April 30, 2024

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network 

It’s hard to believe April is coming to a close. 

And with it, some college baseball teams are making their push for the postseason, while others are already there. 

Let’s take a look at which Canadians are helping their teams the most. 

Caskenette named Co-Big Ten Conference Player of the Week 

Catcher Connor Caskenette (Duncan, BC) had six hits, including three home runs, drove in nine and was hit by a pitch as Purdue swept a Big Ten Conference series from Northeastern. He hit a solo home run in a 10-7 Game 2 win and then hit three-run and two-run homers in Game 3. The whole week started with a hit, two walks, two RBIs and a hit by pitch during a midweek victory over Evansville. For his effort, he was named the Co-Big Ten Conference Player of the Week. 

Barbieri sets another Ave Maria record 

Francesco Barbieri (Brampton, Ont.) finished the season strong with five hits, five walks, an RBI and two stolen bases as Ave Maria took three of four from Warner. With his 40th walk in Game 1, he set the Gyrenes’ single-season record in 11 fewer games than the previous leader. Heading into the Sun Conference Tournament opener against Southeastern, Barbieri leads the team with a .373 batting average, 16 home runs, a 1.330 OPS and 42 walks. 

Simpson strokes nine hits 

Connors State’s Blake Simpson (Toronto, Ont.) collected nine hits, six RBIs and two stolen bases in five games. 

Benoit, Foti, Brescia bow out of River States Conference opening round 

The Brescia Bearcats pushed their River States Conference opening round series with Rio Grande to Game 3 but ultimately saw their season come to an end with a 12-9 loss. 

Hugo Benoit (Saint-Claude, Que.) went 3-for-5 with a solo home run in the deciding loss. He walked twice in Game 1 and once in Game 2. 

Jonathon Foti (Brampton, Ont.) had four hits, including a solo home run in a 22-7 Game 1 loss, and two RBIs in the series. He started Game 2, which the Bearcats won 10-9, and lasted five innings. 

George goes deep three times 

Nick George (Sarnia, Ont.) hit two solo shots and a two-run home run in William Penn’s three-game series with Grand View. When it was all over, he had four hits, two walks and five RBIs as the Statesmen won the series 3-1. 

Consigli comes up with seven innings for Canisius 

Right-hander Peyton Consigli (Fonthill, Ont.) threw seven innings and allowed two runs on four hits but it wasn’t quite enough as Canisius dropped Game 1 to Marist, 2-1. Consigli issued two walks and struck out eight. 

Machkovski moves record above .500 

Stefan Machkovski (Toronto, Ont.) is now 2-1 on the season after seven innings of work for Garrett College in a 6-1 victory over Westmoreland County Community College. Machkovski surrendered an unearned run on five hits and a pair of walks. He struck out six. 

Korte throws five innings 

Adam Korte (Muenster, Sask.) threw five innings and gave up four runs (one earned) on four hits for Dawson Community College. He worked around four walks and struck out five in an 18-4 win over Dakota-Bottineau. The Buccaneers made three errors in the game. 

Cohen evens record 

A well-known name to anyone who reads this column, Cohen Achen (Calgary, Alta.) lasted five innings as Lindsey Wilson beat Cumberlands 6-3. Achen allowed three runs (one earned), three hits, a walk and struck out five to move his record to 5-5. 

Seitz swats three home runs 

Kale Seitz (Okotoks, Alta.) hit three home runs, a pair of solo shots and a two-run homer, as part of an eight-hit, seven-RBI week for Campbellsville University. Seitz was also hit by a pitch. He went 4-for-5 with a solo and a two-run home run in back-to-back at bats as his team lost Game 2 of their series to Bethel. 

Zdunich closes out regular season with six knocks 

A strong regular season came to an end for Tucker Zdunich (High River, Alta.) after he chipped in six hits, a walk and four RBIs in four wins for Reinhardt. He went 3-for-6 with a solo home run during a 15-4 Game 2 win over Columbia International University. Next up is the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament. 

Tweet with two, three-hit games  

Not to be outdone by his brother Wyatt, who was the last week’s Canadian Baseball Network College Player of the Week, Dawson Tweet (Russell, Man.) had seven hits, seven RBIs and was hit by a pitch for William Jewell. He went 3-for-4 with three-run and two-run home runs in an 11-10 Game 1 win over Lewis. In Game 3, he again had three hits, including a solo shot, along with two RBIs and a hit by a pitch. 

