October 18, 2024

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Guelph, Ont. - Patriotes come in all shapes and sizes.

And ages.

There are young’uns, like shortstop Hugues Marineau, 21, of the University du Québec Les Patriotes.

Or mature students like Antoine Gervais, 27.

Or his young teammate Jean-Sébastien Dessureault, 52.

All three were at David Hastings Stadium Thursday night on Day 1 of the Canadian National University championships heading towards championship Saturday. The title is a bit of a misnomer since the eight teams consist of four Ontario teams, two from Quebec and two from Atlantic Canada. The western provinces are not represented.

Dessureault is from Victoriaville, Que., home of Hall of Famer Jean Beliveau, but a few years ago he sort of pulled his own version of what Hall of Famer Gordie Howe did with his sons in 1979-80 skating with his sons Mark and Marty Howe with the 1979-80 Hartford Whalers.

Jean-Sébastien played for the Shawinigan Cataracts in an official Quebec Major League against his sons, Yohann and Esteban Dessureault, of the Academie Baseball Canada. Yohann is entering his senior year with the Stetson University Hatters, while Esteban is with the Junior National Team and has committed to Stetson.

After obtaining his PhD in Artificial Intelligence Jean-Sébastien is still taking classes and teaching computer science at UQTR.

“Get a hit teach!”

Or is it prof?

* * *

“Who is our best player?” repeats an early-arriving member of the Patriotes when asked? “Hugues Marineau, our shortstop.”

Head coach Gaétan Gagnon is asked how good his shortstop is?

“Well, he makes plays the Trois-Rivières Aigles (of the independent Frontier League) guys don’t, he made two plays almost behind third base against McGill ... his throws were on the money.

“The guy I’d compare him to is (Hall of Famer) Robbie Alomar, who played second base for Toronto.”

Wowser!

“I like the comp,” Marineau said. “Alomar was a switch hitter. The guy I like is Corey Seager, a left-handed hitter. He always looked confident as a hitter.”

About those plays the shortstop made from almost near third base?

“Well, on one play our third baseman dove for the ball,” Marineau (Bécancour, Que.) said. “We won 5-0.”

In the other win over perennial power McGill, Marineau had three hits, drove in two runs in a 10-8 victory in St. Leonard. Marineau is taking finance and after he gets his degree, what’s next?

“I hope get a try out for Trois-Rivières Aigles of the Frontier League, they just hired a new manager to replace Matthew Rusch. The new manager used to pitch for the New York Yankees.”

Aigles president René Martin hired former reliever Jonathan Albaladejo, 41, as the fourth manager in franchise history. The former Washington National, Arizona D-Back and Yankee, spent last season as a pitching coach with the Lake Erie Crushers in the Frontier League.

Trois-Rivières used to be the double-A home of a Cincinnati Reds affiliate in the Eastern League.

“Trois-Rivières is a great place to play,” said Marineau, who grew up a Boston Red Sox and David Ortiz fan ... “he was so clutch, he showed when it mattered.”

Marineau credits his father, Luc, a former hockey player, for being the most influential person in his baseball life.

“We learned the game together,” he said. “My father raised me right.”

Playing for the Aigles in the Quebec Junior League, he hit .389 with 14 doubles, a triple and 16 RBIs in 41 games.

* * *

Jean-Sébastien is known simply as “Bob” in the dugout. He explained it went back to primary school (“grade five”) when his friend called him Bob by mistake. It stuck like Elmer’s glue.

Asked his age sitting in the third base dugout, Bob quickly answers: “52.”

A visitor asked, “Does he play like he’s 52?”

“No, he plays like he 13 years old,” said catcher Mathieu Trembley.

A few minutes later Tremblay interjected, “No, seriously, he plays like he is 25.”

Jean-Sébastien is explaining how his son was recruited by Stetson. He was playing with TXNL Academy under coach Robbie Fatal near Orlando and had committed to Northwest Florida State junior college.

“Then, Stetson coach Steve Trimper called,” said papa Dessureault. Trimper was a big-time recruiter of Canadians when he coached the Maine Black Bears.

Last spring, Yohann Dessureault batted .294 with 10 doubles, 11 homers and 41 RBIs. Playing second base at Stetson, he had an .864 OPS in 60 games. And now Esteban, who competed at the Canadian Futures Showcase in September as well as the Home Run Derby, is Stetson bound, too.

As a 12-year old, Esteban homered over the fence at the Quillorama Stadium, a park reserved for midget-aged players.

Jean-Sébastien graduated with a degree in computer science at age 20. He returned at age 45 to get his masters and then he returned last January to gain his PhD.

School and baseball have been constants. He has a .303 batting average with 25 homers, 213 RBIs, an .807 OPS in 383 games from 2003 to 2024. On the mound, he had a 22-19 won-loss record with three saves and a 3.19 ERA with Trois-Rivières, Laurentides, Victoriaville and Shawinigan.

“I pitched four innings for the school this fall and hit .318 (two doubles, a triple, a homer, seven RBIs),” Jean-Sébastien said.

Now, the young pup asks a question: “Ever hear of Harry Muir?”

Yes, I remember seeing a CBC documentary on Steve Charles, Muir and a third minor leaguer ... he’s pitching at Fanshawe College in London and he’s 52 too.

“We were roommates when we go to seniors tournaments,” Jean-Sébastien said.

* * *

On the field: UQTR dropped a 2-0 decision to the Guelph Gryphons, despite Cedric Caron striking out 10. Dessureault did not play as expected but is scheduled to play against Carleton on Friday. Emilien Plouffe (Shawinigan, Que.) had the only hit for UQTR, a double. Guelph was pinch-hitting for the New Brunswick Reds, who had transportation problems. UNB is scheduled to play Friday.

* * *

Off to a 2-0 start: Guelph edged the Carleton Ravens 2-1 Thursday afternoon and then blanked UQTR ... Max Rutherford (Barrie, Ont.) pitched four innings, allowing four hits and an earned run, while striking out a pair ... Bennett Moore (Goderich, Ont.) pitched the complete-game one hitter for the second win, as he allowed a double and fanned 10.

* * *

In other games: The Acadia Axemen edged the Concordia Stingers 4-3 as Garrett Culleton (Ellerslie, PEI) knocked in three runs with a double and a single ... Waterloo thumped York 20-0 as Max Todd (Paris, Ont.) allowed three hits and fanned 10 in six innings.