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By Chris Kemlo and PBR Staff
Ontario Scouting Director

Ontario Insider: Updated Class of 2018 Player Rankings (December)

The 2018 rankings have been updated to close out the year of 2016. We have expanded our rankings to the top 75 this time around, and will continue to add to the list. We have seen hundreds of players over the spring, summer, and fall throughout 2016 and look forward to continuing to follow this class as the commitments start to come in and they prepare for a big junior season in 2017.

The next major haul of rankings will happen in March, once we make our rounds during the winter to facilities, team practices, and kicking off with our first indoor event of 2017, the Preseason College Prospect Showcase, at the beautiful FieldHouse Athletics in Burlington, Ontario.

AT THE TOP

Not too much change happening in the top ten of our 2018 rankings. Noah Naylor (St.Joan of Arc), the Texas A&M commit still holds down the No.1 spot as he continued his torrid path into the fall with Team Canada and his club team the Ontario Blue Jays. The left-handed hitting catcher is ranked 12th overall in the entire 2018 class, and is listed as the No. 2 catcher in PBR’s overall rankings. Explosive with the bat, and behind the plate with quick transfers and arm strength make Naylor a top prospect for the MLB draft in June, 2018.

Denzel Clarke (Everest Academy) made the biggest jump in the top ten, moving into the No. 4 spot. An athletic centre fielder, Clarke finished the year strong with impressive showings at Tournament 12 and in Florida with the Canadian Junior National Team versus professional players in October.

The top four arms are all right-handers who are at least 6-foot-3, with the top being Oklahoma commit Ben Abram (Georgetown District) at No. 2 while Eric Cerantola (Ste-Trinite) is the top uncommitted arm at No. 3 in the province. Griffin Hassall (Bill Crothers) and Thomas Murphy (All Saints) round out the arms in the top ten while catcher Ryan Faragher (St.Thomas Aquinas), shortstop Daniel Carinci (Pickering HS), Santa Clara commit outfielder Matt Jenkins (Crescent), and infielder Leo Markotic (St.Martins) round out the top ten.

NEWCOMERS

With a major expansion to our rankings, there is plenty of fresh faces to look at with all different tool sets. Right-hander James Mienkowski (St.Michael's College), who attended the Fall Finale makes his way into the top 30. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound right-hander was 83-85 mph with his fastball, showcasing arm speed and feel for breaking pitch.

Another standout from the Fall Finale was speedy outfielder Noah London (Father Leo Austin). 60 time of 6.87 with clean actions defensively and simple, quiet approach in the box sees his way into the top 30 as well.

Two-way Windsor prospect Noah Richardson (Windsor Selects) makes his debut, a physical presence at 6-foot-3, 205-pounds, Richardson is raw but projects with his left-handed arm off the mound, and left-handed bat at the plate. Catcher’s Dylan Johnson (St. Michael's College) and Riley McErlean (Bayview) find their way into the rankings with strong emphasis on their defensive abilities.

On the mound, more height and length from these right-handers as 6-foot-4 Stephen Hospital (Holy Trinity), 6-foot-3 Justin Green, and 6-foot-6 Mike McDougall (Upper Canada College) all find themselves as some of the top righties in the '18 class, with more projection and upside than some others given their frames, physical maturity, and high ceiling’s they all possess.

With the off-season well underway, we expect a lot of shuffle come spring time as players continue to develop and their physical appearance changes, which are the two of the biggest separators between players.

We look forward to a strong 2017 campaign by this class moving forward, with many top prospects still uncommitted.

PBR Ontario Class of 2018 Top 75

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Commitment
1	Noah Naylor	ON	St.Joan of Arc	2018	C	Texas A&M
2	Ben Abram	ON	Georgetown District	2018	RHP	Oklahoma
3	Eric Cerantola	ON	Ste-Trinite	2018	RHP
4	Denzel Clarke	ON	Everest Academy	2018	OF
5	Griffin Hassall	ON	Bill Crothers	2018	RHP
6	Ryan Faragher	ON	St. Thomas Aquinas	2018	C
7	Thomas Murphy	ON	All Saints	2018	RHP
8	Daniel Carinci	ON	Pickering HS	2018	SS
9	Matt Jenkins	ON	Crescent	2018	OF	Santa Clara
10	Leo Markotic	ON	St. Martins	2018	SS

***** To view the entire top 75, please click here.