Big Men on Campus Week 8
By Matt Betts
Canadian Baseball Network
The college slate was full once again and that means a plethora of Canadians were also in action. From the mound to the batter’s box there were plenty of great performances. Let’s not waste any more time, here are Canada’s best players from the last week.

Trio of St. Albert boys, couple of Burns’ snuff out opposition
It was a good weekend on the bump if you were from St. Albert, Alta. and/or your last name was Burns. Taylor Burns (St. Albert, Alta.) threw a complete game, seven inning shutout for Central Missouri in their 11-0 win over Nebraska-Kearney. He allowed three hits, struck out three and walked two while improving his 2017 record to 3-2. 

Connor Burns (St. Albert, Alta.) also threw a seven-inning complete game for the Broncbusters of Garden City Community College. He surrendered two runs on seven hits with 12 punch outs in a 6-2 win over Butler. Burns is 4-1 on the year.

Ok, his last name isn’t Burns, but he does share the hometown and he also threw a complete game. Noah Gapp (St. Albert, Alta.) worked seven innings of five hit ball with ten strikeouts. He allowed just a single run in the University of the Cumberlands 5-1 win over Robert Morris University.

UBC drops 3-of-4, McComb and Yorker trigger offence
The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds surely won’t be happy dropping 3-of-4 to Oregon Tech but they must be happy with two of their offensive weapons. Kyle McComb (Surrey, BC) launched a grand slam in UBC’s only win to open the series to power stellar offensive performances throughout the four games. When all was said and done he had six hits and a walk. Tyler Yorker (Burnaby, BC) also had six hits, including three doubles, was hit by a pitch and stole a base in the four games.

Canisius loses to VT, takes series from George Mason
They may have been thumped 11-0 by the Virginia Tech Hokies but Jake Lumley (Windsor, Ont.) and Liam Wilson (Ayr, Ont.) dented the box score. Lumley went 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch against Virginia Tech, while Wilson recorded a hit. They continued their trek to George Mason where the Griffs would take 2-of-3. Lumley had six hits, a RBI and a stolen base in the series. Wilson also had six hits, walked and was hit by a pitch. He drove in six runs and stole a base. For his performances, Wilson was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Week. Canisius now sits at 12-7 on the season and finally will come home after 19 straight road games to start the year. They host Monmouth in their MAAC opener at Demske Sports Complex.

More dynamic duos
Eric Senior (Toronto, Ont.) and Nolan Rattai (Medicine Hat, Alta.) were yet another pair of teammates to have a positive impact on their team. Midland College went 4-1 on the week behind eight hits from Senior, including a home run in the fifth game, and nine hits from Rattai.  Senior is hitting .361 for the Chaparrals with eight home runs, 37 RBIs and five stolen bases in 22 games. Rattai is hitting .410 in 2017 with a home run and is averaging an RBI per game through 22 games played.

More teammates doing damage
The theme seems to be Canadian teammates leading their teams this week. That continued at Chattanooga State Community College where Connor Morro (Caledon, Ont.) and Ethan Cummins (Mississauga, Ont.) showed the way. Morro used six hits, six walks, three RBIs and three stolen bases to help his team to three wins in five tries over the past week. Cummins chipped in with six hits, as well, with the big one being a home run to drive in Chat State’s only run in a 5-1 loss to Cleveland State. His best game came in the finale of the series with Cleveland State as he went 4-for-6 with a double and a triple and six RBIs. Morro is currently hitting .432, while Cummins is hitting at a .325 clip.

Barclay uses barrel to guide Garden City
Ty Barclay (Wyoming, Ont.) backed Connor Burns and Garden City Community College with a good offensive week. In Game 1 of their series with Butler, a 6-2 win, he smashed a home run on the way to going 2-for-3. After walking 3 times in a Game 2 win, he went 2-for-4 in Game 3, a 11-10 loss. His best day at the plate came in Game 4 in which GCCC took the victory by a 26-11 score. He went 3-for-4 with a home run, two walks and five RBIs.

Osborne collects Player of the Week honour for third time
When a guy hits three home runs, drives in nine runs and has eight hits total in a three-game series, giving out Player of the Week is pretty easy. J.D. Osborne (Whitby, Ont.) collected Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week honours for the third time this season after No. 1 Tampa’s three-game sweep of No. 3 and defending Division II national champion Nova Southeastern. Osborne went 3-for-5 with a solo shot in the 7-4 opening game win. He then launched a three-run blast in a 6-0 Game 2 win. He rounded it all out with a 4-for-6 game with another home run. He hit .533 with a .500 OBP and a 1.200 SLG.

