Calgary PBF Redbirds grad RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) is at double-A Mississippi. Photo: Ed Gardner, Mississippi Braves.

By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network
The teacher taught his pupil well.

And now the pupil is doing even better than the teacher did in his prime.

Follow along ... Chris Reitsma (Calgary, Alta.) was the top prospect in Canada in 1996. Boston Red Sox scout Gary Rajsich selected Reitsma in the first round (34th over-all), gave him a $425,000 and off he went on his career.

After retiring in 2007 and returning to Calgary he began giving back teaching young ‘uns around the prairies. One such youngster was Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.). He was a first round pick too (28th over-all) to the Atlanta Braves and given a $1,974,700 signing bonus. Now at age 19 Soroka is pitching for the double-A Mississippi Braves.

At age 19 Reitsma was in the class-A Midwest league pitching for the Michigan Battle Cats on his way to a 4-1 record with a 2.90 ERA in nine starts. He walked 13 and struck out 41 in 49 2/3 innings in 1997.

That was 20 seasons ago, so we don’t remember if there was such a thing as the Canadian minor leaguer of the week. Yet, Soroka is our choice this week.

The week that was went for Soroka ...

_ He was named to the double-A Southern League all-star team. He is the 66th ranked prospect in the minors according to MLB Pipeline and the fourth best in the Braves first-rate minor-league system.

_ He pitched seven scoreless innings allowing three hits in a 4-1 win over the Montgomery Biscuits before 2,509 fans at Trustmark Park at Pearl, Miss. He was leading 2-0 when he left. Soroka allowed a triple to Grant Kay and two singles as he extended his scoreless streak to 22 innings.

Soroka struck out the side in the first and five in all, as he allowed one walk in his 95-pitch (59 strikes) outing. He induced nine groundballs and four fly balls.

The outing dropped his ERA to 2.23 this year.

Soroka struck out the side in the first and five in all, as he allowed one walk in his 95-pitch (59 strikes) outing. He induced nine groundballs and four fly balls.

In his last seven starts Soroka has a 1.39 ERA allowing nine walks and 31 hits while striking out 38 in 45 1/3 innings. And in his last three outings he has given up one walk and 10 hits while fanning 18 in 22 innings.

He may be ahead of his teacher as a 19-year-old but the teacher went a long way down the road: pitching seven years in the majors going 32-46 with 37 saves and a 4.70 ERA, appearing in 338 games, making 53 starts. He walked 164 and struck out 359 in 609 innings.

Now, Reitzma is a top aide to Rajish, scouting director of the Baltimore Orioles and was instrumental in the Orioles selecting Adam Hall (London, Ont.) from the Great Lakes Canadians in the second round.

HIGHLIGHTS
1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) - Active with Lake Elsinore Storm named to the 2017 Single A California League South Division mid season All Star Team.

RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) - Active with Lake Elsinore Storm named to the 2017 Single A California League South Division mid season All Star Team.

OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) - Active with West Michigan Whitecaps named to the 2017 Single A Midwest League East Division mid season All Star Team.

3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, Que.) - Active with Lansing Lugnuts was named to the 2017 Single A Midwest League East Division mid season All Star Team.

RHP Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) - Active with Mississippi Braves was named to the 2017 Double A Southern League South Division mid season All Star Team.

BEST OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
Player AB R H HR RBIs AVG
Cole Bauml - A West Michigan 15 3 6 - 1 .400
Matt Hague - AAA Rochester 28 5 11 1 6 .393
Eric Wood - AAA Indianapolis 24 5 8 2 6 .333
Connor Panas - A Dunedin 15 2 4 - - .267
Brett Siddall - A Stockton 15 - 4 - - .267

Jonathan Malo - IND Quebec 14 3 6 - 1 .429
Ian Horne - IND Hollywood 16 5 6 - 3 .375
Tyson Gillies - IND Ottawa 22 8 8 1 5 .364
Jordan Lennerton - IND Quebec 22 5 8 - 3 .364
Sebastien Boucher - IND Ottawa 20 3 7 - 3 .350
Mike Crouse - IND New Britain 23 4 8 2 9 .348
Wes Darvill - IND Winnipeg 23 2 7 - 1 .304
(Minimum 10 At Bats required.)

BEST PITCHING PERFORMANCES
MIKE SOROKA RHP - AAA MISSISSIPPI BRAVES
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
1 7.0 3 - - 1 5 1-0 - 0.57 0.00

Mike Soroka has certainly solidified his position as one of the Atlanta Braves top pitching prospect this season, with a consistent level of performance in the Double A Southern League. On June 15th in a 4-1 victory over Montgomery Biscuits he threw seven scoreless innings, surrendering three hits while striking out five Montgomery batters, to earn his eighth win of the season. This outing improved his record with Mississippi to 8-3 with a 2.23 ERA, and as an added bonus, he was named to the Southern League’s - South Division 2017 mid season All Star team.

