January 22, 2024

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

The Cloud County T-Birds bus began to lurch its way out of Wichita bound for a two-hour drive home to Concordia, Kan.

On the bus returning home from the Jayhawk Sophomore Showcase on the Wichita State campus were 14 Cloud County sophomores and coaches.

Seated on the bus were Canuck players INF Gavin Roy (Sudbury, Ont.), RHP Myles Chamberlain (Victoria, BC), RHP Ethan Price (Bowmanville, Ont.), RHP Carson Latimer (Delta, BC), OF Austin Coyle (Kamloops, BC), OF Demitri Shakotko (Fredericton, NB), INF Jokob Pouternak (Vancouver, BC), LHP Wil Yamka (Oakville, Ont.) and RHP Scott Rienguette (Sudbury, Ont.).

It didn’t take long for the Canadians to know who had the best day.

“On the way back to campus, Scott’s phone was blowing up,” said Yamka.

And within days, Rienguette committed to the Kansas State Wildcats. A product of Jean-Gilles Larocque’s Sudbury Voyageurs, Rienguette’s spin rate has been compared to Seattle Mariners reliever Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.), according to Joe Doyle, senior analyst for the Future Stars Series.

Rienguette had a spin rate of 3300 rpms on his curveball that day at Wichita. Brash had a 2978 spin rate in 2023.

“We heard about the comp on XM radio,” said Larocque, who guided the Ontario Youth Team to a gold medal in 2023.

Rienguette started out in the fall of 2022 at West Virginia State, but transferred to Cloud County joining former Voyageur teammate Roy. At Cloud, Rienguette pitched in nine games going 0-1 with one save and a 5.79 ERA. He struck out 20 in 9 1/3 innings.

Pitching in the summer for the Kingman Islanders in the Jayhawk Collegiate League, he was 0-1 with a 1.99 ERA in five games, making three starts. He walked only eight and struck out 37 in 22 2/3 innings.

Rienguette played three years with the Voyageurs program, one season at 16U and two at 18U.

“Almost every game he’d have 10 strikeouts,” Larocque said. “He competed. He played everything: volleyball, basketball, hockey and baseball. He was our athlete of the year at our high school (St. Charles College).”

Larocque tells the story about when the St. Charles hockey team was on the road for a tournament and coach Darren Michelutti could not find Rienguette.

“Scott’s not in his room, he’s not in the lobby ... the bus is about to leave,” Larocque said. “They finally found him throwing the ball against the wall. It was his day to throw.”

Larocque played at North Lake College in Dallas, Paris Junior College, Cal State Chico and West Viginia State before coming home and starting his successful Voyageurs program.

Perfect Game Scouting Reports

Jayhawk Scouting Notebook: East

Scott Rienguette (Sudbury, Ont.), RHP, Cloud County Community College

Dazzled at the Jayhawk Sophomore Showcase all-star game this year. An elite spin metric profile with each offering. Fastball sat 90-92 with burst and deceptive carry. Spinning above 2700 RPM the pitch played especially well as a swing-and-miss offering up in the zone. Showed two distinct breaking balls both with average spin over 3000 RPM, with the slider spinning at times above 3300 RPM. Sharp and efficient snapping break to both that have the traits to miss bats regularly. This is one of the more unique arm talents not just in the Jayhawk conference but in all of junior college baseball this season.

Reece Hemmerling (Beaumont, Alta.), RHP, Barton County Community College

A real high level pitchability right-hander that showed a four-pitch mix with a high level ability to spin the breaking ball. Had a top 2 average breaking ball spin rate at the Jayhawk Sophomore Showcase and showed the ability to locate effectively. Fastball sat in the mid to upper 80s topping out at 88 and was consistently located to the edges or ran up and in to right-handed hitters. Curve was thrown effectively to both right-handed and left-handed hitters, the slider showed real swing and miss traits. And the ability to mix the stuff, changing speeds and eye levels is very effective.

-Blaine Peterson

INF Gavin Roy (Sudbury, Ont.) INF, Cloud County.

Roy didn’t record any hits in game during this event, but he’s still a player who stands out given all he can do on a ball field. Roy slashed .337/.468/.521 last season as a freshman with 25 steals and 17 extra base hits while doing a good job of controlling his strikeouts and walking at a solid clip. He’s a bit undersized, but moves well athletically and shows innate balance and internal clock when at shortstop, showing good hand actions and a quick, accurate release across the diamond. The righthanded swing is quick and compact and built well for his high-contact approach, with the barrel skills necessary to cover the plate well and use the whole field.

-Brian Sakowski

Kyle Hepburn (Richmond, BC) C Johnson County

Johnson County brought a strong contingent of players to this event per usual, and I was impressed by the catching duo of Cal Kilgore and Kyle Hepburn. Hepburn worked out almost as well as Kilgore in terms of metrics, popping as low as 2.00 seconds in the workout and throwing 80 mph from behind the plate. He’s a solidly-built backstop with good overall size, and stands out for his ability to generate true four seam carry on his throws down to second base, something we didn’t necessarily see a ton of in this event. The athleticism and arm strength are solid, and he has a good bit of experience having seen time as a freshman last spring. He also had a pair of hits during the all-star game portion, with a double and a single to his credit in three trips to the plate. He does a good job of attacking pitches on both halves of the plate, and has the strength necessary to drive breaking balls up gaps. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him approach double-digit home runs next spring, all while playing quality defense behind the plate. Johnson County is, per usual, rich at the catcher position.

Great Lake Canadians’ Noah Konings (Brampton, Ont.) is the top incoming JUCO freshman.

* * *

The top Three Canucks on Perfect Game’s top 283 JUCO incoming freshmen:

48. Noah Konings (Brampton, Ont.) Cloud County

150. Deiten Lachance (Sherbrooke, Que.) McLennan

252. Ashton Graff-Rowe (Wateroo, Ont.) Crowder