Prep Baseball Report

2019 Best Moments- T12 Tournament


Cam Black-Araujo
PBR Canada Scout

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2019 Best Moments- T12 Tournament

It seems each year the Toronto Blue Jays Academy Tournament 12 continues to grow, not just in size but in talent. The academy abandoned the previous format, dividing teams up by region, which allowed the talent from each province to be spread out evenly.

Ontario has been a major staple when it comes to the late September tournament at the Rogers Centre and 2019 was no exception with two of the major standouts being our top two players in the class of 2020, Owen Caissie and David Calabrese.

Caissie ran a personal best 6.49 60-yard dash on Scout Day and was solid defensively, but it was the juice in his bat that garnered the most attention throughout the week. He had a slash line of .400/.600/.800 with two doubles, a triple and four walks. He also stole the show at the inaugural Home Run Derby, taking home the trophy with a total of 18 home runs, including one that landed in the third deck.

Calabrese’s athleticism was on full display as his 6.34 60-yard dash was best at the event. He had feel for the barrel and was making consistent, hard contact into the gaps. Calabrese finished the week 4-for-8 with two triples and two stolen bases.

On the pitching side of things, top-ranked pitcher in the class of 2020, Connor O’Halloran, may have had the best pitching performance on the week when he punched out seven in three innings while allowing just one walk and one hit. Fastball sat 84-86 with minimal effort and had command of both his curveball and changeup.

2020 Chipola College commit Drew Howard was another standout on the bump, working two clean innings while striking out two batters. He pounded the zone, working with a fastball/curveball combination and kept hitters off balance. Fastball sat 88-89 with run and the curveball had late, tight spin and Howard even ran his fastball up to 91 in the Prospects Game.

T12 was also a great opportunity for our young 2022’s to showcase themselves on a national level and they had no issues holding their own with the older prospects.

Luis Pimentel-Guerrero was the best among the three positional 2022’s going 3-for-8 with two walks and three stolen bases. Top-ranked pitcher Carson Lumley was the lone Ontario pitcher from the class and he impressed during his two innings of work. He allowed just one hit, one run and one walk while striking three. Fastball sat comfortably at 82-83 and he commanded his curveball that had 12-6 shape and worked as his putaway pitch.

Ontario was well represented at Canada’s biggest amateur event and it gave us a taste of what the 2020 draft class will look like but it also gave us a look ahead to the future of amateur baseball in the country.

Any time you have the top high school prospects in the country inside one building it’s a big deal and with what seems like the entire Canadian baseball community in the seats watching, it feels even bigger and it’s no surprise T12 comes in as one of the best moments in 2019.