No one is playing through … but scouts used golf carts to flit from one diamond to another at the Roger Dean Complex in Jupiter, Fla.

October 5, 2023

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

In the early years of the Perfect Game WWBA World championship, three Canadian teams would enter:

The Langley Blaze, the Ontario Blue Jays and a third team composed of mostly Ontario players.

At the 104-team tourney -- 26 pools of four teams apiece -- there will be more Canucks than that gathering at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, the spring home of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins. They’ll be showing their stuff in front of roughly 700 scouts.

Including the Brewers/Langley Blaze and the Canadian Premier team — making its second trip to Jupiter composed of players from the Canadian Premier League. In all, there will be 72 Canadians spread across no less than 14 teams. The Langley team is run by Doug Mathieson (Aldergrove, BC), a Milwaukee Brewers scout. He formerly worked for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

*Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) a former slugger with SSG Landers, right, with captain Lee Jae-won in Incheon, Photo: SSG Landers*

And prior to the start of the event, some expert talent evaluators took turns picking the winner of the 25th annual tournament. And one very familiar with Canadian talent picked the Canadian Premier team as the eventual winner. Former Tip O’Neill Award winner Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians, is coaching the entry.

“This Canadian Premier club, which is made up of top players from around the province of Ontario, comes to Jupiter in 2023 for their second go-round playing for the WWBA World Championship following a solid showing a year ago in their inaugural run. Many of those same players are back, and this team comes loaded with not only a talented roster, but the experience of having played on this stage already. There are power arms throughout the pitching staff and power throughout the everyday lineup, with good blends of approach, athleticism and defensive skill mixed in. It’s a deep, talented team capable of taking anyone’s best punch and dishing it right back out. They’ll be tested early in pool play and, as Jupiter does, their depth will surely be tested throughout the early goings of the weekend, but the vast majority of these players have big stage experience and won’t be easily intimidated. Look for the stars of this roster to shine bright in Jupiter, but it’s the depth and quality of said depth that’s giving me confidence in this pick. A Canadian club winning Jupiter? I could see it.”

_ PG’s Brian Sakowski’s Pick: Canadian Premier.

The list of the Canucks and the teams that they are with, along with hometowns.

Pool B

Canes Florida National Scout Team (6): LHP Loic Guillemette (St-Boniface, Que.), LHP Cameron Johnson (Burlington, Ont.), INF-OF Liam Lewis (Toronto, Ont.), LHP Shayne Pellin (St-Lazare, Que.), OF Dario Romeo (Montreal, Que.), INF Justin Skorupski (Mississauga, Ont.).

Perfect Game’s Projected Pool winner: Texas Twelve Red Sox

Pool D

Canadian Premier (25): RHP Seth Ainsworth (Sarnia, Ont.), LHP Luca Alagheband (Toronto, Ont.) INF Jonah Andrade (Oakville, Ont.), OF Brodey Bitove (Toronto, Ont.), RHP Matthew Brown (Carlisle, Ont.), RHP Tate Carey (Windsor, Ont.), OF Quinn Carson (Oakville, Ont.), Makaio Cisneros (Whitby, Ont.), OF Josh Davis (Guelph, Ont.), RHP Luke Glenn (Queensville, Ont.), INF Cam Gravelle (Smithville, Ont.), RHP Will Hynes (Mississauga, Ont.), INF Jordan Jacob (Maple, Ont.), Ryan James (Toronto, Ont.), C Benji Kautto (Toronto, Ont.), INF Brendan Lawson (Toronto, Ont.), LHP Sam Maclaughlin (Toronto, Ont.), C Gianluca Montanaro (Aurora, Ont.), SS Will Moore (Paris, Ont.), LHP Ryan Press (Toronto, Ont.), C-INF Brayden Ricketts (Brampton, Ont.), RHP Evan Schweizer (Oakville, Ont.), RHP Owen Slater (Whitby, Ont.), RHP Anthony Unga (Oakville, Ont.) and OF Jorge Valdes (Milton, Ont.).

