May 17, 2022

By George Farelli

Canadian Baseball Network

Owen Caissie was the top Canadian selected in the 2020 amateur draft.

The FieldHouse Pirate OF went in the second round -- selected by scout Chris Kemlo (Oshawa, Ont.) -- of the San Diego Padres.

The Padres chose Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) 45th overall in North America and San Diego gave him a signing bonus of $1,200,004.

And now in the Canadian Baseball Network Week VI play, Caissie is the top dog again as the Player of the Week after hitting .471 (8-for-17) with a home run and 17 RBIs for the class-A South Bend Cubs. He was acclaimed the best of the 100 Canucks in the minors or Indy ball.

How the week that was went for Caissie as he ...

_ Went 1-for-4 batting seventh and playing right field with a grand slam in a 9-7 win over the Fort Wayne TinCups at Four Winds Field. With the Cubs trailing 7-2 in the sixth, Caissie stepped up and hit a grand slam to right field after a hit by pitch, a walk and a single loaded the bases. It was his first homer of the season.

_ He was hitless batting seventh and playing right, in a 6-5 win over Fort Wayne before 1,385 fans. DH Jordan Nwogu (Orleans, Ont.) batted eighth and doubled. Nwogu doubled to centre, his third, after Caissie was hit by a pitch.

_ Didn’t play in a 5-0 loss to Fort Wayne in front of 2,529. Nwogu was hitless batting eighth and playing centre.

_ Had two hits hitting sixth and playing right in an 11-2 win over Fort Wayne before 6,060 fans. Nwogu was in centre and hitting eighth. He contributed a pair of hits. Caissie reached on an infield single to knock in a run and the second run reached on a throwing error as well as hitting a single to centre in the sixth. Nwogu doubled to left in the seventh and singled to centre in the eighth.

_ Had two hits, including a double and drove in two runs in an 11-7 win against Fort Wayne before 5,184. Caissie doubled to left in the second, as well as singling to centre in the third, driving in two runs. Nwogu did not play.

_ Contributed three knocks with a double and two RBIs batting sixth and playing left in a 5-1 win against Fort Wayne before 4,458 fans. Nwogu was in right and hitting seventh, and he singled. Caissie singled to right in the second, did the same in the fourth with a ball to centre and doubled -- his fourth -- to left in the eighth. Batting seventh and playing right, Nwogu singled to centre knocking in a run in the fourth.

Best Offensive weeks

Player/Class/Team AB R H HR RBI AVG

Owen Caissie - A South Bend 17 4 8 1 7 .471

Tyler Black - A Wisconsin 25 6 11 2 11 .440

Tristan Peters - A Wisconsin 24 8 9 2 4 .375

Denzel Clarke - A Stockton 18 5 6 1 2 .333

Anthony Quirion - A Clearwater 19 4 6 2 3 .316

David Glaude - IND Quebec 12 4 8 1 4 .667

Raphael Gladu - IND Trois-Rivieres 13 3 7 2 5 .539

Brendon Dadson - IND Ottawa 12 3 5 - 2 .417

L.P. Pelletier - IND Quebec 13 3 5 1 3 .385

Miles Gordon - IND Evansville 11 3 4 1 1 .364

(Minimum 10 ABs)

Best Pitching

Cade Smith RHP - A Lake County Captains

GM W SV ER ERA H IP K WHIP

3 1 - - 0.00 1 3.1 7 5.80

Originally drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2017, Cade Smith did not sign, opting instead to remain in school, but in 2020 was signed as a free agent by Cleveland. The 23-year-old (Abbotsford, BC) is currently an important member with Lake County Captains’ bullpen in High A Midwest League.

He made three relief appearances this week, all against league rivals the Great Lakes Loons. On May 11, in a 5-2 loss he threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings, gave up one base hit while striking out two hitters, but was not involved in the decision. On May 13, in a 4-3 victory, Smith pitched a scoreless inning and zero hits while striking out three, to earn his first win of the season. Then on May 15, in a 10-9 loss to the Loons, he pitched one scoreless inning while striking out two, but again was not involved in the final decision.

For the week, in 3 1/3 innings, he surrendered one hit and zero runs, while striking out seven batters. His overall record with Lake County in 10 Midwest League appearances, stands at 1-0, with three saves and a miniscule 0.87 ERA.

Canadian Baseball Network

Minor League Player of the Week

Week I - INF Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.) Marlins

Week II _ OF Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.) A’s

Week III _ OF Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.) Brewers

Week IV _ RHP Landon Leach (Pickering, Ont,) Braves

Week V _ RHP Indigo Diaz (North Vancouver, BC), Braves

Week VI _ OF Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) Cubs