UBC Thunder’s INF Oliver Clements (Vancouver, BC)

September 21, 2023

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Question: What was the low point for you in your nine years at the Canadian Futures/Tournament 12?

Answer: One of the first years a guard showed up five minutes after the final pitch and said, “OK, you guys have five minutes to clear out of here.” There were probably 10 writers still working away. After a Blue Jays game, writers have as long as they want to write -- deadlines permitting. The man insisted. After a lengthy argument -- this was a Rogers Centre employee, not someone from the Blue Jays. I phoned Jay Stenhouse, Blue Jays crack P.R. person at the time who was in Chicago where the Jays were playing the White Sox. Said Stenhouse: “I’ll handle it.” The guard came back and said we could finish. Next night the same thing, but looking at the TV monitor John Gibbons was being interviewed. So, I called vice-president Howard Starkman. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

Vauxhall Jts LHP Jack Baxter (Saint John, NB)

Name: LHP Jack Baxter

Team New Blue

Hometown: Saint John, NB

Current team: Vauxhall Jets.

Previous team: Port City Pirates, Fredericton Royals.

Who is the most influential person in your baseball life and why? “My brother Brett, he’s a right-hander and he also plays third base. I quit playing at the T-ball level because I didn’t enjoy it. My brother sold me on it. Now, baseball is the love of my life.”

Your greatest day on the ball field? “Well, for our team, Vauxhall, beat the Okotoks Dawgs 7-5 to win the Best of the West tournament in Parksville, BC. The atmosphere was through the roof. Patrick MacInnis (Calgary, Alta.) pitched that game. Personally, I pitched in the final of the Lethbridge tournament and we beat Okotoks 5-3 with three of four strikeouts. Okotoks are our biggest rivals.”

Your favourite player and why? “Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s a lefty, I’m a lefty. He throws a slow curve. I throw a slow curve. I drag my foot on that pitch. Does he drag his foot? That I’m not sure.”

If not a pro player, what’s the next best job you’d want to have when you grow up? “Maybe a scout because of my baseball background. I think I would have something to offer.”

What’s the most important life lesson you’ve learned playing ball? “Excuses are for quitters. You can’t go out and expect to win every game. You can’t blame the ump. You can’t say that the mound sucks.”

***

Q: Is the scoring -- the box scores and the process exactly the same as we would we when we read the Blue Jays stories on BlueJays.com at home?

A: Great question. The first or second year, according to Dale Stevens, senior member of the stats crew remembers a night when Josh Naylor singled. A pinch runner went in, stole second and stole third. Next half inning Dale looked up to see Naylor back at first -- which obviously you can’t do at a big-league game. His support staff told him to go back into the system eliminate the runner and give the steals to Naylor. Dale jokes he maybe got Naylor some “extra dough,” by crediting him with those two stolen bases. Now, the scoring and support staff use a system which is alternate baseball rules meaning anyone can enter, innings can be rolled (no more than four runs) and players can re-enter without crashing the system.”

UBC Thunder’s Oliver Clements (Vancouver, BC)

SS Oliver Clements

Team Royal

Hometown: Vancouver, BC.

Current team: UBC Thunder.

Previous teams: Vancouver Mounties, Dunbar Little League.

Who is the most influential person in your baseball life and why? “My mom Stephanie for sure. I always want to make her proud. My mom always motivates me. Mom drove me to 5 AM hockey practice, ball practices and games. Mom is a grade 1 teacher at Crofton House School, an all-girls private school. So, she spends all day at school with girls and comes home to three boys: my brothers Cooper (grade seven), Charlie (grade 10) and myself. Mom was president of the Dunbar Little League and has always been a supporter there.”

Your greatest day on the ball field? “In the provincial Premier League final, we were down 7-6 in the sixth. Robert Orr hit a solo homer to tie it in the seventh. I turned a double play to end the seventh and came up in the eighth -- and I wasn’t happy with my previous at-bat. We had one out and a runner on second and first (a Calvin Gully walk and a Rico Domingo single) and I had a line drive single to centre to score Calvin with the walk-off winner. Our coach was Devery Van De Keere (Barrhead, Alta. who played two seasons in the Kansas City Royals organization). That team had an amazing ... what’s the word? ... I got it: team chemistry. Everyone pulled for everyone else.”

