The first Canadian Premier entry into the World Wood Bat Perfect Game championship at Jupiter was coached by Jamie Romak, Corey Eckstein, Jimmy Richardson and Rich Leitch.

October 18, 2022

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

The curtain came down on the 25th annual Perfect Game Scouting Service World Wood Bat championship in Jupiter, Fla.

The Tier 5 Star Roos Mafia beat the Canes National/NY Mets Scout Team 5-0 in the championship final of the 100-team tourney.

As for the Canucks -- and there were 60 Canucks on hand with eight different teams from 18 different squads -- play began as the new Canadian Premier entry squared off in an exhibition game, beating the Brewers Langley Blaze 9-7.

And in the final action -- a consolation game between Canadian Premier and Brewers Langley Blaze -- the teams played to a 5-5 tie.

On the mound for Canadian Premier were RHP Zev Salsberg (Toronto, Ont.) of the Ontario Royals, RHP Liam Cruickshank (Mississauga, Ont.) of Ontario Blue Jays, LHP Keegan O’Hearn (Oshawa, Ont.) of the Ontario Terriers, and Seth Ainsworth (Sarnia, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians.

Elsewhere in consolation play ...

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The Brewers Langley Blaze lost to the East Coast Lumberjacks/Northeast Pride 2-1. RHP Owen Fernandes (Maple Ridge, BC) of the Langley Blaze, pitched 2 2/3 innings, giving up two runs -- one earned -- on three hits. Fernandes threw 31 pitches (67% for strikes). Nick Frers (North Vancouver, BC) had a scoreless outing, allowing a hit and a walk. He threw 18 pitches (55% strikes). Sam Shaw (Victoria, BC) of the Victoria Eagles, doubled in a run, while 3B

Briggham Kokotailo (Langley, BC) of the Langley Blaze and 1B Tyler Bono (Stittsville, Ont.) of Watson Elite had the other hits for Langley, coached by Doug Mathieson and Jamie Bodaly.

On the week on the mound ... RHP Jacob Wallace (Pincourt, Que.) of the ABC was 1-0, pitching six frames, giving up one run (1.17 ERA) and striking out six ... Frers pitched 4 2/3 innings allowing one run (1.50 ERA) and striking out three ... LHP Reece Usselman (Langley, BC), of the Langley Blaze, who is headed to Oregon, had a 1.75 ERA, allowing one run in four innings, while fanning four ... Fernandes also finished with a 1.75 ERA, allowing one run in four innings and whiffing four ... Asafa Jones (Toronto, Ont.) TNXL Academy, pitched 1 1/3 scoreless ... INF Ian Huang (Surrey, BC) of the Langley Blaze had a scoreless outing (2/3 of an inning) ... LHP Elliot Cadieux-Lanoue 2023 (Saint-Pie, Que.), ABC, headed to Iowa, worked five innings giving up five runs (7.00 ERA) on four hits and six walks, as he struck out eight.

At the plate ... Shaw led the way batting .429 (6-for-14) with three doubles, four RBIs and a 1.243 OPS .... C Cam Macleod (North Vancouver, BC) of the North Shore Twins batted .375 (3-for-8) with two doubles, four RBIS and a 1.170 OPS ... Huang hit .333 (4-for-12) with a triple, two RBIs and an .885 OPS ... Jones batted .333 as well (2-for-6) with an .833 OPS ... SS Tyrus Hall 2023 (Victoria, BC) of the Victoria Eagles, hit .308 (3-for-10) with a double, seven RBIs and a .708 OPS ... OF Ty Hamilton (Orleans, Ont.) of Watson Elite batted .286 (4-for-14) and a .697 OPS ... Bono batted .250 (1-for-4) with a .500 OPS ... OF Elijah Olaybal (Langley, BC) of the Blaz hit .200 (1-for-5) with a .400 OPS ... INF Zach Cavanagh (Chilliwack, BC) of the Abbotsford Cardinals, batted .167 (1-for-6) with a .542 OPS ... Javee Tagudar (Burnaby, BC), of the Blaze was .111 (1-for-9) with a .641 OPS ... Kokotailo hit .077 (1-for-13) with a .220 OPS, INF Austin Goesen (North Vancouver, BC) of the Blaze, C Asher Herbert (Burnaby, BC) Top of the Delta Blue Jays and C Noah Laird (Langley, BC) of the Blaze were all hitless.

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The Canadian Premier broke open a 2-1 game with a three-run fifth for a 5-1 decision over the Iowa Selected 2023 Scout Team. OF Ashton Graff-Rowe (Waterloo, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians, OF Jorge Valdes (Milton, Ont.), who is headed to West Virginia after his playing days with the Ontario Blue Jays, led off with back-to-back walks. O’Hearn followed with a run-scoring double. Ainsworth hit a run-scoring fly ball. C Brayden Ricketts (Brampton, Ont.) of the Ontario Blue Jays walked to load the bases and BJ Peart (Markham (Ont.), a Toronto Met, headed to Evansville, singled in a run. The all-star team was coached by
Jamie Romak, Corey Eckstein, Jimmy Richardson and Rich Leitch, who sometimes goes by the name of Rick.

