January 12, 2021

Official Baseball Oshawa News Release

The Thunder Bay Border Cats have officially signed Braden Babcock for the 2021 Northwoods League summer collegiate season.

Babcock, a native of Oshawa, (Oshawa Legionaires grad), was named McCook College 2020 baseball most valuable player. He went 3-0 with a 2.15 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings at McCook in the pandemic shortened 2020 college season, while leading the team in innings pitched, strikeouts, and ERA.

In 2019, he made 13 appearances and started 10 games as a freshman at McCook compiling a 3.53 ERA and striking out 64 in 58 2/3 innings, while posting four wins (second on the team).

The 6-foot-5, left-handed pitcher is currently enjoying his sophomore season at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., (NCAA Division I) under head coach Lance Rhodes.

The Salukis play in the highly competitive Missouri Valley Conference.

Babock is looking forward to this great opportunity to showcase his skills in one of North America’s top summer collegiate leagues as well as play for Border Cats manager Mike Steed. It will also be great exposure for the young lefty in advance of the this summer’s 2021 MLB Draft.

The Border Cats will open their 18th season at home on Monday, May 31, against the St. Cloud Rox (Minnesota) at Port Arthur Stadium. The Border Cats will play the other nine American based teams in the Great Plains Division eight times each for a total of 72 games.

A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 230 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals), two-time World Series champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (San Francisco Giants) and World Series champion Chris Sale (Boston Red Sox). 2019 National League Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby champ Pete Alonso (New York Mets) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (Detroit Tigers) have also honed their skills in the circuit.