April 9, 2024

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network

It’s that time of the week again. 

Sit back, relax and get caught up on the Canadian news and notes from around college baseball. 

MacNeil moves to 4-0 

Owen MacNeil (Georgetown, Ont.) worked five scoreless innings in the University of Charleston’s 8-0 Game 2 win over Glenville State. He allowed four hits, four walks and struck out four to pick up his fourth win of the season. 

Soucie strikes out 14 

Left-hander Jackson Soucie (Cambridge, Ont.) fanned seven as Wabash Valley shutout Vincennes 2-0. Soucie threw seven scoreless innings, giving up two hits and three walks. 

Palmiere throws complete game  

Derek Palmiere (Okotoks, Alta.) was brilliant for Mayville State in Game 3 of their series with Viterbo. Palmiere threw a complete game, seven innings while surrendering one run on two hits in a 9-1 win. He walked two and punched out four. 

Maneriker masterful for Saints 

The only blemish to the outing D’Youville University got from Mahir Manerikar (Mississauga, Ont.) was the five walks he issued. Other than that, he held Queens College hitless and scoreless over five innings in a 2-0 win. He also struck out five to improve to 2-3. 

UBC sweep Bushnell 

For the second time this season, the University of British Columbia took a four-game series from Bushnell, this time via a sweep. 

Sean Heppner (Point Roberts, Wash.) set the tone in Game 1 with seven strong innings. Heppner allowed one run on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts in an 8-1 win. 

It was a weird line for Game 4 starter Daniel Orfaly (White Rock, BC). He allowed eight runs (one earned) on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings in a 15-9 victory. He walked one and struck out seven. 

David Draayers (Abbotsford, BC) contributed six hits, seven RBIs, a stolen base and two hit by pitches. He hit a two-run home run in the T-Birds Game 2 win. 

Jonny McGill (Richmond, BC) put up nine hits, a walk, six RBIs, a stolen base and a hit by pitch. He went 5-for-5 with a three-run home run and four RBI during a Game 4 win. 

Russell Young (Surrey, BC) had four hits and two RBIs over the four games. 

McCabe goes deep 

Union College’s Nathan McCabe (Oshawa, Ont.) had three hits, walked twice and drove in three in a 2-1 series win over Kentucky Christian. He went 3-for-5 with a solo home run and two RBIs during the only loss of the series in Game 2. 

Caskenette comes up big for Boilermakers 

Catcher Connor Caskenette (Duncan, BC) collected four hits, walked and drove in six as Purdue swept a Big 10 series from Rutgers. His biggest performance came in Game 2 when he went 3-for-5 and hit a three-run home run in the top of the ninth to give his side an 8-6 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. 

Favretto a force  

Tyler Favretto (Montreal, Que.) had plenty of opportunities to shine for Kansas Wesleyan as they played five games this past week. Favretto was in the lineup for all of them and had eight hits, six walks and six RBIs. He had two home runs, a solo shot and two-run home run, in a 16-1 Game 1 win over the University of Saint Mary. The power continued in Game 2 as he hit a solo homer in an 18-7 victory.  

Robertson spins complete game shutout 

Former Toronto Met Mac Robertson (Oshawa, Ont.), of Arizona Western College, ran his record to 8-1 with a complete game, seven-inning shutout against GateWay. Robertson allowed one hit, walked two and struck out seven in the 3-0 victory. 

Vulcano with three-homer game 

Aaron Vulcano (Cloverdale, BC) hit three solo home runs and finished 4-for-4 with four RBIs in Doane University’s 9-8 win over Northwestern. Across six games last week, he had seven hits, two walks and the four RBIs. 

Barbieri bashes solo shot 

A five-game week gave Ave Maria’s Francesco Barbieri (Brampton, Ont.) a chance to get in a rhythm. He chipped in five hits, walked six times, drove in one and stole two bases. His RBI came from a solo home run that was part of a 3-for-5 performance with a walk in a 13-10 Game 2 loss to Point University. 

Irvine shuts down Henderson State 

Connor Irvine (Victoria, BC) surrendered three runs (two earned) on five hits over six innings to help Arkansas-Monticello to an 11-4 win versus Henderson State. He walked two and struck out three to move his record to 6-1. 

Hanning falls to 0-6 despite another strong start 

The tough luck keeps on coming for Paradise Valley’s Joseph Hanning (Vancouver, BC). Hanning conceded three runs (two earned) on six hits in six innings of work but his team fell 8-2 to Mesa. He issued four walks and struck out four as his record fell to 0-6. 

Graham gives relief 

There was little room for Nicholas Graham (Abbotsford, BC) to falter in Game 1 of Faulkner’s series with Thomas University. Graham came out of the bullpen and threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings in an 8-7, 14-inning win. He allowed three hits, walked two and struck out eight in picking up the win.  

Bauer the backbone of Minnesota West win 

Jordan Bauer (Torrington, Alta.) earned his first win by throwing a complete game, seven innings for Minnesota West Community and Technical College as they defeated Minnesota Post Grad 5-1. He allowed one run on five hits and punched out nine. 

Brunner lasts five  

All three runs Emporia State southpaw Graham Brunner (Sherwood Park, Alta.) surrendered in his Game 2 start against Missouri Western were unearned as he threw five innings in a 7-6 loss. Brunner gave up four hits, a walk and struck out four. 

Valero hits 30th career home run 

Cesar Valero (Calgary, Alta.) hit his 30th career home run at Sacramento State in a 5-3 Game 2 loss to California Baptist. With the homer, he is now tied for third in program history with three players, including Steven Moretto (Coquitlam, BC). On the week, he had five hits, four walks and seven RBIs. 

