Red Deer Carstar Braves grad INF Cleary Simpson (Elnora, Alta.). is the Great Plains top Canuck prospect according to Perfect Game.

February 27, 2022

Great Plains Region: Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

We’ve heard it said before.

The player is from Kansas. He pops a pitch up high into the top of the batting cage ... or he lets a ground ball through his legs .... or guesses wrong on a two-strike pitch and goes down looking.

A coach, someone from player development or a scout will use Dorothy’s line from the Wizard of Oz “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Yet, the Great Plains region -- whether it be the states of Missouri, Oklahoma or Kansas -- is home to Canadian players.

They are with the top 25 ranked teams (60 in all)

They are some of the best prospects in the Great Plains (eight of the top 98 players in all).

PG rankings by Travis Ice and Blaine Peterson

Great Plains Region: Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma

Top 25 Breakdowns

1. Crowder College

INF-OF Kenny DiClemente (Oakville, Ont.), C Tyler Favretto (Montreal, Que.), OF Kaden Zarowny (Strathmore, Alta.) and Adamo Stornello (Montreal, Que.).

DiClemente owns a .533 average with three doubles, a homer, four RBIs and a 1.629 OPS. Stornello is hitting .300 with a double and two RBIs. Zarowny is hitless in four at-bats nine games in with two RBIs, while Favretto is without a hit in two at-bats, with an RBI.

2. Johnson County

C Russell Young (Surrey, BC).

Young is hitting .500 with a double and two RBIs.

3. Cowley

C Matys Gagnon (Montreal, Que.).

Gagnon is hitting .250 with a double.

4. Jefferson College

RHP Adam Hill (Toronto, Ont.),

6. Cloud County

RHP Jack Mount (Val Des Monts, Que.), OF Samson Back (Langley, BC), C Eric Foufoulas (Vernon, BC), INF Patrick Mulligan (Ottawa, Ont.), OF-RHP Tom Poole (Calgary, Alta.), RHP Liam Bates (Vancouver, BC), 3B Williams Camacho-Soto (Burnaby, BC), LHP Haden Dow (St. John, NB), RHP Brady Kobitowich (Edmonton, Alta.), LHP Giordano Mezzomo (Vancouver, BC) and C Ty Wevers (Lethbridge, Alta.).

Poole is batting .375 with two doubles, a homer, six RBIs and a 1.306 OPS. Weevers is hitting .350 with three doubles, a homer, seven RBIs and a 1.085 OPS. Camacho-Soto owns a .250 average with three doubles, seven RBIs and a .733 OPS. On the mound, Mezzomo is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA with 18 strikeouts in eight innings. Mount has pitched three scoreless, striking out three. Dow is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA fanning seven in four innings. Kobitowich has pitched 2/3 of an inning in a scoreless outing.

PG: Southpaw Giordano Mezzomo joins the roster after transferring from San Jac, and shows a loose arm and sits in the low-90s with his heater. Mezzomo has the ability to start or come in from the bullpen. True freshman Jack Mount out of Canada drew rave reviews with his 90-93 mph fastball, tight slider that flashes spin rates in the 2600 rpm neighborhood and a fading change up.

7. Colby County

OF Blake Harsulla (Ardrossan, Alta.), C-OF Aaron Vulcano (Cloverdale, BC), RHP Jared Arnold (Red Deer, Alta.), OF Braydon Cust (Edmonton, Alta.), RHP-OF Matthew Dobberthien (Calgary, Alta.), RHP-INF Kyle Froehlich (Nipawin, Sask.), RHP Joel McGrath (Kindersley, Sask.), INF Cleary Simpson (Elnora, Alta.). INF Liam Vulcano (Cloverdale, BC). INF John Vulcano (Cloverdale, BC) and INF Carter Roth (Stratford, Ont.),

Simpson is hitting .632 with three doubles, a homer, four RBIs and a 1.667 OPS in five games. John Vulcano has a .412 hitting mark with two doubles, three homers, 10 RBIs and a 1.581 OPS. Harsulla is hitting .444 with a double, five RBIs and a 1.000 OPS.

