By George Farelli

Canadian Baseball Network

With 20 strikeouts in 27 at-bats for the Modesto Nuts, the Seattle Mariners said goodbye to OF Gareth Morgan (North York, Ont.)

The former Toronto Met and Ontario Blue Jays was drafted in the second round and given a $2 million signing bonus by the Mariners in 2014.

Morgan was hitting .074 with one homer, three RBIs and a .404 OPS. Most players released at the class-A level head home to work a Sears or UPS.

Morgan was fortunate in that someone with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim liked his swing.

And this week Morgan hit four homers, knocking in 10 runs and hitting .400 (8-for-20) for the Inland Empire ‘66ers.

Through his first nine games Morgan is hitting .282 with five homers, 14 RBIs and a .992 OPS. Oh, and he still has 23 strikeouts in 39 at-bats.

The four-homer week made Morgan our Canadian Baseball Network minor league Player of the Week for Week XI.

How Morgan’s week that was went as he:

_ Had a pair of hits and drove in a run batting clean-up and playing right field as Inland Empire edged the Lancaster JetHawks 5-4 in front of 1,722 fans at The Hangar. Morgan singled to centre to drive in a run in the third and singled to centre in the ninth.

_ Went 3-for-6 with two homers and six RBIs in a 19-5 romp over Lancaster as he hit fifth and was the DH in front of 3,352 at The Hangar. Morgan hit a two-run line drive homer to centre in the first, singled to left to score re-habbing Justin Upton in the fourth and hit a three-run homer in the ninth.

_ Had a pair of hits, including a solo homer as he played centre and batted fourth in a 5-4 loss to Lancaster in front of 3,045 at The Hangar. Morgan hit a solo homer to left centre and singled to centre in the 10th.

_ Didn’t play in an 11-10 loss to Lancaster before 1,740 fans.

_ Singled in a 7-4 to the Lake Elsinore Storm batting clean up and playing left field before 1,701 at The Diamond. Morgan singled leading off the fourth.

Top Offensive Performances

Player/Class/Team AB R H HR RBI AVG

Jacob Robson - AAA Toledo 20 1 9 1 6 .450

Gareth Morgan - A Inland Empire 20 5 8 4 10 .400

Ben Pelletier - A Lakewood 18 4 7 - 2 .389

Kellin Deglan - AA Trenton 22 2 8 1 3 .364

Jim Adduci - AAA Iowa 25 7 9 - 6 .360

Charles Leblanc - AA Frisco 20 1 7 - 1 .350

Noah Naylor - A Lake County 15 5 5 2 4 .333

Eric Wood - AAA Indianapolis 13 1 4 - 2 .308

Malik Collymore – IND Ottawa 13 3 5 - 1 .385

Tyson Gillies - IND Quebec 18 1 6 - 2 .333

(Minimum 10 ABs)

Best pitching outing

PHILLIPPE AUMONT RHP - IND OTTAWA CHAMPIONS

APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA

1 7.0 1 - - - 9 1-0 - 0.14 0.00

As part of their regular season schedule, Can Am League teams play a set of interlocking games with the Cuban National team, plus All Star Teams from Japan’s Independent Shikoku Island League and the Empire League, an Independent League on the US East Coast. All stats from these games count in the Can Am League totals.

On June 16 the Champions hosted the Cuban team and, led by the excellent pitching of Phillippe Aumont, came away with a 5-0 win. Aumont pitched seven innings gave up only one base hit and no runs while striking out nine Cuban hitters, to earn his fourth win of the season. Despite the extra workload in handling the dual role of pitching coach and starter for Ottawa, Aumont has been outstanding thus far. His four wins are tied for first in the league, his 47 strikeouts are second best and his 1.91 ERA is fourth lowest in the Can Am League.

Previous Players of the Week

Week 1 _ INF Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.) Double A Frisco Roughriders (Rangers).

Week II _ RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) Triple A El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres).

Week III _ RHP R.J. Freure (Burlington, Ont.) Class-A Quad Cities River Bandits (Astros).

Week IV _ INF Adam Hall (London, Ont.) Class-A Delmarva Shorebirds (Orioles).

Week V _ RHP Jordan Balazovic (Mississauga, Ont.) Class-A Fort Myers Miracle (Twins).

Week VI _ RHP Curtis Taylor (Port Coquitlam, BC) double-A Montgomery Biscuits (Rays)

Week VII _ RHP Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies) and 3B Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) double-A Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros).

Week VIII _ 1B Jim Adduci (Burnaby, BC) triple-A Iowa Cubs (Cubs).

Week IX _ INF Adam Hall (London, Ont.) Class-A Delmarva Shorebirds (Orioles).

Week X _ RHP R. J. Freure (Burlington, Ont.) class-A Quad Cities River Bandits (Astros).

Week XI _ OF Gareth Morgan (North York, Ont.) class-A Inland Empire ‘66s (Angels).