early Wynn (23-11, 2.73), Mike Garcia (19-8, 2.64), Bob Lemon (23-7, 2.72), Art Houtteman (15-7, 3.35) and Bob Feller (13-3, 3.09).

On a sandlot basis, the staff the Academy Baseball Canada assembled would be have to be one of the best amateur groups ever put together.

For example ABC had Jaycob Lachance, Cédric De Grandpré, Simon Lusignan, William Lacroix and Connor Hodge combined to pitch 21 1/3 innings allowing ZERO runs.

ZERO!

The staff pitched four shut outs in six games, including a 6-0 win -- a combined no hitter, no less -- over the NTX Titans McMahan 16U in the final to win the Perfect Game 16U Invitational at Clay Gould Ballpark on the University of Texas-Arlington campus.

How a few member of coach Robbie Fatal’s teams fared as pitching coach Rene-Dave Pelchat’s ABC staff dominated the 30-team tourney:

_ Lachance (Sainte-Anne-De-La-Pérade, Que.) pitched 6 2/3 innings walking four and striking out nine.

_ De Grandpré (St-Simon-De-Bagot, Que.) pitched six scoreless walking two and fanning two.

_ Lusignan (Varennes, Que.) pitched 4 1/3 scoreless walking four and striking out a pair.

_ Hodge (Île Bizard, Que.) pitched three scoreless striking out five.

_ And Lacroix (Laval, Que.) pitched 1 1/3 innings striking out two.

Wild win over Waco in opener: SS Yohann Dessureault (Trois-Rivieres, Que.) doubled and singled to lead the ABC’s eight-hit attack in a 9-4 win against the Waco Storm Astros at FWISD-Benbrook. 1B Jason Begin (Sherbrooke, Que.) also had a pair of hits. Sébastien Simard (Gatineau, Que.) pitched 2 1/3 innings allowing two runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out one. Lachance pitched 1 2/3 inning giving up an unearned run and striking out three. Nathan Petit-Fréchette (Drummondville, Que.) worked one inning allowing one run on two hits. 3B Alfonso Villalobos (Kirkland, Que.) doubled driving in two runs, while CF Simon Menier (Chicoutimi, Que.) tripled in a run. The other hits went to RF Jean-Christophe Masson (Levis, Que.) and C Nicolas Deschamps (Quebec, Que.), while DH Nicolas Tremblay (Mont St-Hilaire, Que.) drove in a run.

Two in a row: 3B Villalobos doubled knocking in three runs as the ABC thumped Sticks Baseball Academy 2020 Elite 10-0 while 2B Tyler Favretto (Montreal, Que.) and Menier each singled in a pair at Clay Gould Ballpark. Cédric De Grandpré (St-Simon-De-Bagot, Que.) pitched 2 2/3 innings scoreless allowing three hits, while William Lacroix (Laval, Que.) worked 1 1/3 scoreless. De Grandpré struck out one, while Lacroix fanned two. CF Robin Gervais (Mascouche, Que.), DH Antony Gilbert (Quebec, Que.) and C Raphael Pelletier (Mascouche, Que.) had two hits, while SS Benjamin Sauve Gebhardt (Mascouche, Que.) added a single.

One more makes three straight: Jaycob Lachance (Sainte-Anne-De-La-Pérade, Que.) pitched a complete-game shut out as ABC blanked the Oklahoma Angels 7-0 at FWISD-Benbrook. Lachance allowed five hits and two walks, while fanning six. He threw 78 pitchhes (62% strikes). LF Masson doubled twice to lead the way, while 2B Gilbert doubled in three runs. The other hits went to 1B Dessureault, 3B Villalobos, C Deschamp and Favretto also had hits.

One more makes four: Connor Hodge (Île Bizard, Que.) and Petit-Fréchette combined on a two-hit 10-0 ABC win against OKC Sandlot-North. Hodge allowed two hits and fanned five in his 51-pitch outing (60% strikes), while Petit-Fréchette put up a zero. It was the third straight shut out for the ABC. 3B Sauve Gebhardt, 2B Favretto and Gervais each singled to drive in a pair of runs. 1B De Grandpré, SS Pelletier and RF Menier each singled in a run.

