February 10, 2025

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

The path from the Prairies to the University of Arkansas at Monticello campus in Monticello is a common one travelled.

Some players come from the Prairie Academy Dawgs academy to play for the Boll Weevils -- a beetle that feeds on cotton buds and flowers for those that are still wondering -- while others hail from other prairie provinces.

Next on the list is the 15th PBA player to follow the path. INF Morgan Halliday. In 2024, Halliday (Edmonton, Alta.) batted .192 in 13 games for the Edmonton Prospects of the West Coast League, a college summer league. He doubled and knocked in a pair of runs with a .498 OPS. At PBA, he batted .323 in 22 games with four doubles, a triple and 11 RBIs.

A few of the previous Canucks who became Boll Weevils:

_ OF Jon Mailman (Sherwood Park, Alta.) hit .206 with six doubles and 16 RBIs as well as going 8-for-11 stealing bases in 2004.

_ Byron Dahl (Weyburn, Sask.) batted .286 with four doubles, a triple and 21 RBIs in 2004. Bevon Ledingham (Weyburn, Sask.) was also on the roster.

_ RHP Aaron Cotter (South Slocan, BC) gained Canadian Baseball Network honourable mention to the all-Canadian team in 2006. He signed with the Mariners and pitched in their system for three years working in 111 games, including one game at triple-A Tacoma. He also pitched independent ball for three seasons.

_ C Nick Tillsey (Fort MacLeod, Alta.) hit .368 with 20 doubles, four triples, three homers and 37 RBIs in 2006. In 2005 he batted .398 with 23 doubles, two triples, seven homers and 40 RBIs.

_ 1B Mitch Dornblut (Surrey, BC) hit ,282 in 49 games with seven doubles, three homers, 28 RBIs and a .768 OPS in 2016. In 2015, he hit .250 with nine doubles, 11 RBIs and a .677 OPS. And in 2014 he hit .136 with two homers, 11 RBIs and a .477 OPS.

_ RHP Jared Libke (Saskatoon, Sask.) helped the PBA win its sixth straight Canadian College Baseball Conference championship with a 5-4 victory over the Okanagan College Coyotes in 2016. In the final Libke -- pitching on two days rest after starting the opener -- entered in the third with runners at second and third and none out. Libke struck out a batter and then allowed a two-run single. In all, he worked five innings, giving up only two hits and striking out seven. After the fifth he was locked in, keeping the Coyotes at four runs to give his offense a chance. He was a Boll Weevil in 2017, where he was 3-2 with a 5.36 ERA in 21 games striking out 32 in 40 1/3 innings. And in 2017, Jared Libke he was 2-1 with an 8.50 ERA and one save, as he struck out 41 in 42 1/3 innings.

_ C Travis Steinke (Red Deer, Alta.) batted .279 with 16 doubles, six homers and 56 RBIs and an .800 OPS in 56 games in 2016. He hit .254 in 34 games with 11 doubles, five homers, 24 RBIs and a .762 OPS in 2015. And in 2014, he batted .255 in 31 games with 11 doubles, five homers, 19 RBIs and a .741 OPS.

_ OF Cory Wood (Fredericton, NB) and SS Evan Comeau (Halifax, NS) were big reasons Monticello went 40-11 in 2017. Both PBA alumni were dominant: as Wood hit .375 with 20 doubles, two triples, 26 homers, 90 RBIs and a 1.320 OPS in 55 games. He earned a berth on the Canadian Baseball Network First Team, along with OF Louis-Philippe Pelletier (Montreal, Que.) of Seminole State (OK) and Tristan Clarke (Brampton, Ont.) of Eastern Oklahoma. Comeau gained Canadian Baseball Network Honourable Mention as he hit .330 with 10 doubles, a triple, a homer, 34 RBIs and an .889 OPS. In 2015, Wood batted .326 with seven doubles, three triples, six homers and 33 RBIs with an even OPS of 1.000. In 2014, he batted .301 in 28 games with five doubles, three homers, 16 RBIs and a .922 OPS.

_ Scott Gillespie (Edmonton, Alta.) was 2-1 with two saves and a 9.00 ERA in 13 games as he struck out 13 in 16 1/3 innings in 2019. And in 2020 he was 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in five innings.

_ SS Dylan Borman (Camrose, Alta.) gained a berth on the Canadian Baseball Network First Team in 2021. He hit .338 with 40 RBIs, 11 doubles, a career-high 16 home runs, 40 RBIs and a 1.171 OPS. Borman also led UAM in slugging percentage and collected 46 hits, including posting 14 multi-hit games and two-multi-home run performances. He finished his career in a Weevil uniform second in career home runs with 39 and fourth in RBIs with 139. Borman earned an honour from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association (NCBWA) after being named Postseason All-Central Region and he was selected Second Team All-Central Region at shortstop after leading the Weevils in home runs including a two-run shot in the semifinals of the Great American Conference tournament. In addition, he garnered First Team All-GAC, D2CCA First Team All-Central Region and NCBWA Second Team All-Central Region following his campaign.

_ INF Torrin Vaselenak (Coldale, Alta.) hit .143 in 11 games with a double, home run and a .797 OPS in 2023. The year prior, he batted .143 with a triple and a .429 OPS. And in 2020-21 he had nine at-bats.

_ Reece Reading (Listowel, Ont.) was with the Boll Weevils for three years, his final season being 2023 when he batted .225 with three doubles, four homers, 23 RBIs and a .798 OPS in 27 games. In 2022, he hit .272 with four doubles, a triple, four homers, 27 RBIs and an .811 OPS. His debut came in 2021 when he played in nine games, hitting .182 with a double and an RBI.

_ Jay Livingston (Regina, Sask.) and Zaden Wake (Winnipeg, Man.) also wore the Monticello uniform.

Peter Berryman has added 57 players to the 2025 Canadians in college list — giving us a total of 1,068 and counting. Plus we added 12 players to the Letters of Intent page.