September 19, 2024

By Sulien Khan

Centennial Sports Journalism

TORONTO – Elliot Lascelles (Toronto) filled up the stat sheet in Team Black’s 9-7 victory over Team Grey at the Canadian Futures Showcase on Thursday night at Rogers Centre.

The Toronto Mets shortstop finished with two hits, two runs, a pair of steals and a walk in three at-bats to earn player of the game honours.

“I wanted to showcase my speed. It’s one of the strengths of my game,” Lascelles said after the game.

On the same night Shohei Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to steal 50 bases and hit 50 home runs in the same season, the two teams combined for 21 steals, with Team Grey in particular having a hard time tracking runners. They allowed two runs on stolen bases in a pivotal fifth inning that saw Team Black score four runs to take a 6-3 lead.

Team Black never looked back from there, improving to 2-0-1 at the 2024 Canadian Futures Showcase.

Adyn Schell (Toronto) got the start for Team Black, facing off against Shane Brinham (North Vancouver, B.C.) of Team Grey.

Brinham, a Michigan commit, needed 18 pitches to get out of the first inning. He allowed two hits, two earned runs and six walks while striking out three in three innings pitched.

Schell, a Missouri State commit, lasted two innings and gave up three hits, two runs, one earned run, and had one strikeout before ceding the mound to Merek Yeager (Meunster, Sask.) of Saskatoon Berries Academy.

Team Grey would quickly capitalize and take a 3-2 lead in the third inning, with Sam Andersen (Toronto) scoring on a ground-rule double hit by Ethan Mota-Dias (Georgetown, Ont.), putting Yeager in a tough position quickly after taking the mound. The losing side scored three runs in the eighth inning to make it close but couldn’t complete the comeback.

Austin Boylan (Barrie, Ont.), of Team Grey, was involved in a scary incident in the eighth inning when he took a pitch off the helmet and remained on the ground for several minutes. He left the field under his own power with the help of a trainer.

Both teams wrap up action Friday, with Team Grey taking on Team Red and Team Black facing Team New Blue.