June 3, 2024

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network

A national championship and Division I regionals highlight the past week of the college baseball season. 

Which Canadians stood out? Let’s take a look. 

Watt gets win in national championship game 

Southpaw Liam Watt (Burlington, Ont.) appeared in three games during the NJCAA Division II College World Series for LSU Eunice. Watt totalled 7 2/3 innings and allowed one run on five hits while picking up a pair of wins. He walked one and struck out four. During the national championship game against Brunswick Community College, he tossed 3 2/3 innings and surrendered one run on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts in a 9-3 victory. 

For his work, Watt was named to the NJCAA DII World Series All-Tournament Team.

Tennessee Wesleyan falls in nationals championship game 

Tennessee Wesleyan took their season as far as it would go as they dropped the NAIA national championship game 14-6 to Hope International. 

Evan Magill (Ajax, Ont.) contributed seven hits, five walks and five RBIs in six games at the World Series. Four of his seven hits were doubles. He ends the season with a .365 average, nine home runs, a .458 on-base percentage and a .596 slugging percentage in 58 games. 

Chad Picton (Winnipeg, Man.) played in seven games for the Bulldogs this season. 

Hepburn hits in NJCAA World Series 

Kyle Hepburn (Richmond, BC) and Johnson County Community College closed their season going 1-2 in the NJCAA Division I World Series. Hepburn went 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs as the Cavaliers won Game 1, 14-4, against Shelton State. Game 2 saw him go 3-for-3 again, this time with a double, a triple and his team’s lone RBI in a 10-1 loss to Georgia Highlands. He tacked on another hit as the Cavs season ended with a 22-2 loss to Northwest Florida State. 

McDowell mashes as Beavers head to Super Regionals 

Micah McDowell (Halifax, NS) is leaving it all out on the field for the Oregon State Beavers as he hopes to lead his team to their first national championship since 2018. McDowell had eight hits, two walks, three RBIs and a stolen base as the Beavers swept their way through the Corvallis Regional. He went 3-for-5 with a walk and a RBI in the final, an 11-6 win over UC Irvine. 

Lead off man Groves productive for Purple Eagles 

Niagara University’s historic season, which featured their first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship, ended in the Stillwater Regional. Leadoff hitter Nick Groves went 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, three RBIs and a hit by pitch as the Purple Eagles lost to host Oklahoma State 19-7. Against Nebraska in Game 2, Groves had an RBI and was hit by a pitch. 

Columbus has three hits 

Ben Columbus (North Vancouver, BC) produced three hits, walked five times and drove in a run in three games for Nebraska during the Stillwater Regional. 

White and West Virginia off to Super Regionals 

Former Ontario Blue Jay Sam White (Aurora, Ont.) had five hits, two walks and two RBIs to help West Virginia win the Tucson Regional. White went 2-for-3 with two walks and an RBI in a 10-6 victory over Grand Canyon in the final. 

Poole swats three homers  

Tom Poole (Calgary, Alta.) provided plenty of offence for Dallas Baptist University in Tuscon. Poole had six hits and 10 RBIs as the Patriots finished 1-2. He hit a pair of two-run home runs in a 7-0 win over Arizona and another two-run shot in a loss to Grand Canyon. 

Wilson a main contributor for Grand Canyon 

The son of former big league reliever Steve Wilson (Victoria, BC), Tyler Wilson (Chandler, Ariz.) chipped in five hits, five walks and two RBIs as Grand Canyon lost in the Tucson Regional final. The Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year hit a solo home run as the Antelopes beat Arizona 9-4 in the opener. 

Parsons powers Kansas State 

The Kansas State University Wildcats are off to the Super Regionals after winning the Fayetteville Regional. Jaden Parsons (Kelowna, BC) went 4-for-5 with a solo home run and four RBIs in the Wildcats 19-4 Game 1 win over Louisiana Tech. He had an RBI and was hit by a pitch in the final two games. 

Zdunich homers four times in World Series 

Tucker Zdunich (High River, Alta.) had a strong NAIA World Series. He started it by swatting a three-run home run to tie Reinhardt University’s opening round game against Hope International 5-5 in the top of the seventh. The Eagles would go on to win the game 7-5. In a 30-16 Game 2 victory over Arizona Christian, Zdunich had six hits, including a two-run home run, a three-run home run, a solo home run and a triple. In total, he drove in nine. He chipped in a hit and drove in a run during a 6-4 Game 3 win over Georgia Gwinnett. The Eagles then lost Game 4 to Tennessee Wesleyan, setting up a Game 5 rematch. Zdunich walked in a 3-2 loss as their season came to an end. 

Super Regionals get going this weekend and a few Canucks remain. 

Check back in seven days to see how they faired. 

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.