Elliott, PG III: Great Lake Canadians lefty hams it up on mound with no no against ABC
Showing a striking resemblance to former Minnesota Twins LHP Scott (Baby Face) Diamond (Guelph, Ont.), LHP Michael Ham pitched a no hitter for the Great Lakes Canadians at Royals Field.
June 6, 2025
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
Thames Centre _ As Alexandre Giguère’s fly ball nestled into the right fielder Roen Douglas’s glove, the third base dugout emptied as if someone had set off the fire alarm.
No fire here inside Royal Field.
And no hits either.
Lefty Michael Ham, 17, had pitched a complete-game, seven-inning, no hitter for the Great Lake Canadians against the Academy Baseball Canada on Day III of the Perfect Game 18U Canadian National Championship Tour. Great Lakes didn’t score either ... the game ending in a 0-0 tie against one of the pre-tournament favourites.
This was nothing like the old hockey line where old time pucksters would say a tie was “like kissing your sister.” Once again, there was plenty of emotion and passion from each dugout as has been the case since the event began Wednesday.
The players mobbed Ham.
Manager Jamie Romak shook hands with coaches Chris Robinson, Brock Kjeldgaard, Kyle Maves and Shane Davis.
Ham, of nearby Aylmer, is in grade 12 and will take next year as his gap year before heading to school.
“I started to think about it (a no-hitter) around the fourth inning,” said Ham. “But only when I was on the bench, not on the mound. When I was out there, I was concentrating on doing a good job.”
Ham said his best pitch was his change as he needed only 73 pitches to dispatch the ABC. His fastball topped out at 84 MPH but has been as high as 88 this season. He fanned three. When Hall of Famer Greg Maddux was asked what was the strike percentage a starter should strive for, he answered 66%. Ham’s strike percentage? A touch more than the desired number on the Maddux scale: 67%.
C Vaughn Maginn put down all the right fingers. The lefty said his best game before Friday was beating the Ontario Blue Jays in the Canadian Premier League playoff 4-1, when he struck out 13.
Mom Amanda, a general manager at McDonald’s, watched from the berm in left field. We’re unsure whether it was a round of Big Macs for toute le monde as they say in Quebec.
“Michael was outstanding today,” said Romak. “He has advanced pitch-ability and a calm demeanor. His ability to pitch inside to right handed hitters made the difference. I think his fastball has the ‘invisiball’ trait as well. He should win a lot of games in college.”
Probably the best defensive play made was by Ham himself -- a Maxime Blain comebacker in the third innings.
“It has been a while since my heart beat has been up that high, said Shane Davis, a former Toronto Blue Jays farmhand. “When was the last time? Probably when I was on the mound with (rookie-class) Bluefield in 2012. Hopefully it isn’t another 13 years.”
Davis knows a thing or two about pitching. With the Canisius Griffins he was 35-12 with a 4.17 ERA in 56 starts in his four springs for the Buffalo school. He only walked 90 while striking out 231 in 364 1/3 innings.
Davis said Ham had the ability to throw all three pitches for strikes, especially his change which “he was able to get to bite inside to right-handed hitters.”
“Michael Ham is a pitcher who worked hard in the off season, someone from a smalltown, a guy you are always root for,” said Davis, who hailed from Belmont. “There is a huge value to left-handers who have the ability to throw strikes ... same for our Mark Rogers and Aaron Monterrozo.”
3B Cooper Clark doubled and SS Ashton Gaulton singled for the two hits Great Lakes managed.
Earlier, Great Lakes edged the Toronto Mets 3-1 on a two-run, sixth-inning single by Douglas. The inning began when Tyson Moran drew a lead-off walk, Jamie Moore singled and Charlie Renco took over as a pinch runner at first. Then, Maginn advanced the runner to set the stage for Douglas, who grounded to short to break the tie.
* * *
Undefeated, untied: The Brewers Langley Blaze continued to roll along with a 5-2 win over the Webber Wildcats to bump its record to 4-0.
Brewers Langley Blaze SS Jason Siguenza went deep to keep the BC entry undefeated.
SS Kason Siguenza hit a solo homer and is hitting .333 through four games. DH Evan Dugdale had a pair of hits and knocked in two runs. 2B Luke Laird and C Owen Mayencourt also had base hits.
Haruto Kishimoto pitched three scoreless allowing one hit and fanning a pair. Lucas Bruinsma, Damon Cameron and Ian Vandepol also saw action on the mound.
Nicholas Homeniuk doubled in a run, Cohen Miller, plated another and Nicholas Westendorp also doubled. George Hobbins pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing five runs -- four earned while fanning five in his 107-pitch outing.