Cottam comes up big for Kentucky
It wasn’t fun to face Kole Cottam (Knoxville, Tenn.) over the last week. Murray State pitchers were the first to try and get him out without much success. He went 2-for-5 with a RBI in the Wildcats midweek win. Kentucky then travelled to College Station for a Southeastern Conference showdown with Texas A&M. Kentucky swept the Aggies behind a hit in Game 1, two hits in Game 2 and three hits in Game 3 from Cottam. He is hitting .350 for the Wildcats with a home run, 16 RBIs, a .426 OBP and a .438 SLG. Even though he hails from Knoxville, Tennessee, his parents are from Canada. Kentucky now readies themselves for a midweek game with in-state foe Western Kentucky before hosting Ole Miss this weekend.

Heading further south
Let’s continue our voyage through the southern United States for a stop in Louisiana. That is where you will find Ryan Pouwells (Surrey, BC) of LSU-Shreveport. The Pilots had a busy week with six games and Pouwells was ready for all of them. He had 10 hits, including three-hit games in the final two. He walked four times and drove in eight runs. LSU Shreveport went 3-3 on the week.

Thorp with two scoreless appearances for Bellevue
Dylan Thorp (North Vancouver, BC) was put to work in Game’s 2 and 3 of Bellevue’s series with Northwestern (Iowa). In Game 2 he threw a scoreless inning with a hit and three strikeouts. He then threw two scoreless innings in Game 3 with another strikeout. Bellevue is 18-6 on the year.

Acosta-Tapia with five hits in sweep of Bethany
Oklahoma Wesleyan was helped by five hits from Christopher Acosta-Tapia (Deaauville Laval, Que.) en route to sweeping Bethany. Acosta-Tapia had a hit in Game 1 and followed it up with two multi-hit games in Games 2 and 3. It was highlighted by a home run in the middle game. Oklahoma Wesleyan owns a sizzling 26-5 record.

Barnard and Boire team up in loss to Cochise
Jacob Barnard (Victoria, BC) threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and a walk in Douglas College’s 2-1 loss to Cochise College. On the week he threw 2 2/3 total innings without allowing a run or a hit. He struck out three in total.
Tristan Boire (Regina, Sask.) tossed 4 2/3 innings against Cochise, allowing both runs (one earned) on three hits with six strikeouts and three walks. He threw 6 2/3 innings in two appearances this past week.

Not many hotter than Hewitt
Connors State Cowboy Max Hewitt (Midhurst, Ont.) is lighting the NJCAA on fire. He is hitting .561 in 25 games for the 22-3 Cowboys. He had another 12 hits in six games this past week. He walked four times and had 10 RBIs. Connors State went 5-1 on the week.

Langley leads Cloud County with his bat
Before embarking on a four-game set with Hutchinson, Cloud County had to take care of business with Southeast. They did just that with a 14-11 win. Tauran Langley (Edmonton, Alta.) had a 2-for-4 game with three RBIs for CCCC. In Game 1 of their series with Hutchinson they fell short by a 10-8 score. Langley’s two home run game went for naught but was still an impressive individual game in the opener. He provided a hit in a 5-4 Game 2 win and another hit in a 10-2 Game 3 loss. Hutchinson pounded Cloud County in the final game 26-6 despite Langley going 2-for-2 with a RBI.

Blackwell, Duncan do big things for Crowder
Despite only going 2-3 as a team this past week, Kyle Blackwell (Waterdown, Ont.) and Tyler Duncan (Sooke, BC) played like winners. Blackwell had two multi-hit games and five hits in total. He walked once and drove in two for Crowder College. Duncan had three multi-hit games and eight hits when the week was over. He walked twice and drove in four. His best game was the finale of their series with Jefferson (MO) where he went 3-for-5 with a home run, a walk and three RBIs.

Horvath picks up 3rd win
Wayne State got six innings of one run baseball from Chris Horvath (Lakeshore, Ont.) on their way to a win over Ohio Dominican. He allowed just five hits and a walk. He struck out eight and is now 3-1 on the campaign with a 3.42 ERA over 26 1/3 innings.

