Elliott: Lawson, Nori PG Pre-season All-Americans, 57 make Canada region first team
March 18, 2024
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
Last August when scouts began evaluating Canadians for the 2024 draft, two names were atop the list:
Brendan Lawson and Dante Nori.
And they still are.
Both Lawson (Toronto, Ont.), a former Ontario Blue Jay, and Nori (Toronto, Ont.) earned spots on the annual Rawlings-Perfect Game Preseason All-American teams.
Former Leaside SS Lawson is now at P27 Academy, while OF Nori, the son of former Toronto Raptors scout and assistant coach Micah Nori, lives in Northville, Mich. and plays for the Canes National. Lawson has committed to the Florida Gators, while the speedy Nori is bound for the Mississippi State Rebels.
The annual Rawlings’ and Perfect Game’s Preseason All-American teams were selected from 450,000 high school players across North America.
A total of 57 Canadians made the first team from the Canada/Puerto Rico Region.
The Ontario Blue Jays lead the way with 11 current and past players chosen: RHP Matthew Brown (Carlisle, Ont.), RHP Makaio Cisneros (Whitby, Ont.), RHP Liam Cruickshank (Mississauga, Ont.), 1B Daniel Devapalan (Brampton, Ont.) LHP Lachlan Harrison (Mississauga, Ont.), 1B Jericho Morris-Johns (Stouffville, Ont.), C Brayden Ricketts (Brampton, Ont.), RHP Owen Slater (Whitby, Ont.), RHP Anthony Unga (Oakville, Ont.), OF Jorge Valdes (Milton, Ont.) and Lawson.
The Academie Baseball Canada was next with nine selections to the First Team from the Canada/Puerto Rico region. They were followed by the Great Lake Canadians, Okotoks Dawgs and Toronto Mets with six each and the Mississauga Tigers with five.
The 6-foot-5, 252-pounder RHP-1B Jake Hanley and Nori made the Central Region’s First Team. Hanley’s father Todd Hanley is from Dartmouth, N.S. and pitched for the University of Toledo Rockets from 1988 to 1993. Pitching for his Mason, Ohio High School, Jake already hit 95 mph in his high school’s opening scrimmage. Hanley pays homage to his father wearing a Canadian maple leaf on his glove.
A host of Canucks were named pre-season honourable mention led by the Ontario Blue Jays with 10. Next were Great Lakes and the Team Ontario Astros with six apiece, followed by the ABC and FieldHouse Pirates with five each. The Langley Blaze and Ontario Nationals were next with four apiece.
First Team Senior Preseason All America
Name Position Hometown Team Commitment
Brendan Lawson SS Toronto, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays/P27 Academy Florida
Dante Nori OF Northville, Mich. Canes National Mississippi State
Canada/Puerto Rico Region First Team
Name Position Hometown Team Commitment
Seth Ainsworth RHP Sarnia, Ont. Great Lake Canadians Hutchinson CC
Luca Alagheband LHP Toronto, Ont. Mississauga Tigers Harvard
Brodey Bitove OF Toronto, Ont. Toronto Mets Pepperdine
Benito Bonilla 3B Halifax, NS Okotoks Dawgs Missouri State
Brycen Brittain C St. Catharines, Ont. Ontario Royals Cuyahoga CC
Matthew Brown RHP Carlisle, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays/P27 Academy Oklahoma State
Guillaume Bussiere SS Beloeil, Que. ABC/TNXL Academy
Tate Carey RHP Windsor, Ont. Great Lake Canadians Michigan
Makaio Cisneros RHP Whitby, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays/TNXL Central Florida
Abraham Contreras OF Blainville, Que. ABC
Dawgs 3B Leo Cote (Ste-Catherine De Hatley, Que. )
Leo Cote 3B Ste-Catherine De Hatley, Que. Okotoks Dawgs Oregon State
Liam Cruickshank RHP Mississauga, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays South Florida
