May 23, 2023

BMOC Week 17

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network

It was another jam-packed week of college baseball action. Let’s check out which Canadians took their games to the next level.

Butt, Forno, Stark earn honours at Williston State

Three Canadians were recognized for their strong seasons at Williston State College.

Kody Butt (St. John’s, Nfld.) was selected to the All-Mon-Dak Athletic Conference Team after posting a 2-1 record with a 1.80 ERA. He appeared in 14 games, making four starts and threw 45 innings.

Brady Forno (Okotoks, Alta.) was named to the All-Region XIII Team. Forno owned a 7-3 record with a 2.34 ERA and 10.51 strikeouts per nine innings.

Catcher Zach Stark (Medicine Hat, Alta.) also made his way onto the All-Region team. He hit .327 with a .448 on-base percentage and slugged .490 in 50 games played.

On the field over the weekend the Teton dropped their North Plains District Championship series two games to one to Southeastern.

Forno got the ball in Game 1 and tossed five innings, allowing one run on three hits. He walked two and struck out six in a 3-1 win.

Butt took to the mound in Game 3 and turned in six innings of work. He gave up two runs on four hits, while walking one and striking out four in a 3-2 loss.

Torresan an All-Region selection

Matt Torresan (Burlington, Ont.) was named to the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference All-Region Second Team after leading Iowa Lakes with a .355 batting average. He had a .438 on-base percentage and slugged at a .480 clip.

Shapiro a second teamer

Outfielder Caden Shapiro (Toronto, Ont.) is hitting .285 and has scored 32 runs in 43 games for the Princeton Tigers this season. In the field, he has a .973 fielding percentage. Those numbers have helped him earn a spot on the All-Ivy League Second Team.

Two Tigers named to All-Region Team

A pair of Canadians at Marshalltown Community College garnered all-region honours.

Austin Gurney (Campbell River, BC) put together a .299 batting average, hit 12 home runs, drove in 43 and slugged .563 to land on the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference All-Region First Team

Kyle Magdic (Lincoln, Ont.) hit .302 with 26 RBIs in 49 games and was named to the Second Team.

UBC bows out in NAIA Opening Round

The Cascade Collegiate Conference champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds went 1-2 in the NAIA Opening Round. They started with a win against the University of Antelope Valley before losing to Westmont and Vanguard.

Sean Heppner (Point Roberts, Wash.) threw five innings and allowed two runs on eight hits in a 7-6, 10 inning loss to Westmont. Heppner walked one and struck out four.

Brother Ryan Heppner (Point Roberts, Wash.) spun seven innings in a 10-2 loss to Vanguard. He surrendered two runs on five hits, walked two and struck out four.

Aaron Marsh (Nanaimo, BC) led the charge offensively, collecting five hits, walking three times and driving in two. He was hit by a pitch in the loss to Vanguard.

Langevin helps Wabash win Midwest District Championship

When it came time for Wabash Valley College to decide on a starting pitcher in the Midwest District Championship game against South Suburban, they chose Louis-Phillipe Langevin (Quebec City, Que.). Langevin would go on to throw five scoreless innings in a 15-1 win. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out seven.

Canisius closes out regular season

The Canisius College Golden Griffins dropped two of three to Marist on the final weekend of the regular season but a trio of Canadians played well.

Felix Morin (Quebec, Que.) threw five innings and surrendered one run on four hits in an 8-6 Game 1 loss. The lefty walked six and struck out three.

Max Grant (Fredericton, N.B.) went 3-for-5 with a stolen base in Game 1 before collecting a hit and working a walk in a 6-2 Game 2 loss. Game 3 saw him go 3-for-5 again, finishing a home run shy of the cycle, while driving in three and stealing a base.

In Game 2, Matt Duffy (Burlington, Ont.) struck out 10 to tie fellow Canadian J.P. Stevenson (New Glasgow, P.E.I.) for the most strikeouts in program history with 267.

The Griffs will take on Manhattan in Game 1 of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament.

Simpson enters postseason on a high

Cleary Simpson (Elnora, Alta.) had six hits, four walks, four RBIs and a stolen base in four games for Northern Kentucky. The Norse are now preparing for Game 1 of the Horizon League Tournament versus Purdue Fort Wayne.

O’Toole and Abram take down Sooners

Right-handers Evan O’Toole (Bridgewater, N.S.) and Ben Abram (Georgetown, Ont.) picked up wins in Game’s 1 and 3 of Oklahoma State’s 2-1 series win over rival Oklahoma.

O’Toole improved to 6-1 with five scoreless innings of work in a 13-2 Game 1 victory. He allowed five hits, walked one and struck out four.

Abram, a former Sooner, threw five innings and conceded one run on four hits with four strikeouts in an 11-1 Game 3 win. He’s now 7-2 on the year.

The Cowboys and Sooners will meet again in Game 1 of the Big 12 Tournament.

Spoljaric, Grabmann secure series win for Ducks

After dropping Game 1 of their series to Utah, the Oregon Ducks gave the ball to two Canadian freshman in Games 2 and 3.

Turner Spoljaric (Lisle, Ont.) lasted seven innings and yielded one run on five hits. He worked around five walks and struck out three en route to winning his fifth game of the year in a 9-1 victory. For his efforts, he was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week.

The rubber match saw former Okotoks Dawgs hurler Matthew Grabmann take the hill. Grabmann threw six innings of two-run baseball in a 15-3 win. He surrendered five hits, walked three and struck out three.

The Ducks will now take on California and Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament.

Dykstra does damage for George Mason

Connor Dykstra (Chilliwack, BC) got his week started with a 2-for-4 game with a RBI, stolen base and a hit by pitch in George Mason’s 9-4 Game 1 loss to Saint Joseph’s. He went 2-for-3 with a RBI and was hit by another pitch in a 4-3 Game 2 victory before collecting hit in a 13-6 Game 3 loss.

Dobie also does damage, but for Dayton

Speaking of Dayton, Mason Dobie (Meaford, Ont.) had six hits, a walk, four RBIs and was hit by a pitch in the Flyers’ series win over Massachusetts. His biggest game of the week came in Game 3 when he went 4-for-4 with three solo home runs in a 13-6 loss. The Flyers face George Mason in Game 1 of the Atlantic 10 Championship.

Valero, Vincelli-Simard stroke for Sacramento State

Cesar Valero (Calgary, Alta.) and Martin Vincelli-Simard had massive weeks for the Sacramento State Hornets.

Valero amassed 10 hits, worked a walk and drove in 12. He went 4-for-6 with three RBIs in an 18-15 midweek win over Pacific and hit a solo home run in a 12-3 Game 2 win over Utah Tech.

Vincelli-Simard put together eight hits, walked three rimes, and drove in nine. He swatted a three-run home run in the win over Pacific and a solo shot in Game 2 against Utah Tech.

The Hornets won all four games on the week.

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There’s nothing quite like postseason baseball and it all continues this week. Don’t miss any of the highlight as we have you covered in the BMOC.

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.