Schure strikes out Rogers State 

A five-hit game with a two-run home run and five RBIs ended a strong week from Rogers State’s Matt Schure (Salt Spring Island, BC) as they lost to Northeastern State in Game 3 of their series. Over the course of four games throughout the week, Schure had 11 hits and eight RBIs. 

Geisbrecht leads Hutchinson to win 

Ethan Giebrecht (Altona, Man.) tossed five innings and allowed two runs on seven hits to help Hutchinson win Game 1 of their series with Seward County, 12-2. He walked one and struck out five to pick up his sixth victory. 

Roth rakes for Colby 

Six games gave Carter Roth (Stratford, Ont.) plenty of chances to get on base, which he did. Roth put together 11 hits, three walks, eight RBIs and three stolen bases. Two of his hits left the ballpark for home runs. 

Sugi starts week with four hits 

Kenneth Sugi (North Vancouver, BC) went 4-for-5 with a two-run home run, three RBIs and three stolen bases as Missouri S&T dumped Harding 15-14 in a midweek game. In the four-game series with Upper Iowa that followed, he collected two hits, four walks, an RBI, a stolen base and three hit by pitches. 

Cassie pitches well in loss  

If you don’t score any runs, you can’t win. Queens starter Caleb Cassie (Delta, BC) found out the hard way after throwing seven innings and allowing two unearned runs on five hits in a 2-0 loss to D’Youville. He walked one and struck out eight but fell to 2-2 on the season. 

Robertson aids Allan Hancock in rubber-match win 

Mac Robertson (Orillia, Ont.) spun five scoreless innings, surrendering one run and three walks as Allan Hancock beat Ventura 9-7 in Game 3 of their series. Robertson struck out four to help secure the series win. 

Pitre leads No. 12 Kentucky to sweep of No. 10 Alabama 

It was a showdown of two of the top teams in the country when No. 12 Kentucky faced No. 10 Alabama over the weekend. Émilien Pitre (Repentigny, Que.) had four hits, two walks and two RBIs as the Wildcats walked away with a series sweep. Pitre went 3-for-5 with two RBI in a 10-1 Game 3 win. 

Cote hits home runs, again 

Josh Cote (Midland, Ont.) hit home runs No. 14 and 15 as Northeastern Junior College split a pair of games with McCook. He also walked and drove in five.  

White with six hits as West Virginia sweeps Kansas 

Ontario Blue Jays alum and current West Virginia Mountaineer Sam White (Aurora, Ont.) got his week started by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and hit by pitch in an 11-10 Game 1 victory over Kansas. He followed a hit in a Game 2 victory with a 3-for-5 performance to help his side to the series sweep. In the finale, he hit a solo home run, walked and drove in two. 

Lakeland leans on Canadian arms 

Two Canadian pitchers played prominent roles in a pair of games for Lakeland College. 

Jackson Smith (Brantford, Ont.) got the start in Game 1 against Lorain County and delivered a complete game, seven-inning shutout. He conceded four hits, walked four and struck out 14 in the 10-0 win. 

Seena Amani (Guelph, Ont.) came on in relief in Game 2 to throw 5 1/3 scoreless innings. He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out five but it was too late as Lakeland lost the game 3-2. 

Gravel goes six in loss 

Alexis Gravel (Repentigny, Que.) gave up one run on five hits in six innings of work but McNeese State dropped Game 3 of their series with Lamar. Gravel issued three walks and struck out four. 

Cassie continues stellar campaign 

More games meant more hits off the bat of Noah Cassie (North Delta, BC). With six games on the schedule, Cassie collected 10 hits, two of which were home runs, three walks and 10 RBIs. So far this season, he’s hitting .327 with 11 home runs and 38 RBI. 

Hemmerling commits, backs Barton to win 

Recent USC Upstate commit, Reece Hemmerling (Beaumont, Alta.), threw six innings to help Barton Community College beat Dodge City 7-3 in the opener of their four-game series. Hemmerling allowed two runs on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts. 

Lachance laces four hits 

Deitan Lachance (Sherbrooke, Que.) chipped in four hits, a walk and five RBIs in four McLennan Community College wins. He went 3-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs in a 7-5 Game 1 victory against Grayson. 

Fraser finds his way on base 

Gavin Fraser (Spruce Grove, Alta.) had three hits, three walks and an RBI but Cerra Coso ended up being swept by Desert in a three-game set. 

Crowell with incredible comeback 

It’d be understandable if Reinhardt University’s Nash Crowell (Yarmouth, NS) was hesitant to get back into the batter’s box after taking a 100-mph fastball to the face in a game against No. 1 Southeastern the previous weekend, but that wasn’t the case. Crowell was back in the lineup six days later to open the Eagles’ series against Johnson University. In Game 1, he didn’t just return to the lineup, he provided the dramatics by going 4-for-5 with a walk-off grand slam in a 10-6 victory. In Game 2, he hit a two-run homer in an 8-4 win before hitting a solo shot and collecting two RBIs in an 8-0 Game 3 victory. 

Canadians keep coming through for their college teams and this week was no different. 

What will April 8 to 14 bring? Check back seven days from now to find out. 

Do you know of a player deserving of a mention in the weekly BMOC column? Email Matt Betts at mattbetts@canadianbaseballnetwork.com. Please note that our week runs Monday-Sunday. 

Be sure to follow Matt Betts at @Bettsy41 for extensive Canadian baseball coverage all season long.