CURTIS TAYLOR RHP - A KANE COUNTY COUGARS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
1 6.0 3 1 1 2 5 1-0 - 0.83 1.50

Off to what might be considered by some as a slow start this season he has pitched well of late, and on June 15th Curtis Taylor had his best outing to date in the Cougars 11-2 win over Peoria Chiefs. He pitched six innings gave up three base hits and one earned run while striking out five Peoria hitters, to earn his first win of the year. In eight appearances with Kane County in the Single A Midwest League his record now stands at 1-4 with a 3.38 ERA.

CAL QUANTRILL RHP - A LAKE ELSINORE STORM
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
1 5.0 5 1 1 1 5 1-0 - 1.20 1.80

On June 18th Cal Quantrill made another fine start for the Storm in a 2-1 win over Stockton Ports. He pitched five innings, gave up five base hits and one earned run while striking out five Stockton batters, to pick up his fourth win of the season. His overall record with Lake Elsinore now stands at 4-5 with a 3.69 ERA, and he performance was recognized when he was named to the Single A California League’s - South Division 2017 All Star team.

PLAYER MOVES & TRANSACTIONS
RHP Dustin Molleken (Regina, Sask.) - Placed on the Disabled List by Detroit Tigers at Triple A Toledo Mud Hens.

LHP Kevin Chapman (Toronto, Ont.) - Released by Minnesota Twins from Triple A Rochester Red Wings.

SS Sean Jamieson (Simcoe, Ont.) - Announced his retirement and was removed from the Roster of Arizona Diamondbacks Triple A affiliate Reno Aces.

RHP Brayden Bouchey (White Rock, BC) - Activated by the Toronto Blue Jays at Single A Vancouver Canadians.

OF Miles Gordon (Oakville, Ont.) - Activated by the Cincinnati Reds at Rookie Class Billings Mustangs.

OF Tristan Graham (North Vancouver, BC) - Activated by the Baltimore Orioles at Single A Aberdeen Ironbirds.

INF Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.) - Activated by the Texas Rangers at Single A Spokane Indians.

C Morgan Lofstrom (Kelowna, BC) - Activated by the Cincinnati Reds at Rookie Class Billings Mustangs.

2B Mattingly Romanin (Burlington, Ont.) - Activated by the Toronto Blue Jays at Single A Vancouver Canadians.

3B Abraham Toro-Hernandez (Greenfield Park, Que.) - Activated by the Houston Astros at Single A Tri City Valley Cats.

C Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.) - Activated by the Arizona Diamondbacks at Rookie Class Missoula Osprey.

OF Michael Foster (Pickering, Ont.) - Assigned by the Chicago Cubs to Rookie Class Arizona Cubs. Not activated yet.

LHP Kurtis Horne (Sooke, BC) - Assigned by New York Mets to Single A Brooklyn Cyclones. Not activated yet.

RHP Reign Letkeman (Red Deer, Alta.) - Assigned by Tampa Bay Rays to Single A Hudson Valley Renegades. Not activated yet,

INF J.D. Salmon-Williams (Brampton, Ont.) - Assigned by the Cincinnati Reds to Rookie Class Billings Mustangs. Not activated yet.

RHP Daniel Procopio (Toronto, Ont.) - 2017 10th Round Draft Pick signs with Los Angeles Angels. Assigned to Rookie Class Orem Owlz.

OF Tanner Kirwer (Sherwood Park, Alta.) - 2017 20th Round Draft Pick signs with the Toronto Blue Jays. Not assigned yet.

SS Louis Boyd (North Vancouver, BC) - 2017 24th Round Draft Pick signs with Seattle Mariners. Not assigned yet.

2B Jake Lumley (Windsor, Ont.) - 2017 33rd Round Draft Pick signs with Oakland Athletics. Not assigned yet.

LHP Jon Fitzsimmons (London, Ont.) - Free Agent signs with the Quebec Capitales IND Can Am League.

3B Lachlan Fontaine (North Vancouver, BC) - Free Agent signs with Quebec Capitales IND Can Am League.

INF Jonathan Malo (Laval, Que.) - Free Agent signs with Quebec Capitales IND Can Am League. Appeared in four games and was released.

INF David Glaude (Quebec City, Que.) - Free Agent signs with Trois Rivieres Aigles IND Can Am League.

LHP Guillaume Blanchette (St. Constant, QC) - Placed on the Disabled List by Trois Rivieres Aigles IND Can Am League.

C Maxx Tissenbaum (Toronto, ON) - Placed on the Disabled List by Quebec Capitales IND Can Am League.

2017 Canadian Baseball Network Players of the Week

Week I _ INF Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) El Paso (Padres).

Week II _ RHP Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) Lehigh Valley (Phillies).

Week III _ INF Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) El Paso (Padres).

Week IV _ 1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) and RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) Lake Elisnore (Padres).

Week V _ OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers).

Week VI _ OF Gareth Morgan (North York, Ont.) Clinton Lumberkings (Mariners).

Week VII _ 3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, Que.) Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays).

Week VIII _ 1B Bruce Yari (Waterloo, Ont.) Dayton Dragons (Reds).

Week VIV _ LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)

Week X _ INF Danny Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers)

Week XI _ RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) Mississippi Braves (Braves).

Mike Soroka, CBN POW, Week XI, Moves, Honours