March 3, 2021

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

It’s early we know ... but ...

Damiano Palmegiani is having the kind of season John Olerud had in 1993 for YOUR Toronto Blue Jays, back when they had a dedicated radio team.

Olerud arrived in Dunedin, arrived at Grant Field and starting filling the gaps with line drives prompting Paul Molitor to say “he hasn’t had a bad swing since his plane landed in Florida.”

Olerud went 4-for-4 in a 10-7 win in Cleveland on a Wednesday afternoon game at SkyDome raising his average to .392. We didn’t even have to look it up as we watched the game from the Olerud homestead with his parents Lynda and John, along with his Washington State coach Bobo Brayton. The Jays’ charter departed Cleveland after the day game and arrived in Seattle later that night for a four-game series.

Well, maybe Palmegiani has had a bad swing since his plane landed in Las Vegas, but not many since joining the Southern Nevada Coyotes, who are 14th ranked according to Perfect Game’s JUCO rankings. He is one of 33 Canadians either on the roster (19) or committed (14) to schools in the top 25.

Palmegiani (Surrey, BC) leads in homers and RBIs. Not only does he lead all Coyotes. Not only did he lead all 141 Canucks playing National Junior College Athletic Association Division I ball. No, Palmegiani leads the nation with 10 homers and 29 RBIs in the Coyotes’ first 20 games.

The Vauxhall Jets grad got out of the car, homered twice and drove in five in a season-opening 19-5 win over the Salt Lake Bruins.

He also went deep, knocking in four in a 12-2 thumping of Colorado Northwestern, went deep twice with two solo homers in a 9-8 win against Pima, had two more in a 17-9 loss to Pima as he drove in five, hit a two-run homer in an 11-2 win against Arizona Western, homered and drove in three in an 8-5 triumph in the same series and hit a solo homer in an 8-4 loss to Colorado Northwestern.

Palmegiani is hitting .393 with five doubles.

Perfect Game top 25 JUCOs

By Brian Sakowski

Rank School State

1. John A. Logan IL

2. Wabash Valley IL

Commited: RHP Louis-Philippe Langevin (Quebec City, Que.)

4. McLennan TX

Committed: OF Mateo Zeppieri (Newmarket, Ont.)

5. Iowa Western IA

On the roster: INF Jaden Brown (Mississauga, Ont.) and 1B Noah Hull (Toronto, Ont.).

Hull is batting .250 with four RBIs, while Brown is hitting .167 with one run knocked in.

6. Johnson County KS

On the roster: RHP Bennett Moore (Goderich, Ont.) and 3B-RHP Arlen Peters (Schanzenfeld, Man.).

Peters allowed four runs in his one inning.

7. Northwest Florida State FL

On the roster: OF-C Blake Buckle (Milton, Ont.).

Committed: INF Yohann Dessureault (Trois-Rivieres, Que.).

8. LSU-Eunice LA

On the roster: RHP Jackson Fraser (Buena Vista, Sask.) and C Ayden Makarus (Aidrie, Alta.).

Makarus is hitting .475 with five doubles, three homers, 18 RBIs with a 1.394 OPS. Fraser has allowed three runs in 1 2/3 innings.

9. San Jacinto TX

On the roster: RHP Jack Seward (Port Moody, BC)

Seward is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA striking out 10 in 10 innings.

10. Crowder MO

On the roster: OF-C Simon Grinberg (Kitchener, Ont.), INF-RHP Ricardo Sanchez (Okotoks, Alta.), C Adamo Stornello (Montreal, Que.) and INF Nick Tremblay (Saint-Hilaire, Que.).

Commited: OF Alejandro Cazorla (Surrey, BC), OF Kaden Zarowny (Strathmore, Alta.) and SS Dryden Howse (Calgary, Alta.).

Stornello is hitting .286 in five games.

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14. Southern Nevada NV

On the roster: INF-OF Damiano Palmegiani (Surrey, BC).

See above.

15. Yavapai AZ

On the roster: RHP Declan Dutton (Vancouver, BC), OF Daniel Martin (Langley, BC) and LHP Taisei Yahiro (Abbotsford, BC).

Committed: RHP Kansai Sugimoto (Toronto, Ont.).

Yahiro is 3-0 with one save and a 3.50 ERA, striking out 20 in 18 innings in four outings (three starts). Martin is hitting .311 with a double, five RBIs and a .687 OPS. Dutton has pitched 1 2/3 scoreless in his only outing.

18. Chipola FL

On the roster: RHP Cedric De Granpre (St-Simon-De-Bagot, Que.), RHP Drew Howard (Whitby, Ont.) and 3B Alfonso Villalobos (Kirkland, Que.).

Committed: INF Brando Leroux (Toronto, Ont.).

Villalobos owns a .306 batting average with two doubles, three homers and 13 RBIs with an .889 OPS in 17 games. De Grandpre is 1-0 with two saves and a find-it-if-you-can ERA of 0.54. He has 23 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings. Howard is 1-0 with a save and an ERA of 0.93 at the school Jose Bautista made famous. Howard has whiffed 12 in 9 2/3 innings.

24. Seminole State OK

On the roster: RHP Brett Jackson (Langley, BC)

Committed: RHP Alexis Hurens (Quebec City, Que.)

Jackson has pitched one scoreless inning.

25. Connors State OK

On the roster: RHP Lukas Barry (Mississauga, Ont.).

Committed: RHP Griffin Almond (Thornbury, Ont.), OF Tanner Almond (Thornbury, Ont.), RHP Jeff Liddell (Mississauga, Ont.), 3B-RHP Nelson Mercado (Brampton, Ont.), INF Yosuke Fujie (Misson, BC), LHP Alex Springer (London, Ont.).

Barry is 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA. He has allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings striking out five.