Okotoks Dawgs Academy catcher and Ontario Terriers alum Andrew Johnston (Toronto, Ont.) delivered a two-run single for Team Light Blue in their 6-3 win over Team Royal at the Canadian Futures Showcase on Wednesday. Photo: Twitter

September 21, 2022

Mason Bugaresti

Carleton University

A two-run single by Andrew Johnston (Toronto, Ont.) in the sixth inning helped Team Light Blue to a 6-3 win over Team Royal in the final game of the Canadian Futures Showcase at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park in Ottawa on Wednesday.

After Jorge Valdes (Milton, Ont.) reached on an error, Dioscoro Gama (Maple Ridge, B.C.) grounded out to Myles Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) to get the first run on the board putting Team Royal up 1-0 in the top of the first.

A wild pitch brought the tying run home in the bottom half of the inning. Matt Evans (Tillsonburg, Ont.) scored all the way from second base as Team Royal catcher Kenny Scott (Lander, B.C.) struggled to locate the ball that ricocheted off the backstop. Light Blue almost added another in the inning with runners on the corners, but starting pitcher Parker Burgess (Douro-Dummer, Ont.) struck out Tyrus Hall (Victoria, B.C.) to escape the jam with relatively little damage.

Light Blue starting pitcher Matthew Brown (Carlisle, Ont.) retired the side in the top half of the second inning on just eight pitches.

Burgess settled down in the second inning, striking out two and allowing no hits. He pitched a strong game, striking out six batters over three innings, with his fastball touching 91 MPH. Burgess allowed one earned run.

Team Light Blue shortstop Leo Cote (Okotoks, Alta.) made a terrific double play in the top of the third, making a slick play on a ground ball before stepping on second base and throwing it to first to beat the runner in-time for the out. Gama grounded into a double play getting catcher Kenny Scott across home to put the visitors back in the lead 2-1.

Brown walked two batters in the third inning, but again got out of the inning with a strikeout. He ended the day giving up no earned runs and striking out two through three innings of work.

Alex Kean (Woodstock, Ont.) hit a triple deep to left field in the top half of the fourth inning taking a Jimmy Dionne fastball for a ride. Kean would later score on a wild pitch, putting Team Royal up 3-1.

“It was nice to get a good piece of that one. All the talk about scouts and stuff can get to you a bit, so it was nice to just step in the box and focus on hitting. I felt really comfortable just getting up there and looking for my pitch. And it always feels good when you hit one like that,” Kean said post-game.

Kean, who also had a walk and a stolen base and was named Player of the Game, reflected on how opportunities like the Canadian Futures Showcase are huge for young players.

“It’s tough sometimes getting that exposure to scouts when you don’t go to one of the big prep schools in the US. That’s why these chances to play in front of scouts are so huge.”

Jerome Pare (Montreal, Que.) retired the side in order in the bottom half of the fourth inning, striking out two.

A throwing error from catcher Kenny Scott allowed Anthony Clavet (Quebec City, Que.) to score for Team Light Blue, cutting the Royal lead to 3-2. Later in the inning, a Naylor ground out scored William Moore (Paris, Ont.) from third base as Team Light Blue rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth.

Matt Sargeant (Ancaster, Ont.) came into the game in the sixth inning for Light Blue and showed impressive movement with his curveball. He had two strikeouts, making hitters miss with his breaking ball.

A leadoff triple from first basemen Cameron Macleod (North Vancouver, B.C.) put Team Light Blue in position to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth. A wild pitch from left-hander Ryan Press (Toronto, Ont.) allowed Macleod to score, giving Team Light Blue a late 4-3 lead.

Macleod’s big hit was the first of the game for his team who had manufactured runs through walks before Macleod’s deep drive to centre-field. A two-RBI single off the bat of Andrew Johnston (Toronto, Ont.) extended the Light Blue lead to 6-3 heading into the seventh and final inning.

That was all she wrote in this one, as a rain delay ended this one early in the top of the seventh. The game’s start-time was postponed two hours due to rain.

Matt Sargaent (Ancaster, Ont.) picked up the win in relief for Light Blue after he fanned two batters in a scoreless sixth inning.

Ryan Press (Toronto, Ont.) was saddled with the loss for the Royal squad when he allowed three runs in the game’s final frame.