October 13, 2023

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

And now the wrap of the 25th annual Perfect Game World Wood Bat championship tournament at Jupiter, Fla.

“It was an exciting time for talent,” said one veteran scout who was making his 20th visit to Jupiter.

Said another: “there were plenty of players there to dream on for next July ... or the year after.”

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Jupiter Day VI: Dugdale, Duncan, Eberle, Marino, Nori

Jupiter Day V: Cote, Cruickshank, Martin, Tehan

Day IV: Cote, Romeo, Salsberg, Unga, Valdes, Yusypchuk

Jupiter Day III: Ainsworth, Brown, Duncan, Krahn, Lawson, Ricketts, Taggart

Jupiter, Day II: Cruickshank, Krahn, Lawson, Montanaro, Nori

Jupiter Day I: Bonilla, Glenn, Moore, Polanco-Ethier, Ricketts, Valdes

Jupiter advance

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And the top Canucks were:

_ INF Brendan Lawson (Toronto, Ont.), the former Ontario Blue Jay “who looked more athletic and showed a stronger arm than he did last spring.”

_ Great Lake Canadians RHP Nate Carey (Windsor, Ont.) and former Ontario Blue Jay RHP Matt Brown (Carlisle, Ont.) “both looked better than they did at the (Blue Jays Academy’s) Canadian Futures Showcase last month at Rogers Centre.

_ CF Dante Nori (Toronto, Ont.) a speedster who one scout described as “a fiery pepper pot and danger on the bases to opposing batteries.”

_ Also impressive were Mississauga Tigers RHP Josiah Romeo (Caldeon, Ont.), RHP Jacob Wallace (Pincourt, Que.), an Academie Baseball Canada grad, and OF Jorge Valdes (Milton, Ont.) a former Ontario Blue Jay.

The wrap and the round up on how the 71 Canadians fared:

* * *

Final pool standings

Pool B Team State PCT W-L T RA RS

1. Home Plate Chili Dogs GA .833 2-0 1 5 9

2. Milwaukee Brewers Scout Team WI .833 2-0 1 12 20

3. Texas Twelve Red Sox TX .333 1-2 0 14 10

4. Canes Florida 2024 Scout Team FL .000 0-3 0 10 2

Canes National Scout Team: Loic Guillemette (St-Boniface, Que.), LHP Cameron Johnson (Burlington, Ont.), INF-OF Liam Lewis (Toronto, Ont.), LHP Shayne Pellin (St-Lazare, Que.), OF Dario Romeo (Montreal, Que.), INF Justin Skorupski (Mississauga, Ont.).

Name OPS AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB-CS

Guillemette 1.117 .300 .417 .700 5 10 4 3 1 0 1 3 2 5 1-0

Romeo 1.05 .417 .517 .542 9 24 5 10 3 0 0 1 2 4 2-1

Skorupski .683 .278 .350 .333 8 18 3 5 1 0 0 2 2 5 0-1

Lewis .639 .222 .417 .222 6 9 4 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 1-0

Name W-L SV G ERA IP H R ER BB SO AVG OPS WHIP

Johnson 0-0 0 2 3.65 7.2 5 6 4 4 9 .167 .472 1.17

Guillemette 0-0 0 2 5.25 4.0 3 4 3 3 5 .200 .635 1.50

* * *

Pool D State/Prov PCT W L T RA RS

1. Sticks/White Sox Scout Team AR 1.000 3 0 0 8 13

2. Canes NST IN .667 2 1 0 10 14

3. Canadian Premier Ont .333 1 2 0 15 12

4. 643 DP Cougars 18U GA .000 0 3 0 18 12

Canada Premier: RHP Seth Ainsworth (Sarnia, Ont.), LHP Luca Alagheband (Toronto, Ont.) INF Jonah Andrade (Oakville, Ont.), OF Brodey Bitove (Toronto, Ont.), RHP Matthew Brown (Carlisle, Ont.), RHP Tate Carey (Windsor, Ont.), OF Quinn Carson (Oakville, Ont.), RHP Makaio Cisneros (Whitby, Ont.), OF Josh Davis (Guelph, Ont.), RHP Luke Glenn (Queensville, Ont.), INF Cam Gravelle (Smithville, Ont.), RHP Will Hynes (Mississauga, Ont.), INF Jordan Jacob (Maple, Ont.), Ryan James (Toronto, Ont.), C Benji Kautto (Toronto, Ont.), INF Brendan Lawson (Toronto, Ont.), LHP Sam Maclaughlin (Toronto, Ont.), C Gianluca Montanaro (Aurora, Ont.), SS Will Moore (Paris, Ont.), LHP Ryan Press (Toronto, Ont.), C-INF Brayden Ricketts (Brampton, Ont.), RHP Evan Schweizer (Oakville, Ont.), RHP Owen Slater (Whitby, Ont.), RHP Anthony Unga (Oakville, Ont.) and OF Jorge Valdes (Milton, Ont.).

