CBN POW, Week XIII: Ben Pelletier
By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network
Pat Borders knows a line drive hitter when he sees one.
After all, he hit in the same batting order as gap-to-gap hitters John Olerud, Paul Molitor and Robbie Alomar.
It is a long way to go from the class-A New York Penn League where plaques of Molitor and Alomar are displayed. Now, managing the Williamsport Crosscutters, Borders enjoyed the line drive show
Ben Pelletier (Varennes, Que.) had an 11-hit week for Williamsport to lead all Canuck hitters. With 11 hits he earned the Canadian Baseball Network minor league Player of the Week for Week XIII.
How the week that was went for Pelletier, who was signed by Philadelphia Phillies scout Alex Agostino:
_ Batting fifth and playing left field, he doubled, singled and knocked in two runs in a 4-2 win over the State College Spikes before 1,998 fans at BB&T Ballpark. He bunted a run over in the fourth; singled on a line drive to left in the sixth and doubled to left in the eighth for a 4-1 lead.
_ Playing left and batting fifth, he had two hits, including a double in a 6-5 loss to State College in front of 4,421 fans at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Pelletier hit a line drive to right in the first and doubled to centre in the sixth.
_ Batting fifth and playing left field, he had three hits and knocked in a run as Williamsport lost 9-7 in front of 2,314 at the BB&T Ballpark. Pelletier singled to centre -- and scored -- to open the second, singled to left opening the fourth and reached on and infield single -- and scored -- in the sixth.
_ Playing left and batting fifth, he was hitless in a 4-1 loss to the Auburn Doubledays in front of 1,595 fans at BB&T Ballpark.
_ Batting fifth and playing left, he was 2-for-3 in a 5-3 loss to Auburn before 1,070 at BB&T Ballpark. Pelletier singled to centre in the first knocking in a run and singled to left in the sixth.
_ Playing left and hitting clean up he had two hits, including a triple in a 4-1 loss to Auburn before 2,033 fans at BB&T Ballpark. He tripled to centre in the fourth and singled in the sixth.
Best Offensive performances
Player Class Team AB R H HR RBI AVG
Ben Pelletier - A Williamsport 20 3 11 - 4 .550
Jacob Robson - AAA Toledo 20 8 9 2 5 .450
Otto Lopez - A Vancouver 20 5 9 1 6 .450
J.D. Salmon-Williams - A Dayton 14 3 6 - 3 .429
Jared Young - A South Bend 26 4 10 1 6 .385
Connor Panas - A Dunedin 24 3 9 1 4 .375
Jim Adduci - AAA Toledo 20 2 7 - 2 .350
Danny Pinero - A Lakeland 27 4 9 - 2 .333
Josh Naylor - AA San Antonio 25 4 8 2 3 .320
Malik Collymore - A Dayton 25 6 8 - 4 .320
Danny Beaver - IND Santa Fe 27 11 16 1 8 .593
Sebastien Boucher - IND Ottawa 25 5 13 - 5 .520
Maxx Tissenbaum - IND Quebec 18 5 7 2 6 .389
Carter McEachern - IND Washington 20 3 7 - 2 .350
Brad Antchak - IND Quebec 21 5 7 1 5 .333
Josh Williams - IND White Sands 26 7 8 1 7 .308
(Minimum 10 ABs)
(Robson’s numbers include one game at double-A and five at triple-A.
(Lopez’s numbers include two games at rookie ball and two games at class A.
Best pitching performances
JORDAN BALAZOVIC RHP - A CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
1 6.0 1 - - 2 10 1-0 - 0.50 0.00
Another excellent start this week for Jordan Balazovic, on June 30th in an 11-3 win over Burlington Bees. He pitched six innings surrendered just one base hit while striking out 10 Burlington hitters, to earn his third win of the season. His record with Cedar Rapids in five Midwest League starts is now 3-1 with a neat 2.36 ERA.
CURTIS TAYLOR RHP - AA MONTGOMERY BISCUITS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
2 2.0 1 - - - - - 2 0.50 0.00
Since his promotion to the Double A level earlier this year, Curtis Taylor has been a mainstay in the Montgomery bullpen, and this week he made two more excellent appearances. On June 29th in a 5-4 win over Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp he threw a scoreless inning, gave up one base hit while striking out two Jacksonville hitters to earn his second save of the season. On July 2nd in a 1-0 win over Jacksonville he
pitched one inning, surrendered no hits and no runs while striking out three batters, and earned his second save of the week. His record with the Biscuits in 14 Southern League appearances now stands at 1-1 with three saves and a 2.43 ERA. His overall record including his stint earlier in the year with Class A Charlotte Stone Crabs, now stands at 22 total appearances, 4-1 with five saves and a 2.68 ERA.
EVAN RUTCKYJ LHP - IND OTTAWA CHAMPIONS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
1 8.0 2 - - 3 7 1-0 - 0.63 0.00
Acquired in a trade with the Winnipeg Goldeyes, Evan Rutckyj is currently active in his ninth year as a professional player and yet, he’s only 26 years of age. This week on July 1st he had his best outing of the year for the Champions in a 4-0 shutout victory over the New Jersey Jackals. He threw eight innings giving up just two base hits while striking out seven New Jersey batters, to secure his second win. His record with Ottawa in eleven IND Can Am League appearances, now stands at 2-3 with a 4.02 ERA.
Canadian Baseball Network Players of the Week
Week 1 _ OF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) Memphis (Cards) and Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) San Antonio (Padres).
Week II _ RHP Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) New Hampshire (Blue Jays).
Week III _ RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) Gwinett (Braves).
Week IV _ RHP Brock Dykxhoorn (Goderich, Ont.) Corpus Christi (Astros).
Week V _ 3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, Que.) New Hampshire (Jays).
Week VI _ RP Phillippe Aumont (Hull, Que.) Toledo (Tigers)
Week VII _ 3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, Que.) New Hampshire (Jays).
Week VIII _ RHP Curtis Taylor (Coquitlam, BC) Montgomery (Rays)
Week IX _ RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) San Antonio (Padres)
Week X _ 3B Abraham Toro-Hernandez (Longueuil, Que,) Buise Creek (Astros) and 2B Charles Leblanc (Lavall, Que.) Down East Wood (Rangers).
Week XI _ C Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.) Hillsboro (Diamondbacks).
Week XII _ LHP Evan Grills (Whitby, Ont.) Hartford (Rockies).
Week XIII _ OF Ben Pelletier (Varennes, Que.) Williamsport (Philies)