May 16, 2023

BMOC Week 16

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network

More awards and impressive performances anchor the highlights from the past week in college baseball. Let’s take a look at the news and notes from the week of May 8.

Villenueve named top hitter

Robin Villenueve (Gatineau, Que.) broke a pair of single-season school records at Weatherford College en route to being named the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference Hitter of the Year.

Villenueve is hitting .392 with 24 home runs and 93 RBIs in 57 games played. The home run and RBI totals are the school records.

Hammond, Worthen honoured by conference

Both outfielder Ethan Hammond (Oakville, Ont.) and right-handed pitcher Sam Worthen (Guelph, Ont.) of the D’Youville University Saints were named to the All-East Coast Conference Second Team.

Hammond led the Saints and was fourth in the conference with a .377 batting average. He also owned a .476 on-base percentage and slugged .597.

Worthen was second in the conference in saves with seven and posted a 1.72 ERA. Overall he was 3-1 with a 4.15 ERA.

Juan named to all-conference team

Yojairo Juan (Oro Medonte, Ont.) hit .380 in 36 games for Jefferson College (NY) and was selected to the All-Mid State Athletic Conference team.

Parsons top newcomer

Saint Francis’ Nick Parsons (Waterloo, Ont.) has been tabbed the Crossroads League Newcomer of the Year thanks to a .390 batting average with 10 home runs, 46 RBIs, a .516 on-base percentage and a .712 slugging percentage in 48 games played. Those stats also earned Parsons a spot on the All-Crossroads League Second Team.

Nicoll named to conference and tournament teams

Brandon Nicoll (Coombs, BC) has been driving the Southern Arkansas Muleriders offence all season long to the tune of a .356 batting average. Nicoll has also hit 11 home runs, driven in 69, posted a 1.049 OPPS and stolen 20 bases. For his play he was named to the All-Great American Conference First Team.

The Muleriders won the conference tournament title after winning three games last week. Nicoll had three hits, a walk and two RBI and was named to the All-GAC Tournament Team.

Zdunich, Crowell represent Reinhardt with conference honours

Two Canadian Reinhardt University Eagles were selected to All-Appalachian Athletic Conference teams.

Tucker Zdunich (High River, BC) is a first team pick. He’s hitting .349 with 13 home runs, 49 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 47 games.

Nash Crowell (Yarmouth, NS) was selected to the second team with a .357 average, 19 home runs and 53 RBIs in 44 games played.

Irvine an honourable mention

Connor Irvine (Victoria, BC) went 7-4 with a 4.44 ERA and 89 strikeouts over 77 innings for the University of Arkansas at Monticello, earning him a Great American Conference Honourable Mention.

Gomm breaks home run record

Infielder Austin Gomm (Georgetown, Ont.) hit his 18th home run of the season last week, which is a new Parkland College single season record. Gomm surpassed current Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier who had 17 as a Cobra.

Gomm had six hits, walked twice and drove in five in the Cobras series win over Lewis & Clark.

Mount new strikeout leader for Cloud County

His seven strikeouts in Cloud County Community College’s 7-3 Game 3 win over Coffeyville moved Jack Mount (Val Des Monts, Que.) into first all-time in team history with 125. The win also secured the Region VI tournament series win.

Duffy breaks strikeout century mark

Matt Duffy (Burlington, Ont.) is the first pitcher in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference history to have multiple 100 strikeout seasons. He currently has 108 and fanned 124 in 2022.

Ellis helps Rams beat Richmond

Southpaw Campbell Ellis (Georgetown, Ont.) tossed five innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk as Virginia Commonwealth University downed Richmond 4-3 in Game 3 of their series. The Rams scored three in the bottom of the ninth to secure the series win.

Stark strokes four hits

Zach Stark (Medicine Hat, Alta.) had four hits, a walk and three RBIs in a pair of games for Williston State. He went 3-for-5 with three RBIs in a 9-8 win over Dakota County Technical College.

Gollert gets his eighth victory

Left-hander Harley Gollert (Toronto, Ont.) threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings to aid No. 16 Oral Roberts in a 9-2 Game 2 win over Southern Indiana. Gollert scattered five hits, walked one and struck out five in the start. He’s now 8-1 on the season.

McDowell delivers hits

Micah McDowell (Halifax, N.S.) collected seven hits, four walks, four RBIs and a stolen base in four games for Oregon State. He hit a solo home run in a 6-4 Game 2 win over UCLA before going 3-for-6 with three RBIs in a 21-5 win in Game 3.

Boucher with seven hits

It’s hard to miss the production of Pier-Olivier Boucher (Saint-Joseph-de-Bauce, Que.) when looking at Southern Illinois’ boxscores. Boucher amassed seven hits, walked four times, drove in three, stole four bases and was hit by two pitches. He hit a two-run home run in a 6-5 loss to Missouri State.

Ward with five hits

Catcher Matt Ward (Mississauga, Ont.) had five hits, two walks and a RBI in four games played for Niagara University.

Saldias shines, leads Cougars to title

Buckle up because it was a busy week full of highlights for Saint Xavier right-hander Nico Saldias.

First he took the ball in the championship game of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament and worked eight innings. He allowed one run on three hits with a pair of walks and 11 strikeouts. The Cougars downed Indiana University at South Bend to claim the title. The Cougars went 6-1 in the tournament and defeated the Titans twice to cap off their run.

Later in the week, Saldias was named to the All-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference First Team. He currently owns a 5-4 record to go along with a 3.08 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 79 innings.

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The number of Canadians in action may be dropping with each week as team’s seasons come to an end, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still lots to get caught up on. Check back next week as the college baseball season rolls along.

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-Sunday.

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