Name OPS AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB-CS

Montanaro 1.139 .444 .583 .556 4 9 2 4 1 0 0 5 2 1 1-0

Gravelle 1.100 .400 .700 .400 4 5 2 2 0 0 0 1 4 0 1-0

Moore 1.083 .375 .583 .400 4 8 5 3 1 0 0 1 4 1 8-0

Ricketts 1.056 .444 .500 .556 4 9 0 4 1 0 0 6 1 1 0-1

Valdez .769 .385 .385 .385 4 13 3 5 0 0 0 2 0 2 2-0

Carson .733 .167 .400 .333 4 6 2 1 1 0 1 2 1 3 0-0

Lawson .558 .250 .308 .250 5 12 2 3 0 0 0 1 1 5 0-0

Jacob .322 .091 .231 .091 5 11 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0-0

Kautto .167 .000 .167 .000 3 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0-0

Davis .000 .000 .000 .000 3 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0-0

Name W-L SV G ERA IP H R ER BB SO AVG OPS

Ainsworth 0-0 0 1 0.00 2.0 0 0 0 1 3 .000 .181

Glenn 0-0 0 2 0.00 2.0 3 0 0 1 2 .333 .735

Unga 0-0 0 1 0.00 1.1 0 0 0 2 3 .000 .220

Slater 0-1 0 2 0.00 0.2 2 2 0 3 0 .400 1.02

Alagheband 1-0 0 2 0.00 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 .167 .333

Carey 0-1 0 1 1.75 4.0 2 1 1 0 7 .154 .366

Hynes 0-0 0 2 1.75 4.0 4 3 1 4 3 .267 .820

Schweizer 0-0 0 1 3.50 2.0 1 1 1 0 1 .167 .450

Brown 0-1 0 1 7.00 2.0 2 2 2 0 0 .260 .650

Cisneros 1-0 0 2 12.60 1.2 2 3 3 3 1 .286 .920

James 0-0 0 1 14.00 1.0 2 2 2 0 1 .400 2.00

McLaughlin 0-0 0 1 14.00 1.0 2 2 2 2 1 .400 .1.18

Press 0-0 0 1 105.1 0.1 2 5 5 3 1 .667 1.50

* * *

Tate Carey, RHP, Canadian Premier

Hometown: Windsor, Ont.

Team: Great Lake Canadians

Commit: Michigan

Carey started for Canadian Premier on against Sticks Brewster/White Sox Scout Team and put together a solid four-inning outing. He allowed two hits and one earned run and struck out seven batters to zero walks.

Listed at 6-foot, 200 pounds, Carey has a thick, filled out frame with a strong lower half and throws with a clean delivery, short arm action, 3/4 slot and direct stride to the plate. He pitched in the 88-92 mph range in this outing and showed solid strike-throwing ability with both his fastball and a slider around 80 mph that had short biting action and generated whiffs low and to his glove side.

Carey did throw one change up — an 84 mph that he pulled below the zone — but primarily worked off the fastball/slider combination. The fastball looks like it has a bit of cutting life and he did a nice job spotting the pitch on the outer rail at times.

Carey did get a bit scattered with his strikes in the third inning, but overall he threw 66% of his 53 pitches for strikes and scouts praised his control.

-- Carlos Collazo, Baseball America

* * *

Former Ontario Blue Jays INF Brendan Lawson (Toronto, Ont.) showed “fast-twitch” muscles in Jupiter.

Brendan Lawson, SS, Canadian Premier

Hometown: Toronto, Ont.

Former team: Ontario Blue Jays.

Commit: Florida

Lawson was a popular target for scouts this week, as one of the most intriguing and high-upside Canadian prospects in the class. A 6-foot-3, 195-pound left-handed hitting shortstop, Lawson went 3-for-11 (.273) with one walk and four strikeouts.

