Baseball Canada announces JNT Fall Instructional League roster
Toronto Mets left-hander Keegan Pulford-Thorpe (Newmarket, Ont.) is one of 11 players named to the Junior National Team’s Fall Instructional League roster that has previous experience with the team. Photo Credit: Baseball Canada
September 21, 2018
By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
OTTAWA- Baseball Canada is pleased to announce the names of 33 athletes that have been invited to the Junior National Team’s (U-18) annual Fall Instructional League Camp in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., from September 30 to October 10.
The camp includes daily practices and a five-game professional schedule against Fall Instructional League clubs from the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates organizations along with contests against Stetson University, the University of Central Florida and the Fort Lauderdale Stars.
The camp will be based out of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves, with the exception of the October 3 contest against the Pirates that will take place at their minor league complex in Bradenton.
Twenty-two of the 33 players named to the roster will be making their Junior National Team debuts at the Fall Instructional League Camp.
“This camp will serve as an introduction to the Junior National Team program for the majority of our roster while also preparing players for future international competition and the challenges associated with the next levels of the game,” said Head Coach and Director of National Teams, Greg Hamilton. “From a coaching standpoint, it will allow the staff to evaluate players in a highly competitive environment and provide an opportunity for instruction and player development.”
Players named to the roster with previous Junior National Team experience include RHP Viktor Bergeron, OF Dasan Brown, INF Jaden Brown, C Owen Diodati, RHP Theo Millas, RHP Carter Morris, RHP Keegan Pulford-Thorpe, INF TJ Schofield-Sam, LHP/1B Justin Thorsteinson, OF Nicolas Tremblay and INF Cesar Valero.
Hamilton takes his familiar post as head coach of the club and will be supported by a slew of former pros and National Team players including TJ Burton, Rob Butler, Jeff Francis, Pete Orr and Chris Robinson while Robert Fatal returns to the staff after a pair of guest coaching appearances earlier in the year.
While the Fall Instructional League Camp traditionally offers coaches a glimpse into future editions of the Junior National Team, players in this camp will have the unique opportunity to make an impression ahead of November’s Junior National Team Selection Camp in West Palm Beach. Selection Camp will determine Canada’s 20-player roster for the COPABE U-18 Pan American Championships/U-18 World Cup Qualifier in Panama City, Panama from November 23-December 2nd.