Three Canadians chasing College World Series title
Photo: Baseball Canada
June 18, 2021
Baseball Canada
OTTAWA – The annual College World Series gets underway in Omaha, Nebraska on June 19th and three Canadian players, all graduates of Baseball Canada’s Junior National Team program, are in the hunt for college baseball’s ultimate prize.
Eric Cerantola (Oakville, Ont.) of Mississippi State, Cooper Davis (Mississauga, Ont.) of Vanderbilt University and Marc-Antoine Lebreux (Sainte-Anne -des-Plaines, Que.) of the University of Virginia are all part of the eight-team field that includes Stanford, North Carolina State, Arizona, Tennessee and Texas.
For Davis, who represented Canada at the 2015 U18 Baseball World Cup in Japan, this will be his second trip to Omaha where he was part of a 2019 Vanderbilt squad that won the national championship.
Vanderbilt is considered the defending national champions after the 2020 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It definitely feels like something more special after we had last season taken away, we've been locked up for a long time. So if definitely feels really special to get this opportunity to go back there," Davis said in a recent interview with the Canadian Press.
A senior outfielder with a Vanderbilt squad that advanced to the College World Series with a Super Regional win over East Carolina last weekend, Davis hit .248 with a home run and 13 RBI in 33 games this season.
Right-handed pitcher Eric Cerantola was part of a Junior National Team squad that earned a fourth place finish at the 2017 WBSC U18 Baseball World Cup that took place in Thunder Bay and is currently in his junior season at Mississippi State.
No stranger to Omaha and the College World Series, Mississippi State will be making their 12th appearance at the event where they were runners-up in 2013 with a team that included current Senior National Team member Jacob Robson along with Junior National Team alum Kyle Hann.
Cerantola pitched in 10 games this season (17 1/3 IP) where he registered 24 strikeouts. He is eligible for the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft and is ranked as the 248th prospect by MLB.com.
Mississippi State earned a 2-1 Super Regional series win over Notre Dame last weekend to punch their ticket to Omaha.
Teammates with Cerantola on the 2017 Junior National Team, Marc-Antoine Lebreux and the University of Virginia earned a 2-1 series win over Dallas Baptist last weekend to advance to Omaha.
The Cavaliers will be making their fifth College World Series appearance this week, the last coming in 2015 when they won the national championship where current Senior National Team member Daniel Pinero was their starting shortstop.
A senior outfielder, Lebreux appeared in 41 games this season where he hit .232 and added five stolen bases.