March 19, 2024

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network

It’s been a busy few weeks for Canadian baseball. 

Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.) has joined the Toronto Blue Jays in an attempt to write another chapter in his illustrious career with his hometown team. 

Twelve Canucks, many of whom played college baseball, participated in the Spring Breakout. 

But don’t forget about the college season where players from north of the border are in midseason form. 

Let’s see who stood out from March 11 to 17. 

Consigli helps extinguish Flames 

Right-hander Peyton Consigli (Fonthill, Ont.) spun six scoreless innings as Canisius College shutout Liberty, 4-0. Consigli gave up just one hit, walked three and struck out six. 

Butt backs Teton to win, Maza-Leon pitches well in loss 

Southpaw Kody Butt (St. John’s, Nfld.) allowed an unearned run on one hit over six innings as Williston State defeated Central Lakes College-Brainerd, 14-1. He walked one and struck out 14. 

Jorge Maza-Leon (Toronto, Ont.) gave up an unearned run on one hit over 6 2/3 innings but it wasn’t enough as the Teton fell to Minnesota North College - Rainy River 3-2. Maza-Leon walked two and punched out five but the bullpen gave two after he departed. 

Leishman pitches into the ninth 

Marshall Leishman (Huntsville, Ont.) was oh so close to pitching a complete game. Leishman lasted 8 1/3 innings and surrendered an unearned run on four hits as Ashland defeated Davenport 4-1 in Game 1 of their series. He walked one and fanned 10 in the outing. 

Pare picks up win No. 5 

Matteo Pare (Windsor, Ont.) improved to 5-0 with six innings of work in Pensacola State Community College’s 10-9 victory over Chipola. He allowed four runs (one earned) on six hits and four walks, while striking out three. 

Hemmerling hands Colby a loss 

Barton Community College received six scoreless innings from Reece Hemmerling (Beaumont, Alta.) as they beat Colby 8-0. Hammerling yielded six hits, walked one and struck out nine. 

Hanning handed tough loss 

Joseph Hanning (Vancouver, BC) has pitched better than his 0-3 record indicates. In his latest start, Hanning went seven innings and conceded two runs on five hits as Paradise Valley fell to Mesa 3-1. He struck out eight along the way. 

Canning comes through for Sussex County 

The Skylanders of Sussex County Community College used five innings from Hunter Canning (Cole Harbour, NS) to help propel them to a 7-2 victory over Garrett. Canning allowed an unearned run on six hits, walked two and struck out nine. 

Barr wins in relief, twice 

Kurt Barr (Saint Joachim, Ont.) came out of the bullpen for the University of Michigan and threw six scoreless innings to aid the Wolverines in a 7-6, 12-inning midweek win over Toledo. Barr gave up three hits, walked three and struck out four. 

On Sunday, Barr was once again called upon in relief and tossed five innings, allowing one run on four hits as the Wolverines walked off the University of San Diego 3-2. He issued four free passes and struck out three in his second appearance of the week. 

For his efforts, he was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week.

Gurr goes seven  

Seth Gurr (Coaldale, Alta.) got the midweek start for the University of Montevallo against Spring Hill College and threw seven innings, allowing two unearned runs on six hits in a 4-3 loss. He punched out five in the losing effort. 

Byberg shuts down Shawnee, Rousseau hits 

The 15 runs Frontier Community College scored against Shawnee was more than enough for starter Owen Byberg (Barrie, Ont.) as he surrendered three unearned runs on two hits over six innings go work. He walked one and struck out seven in a convincing 15-5 victory. 

Benjamin Rousseau (Lorraine, Que.) hit two grand slams on his way to four hits, two walks and 10 RBIs. His first came in a 15-5 Game 1 win over Shawnee, with his second in a 12-0 Game 2 victory. 

Caissie hits two out 

Noah Caissie (North Delta, BC) hit two home runs and concluded his week with five hits and five RBIs. 

Shepherd bookends week with homers  

Nine knocks and 10 RBIs from Dylan Shepherd (Barrie, Ont.) wasn’t enough as Highland Community College was swept by Neosho County. Shepherd hit a home run in both Games 1 and 4. 

Huebner hurls five scoreless  

Cole Huebner (Edmonton, Alta.) supplied Indian Hills five scoreless innings in a 18-1 victory over St. Cloud Tech. Huebner allowed two hits and struck out eight to move his record to 2-1. 

Grant, Luther back Bellevue to series sweep 

Logan Grant (Chestermere, Alta.) and Brendan Luther (Mississauga, Ont.) have a lot to do with No. 15 Bellevue University being one of the top programs in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. 

Last week in a four-game sweep of Valley City State, Grant chipped in six hits, a walk and eight RBIs. He homered three times. The first was a two-run shot in a 10-6 Game 2 win. He hit a three-run home run in Game 3 and finished it off with another two-run homer in Game 4. 

Not to be outdone, Luther also homered three times en route to posting six hits, two walks and four RBI. Of the three, he hit two solo shots and a two-run home run. 

Parsons pounds opposing pitching 

Nick Parsons (Waterloo, Ont.) had three hits, three walks, four RBIs and a stolen base for Saint Francis. He hit a two-run home run in a 15-6 Game 3 win over Bethel and left the yard again in an 11-2 Game 4 victory for a solo shot. 

