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By Chris Kemlo and Dylan Hefflinger
Ontario Scouting Director and Ontario Editor in Chief/Scout

We have thought long and hard about the process and players, and we are proud to present the top 51 players for the class of 2017 in Ontario.

Top of the Class

For myself and my staff, this has been the hardest list to date and a lot of conversations, arguments, and late night discussions have gone into creating this list. The first two were as easy as they come, with Adam Hall (pictured left) and Cooper Davis (pictured right) respectively at number one and two. They both play a premier position, have committed to prestigious universities as Hall has verbally committed to Texas A&M and Davis to Vanderbilt.

Once those two were out of the way, the list has been remodeled and reshaped many of times and I expect it to stay that course as we finish up the fall season in Ontario and get ready to hibernate and live in the cages for the next five to six months.

Coming in at number three on the list and top pitcher is right-hander Landon Leach. Leach has been out since the end of March, but what we were able to see from him in the two months previously left a strong impression on us. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound frame of Leach is strong and physical, looking the part and meeting the eye test. Leach was up to 87 mph with heaviness to his fastball and good feel for his curveball. He is currently at 120 feet in his throwing program and should be primed to make a big splash in 2016.

Continuing down the list and in the top ten are infielders Dondrae Bremner and Ryan Kula (pictured right). Both hit from the left side while Kula is a little more advanced offensively and Bremner is further along defensively and has the opportunity to stick at shortstop into the collegiate level as he has shown improvement with his speed.

The top ranked outfielder is Lucas Parente, the 5-foot-9 centre fielder plays with speed and aggressive approach as a 6.70 runner while power hitting first baseman Malik Williams comes in at the seventh spot.

Rounding out the last three spots in the top ten is right-hander Jake English who displays a quick arm and a fastball that is in the 83-85 mph range, two-way player Jameson Hart who can swing it from the left side as well be efficient of the mound with his fastball and curveball, and outfield speedster Kurt Dawkins who shows a lot of athleticism and a high ceiling prospect.

After the Top 10

In the 11-25 range, you start to see the arms and catchers make their way into the rankings. Right-handers Garner Spoljaric, Tyler Whalen and Hayden Malenfant are early in the top 15 while Brett Corbeth, Mitch Osborne, Phil Blondin, Liam Hicks, and Kyle Bryan are the first catchers who become live in the list. Corbeth and Osborne both have very live and quick arms behind the dish while Blondin, Hicks, and Bryan all show promise with the bat.

Harley Gollert is our top left-handed pitcher in 2017 with an 84 mph fastball and real good overhand curveball. Corben Peters and Brock Ryan are two righties with clean arms and promising curveballs to add to their 84 mph fastballs.

Kai Harris sees his way onto the list after a strong outing at the Etobicoke Scout day that just passed, running a 6.60 and showing a strong arm from the outfield. Garrett Miller is a body too keep an eye on with lots of strength and power from the left side while running a 6.93 60-yard dash as a 6-foot-1, 205-pound first baseman.

Rounding out the Rankings

Other intriguing prospect to keep an eye are right-hander Jared Evans (31st) who shows a live and quick arm, smooth fielding shortstop Andres Gonzalez (34th) and 6-foot, 175-pound left-handed hitting catcher Ethan Diamandas (40th).

This proves to be a class that has a large crop of talent and will be very interesting to see the strides made by everyone here in the coming winter, leading into spring action in March.

I envision that this list will have continuous movement with players still maturing both mentally and physically, and should be another great class for ballplayers looking to fulfill their dreams in Ontario.