On the week at the plate ... O’Hearn led the way batting .444 (4-for-9) with two doubles, two RBIs and a 1.333 OPS ... Ricketts batted .400 (4-for-10) with a double, triple, five RBIs and a 1.238 OPS ... OF Noah Konings (Brampton, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians hit .375 (6-for-16) with a double, two RBIs and an .882 OPS ... Peart hit .308 4-for-13) with an RBI and a .665 OPS ... C-3B Keaton Cottam (Burlington, Ont.) of the FieldHouse Pirates batted .250 (1-for-4) with an RBI and a .917 OPS ... Alex Kean (Woodstock, Ont.), headed to Morehead State and a member of the Ontario Blue Jays, hit .222 (2-for-9) with a double, three RBIs and a .697 OPS ... OF Matt Evans (Tillsonburg, Ont.) a Nebraska commit from the Great Lake Canadians, batted .167 (2-for-12) with a double, an RBI and a .631 OPS ... Tyson Kaufman (Drumbo, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians, going 2-for-12 (.167) with a .500 OPS ... Myles Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Ontario Blue Jays batted .111 (1-for-9) with a .496 OPS .... Connor Gaitens (Tillsonburg, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians, who batted .125 (1-for-8) ... Graff-Rowe hit .083 (1-for-12) with a .381 OPS ... Evan Gunn (Oshawa, Ont.) of the Team Ontario Astros, along with Valdes, were hitless.

RHP Matthew Donnison (Niagara Falls, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians

On the mound ... RHP Matthew Donnison (Niagara Falls, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians, who is headed to Illinois State pitched five scoreless walking two, striking out eight and allowing one hit ... RHP Mac Robertson (Oshawa, Ont.) of the Toronto Mets worked 3 1/3 innings allowing two hits -- with seven strikeouts ... RHP Makaio Cisneros (Whitby, Ont.) of the Ontario Blue Jays pitched four scoreless walking two and whiffing seven ... LHP Lachlan Harrison (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Ontario Blue Jays, tossed three scoreless ... RHP Matt Brown (Carlisle, Ont.) of the Ontario Blue Jays pitched 4 1/3 innings givining up three runs -- one earned (1.62 ERA) -- on three hits and a walk, while fanning five ... RHP Jack Pineau (Thunder Bay, Ont.) had a 2.33 ERA allowing one run and striking out four in three innings ... RHP Matthew Sargeant (Ancaster, Ont.) headed to North Dakota State after playing with the Ontario Blue Jays, pitched two innings giving up one run (3.50) with three strikeouts ... RHP Tate Carey (Windsor, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians, allowed two runs in three innings (4.67 ERA), as he fanned four ... Salsberg (Toronto, Ont.) of the Ontario Royals, pitched two innings giving up two runs (7.00) ... Ainsworth allowed three runs in 2 2/3 inning (7.88) while fanning four .... RHP Parker Burgess of TNXL Academy (Douro-Dummer, Ont.) who is headed to Illinois, allowed two runs in 1 2/3 innings (8.40 ERA) ... Cruickshank, who allowed two run in 1 2/3 innings (8.40).

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1B Cole Leclair (Toronto, Ont.) of the Mississauga Tigers, EH 3B Stefan Di Corrado (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Toronto Mets and RF David Stanley (Toronto, Ont.) of the Mississauga Tigers each had a base hit as the Rawlings National Scout Team lost 4-2 to the FTB/Philadelphia Phillies. RHP Wesley Johnston (Toronto, Ont.) of the Mississauga Tigers pitched 1 1/3 scoreless striking out a pair.

On the week at the plate ... Tebeck Keshav (Brampton, Ont.) batted 1-for-4 (.250) with an RBI and a .500 OPS ... Leclair batted .167 (2-for-12) with a .452 OPS ... Stanley hit .154 (2-for-13)with a .421 OPS ... Di Corrado batted .125 (1-for-8) with a .425 OPS.

And on the mound ... Johnston worked 5 1/3 innings allowing four hits and fanning five ... RHP Ryan Marton (Scarborough, Ont.) of the Mississauga Tigers, pitched a scoreless inning, striking out the side ... LHP Kieran Glassford (Burlington, Ont.) of the Mississauga Tigers pitched two innings allowing two runs (7.00 ERA).

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Florida Burn scored twice in the bottom of the seventh against Team Steel National and RHP Lucas Roberts (Etobicoke, Ont.) for a 3-2 win. David Alvarez (Woodbridge, Ont.), who has committed to Florida Atlantic, batted .167 (2-for-13) with an RBI and pitched a scoreless inning.

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NEB dropped an 8-0 decision to the NEB 3n2 Sticks Baseball Brewster/White Sox Scout Team, as OF Daniel Leonard (Oakville, Ont.) FieldHouse Pirates was hitless in his only at-bat in the consolation game. On the week, Leonard was hitless.

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For Canes National Florida, 2B Charles Davalan (St-Bruno-De-Montarville, Que.)of TNXL Academy was 3-for-9 (.333) and 1B Ty Doucette (Dartmouth, NS) of the Okotoks Dawgs, who is headed to Oregon State, was 0-for-4. LHP Cameron Johnson (Burlington, Ont.) of the IMG Academy was listed on the roster but did not pitch.