Projected Pool Winner: Sticks Baseball Brewster/White Sox Scout Team

Pool E

Brewers Langley Blaze (22): C-INF Justin Anctil (Mirabel, Que.), INF Maxime Boies (Lévis, Que.), INF Benito Bonilla (Halifax, NS), INF Zach Cavanagh (Chilliwack, BC), 3B Anthony Clavet (Quebec, Que.), C-1B Keegan Drinkle (Maple Ridge, BC), RHP Evan Dugdale (Maple Ridge, BC), LHP Sean Duncan (Port Coquitlam, BC), RHP Tristan Eberle (Regina, Sask.), RHP Owen Fernandes (Maple Ridge, BC), LHP Carter Germain (Maple Ridge, BC), OF Briggham Kokotailo (Langley, BC), INF David Krahn (Langley, BC), 1B Charles Lavigne (Blainville, Que.), OF Rémi Lemay (Ste-Martine, Que.), RHP-OF Kyu Lumsdon (Langley, BC), INF Joey Marino (Surrey, BC), OF Will Polanco-Ethier (Laval, Que.), RHP Jack Thompson (Langley, BC), RHP Jacob Wallace (Pincourt, Que.), INF Nolan Weinmeyer (Sidney, BC) and RHP Michael Yusypchuk (Edmonton, Alta.).

Projected Pool Winner: Canes National 17U.

Pool K

Canes National/NY Mets Scout Team: Dante Nori (Toronto, Ont, born) lives in Northville, Mich.

Team Elite Prime (1): OF Braxton Mathews (Kitchener, Ont.).

RHP Josiah Romeo (Caledon, Ont.) of the Mississauga Tigers.

Rawlings National Scout Team (5): Nathan Currah (Georgetown, Ont.), INF Thomas Hanger (Toronto, Ont.), RHP Wesley Johnston (Toronto, Ont.), RHP Josiah Romeo (Caledon, Ont.) and 3B Adyn Schell (Toronto, Ont.).

Projected Pool Winner: Canes National/NY Mets Scout Team.

Pool O

North East Baseball (2): INF Sam Fraiberg (Toronto, Ont.) and SS Veer Wadhwani (Toronto, Ont.).

Projected Pool Winner: 5 Star National - Black

Pool P

Former Ontario Blue Jay RHP Liam Cruickshank (Mississauga, Ont.)

GBSA Rays Premier (3): RHP Liam Cruickshank (Mississauga, Ont.), 1B Daniel Devapalan (Brampton, Ont.) and LHP Lachlan Harrison (Mississauga, Ont.

Projected Pool Winner: USA Prime National/ Detroit Tigers Scout Team

Pool U

Toronto Blue Jays Scout Team (1): RHP Aiden Taggart (Grimsby, Ont.).

Banditos Scout Team (1): 3B Leo Cote (Ste-Catherine-De-Hatley, Que.).

Projected Pool Winner: Banditos Scout Team 2024.

Pool V

CBU 2024 Scout Team (1): RHP Zev Salsberg (Toronto, Ont.).

Projected Pool Winner: GBG/TB SoCal National

Pool W

North Shore Twins Tate Martin (Vancouver, BC)

Team Elite/Atlanta Braves Scout Team (2): INF Andrew Bishop (Kitchener, Ont.) and INF-RHP Tate Martin (Vancouver, BC).

Projected Pool Winner: Team Elite/Atlanta Braves Scout Team.

Pool X

Trosky National Upperclass (1): RHP Carson Tehan (Lasalle, Ont.)

Projected Pool Winner: FTB Phillies National.

Pool Y

5 Star/Team GA National (1): INF Esteban Dessureault (Trois-Rivieres, Que.).

MVP 2024 (1): 1B Markus Kirksey (Toronto, Ont.).

Projected Pool Winner: Dulins Dodgers Performance

Elliott: Jupiter field has 73 Canucks, Canada Premier picked to win 104 team field