Omidi knocks in three to lead Team Encarnación past Team Bautista in Prospects Game
After belting six homers in the Home Run Derby on Saturday morning, Fieldhouse Pirates infielder Robert Omidi (Mississauga, Ont.) proceeded to record two hits and three RBIs for Team Encarnación in the Canadian Futures Showcase Prospects Game in the afternoon. Photo: Blue Jays Academy
September 21, 2024
By Brandon Brown
Centennial Sports Journalism
TORONTO – Robert Omidi had two hits and three RBIs to lead Team Encarnación over Team Bautista, 7-2, in the Prospects Game at the Canadian Futures Showcase at Rogers Centre on Saturday.
The Mississauga, Ont., native smoked a line-drive double to the warning track in centre field, which scored Maxime Boies (Levis, Que.) to extend Team Encarnación’s lead to 3-0 in the third inning.
“I was just trying to stay fluid through the ball,” Omidi said postgame about his approach during his final at-bats of the five-day Showcase.
“He (Encarnación) told me that my swing was nice, so that was a good compliment.”
Omidi, who plays for the Fieldhouse Pirates, in Burlington, Ont., hit a sacrifice fly to left-field to score Jordan Jacob (Maple, Ont.) from third in the sixth to make it 5-2, and hit a single to right field in the eighth to score Zach Barker (Bolton, Ont.) to make it 7-2.
Both starters in Sean Duncan (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) for Team Encarnación, and Mathis McKenna (Rigaud, Que.), for Team Bautista threw a scoreless inning to kick-off the contest.
Tim Piasentin (Coquitlam, B.C.) led off the bottom of the second with a double down the third base line off Ryan McDonagh (Milton, Ont.), who replaced McKenna for Team Bautista.
After Esteban Dessureault (Trois-Rivières, Que.) advanced Piasentin to third with a long fly-ball to centre field, Dom Morgan (Sherwood Park, Alta.) singled past first base, scoring Piasentin to give Team Encarnación the 1-0 lead.
“It’s the same approach I’ve had all week, just hit the ball hard somewhere, and it worked today.” said Piasentin, after the final out.
That same approach helped the University of Miami (FL) commit win the Home Run Derby earlier in the day.
Walker Kokotailo (Surrey, B.C.) entered for Team Bautista in the third, surrendering a walk to Logan Booth (Chilliwack, B.C.), before Boies singled up the middle.
A wild pitch to Easton Kitura (Spruce Grove, Alb.) allowed Booth to score and extend the lead to two, before Omidi’s double scored Boies to make it 3-0. After Finn Hoeschen (North Vancouver, B.C.) struck out, Piasentin smacked a single down the left field line which scored Omidi to make it 4-0.
When William Labonté (Okotoks, Alb.) walked Xavier-Raphaël Brault (Blainville, Que.) to open the fifth, Team Bautista’s bats came alive.
Daniel Dykema (North Vancouver, B.C.) hit a double to the right-field corner, followed by a sacrifice fly by Ryan Stalony (Mississauga, Ont.) to score Brault for Team Bautista’s first run. The next batter, Cohen Miller (Calgary, Alb.), snuck a hit past the third baseman and into the corner, scoring Dykema to cut the lead to two.
In the sixth, back-to-back singles from Jordan Jacob and Braeden Scott (Vancouver, B.C.) set up Omidi to hit a sacrifice fly to left field, which scored Jacob and extended the lead to 5-2.
The next batter, Quinn Lightfoot (Caledon, Ont.) hit another sac-fly to centre to score Scott from third and regain the four-run lead.
In the eighth, Omidi would secure his third RBI of the game with a single to right field, which scored Zach Barker from third, enhancing Team Encarnación’s lead to 7-2, which would be the final tally.