Josh Davis OF Guelph, Ont. Great Lake Canadians Troy
Anthony Deblois RHP Saint-Isidore, Que. ABC
Daniel Devapalan 1B Brampton, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays South Florida
Stefan Di Corrado 3B Mississauga, Ont. Mississauga Tigers
Owen Fernandes RHP Maple Ridge, BC Langley blaze
Connor Gaitens C Courtland, Ont. Great Lake Canadians
Luke Glenn RHP Queensville, Ont. Toronto Mets Niagara
Loic Guillemette LHP St-Boniface, Que. ABC/TNXL Academy Florida International
Thomas Hanger SS Toronto, Ont. Mississauga Tigers Texas Tech
Lachlan Harrison LHP Mississauga, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays/Georgia Premier Academy Sox
Eric Hartman OF Okotoks, Alta. Okotoks Dawgs Michigan
Ian Huang SS Surrey, BC Langley Blaze
Ryan (RJ) James RHP Toronto, Ont. Toronto Mets Evansville
Nolan Jomphe 1B Quebec, Que. ABC
Asafa Jones OF Toronto, Ont. Team Ontario Astros Jackson State
Raphael Lantigua OF Québec, Que. ABC/Team Elite
Brendan Lawson SS Toronto, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays/P27 Academy Florida
Rémi Lemay OF Ste-Martine, Que. ABC
Jack Lines SS Okotoks, Alta. Okotoks Dawgs/TNXL Florida State
Kyu Lumsdon RHP Langley, BC Langley Blaze
Sam Maclaughlin LHP Toronto, Ont. Fieldhouse Pirates Missouri State
Tate Martin SS Vancouver, BC North Shore Twins North Dakota State
Gianluca Montanaro C Aurora, Ont. Toronto Mets Bossier Parish
William Moore SS Paris, Ont. Great Lake Canadians Indiana
Jericho Morris-Johns 1B Stouffville, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays Wabash Valley
Jerome Pare RHP Montreal, Que. Okotoks Dawgs Gonzaga
Will Polanco-Ethier OF Laval, Que. ABC
Ryan Press LHP Toronto, Ont. Toronto Mets West Virginia
Brayden Ricketts C Brampton, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays Indiana
Josiah Romeo RHP Caledon, Ont. Mississauga Tigers Florida State
Evan Schweizer RHP Oakville, Ont. Great Lake Canadians Purdue
Owen Slater RHP Whitby, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays Missouri State
David Stanley OF Toronto, Ont. Mississauga Tigers
Ethan Swaby RHP Toronto, Ont. Toronto Mets
Carson Tehan RHP Lasalle, Ont. Windsor Selects
Alex Uher RHP Pickering, Ont. Toronto Mets Northwest Florida State College
Anthony Unga RHP Oakville, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays
Jorge Valdes OF Milton, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays West Virginia
Jacob Wallace RHP Pincourt, Que. ABC Louisiana-Monroe
Michael Yusypchuk RHP Edmonton, Alta. Okotoks Dawgs Missouri State
First Team Senior Preseason All America
RHP-1B Jake Hanley of Mason, Ohio also earned first team honors, his father Todd Hanley is from Dartmouth, NS
Central Region
(Ilinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.)
Name Position Hometown Team Commitment
Jake Hanley RHP-1B Mason, OH Cincy Flames Indiana
Dante Nori OF Northville, Mich. Canes National Mississippi State
Canada/Puerto Rico Region Honorable Mention
Name Position Hometown Team Commitment
Lucas Alberti OF Toronto, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays George Mason
Mason Ault C Ancaster, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays East Tennessee State
Jayden Bailey LHP Collingwood, Ont. Toronto Titans Michigan State
Cameron Baker C Mississauga, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays Southwest Tennessee CC
Hunter Ballantyne RHP Brantford, Ont. Great Lake Canadians
Adam Beamin RHP Okotoks, Alta. Okotoks Dawgs
Étienne Bélanger C Levis, Que. Voltigeurs Drummondville.