Irvine shuts down Southern Arkansas 

Connor Irvine (Victoria, BC) surrendered one run on three hits over seven innings to lead Arkansas Monticello to a 7-3 win over Southern Arkansas to open their three-game set. Irvine walked three and struck out four in the start. He’s now 7-1 this season. 

McIntosh wins his seventh 

Freshman Jack MacIntosh (Penticton, BC) threw five innings to earn his seventh win as Cloud County beat Garden City 11-1 in Game 3 of their four-game series. MacIntosh gave up one run on three hits, walked three and struck out three. 

Favretto brings home run total to 17 

Tyler Favretto (Montreal, Que.) hit two home runs and had three hits in all as Kansas Wesleyan swept Avila. Favretto went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and three walks in Game 1. He hit another solo home run in Game 2 and walked twice. In the finale, a 16-3 victory, he walked twice. The Crowder College transfer closed out his first regular season with the Coyotes hitting .353 with 17 home runs and a 1.318 OPS. 

Kabayama enters the chat 

It’s Week 14 and there’s a new player making his first appearance in the BMOC. Enter Joshua Kabayama (Lethbridge, Alta.) who went 3-for-3 with a walk, four RBIs and two stolen bases for Mount Olive in a 15-1 win over Virginia State. He also had a hit in a 3-0 Game 1 loss to Francis Marion. The Spartans are now set to take on Barton in Game 1 of the Conference Carolinas Championships. 

Wrubleski homers 

Jake Wrubleski (Okotoks, Alta.) contributed nine hits, a walk and eight RBIs as Chandler Gilbert went 2-2. He hit a home run in a 17-11 loss to Paradise Valley. 

Busy week for SUNY Poly, Pelton 

SUNY Poly played six games and Ryan Pelton (Caledon, Ont.) showed up in the boxscore in all of them. Pelton put together 11 hits, four of which left the ballpark, two walks and 12 RBIs. He hit a two-run home run in a 21-5 win over Bryant and Stratton - Syracuse, a solo shot in a loss to Canton, a three-run shot as the Wildcats beat Canton in the rematch, and a three-run walk-off home run against SUNY Cobbleskill. 

Bateman bashes five hits 

Lucas Bateman (Waterloo, Ont.) collected himself five hits, three walks and three RBIs in Rochester Christian’s four-game series with Aquinas. He hit a two-run home run in Game 3. Unfortunately for Bateman and the Warriors, they dropped all four. 

Cookson lasts eight innings, Vikings lose in extras 

No stranger to going deep into games, Takao Cookson (Regina, Sask.) threw eight scoreless innings but Valley City State dropped Game 2 of their series to Dickinson State 3-0 in 11 innings. Cookson allowed three hits and struck out eight. 

Kourous hits and runs 

Zachary Kourous (Toronto, Ont.) was a factor for Mercyhurst during their four-game series versus California University of Pennsylvania. Starting with a hit by pitch in Game 1, Kourous followed it up with two hits, two RBIs and a stolen base in Game 2. In Game 3, he went 2-for-4 before going 3-for-4 with a two-run home run and two stolen bases in Game 4. The Lakers would take 3-of-4. 

Dionne has five-hit game 

Jimmy Dionne (Quebec, Que.) went 5-for-6 with a home run and four RBIs for Howard College in an 18-14 Game 2 win over Odessa. He then walked in Game’s 3 and 4. 

Cote keeps hitting the long ball 

Josh Cote (Midland, Ont.) never seems to go long without a home run. He homered again last week in a 5-4 Northeastern Junior College loss to Otero that began a week that featured eight hits, four walks and five RBIs. The blast against Otero wasn’t his only long ball, as he left the park again against Lamar, giving him 19 on the season. 

Villalobos helps Fire finish regular season with series win 

The Southeastern University Fire have been just that this season, playing to a 44-6 record and 22-2 mark in Sun Conference play. Alfonso Villalobos (Kirkland, Que.) contributed six hits, four RBIs and two hit by pitches to help his team take three of four to end the regular season against Keiser. 

Twice is nice for Archambault 

Making two appearances on the week, Gabriel Archambault (Laval, Que.) allowed just one run over 8 2/3 innings. Archambault appeared in relief in Game 1 of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M’s series with Rose State, tossing a scoreless 2/3 of an inning and giving up a hit in a 7-6 win. Back on the mound making the start in Game 3, he lasted eight innings and surrendered one run on three hits, while walking six and striking out seven in a 10-1 victory. 

Gollert goes deep in loan Bears’ win 

Former HPP Tiger Taeg Gollert (Mississauga, Ont.) collected six hits, walked twice, drove in a run and stole a base for Missouri State. He went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk and a stolen base in their lone win of the week in Game 3 against Evansville. 