Your favourite player and why? “Dansby Swanson, Chicago Cubs. He plays shortstop, I play shortstop. My favourite school is Vanderbilt. He played there. I always liked the way he played. I saw him in Atlanta when I went to the Future Games. The Braves should have kept him.”

If not a pro player, what’s the next best job you’d want to have when you grow up? “Maybe a trainer. I always thought about going the kinesiology route. Helping people out. Getting them healthy and ready to play. I’ve had my share of injuries. I broke my left wrist skiing when I fell on Whistler Blackcomb.”

What’s the most important life lesson you’ve learned playing ball? “Always be confident. Don’t have any self doubt. Keep an open mind. Learn. And don’t doubt yourself.” (Like Wednesday night when he doubled with an exit velocity of 100 MPH.)

***

Q: What is the best name you have seen in Future Showcase.

A: Well, there are lots of good names but the best was in the seats Kershaw Kemlo. And not because his father Chris Kemlo (Clarington, Ont.) or mother J.J. were Los Angeles Dodgers fans. It was at a party and Jon Howse (Corner Brook, Nfld.), a two-year captain of the Peterborough Petes (2002-03, 2003-04), came up to me and said “Hey who is this Kershaw guy. He’s helping my fantasy team win, you know what you guys should name your baby Kershaw.” And thus Kershaw Kemlo was helping serve as a bat boy with his brother, C.J. for Team New Blue on Tuesday night.”

RHP Tristan Eberle

Hometown: Regina, Sask.

Team Royal

Current team: Regina Athletics.

Previous teams: Team Saskatchewan, Moose Jaw Miller Express, Brewers Langley Blaze, Regina Grizzlies.

Who is the most influential person in your baseball life and why? “Dustin Molleken (former Detroit Tiger and a man who always answered the call when Team Canada called to see if he was interested in a “giving it a go” ... again). I went from grade 10 and not knowing whether I wanted to play to this . . . Dustin keeps me going. Now I want to go to Indian Hills -- I hear that the coach (Matthew Torrez) there is really tough on his players. Like Dustin is with me. He’ll say ‘Dude this is wrong.’ He helped me stay committed to pitching. He’ll send me a text ‘Did you long toss today?” I long toss every day with my good friend Jed Hutchinson. He throws about 69 MPH and sometimes throw side arm but he gets it to me on a bounce. I’ve hit 89 MPH and hope this weekend I break 90.”

Your greatest day on the ball field? “Playing in the Canada Cup in Regina. I threw a slider and I may or may have not have given up a home run. Yes, it was a home run. I’d thrown like 15 fastballs in a row and then the catcher called for a slider. Soon as I threw it I was like ‘oh-OH!’ (Ontario’s Stephen Waters homered.) But then I had two strikeouts. I closed out our win over BC (a scoreless inning in an 11-8 loss). And I was supposed to pitch in the final, but our starter -- Reese Brons -- pitched a complete game 1-0 shutout over Quebec (allowing one hit, 10 strikeouts) and Boston Blast drove in the walk-off winner.”

Your favourite player and why? “Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays. I love his off speed. He can chuck it in there on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded for strike three ... down in the zone. I also like Lourdes Gurriel. Man he has swag. My hair is brown, not like whatever his colour is today.”

If not a pro player, what’s the next best job you’d want to have when you grow up? “I’d like to be a structural or a civil engineer. Who knows I could blow out my elbow next week. I’ve always had my brain to rely on. Math and science ... I do well. I’m not so good in English. Even though my average (91) is good, I want to make myself available to the draft for two years, improve and then transfer to a good four-year school where I can get my degree.”

What’s the most important life lesson you’ve learned playing ball? “The ability to control my anger. I used to throw my helmet after a strikeout. Dustin used to see me hitting myself in the leg after a bad pitch and tell me to cut it out. The other day in fall ball our pitcher thought he was getting squeezed and he was swearing at the umpire. At the end of the inning I may have yelled at him. Much later he came over and thanked me ... he said ‘was in a bad place at the time.’ I learned to have fun too. Like you asked if I was any relation to NHLer Jordan Eberle (Regina, Sask.). Earlier this season a guy asked me if we were related. I said “yeah, he’s my brother.” The guy said “wow, that’s so cool.”

