Ontario Blue Jays win three of five at PG Florida Elite championships
RHP Quinn Tavares (Mississauga, Ont.) pitched Ontario Blue Jays to a 6-2 win against Coastal Premier working 6 1/3 innings in playoff play at the 40-team 17U Perfect Game Florida Elite championships in Sanford, Fla.
July 4, 2021
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
Ball diamonds in the GTA area didn’t open until the final day of June.
Yet, that didn’t stop the dream chasers from chasing their dreams. A number of grade 11 and grade 12 players hooked on with teams south of the border since they could not play here. Examples are RHP Calvin Ziegler (Heidelberg, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians, who pitched for the TNXL Level in Florida and the Ohio Warhawks.
High schoolers like LHP Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.) of the Toronto Mets and Elijha Hammill (Oakville, Ont.) of the Ontario Terriers are with West Virginia in the Draft League after playing for Georgia Premier. And RHP Dominic Hambley (Victoria, BC) of the Victoria Mariners is with the Williamsport Crosscutters.
The Ontario Blue Jays went a different direction: they headed due south, but it was with a whole team.
Liam Watt (Burlington, Ont., 2022) pitched four innings and left with a 4-0 lead as the Ontario Blue Jays beat the Florida Panthers 7-3 in the 40-team 17U Perfect Game Florida Elite championship held at the BOOMBAH Sports Complex in Sanford, Fla.
Watt allowed two base runners -- one hit, one walk -- striking out four. He worked consistently in the 80-83 mph range according to Perfect Game.
Ethan Malicki (Oakville, Ont., 2022) was next and was touched for three runs on one hit and three walks in 1 2/3 innings while fanning three. Malicki threw 77-79 mph.
A one-out walk and an error, set the stage for Manny Alberto’s (Aurora, Ont. 2023) run-scoring single. After another walk, Corey Morro (Cheltenham, Ont. 2022) hit a two-run single to cap the three-run first.
Alex Ellert (White City, Sask. 2022) tripled in a run in the second and Sam White (Aurora, Ont. 2023) doubled.
Cole Patrick (Markham, Ont., 2022) singled in a pair of runs and Jackson Somerville (Burlington, Ont. 2022) knocked in the other run. Dylan Shepherd (Barrie, Ont., 2022) also singled.
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Coach Mike Steed’s group moved to 2-0 with a 7-5 victory over Sbo Florida, thanks to Jeff Tiw (Burlington, Ont. 2022) and his mound efforts, along with Isaiah Scott (Mississauga, Ont. 2023). Scott was 3-for 3 with two doubles and is hitting .800 through two games.
In 2 1/3 innings Tiw allowed a pair of runs as he gave two hits and six walks, striking out four, with his fastball in the 79-84 mph neighbourhood.
Kael Clarkson (Minesing, Ont., 2022) allowed one base runner (a walk) in 1 2/3, sitting in the 80-83 mph range.
William Easton (Port Dover, Ont.), Evan Ashe (Acton, Ont.) and Alberto each drove in a pair while White drove in one. Easton also doubled, as did Morro. Morro is hitting .400 through three games.
Sagar Pruthi (Brampton, Ont.) had a scoreless inning, while Ellert allowed three runs in the final inning.
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The Ontario Blue Jays won in the hit column -- but not in the runs column
Despite being out hit, Service Baseball 17u Para Rescue scored a 5-0 win to make Ontario’s record at 2-1 at the end of round-robin play.
Matt Marzec (Burlington, Ont., 2022) started for the Ontario Blue Jays, allowing one hit and two walks, while striking out two batters in three innings. His fastball was in the 81-82 mph range.
Patrick, White and Ellert had the Jays hits. White is hitting .429 through three games, while Ellert is hitting .333.
Pool Standings Pool Tie Breaker Rules
Pool B Team PCT W-L-T RA RS
Service 17u Para Rescue 1.000 3-0-0 7 22
Ontario Blue Jays .667 2-1-0 13 14
Sbo Florida 2022 .333 1-2-0 17 10
Florida Panthers .000 0-3-0 20 11
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Quinn Tavares (Mississauga, Ont., 2022) was dominant for the Ontario Blue Jays as he came within two outs of a complete game in a 6-2 win over the Coastal Premier Prospects 16U in the first round of the playoffs.
Tavares had an 88-pitch outing (61% strikes), allowing three hits and one walk. He fanned four, with his fastball sitting at 82-86. White led the way for the winners going 2-for-2 with a double. White is hitting .556 through four games.
Morro was 1-for-3 with three RBIs and is hitting .375 through four games, while Patrick was 1-for-1 with a double and is hitting .375 through four games.
Blake Jolicoeur (Whitby, Ont.), Jake Miocevich (Toronto, Ont.) and Patrick each knocked in a run.
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X Team 2022 scored an 8-0 win over the Ontario Blue Jays, limiting them to two hits.
Kansai Sugimoto (Mississauga, Ont., 2022) allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk, while fanning one in 3 2/3 innings. His fastball sat in the 87-91 mph range during his 69-pitch outing (66% strikes).
Watt pitched 1 1/3 allowing two runs and Danny Farsalas (Aurora, Ont.) finished up allowing two runs as well.
Matthew Sargeant (Ancaster, Ont., 2023) and Somerville had the hits for the Ontario Blue Jays.
Game On Vipers 2022 beat Power Baseball 2022 Gold in the final, while X Team wound up third.
The Ontario Blue Jays are back traveling and producing on the National circuit. Isaiah Scott (2023, Mississauga, Ont.) and Evan Ashe (2022, Acton, Ont.) stood out in a big way on Sunday. Scott has a proportioned and strong frame with easy bat speed form the left side. He is a gap-to-gap type hitter and banged two doubles in his three plate appearances in his first game of a doubleheader. He has an aggressive approach and gets in the box looking to attack. There is real feel for the barrel, with natural back spin coming off the barrel. Ashe’s defensive ability needs to be discussed first. He has a comfortable set with lots of hip mobility. He works up to the ball with good timing and a new age approach to receiving. He stole a good amount of strikes for his pitcher and it is easy to see the arms loved throwing to him. The lower half quickness helps to block and recover while the arm strength is at the very least above average. His right-handed swing has some lag and the barrel seems heavy. He was on time with a couple swings and his line drive plane should hit for average along the way.
-Jered Goodwin
Liam Watt (2022, Burlington, Ont.) threw probably the quickest four innings you’ll ever see. The left-hander hides the ball well with a short quick arm swing and had a fastball up to 83 mph. He threw an astounding 76% strikes, picking up four K’s along the way. Worked both sides of the plate and threw a curve for a strike in any count he wanted.
-Gunnar Lambert