Froehlich is batting .625 with two doubles, a triple, a homer six RBIs and a 2.100 OPS. Cust owns a .500 mark with two doubles, an RBI and a 1.333 OPS. Adam Vulcano is hitting .200 with a solo homer. Brother Liam Vulcano is hitting .200 with a double. Dobberthien is hitless in one at-bat.

On the mound ... Froehlich has pitched four scoreless with four strikeouts in four innings. McGrath also has worked four scoreless innings striking out seven. Arnold has allowed one run in one inning.

PG: Kyle Froehlich and others will be called upon to take care of high leverage innings. Brayden Cust has one of the most well-rounded skill sets in JUCO baseball as he’s a plus runner with advanced defensive chops in centre field with an advanced approach at the dish. He posted a 1.059 OPS in 2021 and was 17-for-18 in stolen base attempts. Bringing the thump to the middle of the lineup will be returning All-Conference player John Vulcano, who slugged .713 in 2021 with 13 home runs and provided solid defense at the hot corner.

8. Connors State

RHP Griffin Almond (Thornbury, Ont.), OF Tanner Almond (Thornbury, Ont.), C-OF Luca Boscarino (Mississauga, Ont.), RHP Nelson Mercado (Brampton, Ont.) and LHP Alex Springer (London, Ont.).

Boscarino is hitting .269 with a double, homer, four RBIs and a .768 OPS. Tanner Almond owns a .200 average with a double, a triple, a homer, five RBIs and a .699 OPS. On the mound ... Mercado is 1-0 with a 5.14 ERA as he has struck out five in seven innings.

9. Seminole State

OF Alexis Hurens (Quebec, Que.).

Hurens has allowed one run in one inning.

PG: True freshman Alexis Hurens is an interesting player out of Academie Baseball Canada which produces several college players each year.

10. Barton County

INF Dryden Howse (Okotoks, Alta.), INF Ricardo Sanchez (Okotoks, Alta.) and OF Riley Silva (Cambridge, Ont.)

Sanchez owns a .455 average with four doubles, two homers, 11 RBIs and an 1.470 OPS. Howse is hitting .417 with a double, four RBIs and a 1.033 OPS. Silva is 1-for-2 to date.

11. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M

RHP Gabriel Archambault (Laval, Que.), 1B Nolan Austin (Kamloops, BC), SS Emile Boies (Quebec, Que.), LHP Zachary Gaudreau (Quebec, Que.), INF Anthony Gilbert (Quebec, Que.) and RHP Matthias Trondson (Toronto, Ont.).

Gilbert owns a .214 average with a double, two RBIs and a .686 OPS. Boies is hitting .188 with an RBI and a .504 OPS, Austin is hitless in 11 at-bats.

On the mound ... Trondson had an 8.22 ERA in 7 2/3 innings. Archambault has an 11.20 ERA in four innings, Gaudreau has a 13.50 ERA in 2 2/3 innings.

PG: A trio of Canadian pitchers in righties Gabriel Archambault and Matthias Trondson, as well as lefty Zachary Gaudreau will compete for innings this season. On offense the team will return shortstop Emile Boies, who looked like a promising up-the-middle athlete his freshman year.

12. Mineral Area

INF Liam Bushey (Mission, BC), OF RJ Mayor (Burlington, Ont.), OF Antoine Tremblay (Trois-Rivieres, Que.), C Justin Carinci (Ajax, Ont.), RHP Russell Derbyshire (Leamington, Ont.), OF-RHP Brady Renneberg (Kelowna, BC).

Tremblay has an impressive .458 average plus two doubles, four RBIs and a 1.094 OPS. Bushey is hitting at a .462 clip with two RBIs and a 1.059 OPS. Mayor has a .273 average with a homer, three RBIs and a .974 OPS. Carinci is batting .207with one RBI and a .465 OPS.

On the mound ... Derbyshire has one save and a 2.57 ERA whiffing seven in seven innings.