It’s a unique setup for the left-handed hitter, with an extremely high handset that immediately draws comparisons to Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel. He has solid-average bat speed and will take a long stride in his swing at times, with a bit of swing-and-miss common, but a solid batting eye and ability to work counts and make reasonable swing decisions.

In Jupiter, Lawson looked like a line drive hitter and did a nice job using the middle part of the field and while he had just three singles, he hit a few other balls hard in play that turned into lineouts. Defensively, Laweson should have a chance to stick at shortstop and made a few solid plays, with good hands and average arm strength, though he’s already quite physical and some scouts think he might move off the position because of that.

-- Carlos Collazo, Baseball America

* * *

Pool E Sr/Prov PCT W-L T RA RS

1. Canes National 17u VA 1.000 3-0 0 8 29

2. Royals Scout Team MO .667 2-1 0 11 13

3. Brewers Langley Blaze BC .333 1-2 0 19 12

4. PRBAHS PR .000 0-3 0 24 8

Brewers Langley Blaze: C-INF Justin Anctil (Mirabel, Que.), INF Maxime Boies (Lévis, Que.), INF Benito Bonilla (Halifax, NS), INF Zach Cavanagh (Chilliwack, BC), 3B Anthony Clavet (Quebec, Que.), C-1B Keegan Drinkle (Maple Ridge, BC), RHP Evan Dugdale (Maple Ridge, BC), LHP Sean Duncan (Port Coquitlam, BC), RHP Tristan Eberle (Regina, Sask.), RHP Owen Fernandes (Maple Ridge, BC), LHP Carter Germain (Maple Ridge, BC), OF Briggham Kokotailo (Langley, BC), INF David Krahn (Langley, BC), 1B Charles Lavigne (Blainville, Que.), OF Rémi Lemay (Ste-Martine, Que.), RHP-OF Kyu Lumsdon (Langley, BC), INF Joey Marino (Surrey, BC), OF Will Polanco-Ethier (Laval, Que.), RHP Jack Thompson (Langley, BC), RHP Jacob Wallace (Pincourt, Que.), INF Nolan Weinmeyer and RHP Michael Yusypchuk (Edmonton, Alta.).

Name OPS AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB-CS

Krahn 1.144 .364 .417 .727 4 11 1 4 2 1 0 4 1 1 0-0

Bonilla 1.056 .333 .500 .556 4 9 3 3 2 0 0 5 3 2 0-0

Marino .921 .273 .467 .455 6 11 3 3 2 0 0 1 4 2 0-0

Dugdale .899 .333 .455 .444 4 9 4 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 2-0

Boies .730 .286 .444 .286 3 7 2 2 0 0 0 2 2 3 0-0

Lemay .714 .286 .286 .429 2 7 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 0-0

Cavanagh .585 .200 .385 .200 5 10 2 2 0 0 0 2 2 2 0-1

Kokotailo .583 .250 .333 .250 4 8 2 2 0 0 0 1 1 4 0-0

Lavigne .542 .167 .375 .167 3 6 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0-0

Drinkle .533 .200 .333 .200 2 5 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0-1

Weinmeyer .452 .167 .286 .167 3 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0-0

Clavet .397 .167 .231 .167 4 12 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 6 0-0

Polanco-Ethier .386 .100 .286 .100 5 10 2 1 0 0 0 4 2 1-0

Anctil .250 .000 .250 .000 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0-0

Fernandes .200 .000 .200 .000 3 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-0

Thompson .000 .000 .000 .000 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0-0

PLAYER W-L SV G ERA IP H R ER BB SO AVG OPS WHIP

Bonilla 0-0 0 1 0.00 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 .333 .667 1.00

Lumsdon 0-0 0 1 0.00 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000

Wallace 1-0 0 1 2.10 3.1 2 1 1 2 5 .154 .620 .900

Yusypchuk 0-0 0 1 2.80 5.0 6 3 2 0 8 .273 .636 1.20

Duncan 0-0 0 2 3.00 4.2 4 3 2 0 8 .222 .578 1.29

Thompson 0-0 0 2 3.50 2.0 2 3 1 0 0 .222 .639 2.50

Fernandes 0-0 0 2 4.67 3.0 4 3 2 0 7 .333 .967 2.33

Eberle 0-0 0 2 4.67 3.0 2 3 2 1 3 .154 .661 1.67

Germain 0-0 0 2 10.50 2.0 4 3 3 0 2 .400 1.055 2.50

* * *

Pool K ST PCT W L T RA RS

1. Canes National/Mets Scout Team VA 1.000 4 0 0 3 32

2. Team Elite Prime GA .333 1 2 0 9 8

3. Rawlings National Scout Team NY .333 1 2 0 19 8

4. Top Tier Roos Americans FL .333 1 2 0 19 6

Canes National/NY Mets Scout Team: Dante Nori (Toronto, Ont.).

