Glew: Mendham signs with Ottawa Titans

Ontario Nationals and Oklahoma State Cowboys alum David Mendham (Dorchester, Ont.) has signed with the Ottawa Titans. Photo: Oklahoma State Athletics

July 18, 2023

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Dorchester, Ont., native David Mendham has signed his first professional contract with the Ottawa Titans of the independent Frontier League.

The Titans announced the signing in a release on Tuesday.

Mendham will make his debut with the Titans tonight in their home contest against the Tri-City Valley Cats.

The left-handed hitting first baseman is coming off a strong senior collegiate season with the NCAA Division I Oklahoma State Cowboys in which he topped the team with 77 hits in 61 games. He also hit .312 with 14 home runs and finished second on the team with 18 doubles and 64 RBIs.

It was the 24-year-old slugger’s second season with the Cowboys. In 2022, he batted .276 with 11 home runs in 61 games.

After honing his skills with the Ontario Nationals, Mendham has been an offensive threat at each of his collegiate stops, beginning with the Connors State Cowboys in Warner, Okla., in 2019, where he batted .422 with 14 home runs and 85 RBIs in 61 games and was rewarded with CBN All-Canadian Third Team honours.

He topped that in the pandemic shortened 2020 campaign when he hit .493 in 21 games. In 2020, Mendham topped all Canadian college players in hits (36) and finished second in doubles (10). He was also third among Canucks in RBIs (26) and on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) (1.401) and scored 31 runs and stole six bases. For his efforts, he was voted the Canadian Baseball Network’s college Player of the Year and claimed the third base position on CBN’s All-Canadian First Team.

The Canuck slugger spent the summer of 2020 with the Savannah Bananas, a summer collegiate team in Georgia where he continued to excel at the plate, batting .338 with 25 hits in 22 contests before moving on to the Division I University of South Carolina Gamecocks in 2021.

After competing in the prestigious Cape Cod League in the summer of 2021, Mendham transferred to Oklahoma State where he has excelled for the past two seasons.

Mendham comes from an accomplished baseball family. His grandfather played for the London Majors of the Intercounty Baseball League and his father, Dan, starred with the Majors for nine seasons.

This will be Mendham’s first professional stop.

The Titans, who compete in the 16-team independent Frontier League, own a 27-27 record and sit in sixth place in the East division.

Mendham becomes the second Canadian on the Titans’ roster, joining infielder Taylor Wright (North Vancouver, B.C.).