Pool A PCT W L T RA RS
Academy Baseball Canada 1.000 4 0 0 4 36
Waco Storm Astros .750 3 1 0 15 31
Sticks Baseball Academy 2020 Elite .500 2 2 0 18 25
OKC Sandlot-North .250 1 3 0 34 8
Oklahoma Angels .000 0 4 0 32 3

Semi-final win makes five straight: After putting up one zero after another the ABC found itself down 4-0 with Antoine Jean (Montreal, Que.) on the mound. Jean allowed four -- three earned -- on four hits, yet the ABC rallied with three straight innings of three-run rallies for a 9-4 comeback win over the Texas Pirates at Hebron High School. De Grandpré pitched 3 1/3 scoreless allowing two hits, walking one and striking out another. He threw 57 pitches (64% strikes). C Pelletier singled and drove in three runs, while De Grandpré and Dessureault each had a pair of hits and knocked in a run. Masson singled and drove in a run.

And the win in the finale makes it six straight: And if pitching was the story on the way for the ABC, it continued in the finale as three ABC pitchers combined on a no hitter to beat NTX Titans McMahan 16U 6-0. Simon Lusignan pitched 4 1/3 innings walking four and striking out two. Jean pitched the next 1 1/3 innings fanning one and Simard retired the final hitter. Lusignan threw 53 pitches (56% strikes). CF Menier homered, singled and knocked in two runs, while SS Sauve Gebhardt and LF Gervais each had two hits, driving in a run. DH Gilbert singled to drive in a run, while the other hits were by RF Masson, 1B De Grandpré and C Pelletier, who doubled.

Individual Stats
Batting AVG GP AB R H 1B 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG BB HBP SO GDP OBP SF SH SB SBA
Yohann Dessureault .625 3 8 3 5 4 1 0 0 3 6 .750 1 0 0 0 .667 0 0 1 1
Raphael Pelletier .600 4 10 5 6 2 4 0 0 4 10 1.000 1 0 1 0 .583 1 0 1 1
Robin Gervais .455 5 11 4 5 5 0 0 0 5 5 .455 3 0 1 0 .571 0 0 1 2
Simon Menier .455 6 11 6 5 2 0 2 1 5 12 1.091 3 0 0 0 .571 0 0 1 1
Benjamin Sauve Gebhardt .444 4 9 4 4 4 0 0 0 4 4 .444 3 1 0 0 .615 0 0 3 3
Jason Bégin .429 3 7 3 3 3 0 0 0 2 3 .429 1 1 0 0 .556 0 0 0 0
Tyler Favretto .429 4 7 2 3 3 0 0 0 5 3 .429 3 0 1 0 .600 0 0 1 1
Jean-Christophe Masson .417 5 12 6 5 2 2 1 0 0 9 .750 5 0 2 0 .588 0 0 0 0
Cédric De Grandpré .364 4 11 2 4 3 0 0 1 4 7 .636 1 0 1 0 .417 0 0 0 0
Antony Gilbert .333 5 15 4 5 2 3 0 0 4 8 .533 1 0 2 1 .375 0 0 0 0
Alfonso Villalobos .250 5 12 6 3 0 3 0 0 6 6 .500 3 0 2 1 .400 0 0 2 2
Nicolas Deschamps .222 3 9 3 2 2 0 0 0 1 2 .222 0 0 1 1 .222 0 0 1 1
Nicolas Tremblay .000 3 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 4 0 3 0 .400 0 0 2

Pitching W L ERA GP GS SV IP HITS RUNS ER HR BB HBP SO AVG WHIP
Connoor Hodge 0 0 0.00 1 1 0 3.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 .182 .67
William Lacroix 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .200 .75
Simon Lusignan 0 0 0.00 1 1 0 4.1 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 .000 .92
Cédric De Grandpré 0 0 0.00 2 1 0 6.0 5 0 0 0 2 0 2 .227 1.17
Jaycob Lachance 0 0 0.00 2 1 0 6.2 5 1 0 0 4 0 9 .185 1.35
Antoine Jean 0 0 10.50 2 1 0 2.0 4 4 3 0 0 0 2 .400 2.00
Nathan Petit-Fréchette 0 0 3.50 2 1 0 2.0 2 1 1 0 3 0 1 .200 2.50
Sébastien Simard 0 0 5.25 2 0 0 2.2 5 2 2 0 3 0 1 .333 3.00

ABC staff stingy to win Perfect Game 16U at Arlington