Name G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP OPS

Nori 7 15 8 8 1 1 0 3 8 1 3 .533 .708 1.442

* * *

Dante Nori, OF, Canes National/NY Mets Scout Team

Born: Toronto, Ont.

Resides: Northville, Mich.

Commit: Mississippi

The leadoff hitter for a loaded Canes National team, Nori looked like one of the most advanced pure hitters of the event. In seven games he went 8-for-15 (.533) with a double, a triple and eight walks to just one strikeout.

Nori did turn 19 during this event, and his age will be held against him by many teams and models with a 19.8 age in the middle of next July, but there’s no denying his impact speed, center field potential and feel for manipulating the barrel and hitting line drives to all fields.

Nori is a filled out, 5-foot-11, 188-pound left-handed hitter who uses a slightly wide setup at the plate, but is fairly quiet with his pre-pitch movements and consistently shows strong pitch recognition and bat-to-ball skills. This year he’s posted a contact rate of 84%, per Synergy, and he makes good two-strike adjustments by getting wider with his base and letting his hands do all the work.

He shows a natural ability to drive the ball on a line to the opposite field, letting the ball travel on the outer half and staying balanced with his lower half without leaking out to the pull side. He’s a plus runner who consistently runs hard out of the box, and he turned in one 4.07 run time on an infield single—which is a 65-grade run time for a left-handed hitter.

Nori has a quick first step in center field and the speed to be a good defender, though on a few occasions his routes were less than ideal, which led to hits instead of fly outs.

-- Carlos Collazo, Baseball America

* * *

Team Elite Prime: LHP Braxton Mathews (Kitchener, Ont.)

Name W-L ERA IP H K BB ER WHIP

Mathews 0-0 5.30 2.2 4 2 3 2 2.63

Rawlings National Scout Team: Nathan Currah (Georgetown, Ont.), INF Thomas Hanger (Toronto, Ont.), RHP Wesley Johnston (Toronto, Ont.), RHP Josiah Romeo (Caledon, Ont.) and 3B Adyn Schell (Toronto, Ont.).

Name OPS AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB-CS

Schell .929 .357 .500 .429 8 14 6 5 1 0 0 3 4 5 2-0

Hanger .648 .091 .375 .273 5 11 6 1 0 1 0 3 4 4 2-0

Romeo .000 .000 .000 .000 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-0

Name W-L SV G ERA IP H R ER BB SO AVG OPS WHIP

Schell 0-0 0 2 0.00 5.0 5 1 0 1 8 .238 .558 1.20

Johnston 1-0 0 2 1.24 5.2 4 2 1 0 10 .200 .477 .880

Currah 0-0 0 2 2.21 6.1 4 2 2 1 8 .167 .494 1.11

Romeo 0-0 0 1 5.25 4.0 3 4 3 4 9 .188 .600 1.75

* * *

Pool P State PCT W-L T RA RS

1. GBSA Rays Premier GA .667 2-1 0 16 12

2. Baum Bat Scout Team WA .667 2-1 0 10 13

3. Prime/Tigers Scout Team TX .333 1-2 0 12 13

4. Baseball U Prospects NJ .333 1-2 0 11 11

GBSA Rays Premier: RHP Liam Cruickshank (Mississauga, Ont.), 1B Daniel Devapalan (Brampton, Ont.) and LHP Lachlan Harrison (Mississauga, Ont.

Name OPS AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO

Devapalan .000 .000 .000 .000 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

Name W-L SV G ERA IP H R ER BB SO AVG OPS WHIP

Harrison 0-0 1 2 0.00 2.0 2 1 0 2 2 .286 .730 2.0

Cruickshank 1-1 0 3 3.18 5.2 5 2 2 3 8 .294 .464 .550

* * *

Pool U State PCT W-L T RA RS

1. Banditos Scout Team TX .667 2-0 2 8 12

2. EBC 18U Martin TN .667 2-1 0 14 15

3. Toronto Blue Jays Scout Team .500 1-1 1 16 16

4. Puerto Rico Scout Team PR .167 0-2 1 21 16

Toronto Blue Jays Scout Team: RHP Aiden Taggart (Grimsby, Ont.).

