October 19, 2021

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

They are their father’s sons.

Most certainly for RHP Turner Spoljaric and 1B Ty Doucette.

Turner’s pop Paul Spoljaric (Kelowna, B.C.) pitched six years in the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals and Philadelphia Phillies. He appeared in 195 games -- making 12 starts -- with a 5.52 ERA going 8-17 with four saves. He walked 163 and fanned 287 in 277 1/3 innings.

LHP Paul Spoljaric (Kelowna, BC) also pitched for Canada

Coming through the Blue Jays system, after being signed as an undrafted free agent, he pitched at rookie-class Medicine Hat, class-A St. Catharines, class-A Myrtle Beach, class-A Dunedin, double-A Knoxville and triple-A Syracuse before making his debut at SkyDome on April 6, 1994. The first Chicago White Sox hitter he faced was future Hall of Famer Tim Raines who bounced out. After a walk, Frank Thomas, another future Hall of Famer hit a run-scoring double. After nine brilliant seasons pitching in the Intercounty Baseball League in which he went 65-7 with a 2.37 ERA, Paul is a pitching coach with the Toronto Mets.

Ty’s dad Darren Doucette (Halifax, NS) was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 25th round in 1992 draft from Ulster County Community College and played three years in the Cards system and four years of independent ball with the Adirondack Lumberjacks in the Northeast League.

Darren Doucette, who was paid to play for seven years.

In his seven years of pro ball, with the class-A Hamilton Redbirds, class-A Savannah, class-A Madison and Adirondack, he hit .253 with 55 doubles, 10 triples, 58 homers and 203 RBIs. He had an .820 OPS in 450 games. Darren runs Doucette Elite Baseball Inc.

As far as Canadian high schoolers this season, Turner Spoljaric and Ty Doucette had memorable summers.

Baseball Factory All-America Game

Kansas City

(Top 13 Prospects)

Turner Spoljaric, RHP, Canadian National HS, Lisle, Ont.

Committed: Oregon

Spoljaric threw the final frame for the National Team on Saturday. He struck out a batter, forced a ground out and a fly out and walked one, while showing a fastball/breaking ball combo. Spoljaric worked from the third base side of the rubber in this outing, and features a high leg kick, long arm action and three-quarter slot.

He touched 92 mph with his fastball, but mostly worked in the 88-91 mph range, while showing a curve ball that varied in shape from three-quarters to more of a top-down, 11-to-5 look. The pitch wasn’t consistently above-average but it flashed that at times when he hit on it, with the pitch showing solid bite and depth at times. He threw it in the 2200-2400 rpm range and generated a pair of whiffs, including the final pitch of his sole strikeout.

_ Carlos Collazo, Baseball America

At the Area Code Underclass Games

(San Diego, Calif.)

Ty Doucette, 1B, (Dartmouth, NS): As a 6-foot-1, 226-pound first baseman, Doucette is going to have to hit a lot, and that’s what he did in Los Angeles. Doucette didn’t expand the strike zone much, showed good bat-to-ball skills from the left side and drove the ball in the air to all fields, going 4-for-8 with two walks, no strikeouts, a hit by pitch and a double.

_ Ben Badler, Baseball America