Day 1
18U Schedule
Wednesday
Brewers Langley Blaze 6, Academy of Baseball Canada 1
Ontario Nationals 18U 7, Toronto Mets 6
Fieldhouse Pirates 4, Ontario Blue Jays 18U 1
Team Ontario 18u 7, Tigers HPP 6
Great Lake Canadians 6, Webber Wildcats 2
Windsor Selects 5, Ottawa-Nepean Canadians 1
Ontario Blue Jays 18U 7, Mississauga Tigers HPP 0
Toronto Mets 9, Academy of Baseball Canada 9
Windsor Selects 9, Fieldhouse Pirates 1
Brewers Langley Blaze 5, Great Lake Canadians 2
Team Ontario 6, Ottawa-Nepean Canadians 5
Ontario Nationals 18U 2, Webber Wildcats 0
Thursday
Ontario Blue Jays 18U 8, Ottawa-Nepean Canadians 0
Brewers Langley Blaze 8, Ontario Nationals 0
Fieldhouse Pirates 5, Mississauga Tigers 2
Team Ontario 8, Windsor Selects 8
Webber Wildcats 8, Toronto Mets 2
Friday
Mississauga Tigers 4, Ottawa-Nepean Canadians 3
Great Lake Canadians 3, Toronto Mets 1
Ontario Blue Jays 8, Windsor Selects 0
Academy Baseball Canada 3, Ontario Nationals 2
Great Lake Canadians 0, Academy Baseball Canada 0
Fieldhouse Pirates 5, Team Ontario 2
Brewers Langley Blaze 8, Webber Wildcats 2
Saturday
2 PM @ Royal Field Ontario Blue Jays 18U vs. Team Ontario 18u
2 PM @ Field of Dreams Academy of Baseball Canada vs. Webber Wildcats
4:30 PM @ Royal Field Fieldhouse Pirates vs. Ottawa-Nepean Canadians
4:30 PM @ Field of Dreams Toronto Mets vs. Brewers Langley Blaze
7 PM @ Royal Field Windsor Selects (Sam Wirag) vs. Tigers HPP
7 PM @ Field of Dreams Great Lake Canadians 18U vs. Ontario Nationals 18U
Sunday
Semi-finals
11:30 AM @ Field of Dreams Seed 2 Pool A vs. Seed 1 Pool B
11:30 AM @ Royal Field Seed 2 Pool B vs. Seed 1 Pool A
Championship
4:30 PM @ Royal Field Winners of two semi-final game winners.
* * *
18U Standings
Pool A
Team Name Prov. PCT W L T RA RS
1. Fieldhouse Pirates ON .750 3 1 0 14 15
2. Ontario Blue Jays 18U ON .750 3 1 0 4 24
3. Windsor Selects ON .625 2 1 1 18 22
4. Team Ontario 18u ON .625 2 1 1 24 23
5. Mississauga Tigers ON .250 1 3 0 22 12
6. Ottawa-Nepean Canadians ON .000 0 4 0 23 9
Pool B
Team Name Prov. PCT W L T RA RS
1. Brewers Langley Blaze BC 1.000 4 0 0 5 24
2. Great Lake Canadians 18U ON .625 2 1 1 8 11
3. Academy of Baseball Canada QC .500 1 1 2 17 13
4. Ontario Nationals 18U ON .500 2 2 0 17 11
5. Webber Wildcats AB .250 1 3 0 15 12
6. Toronto Mets ON .125 0 3 1 27 18
* * *
16 Under Division
Thursday
Toronto Mets 16U 7, Great Lake Canadians 5
Ontario Blue Jays 16U 9, Ottawa Nepean Canadians 6
Victus Prospects 8, Toronto Mets 1
Mississauga Tigers 11, Ottawa-Nepean Canadians 3
Academy Baseball Canada 5, Ontario Blue Jays 1
FIeldhouse Pirates 6, Victus Prospects 5
Academy of Baseball Canada 4 vs. Mississauga Tigers 2
Great Lake Canadians 3. Field House Pirates 1
Victus Prospects Ontario 8, Toronto Mets 1
Friday
Great Lake Canadians 8, Victus Prospects Ontario 0
Ontario Blue Jays 16U 8, Mississauga Tigers 1
FIeldhouse Pirates 16U 8, Toronto Mets 4
Academy Baseball Canada 6, Ottawa-Nepean Canadians 3
Saturday
Playoff Round 1
9 AM @ Field of Dreams Pool A Seed 3 vs. Pool B Seed 2
9 AM @ Royal Field Pool B Seed 3 vs. Pool A Seed 2
11:30 AM @ Field of Dreams Pool B Seed 4 vs. Pool A Seed 1
11:30 AM @ Royal Field Pool A Seed 4 vs. Pool B Seed 1
Sunday
Semi-final
9 AM @ Field of Dreams
9 AM @ Royal Field
Championship
2 PM @ Royal Field
Consolation
2 PM @ Field of Dreams
4:30 PM @ Field of Dreams
* * *
16U Standings
Pool A
Team name Prov. PCT W L T RA RS
1. Great Lake Canadians ON .667 2 1 0 8 16
2. FIeldhouse Pirates 16U ON .667 2 1 0 12 15
3. Victus Prospects Ontario ON .333 1 2 0 15 13
4. Toronto Mets 16U ON .333 1 2 0 21 12
Pool B
Team Names Prov. PCT W L T RA RS
1. Academy of Baseball Canada QC 1.000 3 0 0 6 15
2. Ontario Blue Jays 16U ON .667 2 1 0 12 18
3. Mississauga Tigers ON .333 1 2 0 15 14
4. Ottawa Nepean Canadians ON .000 0 3 0 26 12