PG: On offense, freshman outfielder Antoine Tremblay and sophomore catcher Justin Carinci will re-join a solid lineup.

17. Kansas City Kansas (KCK)

C Riley Girod (Saskatoon, Sask.), OF-RHP Payton McHarg (Saskatoon, Sask.) and RHP Arlen Peters (Schanzenfeld, Man.).

McHarg is 1-for-3 with an RBI and Girod is hitless in his only at-bat after one game.

PG: Chase Terrell and Arlen Peters will handle high leverage innings.

18. Allen County

LHP Dustin Davidson (Haida Gwaii, BC), RHP Logan MacNiel (Vancouver, BC), RHP Jack Neil (Abbotsford, BC), RHP Joel Robinson (Abbotsford, BC) and RHP Josh Fluet (White Rock, BC)

On the mound ... Fluet has pitched a scoreless 2 2/3 innings, fanning five ... Neil has allowed two runs in one innings. MacNiel has a 15.43 ERA in 2 1/3 innings. Robinson has allowed five runs in one inning.

PG: Righty Josh Fluet is one intriguing arms that should throw plenty of innings.

19. Dodge City

RHP Maxx Davidson (Mississauga, Ont.),

Toronto Mets grad Jake Bucovetsky (Toronto, Ont.)

23. Highland

1B Jake Bucovetsky (Toronto, Ont.).

Bucovetsky is hitting .448 with six doubles, a homer, four RBIs and a 1.315 OPS.

PG: Two-way player Jake Bucovetsky will hit in the middle of the order and get the chance to drive in some runs.

24. Garden City

RHP Owen Mitchell (Kitchener, Ont.), RHP Ryan Estey (Sherwood Park, Alta.) and OF Will Gardner, St. Albert, Alta.)

Gardner is batting a lofty .405 with five doubles, 12 RBIs and a 1.083 OPS.

On the mound ... Estey has a 7.50 ERA with nine strikeouts in six innings. Mitchell allowed six runs in his only outing.

PG: Sophomore outfielder Will Gardner should provide some quality at-bats as well.

PG rankings by Travis Ice and Blaine Peterson

Great Plains Region Top 25 Teams

Rank School Region City State

1. Crowder 16 Neosho, MO

2. Johnson County 6 Overland Park, KS

3. Cowley 6 Arkansas City, KS

4. Jefferson 16 Hillsboro, MO

5. Eastern Oklahoma State 2, Wilburton OK

6. Cloud County 6 Concordia, KS

7. Colby 6 Colby, KS

8. Connors State 2 Warner, OK

9. Seminole 2 Seminole, OK

10. Barton 6 Great Bend, KS

11. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 2 Miami, OK

12. Mineral Area 16 Park Hills, MO

13. St. Charles 16 St. Charles, MO

14. Butler 6 El Dorado, KS

15. Fort Scott 6 Fort Scott, KS

16. Hutchinson 6 Hutchinson, KS

17. Kansas City KS 6 Kansas City, KS

18. Allen 6 Iola, KS

19. Dodge City 6 Dodge City, KS

20. Seward 6 Liberal, KS

21. Neosho 6 Chanute, KS

22. Coffeyville 6 Coffeyville, KS

23. Highland 6 Highland, KS

24. Garden City, 6 Garden City, KS

25. MCC-Maple Woods 16 Kansas City, MO

Great Plains Region Top 98 Prospects

Rank Name Position School Hometown State Commit

1. Hayden Minton RHP Johnson County Collinsville

31. Cleary Simpson SS Colby, Red Deer, Alta.

52. Jack Mount RHP Cloud County Val Des Monts, Que.

53. Brayden Cust OF Colby, Edmonton, Alta.,

57. Giordano Mezzomo LHP Cloud County. Coquitlam. BC

Vauxhall Jets 3B John Vulcano (Cloverdale, BC) of Colby

68. John Vulcano, 3B-RHP Colby Cloverdale, BC

69. Tom Poole C Cloud County, Calgary, Alta.,

74. Ty Wevers C Cloud County, Lethbridge, Alta. Canisus College