CBN POW, Week XII Demi Orimoloye

Former Ottawa-Nepean Canadian slugger Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, Ont.) was the CBN PLayer of the Week. Photo: Jay Blue

By George Farelli

Canadian Baseball Network

An argument could be made for Otto Lopez who led all Canucks in hitting this week to be the Canadian Baseball Network minor league player of the week.

Lopez (Montreal, Que.) led all Canucks in hitting ... batting .467 (7-for-15) at class-A Lansing.

Or some could throw stats at you that OF Jacob Robson had the most hits. Playing at triple-A Toledo, Robson (Windsor, Ont.) had 11 hits.

Yet, both Lopez and Robson finish in the runner-up spot. In this the week of the Ottawa-Nepean Canadians’ 50th anniversary, it has to be OF Demi Orimoloye who batted .438 (7-for-16) at class-A Dunedin.

Orimoloye had two homers and six RBIs the same week his old coach Don Campbell had his No. 17 retired and was inducted into the Ottawa-Nepean Canadians Hall of Fame. The only other number retired has been No. 10 both worn by national teamer Shawn O’Connor (Pakenham, Ont.) and former coach Billy Courchaine (Kanata, Ont.)

He was selected by Milwaukee Brewers scout Jay Lapp (London, Ont.) in the fourth round of the 2015 draft.

How the week that was, was for Orimoloye as he:

_ Did not play in a 4-2 loss to the St. Lucie Mets before 1,063 at First Data Field.

_ Batting clean-up and hitting fourth he had three hits, including a double in a 3-1 win over St. Lucie in front of 451 at First Data Field. Orimoloye singled to left in the first, doubled to centre in the third and singled to centre and stole second in the seventh,

_ Playing right and hitting clean-up he was 0-for-2 with two walks in a 3-0 loss to St. Lucie before 1,477 fans at First Data Field.

_ In the clean-up spot and DHing, he was 2-for-4 with a triple, homer and three RBIs helping Dunedin to a 12-4 win against Daytona Tortugas before 2,476 fans at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Orimoloye hit a two-run homer to left in the fifth -- putting Dunedin up 6-0 -- and tripled to centre to drive in a run, lifting the lead to 8-3. Lead-off man Bruce Yari (Waterloo, Ont.) was hitless for Daytona.

_ Playing right and hitting fourth, he hit a three-run homer in an 8-4 win against Daytona in front of 2,792 fans at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Orimoloye hit a three-run homer in the first as the Blue Jays scored four times. Yari had a single for Daytona.

Top Offensive weeks

Player/Class/Team AB R H HR RBI AVG

Otto Lopez - A Lansing 15 3 7 1 1 .467

Demi Orimoloye - A Dunedin 16 3 7 2 6 .438

Jacob Robson - AAA Toledo 30 5 11 - 1 .367

Jim Adduci - AAA Iowa 22 4 8 - - .364

Mitch Robinson - A Staten Island 14 2 5 1 5 .357

Jesse Hodges - AA Tennessee 14 1 5 1 5 .357

Tristan Graham - A Aberdeen 24 3 8 - 2 .333

Jared Young - AA Tennessee 18 1 6 - - .333

Noah Naylor - A Lake County 16 6 5 1 3 .313

Adam Hall - A Delmarva 20 2 6 - 2 .300

Wes Darvill - IND Winnipeg 24 6 9 1 5 .375

Brett Siddall - IND Quebec 14 - 5 - 1 .357

Chris Shaw - IND Quebec 16 - 5 - 4 .313

David Glaude - IND Trois Rivieres 26 6 8 - 4 .308

Tyson Gillies - IND Quebec 26 5 8 1 3 .308

(Minimum 10 ABs)

Best pitching outings

JAKE SIMS RHP - SINGLE A TRI CITY DUST DEVILS

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

2 2.1 2 - - 1 5 1-0 - 1.43 0.00

Jake Sims was selected in the 31st Round of the 2018 draft by the San Diego Padres, and the 22 year old native of Guelph, Ont. is now active in his second season as a pro. Working out of the bullpen for Tri City he had an excellent week with two solid appearances, one of which was his first win as a pro. On June 20 in a 6-5 win over Hillsboro Hops he pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, gave up one base hit while striking out three Hops batters, to earn the win. On June 24 in a 5-3 loss to Eugene Emeralds he threw a scoreless inning, allowing one base hit while striking out two batters, but was not involved in the

decision. His overall record in the Single A Northwest League in four relief appearances now stands at 1-0 with a 1.97 ERA.

BEN ONYSHKO LHP - SINGLE A WEST VIRGINIA POWER

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

1 2.2 - - - 2 1 1-0 - 0.91 0.00

Since the first day of the season Ben Onyshko has shown a remarkable level of consistency, and has become a very key member of West Virginia’s bullpen. This week he had another excellent outing on June 21 in a 1-0 win over Lakewood BlueClaws. He pitched 2 2/3 scoreless, hitless innings, while striking out one Lakewood

batter to earn his second win of the season. His record in 19 Single A New York-Penn League appearances now stands at 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA.

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).

Week XII _ OF Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, Ont.) class-A Dunedin Blue Jays (Jays).