Grinberg keeps on hitting for Keiser 

A consistent threat all season long for No. 12 Keiser, Simon Grinberg (Kitchener, Ont.) was back at it in a four-game series with Florida Memorial. Grinberg amassed nine hits, three walks and six RBIs. He hit a two-run home run in a 5-4 Game 2 loss. 

Bushey with four-hit game 

Playing in five games last week for Western Illinois University, Liam Bushey (Mission, BC) had 10 hits, three walks, four RBIs, a stolen base and was hit by a pitch. In a midweek win over Cincinnati, he went 4-for-4 with a solo home run, two walks, three RBI and a stolen base. 

Macintosh masterful in Cloud County win 

Jack Macintosh (Penticton, BC) threw a complete game, seven-inning shutout for Cloud County Community College in their 6-0 Game 3 victory over Colby. Macintosh allowed two hits, walked two and fanned eight. The Thunderbirds would sweep the four-game series. 

Alexandre has big two games 

Trinidad State Community College’s Brody Alexandre (Swift Current, Sask.) homered twice and had four hits in all as the Trojans downed the Adams State University JV’s in a pair of games. Alexandre added seven RBI to his season totals. 

Millas aids in win over New Mexico 

Make it three straight weeks in this column for right-hander Theo Millas (Burnaby, BC). Millas worked six innings and allowed two runs on five hits as Nevada downed New Mexico 4-3 in Game 2 of their series. He walked two and struck out four. 

UBC drops three of four to Oregon Tech 

Their series with Oregon Tech started well for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds as they cruised to a 13-3 win in Game 1 but it was followed by three straight losses. 

In the opener, Sean Heppner (Point Roberts, Wash.) threw 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks and nine strikeouts to earn the win. 

The Thunderbirds got another good start in Game 4 from Ryan Beitel (Surrey, BC) who tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings in a 1-0 loss. Beitel surrendered six hits, worked around five walks and struck out four. 

Jonny McGill (Richmond, BC) and Kenny Scott (Delta, BC) stood out at the plate. 

McGill had seven hits, three walks and three RBIs. He went 4-for-6 with three RBIs in Game 1. 

Scott played in two games and put together four hits, a walk and a RBI. 

Nicoll with three multi-hit games 

Preseason All-American Brandon Nicoll (Coombs, Ont.) has shown why he received that honour. Playing in all three games for No. 8 Southern Arkansas this past week, he had seven hits, two walks, four RBIs and was hit by a pitch. He had multiple hits in each and added a two-run home run in a 9-5 loss to Henderson State.  

Vallee swings it for Salukis 

Mathieu Valle (Saint-Joseph-du-Lac, Que.) put up a fine week for the Southern Illinois Salukis. Over four games he chipped in eight hits, walked twice, drove in two and stole a base. One of his hits was a solo home run in a 9-6 Game 2 loss to Jacksonville State. 

McHarg hits three solo shots 

A key cog in the Washburn University offence, Payton McHarg (Saskatoon, Sask.) was right in the middle of it again last week. McHarg totaled seven hits, four walks, six RBIs and was hit by three pitches. He hit a pair of solo home runs, one of which opened the scoring, in a 6-5 Game 1 loss to No. 3 Central Missouri. During the finale, a 10-9 victory, he hit another solo shot. 

Jacklin jolts East Tennessee State offence 

Blake Jacklin (St. Jacobs, Ont.) swatted a three-run home run to open the scoring and had three hits and five RBIs as East Tennessee State beat Harvard, 14-4, in a midweek contest. Next on the schedule was a three-game series with Villanova where Jacklin had a hit, a walk, an RBI, a stolen base and was hit by a pitch. 

Doucette names Big Ten Freshman of the Week

Infielder Ty Doucette (Dartmouth, NS) has been recognized as the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week after hitting three home runs and driving in 11. Doucette hit a grand slam to break a 10-10 tie in Rutgers Game 1 win over Delaware. He homered twice more, a solo and two-run shot, in a 14-3 Game 3 victory.

Hull, Beck mash for Marauders 

With 21 Canadians on their roster, it shouldn’t be surprising that the University of Mary is often well represented in this column. 

Carter Beck (Carnduff, Sask.) collected seven hits, a walk, eight RBIs, and a stolen base in a 3-1 series win over Concordia, St. Paul. Four of his seven hits were home runs, including a two-run and a solo shot in Game 1, a three-run home run in Game 2 and a solo shot in Game 4. 

Noah Hull (Scarborough, Ont.) started with a bang, literally, going 4-for-5 with a solo home run in Game 1. It made for back-to-back shots with teammate Beck. He hit two more home runs, a solo and two-run blast in Game 4. When the series was over, he had nine hits, a walk, six RBIs, a stolen base and was hit by a pitch. Hull was later named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Player of the Week. 

That’s it for Week 8. 

Make sure to check back next week to see the top performances from the week that was on the college baseball schedule. 

Do you know of a player deserving of a mention in the weekly BMOC column? Email Matt Betts at mattbetts@canadianbaseballnetwork.com. Please note that our week runs Monday to Sunday. 

Be sure to follow Matt Betts at @Bettsy41 for extensive Canadian baseball coverage all season long.