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The Ohio Warhawks went 2-1 in round-robin play. SS Jack Lines (Okotoks, Alta.) of TNXL Academy, who has committed to Tennessee, hit .111 (1-for-9) in four games with one RBI and a .311 OPS.

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Top uncommitted hitters and pitchers

Noah Konings, OF, Brampton, Ont.

Class of 2023 | PG Rank: NR

Canadian Premier

Konings will hit in the middle of the Canadian Premier order this week in Jupiter and be a key cog in their attack, bringing good hitting tools to the table with solid power/speed components and good defense in the outfield. He’s a well-rounded player who can do a lot of things well, and should leave Jupiter with a lot of interest.

RHP Matt Brown (Carlisle, Ont.) of the Ontario Blue Jays

Matt Brown, RHP, Carlisle, Ont.

Class of 2024 PG Rank: 490

Canadian Premier

Coming off a loud showing at the WWBA Worlds Underclass, Brown is a big time right-hander on the uncommitted scene. The fastball plays up to the low-90s with some downward plane and hard sink. The ability to spin and feel for the slider at 79-81 mph can be a swing-and-miss offering at the next level. Plenty of physical projection in a 6-foot-4, 185-pound and really uses his length on the mound to create extension and separation. There’s a lot to like in this profile going forward.

Makaio Cisneros, RHP, Whitby, Ont.

Class of 2024 PG Rank: 500

Canadian Premier

Cisneros is another loud arm coming off two solid appearances at the Underclass, and he brings a ton of upside. Plenty of length in a lean 6-foot-2 build and a high-waisted frame. Good arm-side life to the fastball at 87-88 mph tops and really athletic usage of his lower half. Maintains arm speed on a quality fading changeup and the traits really play at this age. He’s an arm that can make an immediate impact on a campus.

Ashton Graff-Rowe, OF/MIF, Waterloo, Ont.

Class of 2023 PG Rank: Top 1000

Canadian Premier

Graff-Rowe is a big athletic profile that makes a considerable impact on both sides. He’s a sub 6.7 runner that oozes speed and quickness in all facets. The range really shows defensively in the outfield, but he’s begun to string together hard contact at the plate. It’s a quick right-handed swing with plenty of intent in the hands. A solid blend of speed and contact can play anywhere in a lineup, and Graff-Rowe offers just that.

Evan Gunn, MIF, Oshawa, Ont.

Class of 2023 PG Rank: Top 1000

Canadian Premier

Gunn has real feel for the leather and defensive instincts that show up the middle, particularly at second base. It’s quick lateral range and crisp transfers for quality defense at premium spots. He shows solid bat speed and the ability to consistently impact the ball to the pull side. Good loft and strength in the path plays, and he’s shown a track record of power in PG events. Keep a close eye on this one.

Tate Carey, RHP, Windsor, Ont.

Class of 2024 | PG Rank: Top 500

Canadian Premier

One of the top ‘24’s in Canada to my eyes, Carey is younger for the grade and has real projection traits. He has good size and room to fill on his frame, with his fastball reaching 90-91 mph on the mound to go along with good strike-throwing and projectable secondary stuff. He also has a fair bit of power in his righthanded swing and a chance to play third base long term, giving him some two-way upside, though he’s likely to be best long term on the mound, where he has power arm upside.

Keaton Cottam, C, Burlington, Ont.

Class of 2023 | PG Rank: Top 1000

Canadian Premier

Cottam is a quality defensive catcher who stands out for his receiving skills and general athleticism behind the plate, with a quick release and solid-average arm pairing well together, producing in-game sub-2.00 second pops at times. The swing is compact and direct at the plate with feel for the barrel and a frame that will hold more weight and subsequent power, though his calling card right now is definitely his prowess at the most important position on the field.

Ontario Blue Jays LHP Lachlan Harrison (Mississauga, Ont.)

Lachlan Harrison, LHP, Mississauga, Ont.

Class of 2024 | PG Rank: 500

Canadian Premier

Harrison is a long, lean lefty with ease of operation in his delivery and some deception there as well, working mostly in the mid-80’s with his fastball right now, touching the upper-80’s at times and creating steep angle to the strike zone from a higher slot. He throws a mid-70’s curveball with 1/7 shape that plays well out of that high slot as well as a changeup in the upper 70’s that has good arm side movement, and looks the part of a classic projection lefty.

Keegan O’Hearn, OF/LHP, Oshawa, Ont.

Class of 2023 | PG Rank: NR

Canadian Premier

O’Hearn is a big, physical lefthanded hitter and pitcher who stands 6-5/210 and looks every bit of it. He’s primarily a power-hitting corner outfielder, a good athlete for his size with a huge arm from right field, also featuring above-average raw power from the left side of the plate. He’s also up to 90-91 mph from the left side on the bump with good angle to the plate, and has two-way upside at the collegiate level.

_ Cameron Mcelwaney, Craig Cozart, Tyler Russo, Isaiah Burrows. Brett Swalve, Tyler Henninger, Kyler Peterson, Brian Sakowski.