February 23, 2022

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

The oldest scout line ever was probably when the wife of a fellow scout lying in a coffin visits the funeral home.

The woman approached the casket, said a prayer and asked “oh my goodness, what did he have?”

The scout’s wife answered “He had ... the Four Corners.”

The Four Corners in scouting terms means that the scout’s coverage area is where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. Almost as large an area as say Eastern Canada,.

Obviously Arizona is the hot bed of the four with the largest population and the best weather. It’s not Florida or Texas, but it is not Rhode Island either. The only area which competes size wise would be scouts in the Deep South: Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida pamhandle.

For Perfect Games Scouting Services purposes of ranking players and teams list Nevada, Idaho, Nebraska with the Four Corners of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah.

No less than 24 Canucks are on the rosters of the top 15 ranked teams.

OF Tyrese Johnson (Calgary, Alta.) and LHP Matt Wilkinson (Ladner BC) are with the No. 1 ranked Central Arizona Vaqueros.

The defending champion Western Nebraska Cougars, who enter the season ranked ninth, have the most Canucks with seven Canuck Cougars, led by RHP Dawson Hurford (Victoria, BC).

The rest of the Canadians include: OF Maxime Adam (Montreal, Que.), RHP Archer Blumenschein (Sherwood Park, Alta), INF Jack Hourahine (Cambridge, Ont.), LHP Griff Potter (Kincardine, Ont.), C Dylan Howard (London, Ont.), and LHP Will Potter (Kincardine, Ont.).

Four Corners Top 15 Team Canuck Breakdowns

1. Central Arizona

OF Tyrese Johnson (Calgary, Alta.) and LHP Matt Wilkinson (Ladner BC).

Wilkinson is 2-0 through six games and an 0.67 ERA. He has fanned 25 in 13 1/3 innings. Johnson is batting .350 with a homer and seven RBIs and a .980 OPS.

3. Yavapai

OF Jude Hall (Chilliwack, BC), RHP Ryan Scott (Quispamsis, NB) and LHP Nick Woodcock (Whitby, Ont.).

Woodcock has a 5.40 ERA in 2 1/3 innings, while Hall is hitting .143 with two RBIs.

5. New Mexico

INF Tommy Palazoff (Langley, BC).

8. McCook

C-OF Ethan Murdoch (Swift Current, Sask.), RHP Cade Webber (Kelowna, BC) and OF Deagen Morcom (Winnipeg, Man.).

Murdoch has four doubles, a homer and 12 RBIs while hitting .286, while Morcom owns a .182 average with two RBIs. On the mound, Webber is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA, fanning eight in 5 2/3.

9. Western Nebraska

OF Maxime Adam (Montreal, Que.), RHP Archer Blumenschein (Sherwood Park, Alta), INF Jack Hourahine (Cambridge, Ont.), LHP Griff Potter (Kincardine, Ont.), C Dylan Howard (London, Ont.), RHP Dawson Hurford (Victoria, BC) and LHP Will Potter (Kincardine, Ont.).

On the mound Hurford is 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA in two games striking out four in seven innings. Will Potter is 0-2 with a 23.40 ERA fanning three in five innings. Blumenschein has pitched two scoreless.

Howard is hitting .286 with a pair of RBIs, while Adam owns a .222 mark with three RBIs.

PG: The reigning Region IX NJCAA Tournament champions. On the mound, righty Dawson Hurford is one of the better arms in the region.

12. Lamar

RHP Mason Nordli (Nanaimo, BC).

Nordli is 0-3 with a 15.30 ERA striking out 12 in 10 innings.

13. Trinidad State

3B Josh Gerhardt (Edmonton, Alta.) and OF Nick Tremblay (Mont Saint-Hilaire, Que.).

Tremblay is batting .393 with a double, a triple, two homers and nine RBIs. Gerhardt is 0-1 with a 9.71 ERA striking out nine in 8 1/3 innings.

14. Arizona Western

INF Dylan Edmands (Regina, Sask.), C Noah Roberts (Cambridge, Ont.) and C Josh Cleggett (Regina, Sask.)..

Roberts is hitting .280, with a double, homer, nine RBIs and a .785 OPS, while Edmands is batting .250 with two doubles, a triple, six RBIs and a .718 OPS.

15. Northeastern

RHP Ryan Seungjin Yea (Stratford, Ont.) and INF David Draayers (Abbotsford, BC).

Draayers has a .318 average with two doubles and five RBIs, with an .853 OPS.

Four Corners Region Top 75 Prospects

Rank Name Position School Hometown State Commitment

Rankings and ratings By Tyler Henninger, Isaiah Burrows

1. Alex Ulloa, SS, Yavapai, Cutler Bay Fla.

(Canadians: none)

Four Corners Region Top 15 Rankings

Rank

School City State

1. Central Arizona, Coolidge, AZ

2. Pima, Tucson, AZ

3. Yavapai, Prescott, AZ

4. Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, NV

5. New Mexico, Hobbs, NM

6. Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, UT

7. Southeast, Lincoln, NE

8. McCook, McCook, NE

9. Western Nebraska, Scottsbluff, NE

10. Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, ID

11. South Mountain, Phoenix, AZ

12. Lamar, Lamar, CO

13. Trinidad State, Trinidad, CO

14. Arizona Western, Yuma, AZ

15. Northeastern, Sterling, CO