Elias unleashes on opposing pitchers 

Bryce Elias (Toronto, Ont.) pounded out six hits, one of which was a solo home run, and stole a base in three games for Ventura College. 

Palfrey a part of Columbia’s offensive onslaught  

The Lions of Columbia University scored 72 runs in four games and Griffin Palfrey (Vancouver, BC) was an instrumental part of it. Starting with a 31-0 midweek win over Seton Hall, yes, you read that right, Palfrey went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run, seven RBIs and two hit by pitches. He then went 3-for-6 with a grand slam and five RBIs as the Lions downed Cornell 14-11 in Game 1 of their three-game Ivy League series. During Game 2, he was 2-for-3 with a three-run home run, two walks and a hit by pitch as his side took home a 14-2 victory. The finale saw him go 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI as the Lions completed the sweep. 

DiGennaro, Suraganan lead Lourdes to series sweep 

Two Canadians powered the Lourdes’ offence and helped the Gray Wolves to a four-game series sweep over Michigan-Dearborn. 

Nick DiGennaro (Oakville, Ont.) hit four home runs and finished the series with eight hits, five walks, 11 RBIs, a stolen base and a hit by pitch. He hit a three-run home run and a solo shot in Game 1, a two-run homer in Game 3 and another two-run home run in Game 4. 

Joel Suraganan (Pickering, Ont.) chipped in 12 hits, two walks, eight RBIs and a stolen base. He went 5-for-5 with two walks and four RBIs in a 16-5 Game 2 win before hitting a solo home run in Game 4. Of his 12 hits, he legged five out for doubles. 

Lachance homers in three-hit game 

Deiten Lachance (Sherbrooke, Que.) went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs in McLennan’s 10-1 thumping of Bossier Parish. In three games on the week, he had four hits, a walk and three RBIs. 

Osika aids Indiana Tech offence  

In Indiana Tech’s four-game series with Cornerstone, Tristan Osika (Ancaster, Ont.) had five hits, two walks, four RBIs, a stolen base and was hit by two pitches. He hit a two-run home run in 19-4 Game 3 win and a solo homer in a 7-3 Game 4 victory. The Warriors would sweep the series. 

More Marauders show up 

Which University of Mary Marauders stole the spotlight this week? Lukas Frers (Surrey, BC) and Kalem Haney (Lethbridge, Alta.). 

Frers started Game 1 against Southwest Minnesota State and threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits, walking one and striking out four to help his team to a 1-0 win. 

Haney supplied the offence with 10 hits, four walks, 10 RBIs, four stolen bases and a hit by pitch. Haney homered twice, a two-run and solo shot, in a midweek win over Bemidji State. 

Dutton does damage 

JJ Dutton had four hits, a walk and four RBIs in two games for Indian Hills Community College. He hit a home run in a 12-6 victory over Ellsworth. 

Wouters has good week for McCook 

McCook’s Cory Wouters (Saskatoon, Sask.) got his week going with a 4-for-4 performance with two home runs, a walk and two RBIs in a loss to Colby. He had two more hits and two walks in the three games that followed. 

McHarg hits grand slam to boost home run total 

Payton McHarg (Saskatoon, Sask.) now has an even 20 home runs on the season after hitting a grand slam and a two-run shot in Washburn’s 13-7 Game 1 win over Northeastern State. Over five games on the week, he put together 11 hits, five walks and 12 RBIs. He was also hit by three pitches. 

Giesbrecht gets win No. 9 

Recent Kansas State commit Ethan Giesbrecht (Altona, Man.) threw five scoreless innings in Hutchinson Community College’s 7-2 Game 1 win over Barton. He allowed a hit, walked two and struck out four. 

Waller wins twice 

Kaleb Waller (Drinkwater, Sask.) started and went seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits as Kankakee beat Joliet 7-2. He issued two walks and struck out six to pick up the win. Summoned from the bullpen later in the week in a win over Oakton, he earned his second victory with a scoreless inning of work. He allowed just one hit and evened his record at 2-2. 

MacNeil no-hits Concord 

Owen MacNeil (Georgetown, Ont.) tossed a seven-inning ho-hitter to help the University of Charleston Golden Eagles beat Concord University 6-0. MacNeil didn’t walk a batter and struck out five. He did hit two and the defence behind him made an error, which was the only three batters keeping him from a perfect game. 

The final weekend of April is officially over. 

Next time you read this column, it’ll be May and several more college teams will be entering playoff mode. 

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.