Sandlots Quantrill, Dennis, Bowie, Rogers

 * RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.), an Ontario Terriers grad, is headed for a big pay day if all goes well. He's ranked fifth in North America on the top  100 players list of high schoolers and collegians eligible for the 2016 draft according to the Perfect Game scouting service. .... 2014 Canadians in the Minors … Canadians in College 2015 Canadian draft list …. Canadians in College 2016 Canadian draft list  Letters of Intent

By Bob Elliott

Could Cal Quantrill be the highest Canadian ever drafted?

He’s off to a fast start.

Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) had a successful freshman season at Stanford -- the firest freshman to start the Cardinal opener since Mike Mussina -- and a strong summer in the Coastal Plains college league.

With the 2016 draft 19 months away, Quantrill, who pitched for the Ontario Terriers, is ranked fifth over all in the Perfect Game Scouting Service list of top 100 prospects of high school and college players.

High school RHPs Riley Pint of Lenexa Kan. and Austin Bergner of Windermere Fla occupy the top two spots.

They’re followed by Georgia Bulldogs RHP Robert Tyler and OF-LHP Nick Banks from Texas A&M.

Next comes Quantrill.

Heading into the 2002 draft only three Canucks had been selected in the first 30 picks

The Montreal Expos chose RHP Dave Wainhouse (Scarborough, Ont.) 19th over-all in North America from Washington State University Cougars in 1998.

The San Diego Padres selected SS Kevin Nicholson (Surrey, BC) 27th over-all from the Stetson College in 1997.

And the Atlanta Braves chose INF Scott Thorman (Cambridge, Ont.) 30th in from Team Ontario in 2000.

Then, came 2002 when the Baltimore Orioles selected LHP Adam Loewen (Surrey, BC) fourth over-all from the Whalley Chiefs and Chipola College.

And five picks later the Colorado Rockies chose LHP Jeff Francis (North Delta, BC) from the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

For eight Junes Loewen was the top Canadian ever drafted until 2010 when the Pittsburgh Pirates chose RHP Jameson Taillon (The Woodlands, Tx.) went second over-all behind No. 1 pick Bryce Harper. Taillon’s mother is from Toronto and his father from St. Andrews, Ont. Pop was working in Calgary when Taillon wore Canada colors pitching against Team USA in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

There have been other first rounders since -- RHP Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, Que.) drafted 11th over-all from Academie Baseball Canada by the Seattle Mariners in 2007; Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) 16th by the Milwaukee Brewers from the Langley Blaze in 2008 and C Kellin Deglan (Langley, BC) 22nd from the Blaze by the Texas Rangers in 2010.

The others Canadians selected in the first 200 picks of the draft.

Beating Taillon is a lofty goal, but Quantrill has a shot.

At Stanford, Quantrill was 7-5 with a 2.68 ERA in 18 games, making 17 starts. He fanned 98 and walked 34 in 110 2/3 innings.

With the Morehead City (NC) Marlins, Quantrill walked nine and struck out 33 in 23 innings going 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA in four starts.

He was drafted in the 26th round by New York Yankees scout Denis Boucher (Laval, Que.) in 2013.

Dennis wins Dal Canton: LHP Jack Dennis (Toronto, Ont.) earned the sixth annual Bruce Dal Canton pitching award for the California University of Pennsylvania Vulcans. The award goes to the Vulcan hurler who truly exemplifies greatness of character. Dal Canton’s widow, Helene, was in attendance at CONSOL Energy Park to witness the presentation of the award.

Dennis, a former Toronto Met,  tied for the team lead this season with five victories and ranked third on the pitching staff with a 2.68 ERA. Dennis was selected to the All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Second Team after setting career highs in wins, ERA, innings pitched, starts and complete games, while also tossing the program’s first no-hitter since the 2008 campaign.

Dennis holds an 8-3 record with a 2.84 ERA in 21 appearances (16 starts) in his career. He has tossed 95 innings in two seasons with five complete games and boasts a 6-0 career record in conference play while making nine starts against divisional opponents.

Dal Canton was one of 13 charter members in the Cal U Athletic Hall of Fame and spent over 30 seasons in pro ball as both a player and coach. A native of Pittsburgh, he made his major league debut in 1967 with the Pittsburgh Pirates before retiring in 1977. He appeared in more than 300 games during his career while pitching for the Pirates, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox.

After his career, Dal Canton worked with the Atlanta Braves as both a minor league and major league pitching coach. While with the Braves, he coached more than 30 future major leaguers, including John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Steve Avery. Dal Canton spent the last 10 seasons of his career as a pitching coach with the class-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans,

As Braves super scout Paul Snyder used to say “there`s a reason all our pitching coaches have grey hair -- they’re wise” referring to Bill Slack (Sarnia, Ont.), Bill Fischer and Dal Canton.

BRUCE DAL CANTON PITCHING AWARD RECIPIENTS • 2009 – Jon Squeglia • 2010 – Randy Sturgill • 2011 – Randy Sturgill • 2012 – Jim Kirker • 2013 – Justin Taylor • 2014 – Jack Dennis

MOUNTIES GET THEIR MAN: Connor Bowie (Ancaster, Ont.) of the Mount Aloysius Mounties enters next spring coming on an all region selection. Bowie earned a spot on the ABCA All-Mideast Region team.

An AMCC First Team All-Conference selection, Bowie earned a First-Team spot on the ABCA All-Mideast Region Team. Bowie enjoyed a breakout season for the Mounties. He led the team and tied for first in the conference in hits with 60 and led the Mounties in runs (39), RBIs (32), home runs (4), slugging percentage (.682) and on-base percentage (.522) while starting all 39 games in the outfield.

GOOD INTENTIONS: RHP Alex Rogers (Nanaimo, BC) has signed a letter of intent to join the North Dakota State Bison for 2015.

Rogers, a 6-foot, 180 pound, sophomore, at Trinidad State Junior College in Trinidad, Colo., posted 49 strikeouts and only 17 walks in 70 2/3 innings. He pitched four complete games in 14 starts.

Rogers pitched for the Victoria HarbourCats in the West Coast Collegiate League last summer and was selected to the all-star team compiling a 3.09 ERA in 61 innings pitched. Rogers allowed 56 hits and walked just 16 batters and had a WHIP of 1.18.

Rogers joins outfielder RHP Brady Moxham (Oakville, Man.) who signed with the Bison.