Canucks on PG JUCO top 500: Lachance, Rienguette, Daoust, Boudreau, Gunderson, Mabee

ABC grad C Deiten Lachance (Sherbrooke, Que.) is the top rated Canuck JUCO player

April 9, 2024

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

The old saying that the quickest route to the next level is catching.

Canadian players are living up to that adage.

C Deiten Lachance, of the McLennan Highlanders, is the highest ranked Canuck in the top 500 junior college players heading into the July draft, according to Perfect Game scouting Service.

Lachance (Sherbrooke, Que.) leads his team with a .336 average, as well as eight doubles, two triples, seven homers and 46 RBIs and a .983 OPS in 39 games. He’s a graduate of Marc-Andre Berube’s Academy Baseball Canada.

Of the 18 Canadians listed no less than five squat behind the plate. Besides Lachance the other four are:

_ C-INF Cody Gunderson (St. Malo, Man.) is hitting .385 for the Hutchison Blue Dragons. The former Carillon Sultan has seven doubles, 15 homers, 60 RBIs and an OPS of 1.370 and is ranked 154th.

_ His Blue Dragon teammate, C-INF Colin Cymbalista (Pickering, Ont.) owns a .387 average with 11 doubles, four triples, five homers, 53 RBIs and a 1.135 OPS in 39 games. The Terriers grad is ranked No. 208.

_ C Kyle Hepburn (Richmond, BC) owns a.336 average, as well as six doubles, two triples, six homers, 33 RBIs and a 1.027 OPS in 33 games for the Cavaliers. The former Delta Blue Jay was listed at 245th.

_ And C Josh Cote (Midland, Ont.) of the Northeastern Plainsmen has a .402 average with eight doubles, 15 homers, 48 RBIs and a 1.677 OPS in 32 games. Like Cymbalista, Cote is an ex-Terrier and is listed at 317th.

Ranked second among Canadians is RHP Scott Rienguette (Sudbury, Ont.) of Cloud County Thunderbirds at 52nd.

In addition to the two Terrier catchers from Rick Johnston’s program -- Cymbalista and Cote -- Jean-Gilles Larocque’s Sudbury program is the only other in Canada with two players in the top 500 JUCO players heading into this year’s draft. The other is INF Ashton Roy (Sudbury, Ont.) who ranks 351st.

Rank Name Position School Commitment

1. Kevin Mannell RHP Cloud County Mississippi State

37. Deiten Lachance C Sherbrooke, Que. McLennan TX

52. Scott Rienguette RHP Sudbury, Ont. Cloud County KS

73. Louka Daoust OF Repentigny, Que. Weatherford TX

102. Tyler Boudreau RHP Sackville, NS Midland College TX

131. Kansai Sugimoto RHP Vancouver, BC Yavapai AZ

154. Cody Gunderson C-INF St. Malo, Man. Hutchinson Community College

158. Oliver Mabee OF-RHP Oak Bay, BC, Trinidad State CO

208. Colin Cymbalista C-INF Pickering, Ont. Hutchinson KS

213. Jakob Poturnak 3B Vancouver, BC Cloud County KS

229. Jackson Soucie LHP Cambridge, Ont. Wabash Valley IL

245. Kyle Hepburn C Richmond, BC Johnson County KS

275. Ashton Graff-Rowe SS Waterloo, Ont. Crowder MO

298. Demitri Shakotko OF Fredericton, NB, Cloud County KS

317. Josh Cote C Midland, Ont. Northeastern CO

351. Gavin Roy INF Sudbury, Ont. Cloud County KS Washington State

397. Reece Hemmerling RHP Beaumont, Alta. Barton KS

403. Carson Latimer RHP Delta, BC Cloud County KS Sacramento State

405. Noah Konings OF Brampton, Ont. Cloud County KS