Name W-L SV G ERA IP H R ER BB SO AVG OPS WHIP

Taggart 0-0 0 2 0.00 4.2 3 2 0 1 4 .214 .536 .860

Banditos Scout Team: 3B Leo Cote (Ste-Catherine-De-Hatley, Que.).

Name OPS AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB-CS

Cote 1.208 .500 .625 .583 5 12 2 6 1 0 0 3 4 2 0-0

* * *

Pool V State PCT W-L T RA RS

1. GBG/TB SoCal National CA 1.000 3-0 0 4 12

2. East Cobb/SD Padres ST Underclass GA .667 2-1 0 10 12

3. CBU 2024 Scout Team FL .333 1-2 0 8 3

4. D-BAT/United Club TX .000 0-3 0 12 7

CBU 2024 Scout Team: RHP Zev Salsberg (Toronto, Ont.).

Name W-L SV G ERA IP H R ER BB SO AVG OPS

Salsberg 0-0 0 1 0.00 2.0 2 0 0 4 3 .286 .430

* * *

Pool W State PCT W-L T RA RS

1. Team Elite/Braves Scout Team GA .667 2-1 0 13 13

2. Dirtbags Scout Team NC .667 2-1 0 12 21

3. SWFL 2024 Nation FL .333 1-2 0 18 17

4. GBG/TB SoCal American CA .333 1-2 0 24 16

Team Elite/Atlanta Braves Scout Team: INF Andrew Bishop (Kitchener, Ont.) and INF-RHP Tate Martin (Vancouver, BC).

Name OPS AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB-CS

Martin .476 .143 .333 .143 4 7 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 2 0-0

Bishop .904 .333 .571 .333 2 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 3 2 0-0

Name W-L SV G ERA IP H R ER BB SO

Martin 0-0 - 1 - 0.0 1 3 2 0 1

* * *

Pool X State PCT W-L T RA RS

1. FTB Phillies National FL .667 2-1 0 5 16

2. USA Prime American TX .667 2-1 0 12 18

3. Ninth Inning Royals GA .667 2-1 0 12 12

4. Trosky National Upperclass AZ .000 0-3 0 25 8

Trosky National Upperclass: RHP Carson Tehan (Lasalle, Ont.)

Name W-L SV G ERA IP H R ER BB SO AVG OPS WHIP

Tehan 0-1 0 2 11.67 3.0 6 8 5 5 5 .375 1.128 3.67

* * *

Pool Y State PCT W-L T RA RS

1. Dulins Dodgers TX 1.000 3-0 0 1 8

2. MVP 2024 VA .667 2-1 0 8 8

3. 5 Star/Team GA National GA .333 1-2 0 8 5

4. Ostingers Baseball FL .000 0-3 0 7 3

5 Star/Team GA National: INF Esteban Dessureault (Trois-Rivieres, Que.).

Name OPS AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB-CS

Dessureault .333 .000 .333 .000 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0=0

MVP 2024: 1B Markus Kirksey (Toronto, Ont.).

Name OPS AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB-CS

Kirksey .000 .000 .000 .000 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-00

* * *

Top Performers

Hitting

Rank Name Score Stats Team

9. Dante Nori 49.63 8-R, 8-H, 1-2B, 1-3B, 3-RBI, 3-SB, 8-BB, 1-SO Canes National/NY Mets Scout Team

77. William Moore 37.96 5-R, 3-H, 1-2B, 1-RBI, 8-SB, 4-BB, 1-SO Canadian Premier

87. David Krahn 37.33 1-R, 4-H, 2-2B, 1-3B, 4-RBI, 1-BB, 1-SO Brewers Langley Blaze

91. Benito Bonilla 36.99 3-R, 3-H, 2-2B, 0-3B, 0-HR, 5-RBI, 3-BB, 2-SO Brewers Langley Blaze

91. Gianluca Montanaro 36.99 2-R, 4-H, 1-2B, 5-RBI, 1-SB, 2-BB, 1-SO Canadian Premier

Pitching

Rank Name Score Stats Team

27. Tate Carey 135.00 12-Outs, 4-IP, 7-K, 92-FB Velo, 2-H, 1-ER Canadian Premier