Elliott: Caissie, Cassie, Calabrese, Ziegler, Blaze, Ontario Jays Jupiter bound

FieldHouse Pirates’ OF Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) went deep again, again and again to win the Home Run Derby at Tournament 12. Photo: Tyler King.

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

The first thing that the vanguard of scouts will have to do is decide the difference between OF Owen Caissie and RHP-1B Caleb Cassie.

Both are with DBacks Langley Blaze who make their annual trip to the World Wood Bat Perfect Game championships in Jupiter, Fla. Most teams usually have 15 plus scouts. If 30 teams have even 8-10, that’s 300, plus college recruiters, agents, people trying to break in, so the grand total is hundreds maybe closer to a 1,000.

The names may look the same but they are spelled differently. Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) is a 6-foot-3, 195-pound left-handed hitter from the FieldHouse Pirates who won the home run derby at the Tournament 12.

Cassie (Surrey, BC) is a right-hander thrower and bats right ... and he’s a 6-foot-3 245 pounder.

Theydo have one thing in common ... besides the similarity in surnames.

“Both are physical beasts,” said one scout.

In addition to the DBacks Langley Blaze, coached by Doug Mathieson and Jamie Bodaly, the Ontario Blue Jays will also compete in the mega tourney which draws hundreds of pro scouts and college recruiters.

Speedy OF David Calabrese (Maple, Ont.) is probably the best of Joey Ellison’s Ontario Blue Jays.

The others scouts will be concentrating on besides Caissie, who is draft eligible next June and has a scholarship to Michigan for 2021, Cassie and Calabrese include:

_ Langley Blaze RHP Theo Millas (Burnaby, BC) of the Junior National Team, who has committed to pitch at LSU.

_ Blaze LHP-1B Justin Thorsteinson (Langley, BC) of the Junior National Team, who has committed to Oregon State.

_ And Connor Caskenette (Duncan, BC) of the Mid-Island Pirates who was at the Area Code Games at Blair Field in Long Beach and Tournament 12.

A third Canadian entry, the Toronto Blue Jays Scout team, will have four Canucks: RHP Jack Seward (Port Moody, BC) of the Coquitlam Reds, RHP Simon Lusignan (Varennes, Que.) of the Okotoks Dawgs, Calvin Ziegler (Heidelberg, Ont.) of the Great Lakes Canadians and LHP Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.) of the Mets. All pitched with the Junior National Team this season.

RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) of the Calgary PBF Redbirds, OF Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, Ont.) of the Ottawa-Nepean Canadians, C Andrew Yerzy (North York, Ont.) of the Toronto Mets and RHP Landon Leach (Pickering, Ont.) of the Toronto Mets.

Soroka started Game 3 for the Atlanta Braves Sunday. Orimoloye finished this season with the class-A Dunedin Blue Jays after a trade from the Milwaukee Brewers. Yerzy made three stops in the Arizona Diamondbacks systems: the class-A Hillsboro Hops, Rookie-Class Arizona League Diamondbacks and class-A Kane County Cougars. Leach has been sidelined due to lingering shoulder injuries in the Minnesota Twins. organization.

Tournament Roster

No. Name Pos Ht Wt B/T Grad School Hometown Rank Commitment

15 Caleb Cassie RHP/1B 6-3 245 R/R 2020 Surrey, BC

18 Evan Finnie RHP 5-9 140 R/R 2020 GW Graham Maple Ridge, BC

62 Theo Millas RHP 6-4 200 R/R 2020 Ecole Alpha Burnaby, BC 213 Louisiana State

51 Kaleb Nantes LHP L/L 2020 Victoria, BC

24 Loreto Siniscalchi RHP IF, OF 6-3 200 L/R 2021 Ecole Alpha Burnaby, BC

33 Justin Thorsteinson LHP 1B, OF 6-4 205 L/L 2020 Langley SS Langley, BC Oregon State

11 Russell Young C UT 5-11 185 R/R 2020 Langley SS Cloverdale, BC Gonzaga

17 Connor Caskenette C R/R 2020 Duncan, BC

3 Cassidy Watt C R/R 2020 Coquitlam, BC

9 Yosuke Fujie SS 5-8 155 L/R 2020 Mission, BC

4 Aaron Marsh 2B L/R 2020 Nanaimo, BC

47 Owen Caissie OF 6-3 185 L/R 2021 Notre Dame Catholic SS Burlington, ON Michigan

41 Patrick Copen RHP 6-6 185 R/R 2020 Parkersburg Catholic Belpre, OH Marshall

29 Kyle Mahon RHP OF 5-10 185 R/R 2021 Centerville Dayton, OH

22 Javyn Pimental LHP L/L 2020 Kaneohe , HI

49 Kelena Sauer RHP 6-3 205 R/R 2020 Kamehameha Schools Kapalama Ca Honolulu, HI San Diego State

48 Mike Sokol RHP OF 6-4 180 R/R 2020 New Albany New Albany, OH Ohio State

54 Austin Strickland RHP OF 6-2 195 R/R 2020 Archbishop Moeller Winchester, OH Kentucky

28 Noah Takacs RHP 6-3 200 L/R 2020 Oak Bay Victoria, BC

27 CJ Harrison RHP C 6-0 170 R/R 2020 Winder-Barrow Winder, GA Young Harris College

5 Boston Noah Smith C 3B, OF 5-11 180 L/R 2021 Butler Arcanum, OH Cincinnati

40 Will Cook 3B 1B, RHP, SS 6-5 190 L/R 2021 Miamisburg Miamisburg, OH Louisville

38 Dane Hall RHP 1B 6-5 223 L/R 2021 Miamisburg Miamisburg, OH Louisville

16 Max Johnson SS 2B 6-1 165 S/R 2021 William Mason Mason, OH Indiana

21 Kala’i Rosario OF 1B, 3B 6-1 200 R/R 2020 Waiakea Papaikou, HI California Baptist

10 Devin Taylor OF 1B, 3B, IF, SS 6-0 165 L/R 2022 Lasalle Cincinnati, OH

53 Hank Thomas OF 1B, 3B 6-5 185 L/R 2020 St. Xavier High School Oxford, OH Georgia Tech

DBacks Langley Blaze Schedule

Wednesday Oct. 9

DBacks Langley Blaze vs. Florida Atlantic University, FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, 5:05 PM.

Oct. 10

DBacks Langley Blaze vs. Ontario Blue Jays. Roger Dean Complex Cardinal #3 (Annual Canadian Scout Game), 10:20am

DBacks Langley Blaze vs. MVP @ Roger Dean Complex Chevrolet Stadium (Pool J), 3pm

Oct 11

DBacks Langley Blaze vs. Braves Scout Team @ Roger Dean Complex Marlins #4 (Pool J), 5:20pm

Oct. 12

8 am DBacks Langley Blaze vs. vs Miami Columbia PG Blue @ Roger Dean Complex Marlins #3 (Pool J

Sun Oct 13

Playoffs or consolation

Mon Oct 14

Playoffs or consolation