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Team Canada Battle Blue Jays Big Leaguers On The Road

It was an all-Canadian matchup on Thursday afternoon at TD Ballpark in Dunedin as the Canadian Junior National Team took on a Blue Jays squad that included several Canadians as well as big league players.

The annual game between the two serves as a special experience for the Canadian kids to go up against Blue Jays players they’ve watched over the years but also some Canadians who may have played on the same Junior National Team and have moved onto the next level. 

Despite going up against two major league pitchers and a top prospect, the young Canadians held their own in the batter's box.

With Jordan Romano, Wilmer Font and Julian Merryweather (traded for Josh Donaldson) on the mound for the first four innings, Canada struckout nine times but was able to pick up five hits and at least one against each of the heavy arms. 

The two biggest standouts on the day were two uncommitted 2021 shortstops, Brando Leroux of the Toronto Mets and Elijha Hammill of the Terriers. Leroux wasn’t fazed in the box, laying off several tough pitches, working counts and managed to go 3-for-3 with a double, three runs scored, an RBI, a walk and a stolen base.

Hammill has stood out all week at the plate with his hit tool and that was the case again on Thursday as he picked up two hits, including one against Romano in the first inning.

Despite the five combined hits from the two, the loudest one on the day came from 2020 draft eligible Owen Caissie as he pounded a Connor Overton fastball to dead centre which hit the batter’s eye for his first homerun in a Team Canada uniform.

The rest of the 11 hits were all singles and came from 2022 Josh Jones, 2021 Alexis Gravel, 2020 Canisius commit Max Grant and 2020 Gonzaga commit Russ Young.

It was a tough day from a pitching standpoint with Jonathan Davis, Anthony Alford, Rowdy Tellez and Derek Fisher in the lineup, all big leaguers. Theo Millas, Justin Thorsteinson, Jack Seward and Connor O’Halloran all took a turn on the mound.

Beyond the four players with Blue Jays experience, the team also rolled out seven of their top 30 prospects including our 2019 PBR Canada Player of the Year, Dasan Brown.

Brown went 1-for-3 with a walk after replacing Alford in the outfield and is the 18th-ranked prospect in the Jays organization, according to MLB Pipeline.

Jean-Christophe Masson was another 2019 Blue Jays draft pick to hail from Canada  and he also made an appearance in the game, going 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Demi Orimoloye was our second-ranked prospect in the class of 2015, behind Josh Naylor, and he went 2-for-3 on the day with two doubles, a walk, three runs scored and an RBI.

Curtis Taylor was the final Canadian to enter the game and the Port Coquitlam, B.C. native pitched two-thirds of an inning.

JNT Grads:

• Dasan Brown
• Jean-Christophe Masson
• Demi Orimoloye
• Curtis Taylor (was not on national team)
• Alex Nolan

Pro players:

• Jonathan Davis
• Rowdy Tellez
• Derek Fisher
• Anthony Alford
• Jordan Romano
• Wilmer Font