Jacob Belecky RHP Komoka, Ont. London Badgers
Avery Belgrave OF Hamilton, Ont. Fieldhouse Pirates
Reuben Benzaquen SS Vaughan, Ont. Toronto Titans
Rehaan Bhullar 1B St. Davids, Ont. Team Ontario Astros/IMG
Nolan Bigras RHP Burlington, Ont. Terriers
Andrew Bishop 1B Kitchener, Ont. Ontario Nationals Georgia Highlands
Max Burroughsford RHP Port Dover, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays
Frank-Anthony Caietta RHP Bradford, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays New Jersey Tech
Adam Cameron RHP Oakville, Ont. Fieldhouse Pirates
Zach Cavanagh 3B Chilliwack, BC Langley Blaze Wright State
Cooper Clark 3B Thorndale, Ont. Great Lake Canadians
Anthony Clavet 3B Quebec, Que. ABC
Félix-Antoine Côté INF Quebec, Que. ABC
Bryce Cross OF Georgetown, Ont. Terriers
Nathan Currah LHP Georgetown, Ont. Terriers Akron
Jesse Dale 3B Toronto, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays
Alex Digiacinto 3B Richmond Hill, Ont. Team Ontario Astros
Shaymus Dunton RHP Langley, BC Langley Blaze
Tristan Eberle RHP Regina, Sask. Team Saskatchewan Arizona Western
Anderson Fenwick C Mississauga, Ont. Mississauga Tigers
Lewis Foster RHP Toronto, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays
Luke Foulds RHP Thunder Bay, Ont. Great Lakes Canadians
Aidan Gelhard RHP Newmarket, Ont. Team Ontario Astros
Garen Geoghegan 3B Victoria, BC Victoria Eagles
Carter Germain LHP Maple Ridge, BC Langley Blaze
Gaël Gilbert RHP Carignan, Que. Patriotes De Mortagne
Josh Gladstone RHP Victoria, BC Victoria Eagles
Alexander Graham 1B North York, Ont. Team Ontario Astros
Cam Gravelle SS Smithville, Ont. Ontario Royals Toledo
Joël Grégoire RHP Blainville, Que. ABC
Kylan Hampton SS Kitchener, Ont. Ontario Nationals
Cameron Johnson LHP Burlington, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays/TNXL Academy Rutgers
Ethan Lapointe LHP Windsor, Ont. Windsor Selects Eastern Michigan
Sam Lauzon RHP Gatineau, Que. Canada Reds
Charles Lavigne 1B Blainville, Que. ABC
Hayden Le 1B Oakville, Ont. Fieldhouse Pirates
Jack Lee C Woodstock, Ont. Great Lake Canadians
Jerome Félix Lessard RHP Saint Joseph Du Lac, Que. ABC Okanogan
Rory MacDonald RHP Halifax, NS Team Nova Scotia/Vauxhall
Joey Marino SS Surrey, BC Delta Blue Jays
Braxton Mathews OF Kitchener, Ont. Ontario Nationals
Ryan McGivney C Whitby, Ont. Ontario Prospects
Jacob McLean C Prince George, BC Prince George Knights
Trevor Mulder RHP Amherstburg, Ont. Tecumseh Thunder/PYF Rays
Trey Nott RHP Okotoks, Alta. Okotoks Dawgs Chandler-Gilbert
Jevon Parent RHP Saskatoon, Sask. Saskatoon Cubs/Team Saskatchewan
Shayne Pellin LHP Saint-Lazare, Que. LaSalle Cardinals/TNXL Academy
Maddox Quesnelle RHP Newmarket, Ont. Toronto Mets Kankakee
Owen Ralph SS Toronto, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays Lindenwood
Thomas Reilly RHP Oakville, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays
Ian Roberts RHP Burlington, Ont. FieldHouse Pirates
Julian Robertson RHP Aurora, Ont. Team Ontario Astros
Mark Rogers LHP Cambridge, Ont. Great Lake Canadians
Zev Salsberg RHP Toronto, Ont. Ontario Royals/A3 Academy
Codi Scott LHP Thamesford, Ont. Great Lake Canadians
Philip Sephton C North York, Ont. Ontario Yankees
Cole Smith RHP Lynden, Ont. Fieldhouse Pirates Mary
Dante Smith OF Ajax, Ont. North Dakota State
Sam Spencer RHP Toronto, Ont. Toronto Mets Southeastern
Pelham Statton RHP Vancouver, BC Okotoks Dawgs Miami
Christos Tassopoulos 2B Stouffville, Ont. Team Ontario Astros
Jack Thompson RHP Langley, BC Langley Blaze Mary
Kai Thompson RHP Kitchener, Ont. Ontario Nationals
Raynell Tirado RHP Montreal, Que. Canada Reds
Thomas Valero 3B Toronto, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays Lewis and Clark
Braedyn Vogstad OF Leduc County, Alta. Parkland Twins
Hudson White LHP St. John’s, NL Bo Jackson Elite Illinois State
Ethan Wolf OF Duart, Ont. Great Lake Canadians