McKenna, Potts combine on perfect game at Perfect Game
RHP Jack Potts (London, Ont.), of the Great Lake Canadians, left and LHP Mathis McKenna (Rigaud, Que.), of ABC, combined on a perfect game at the Perfect Game Underclassmen event in Fort Myers.
October 7, 2024
Canadian Premier Completes PG at PG
Fort Myers, Fla. - The Canadian Premier Underclass team turned heads Thursday by completing a perfect game on the first day of the 2024 PG Underclass World Championship tournament at JetBlue Park, spring home of the Boston Red Sox.
In their second game of the day, the Canadian team put 17-year-old LHP Mathis McKenna on the mound. The Rutgers commit threw a perfect 4 2/3 innings, striking out nine with low-80s fastballs and mid-70s sliders.
Though he might not yet be a well-known name in the states, McKenna (Rigaud, Que.) is notoriously known in the baseball scene up north.
“I always wanted to catch McKenna,” catcher Gino De Santis (Chatham, Ont.) said. “He’s McKenna. If you watch him pitch in our league, he gets in the zone… he’s an interesting guy. He’s intense on the mound. You can see it when you watch him play.”
“I like to talk on the mound - I’m speaking French.” McKenna said, refusing to translate any of what he says while on the bump.
McKenna also said he has a pre-game and post-game ritual that has yet to do him wrong.
“I have one French song by rapper Dadi. Every time I’m pitching, I’m listening to this song before the outing and after that. Since I ever saw that song once, I didn’t allow a single run since the middle of June.”
In the moment, McKenna, an Academie Baseball Canada pitcher, said he wasn’t fully aware that he was throwing a perfect game.
“On the mound, I was throwing fastballs and I saw they were late. So, I was attacking the zone. After that, I started flipping the ball … I was so focused. I was throwing strikes - because I don’t like to throw balls. I’m a pitcher. I like to hit the spot and not over-throw it ... After a few innings, I was like, ‘I didn’t put someone on base.’ After that, I realized that it was a perfect game still going, and you don’t want to jinx it.”
And since McKenna was limited to 60 pitches, the Canadians needed a hero to compete the game.
“I had to save it for McKenna,” said right-handed pitcher Jack Potts (London, Ont.), of the Great Lake Canadians, who came in for the last two innings to finish the perfect game, a 4-0 win over Wow Factor Northeast 2026 Nation.
“Adrenaline was there, but it felt good coming out there. I wasn’t too nervous ... [Coach] said, ‘just go shove, just go throw.’”
Canadian Premier coach Chris Robinson knows Potts well - as he coaches his hometown team. De Santis is also rather familiar with Potts - unlike his relationship with McKenna.
“I’ve played with Pottsy on my team, the Canadians, so I catch him all the time,” De Santis said. “Potts was on. He throws up to 89 and has good, off-speed pitches. So with him, I mix it around and work to his strengths … My nerves were up. I kept a level head and let my pitchers do their thing.”
Potts finished out the game with six strikeouts - using a high-80s fastball and mid-70s curveballs and sliders.
“I felt like a pretty good manager rolling out, giving it to [McKenna] and then giving it to Pottsy (Jack Potts) to close it out. It’s a pretty easy job that I had,” Robinson said. “Mathis pitches against us at home. So, it was a lot more enjoyable being in the dugout with him than watching him pitch against us.
“One of the main parts of our partnership with Perfect Game is promoting that Canadians play. That was the talk of the tournament for Day I, so that was pretty cool.”
After the perfect game, the whole team was ecstatic.
“I was hyped. I had to go find McKenna and give him a hug.” Potts said.
“I sprinted to the mound. It’s a perfect game. It doesn’t happen every day,” McKenna smiled.
While anyone witnessing their celebration may have thought this team had been together for years - they may be surprised to learn the truth.
“I met [McKenna] in Toronto a week ago,” Potts laughed.
Robinson said it’s been a fun task to band this Canadian team together.
“It’s ultimately an all-star team from our league,” Robinson said of the team. “So, they’ve played against each other. Some of them are from the same teams and played with each other. It’s been pretty easy - you try to build the Canadian pride into the whole makeup.”
“We’re here to win,” De Santis said. “We’re here to come kick some butt and have some fun. That’s all. That’s the whole point.”