***

Q: You mentioned the High Performance Centre in Dunedin the other day.

A: One thing that surprised me this year, other than the Alek Manoah situation (what ever that is), after building a great facility -- billed as a competitive advantage for training and rehab -- why did players stay in Toronto this summer with the team on the road to get treatment and not go to Florida?”

SS Tim Piasentin

Team Black

Hometown: Coquitlam, BC

Current team: Okotoks Dawgs.

Previous teams: Coquitlam Reds, Coquitlam Little League.

Committed: Miami.

Who is the most influential person in your baseball life and why? “Cole Bertsch, my Coquitlam Little League coach. Cole is good friends with my father (Robert) and I am friends with his son (LHP Everett Bertsch). The fact that he played college ball (Lewis University Flyers) made me feel like it was possible for me. (And now Piasentin has committed to Miami next fall -- not the school in Ohio ... the one in Florida ... the U).

***Starter Timothy Piasentin is removed after reaching the 85-pitch limit in Little League World Series at Williamsport.***

(He failed to mention Coquitlam represented Canada in 2019 Little League World Series, but our crack research staff dug it out: Coquitlam beat Quebec 6-3 in Ancaster to earn the right to travel to Williamsport, losing 5-0 to Mexico, beating Italy 10-0 and losing to Curaçao 8-1. He is fortunate to have former Jays minor league SS Lee Delfino as one of his coaches during this event.)

“Miami saw me play in Atlanta at the Future Games. I visited the school when the Hurricanes beat the Texas A&M Aggies 48-33 (before 48,792) earlier this month. I committed before I visited.”

Your favourite player and why? “Kyle Tucker, Houston Astros. Yes, I know he’s not an infielder. I’ve been an Astros fan since 2015. I like the uniforms. The cheating scandal? Hey, I had to stick with my team. George Springer is my favourite Blue Jay because of his Houston background.”

If not a pro player, what’s the next best job you’d want to have when you grow up? “Something in baseball. A coach, a manager, a scout. I’d like to stay in touch with the game.”

What’s the most important life lesson you’ve learned playing ball? “You have to keep working hard -- even if you do not see immediate results.”

***

Q: Are there any familiar names among scouts in attendance.

A: Alec Benavides, son of former big leaguer Freddie Benavides, who played for the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies and the Reds, is here with the Reds ... Mets scout John Kosicak, of the Mets, who drafted LHP Evan Grills (Whitby, Ont.) from the Ontario Blue Jays ... Matt Skirving (London, Ont.) assistant director, amateur scouting, Pittsburgh Pirates.

Numbers

17 College recruiters and coaches on hand _ University of British Columbia (two), Canisius College, East Tennessee State, Georgetown University, Georgia State University, Gonzaga University, Kent State University, Long Beach State, Michigan University, Niagara University, Pepperdine University, Sacramento State University, Northern Kentucky, Western Kentucky, Utah University and Mary.

32 _ Pro scouts representing 19 teams on hand: Toronto Blue Jays (seven, including scouting director Shane Farrell, plus regional scouts Jamie Lehman (Brampton, Ont.), Adam Arnold (St. Thomas, Ont.), head Canadian scout Patrick Griffin (Oakville, Ont.), Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, Ont.), Jasmine Roy (Montreal, Que.), Cincinnati Reds (three), New York Mets (three), Chicago Cubs (two), Kansas City Royals (two), Texas Rangers (two), Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.

5 Scouts in attendance with Blue Jays connections? Denis Boucher (Lachine, Que.) of the New York Yankees, who made seven starts with the 1991 Jays ... Bill Byckowski (Erin, Ont.) former Jay Canadian scout, now with the Reds ... John Ceprini, former Jays scout, now with the Reds ... Rob Mummau of the Mariners, a 29th pick in 1993, who played seven seasons in the Jays system with class-A St. Catharines, class-A Dunedin, class-A Hagerstown, double-A Knoxville and triple-A Syracuse ... James Parker (Toronto, Ont.) former Jays employee, area scout with the Cubs.

Elliott, Futures Day II: Baxter, Clements, Eberle, Piasentin, Unanswered questions