Cuch with nine hits to close out Tuscon Invitational
Dickinson State University took part in the Tuscon Invitational and Jacob Cuch (Airdrie, Alta.) closed it out with a bang over the final six games. He pounded out nine hits, a home run, four doubles three walks, four RBIs and a stolen base. The home run was of the walk-off variety in a 7-6, 10 inning win over Marion.

Gauthier impressive in complete game win
David Gauthier (Mt. Saint Hilaire, Que.) put Trinidad State on his back in a win over Otero College. He threw a complete game nine inning gem, scattering six hits, a pair of runs, striking out six with a walk. He improved his record to 2-0.

Another CG
Jordan Alvernaz (Mississauga, Ont.) got into the complete game fun for Trinity International. He tossed seven innings, giving up eight hits, three runs (one earned) with two strikeouts and a walk in their 4-3 win over Maranatha Baptist.

Two appearances, 10 innings for Alejandro Ortiz Prefontaine
He has to have one of the longest names in college baseball. Claudio Alejandro Ortiz Prefontaine (Montreal, Que.) made two appearances this past week, totaling 10 innings pitched. He gave up 11 hits, four earned runs, punched out nine opposing hitters and walked just five on his way to collecting two wins for Northeastern Oklahoma A&M University. The guy with the long name picked the university with the long name. 

O’Rourke picks up win in Minot State route
When your team puts up 11 runs, it makes it easier to relax on the mound and go about your business. Reilly O’Rourke (Sydney, NS) certainly looked relaxed over his seven scoreless innings of work in Minot State’s 11-1 win. He allowed just a single hit and struck out four. The only blemish was six walks. He picked up the win and is now 1-1 on the season.

Yates, closes out previous week, moves onto new week
Texas A&M University Corpus Christi had to close out their series from the previous weekend with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley early last week. The Islanders took down Rio Grande 7-1 and 7-6 to complete the sweep. Dawson Yates (Kelowna, BC) had a hit and a walk in the 7-1 win and a hit, two RBIs and a stolen base to close the series. Next up was an 11-5 win over Prairie View A&M. Yates went 2-for-3 with a walk, was hit by a pitch, scored four runs and stole a base. The Islanders then went on to be swept by Sam Houston State. In Game 1 of that series Yates walked twice. After not playing Game 2 in which Texas A&M Corpus Christi was crushed 19-1, Yates went 3-for-5 with a double in a 6-3 loss in Game 3. Corpus Christi has a midweek game with Incarnate Word before a series with Northwestern State this week. The Islanders are 6-14 overall and 0-3 in Southland Conference play. Yates is second on the team in average at .350 and has driven in six runs, he owns a .473 OBP and a .383 SLG with 12 walks in 18 games played, 16 starts.

Hunt with seven solid innings
Bryce Hunt (Winnipeg, Man.) threw seven innings, gave up just five hits and two runs to pick up the win for Lake Region State. He struck out eight and walked four in the game. It was his first win of the season against no losses.

Hilderbrandt shows off power
It was a case of quite literally powering the Cayuhoga Community College offence. Matt Hilderbrandt (Bowmanville, Ont.) went 1-for-3 with a home run in his teams Game 1, 10-8 loss to Wake Tech. In Game 2 he launched another two home runs, walked and drove in five in a 14-3 win. The series closed with a 9-8 loss for Cayuhoga with a walk from Hilderbrandt. They then took on Potomac State where Hilderbrandt had a hit and two RBIs. The three home runs were the first of the season for Hilderbrandt through 10 games.

Spearing spears his first

LHP Jared Spearing (Winnipeg, Man.) pitched five scoreless innings as Indian Hills blanked MCC-Maple Woods 13-0 in five innings. Spearing allowed four hits and struck out five to record his first college win. OF Noah Renaud (Amherstburg, Ont.) singled and walked three times scoring four runs, while C Zachary Fascia (Brampton, Ont.) singled. 
OF Ryan Humeniuk (Stonewall, Man.) went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBIs in an 11-4 win against Iowa Central. Fascia had three hits and drove in a pair. He also pitched a scoreless ninth.    

It was yet another successful week for many Canadians in college baseball. Keep an eye out for the next eye popping performance right here with the weekly BMOC. Week 9 is sure to be jam packed with action.

If you know someone who is deserving of a mention in the weekly BMOC please contact Matt Betts at mattbetts41@gmail.com