The road has been paved and it’s almost time for the teams to start their engines.
It won’t be long before 16 teams converge on the Seaman Stadium Complex for the inaugural The Road to Okotoks – Baseball Canada’s inaugural academy national championship.
The tournament will finally put to rest the long-standing debate about which program is truly the best in Canada with more than bragging rights on the line as the Morneau Cup will also be handed out at the end of the six-day event.
Since May’s regional qualifiers, teams have been getting themselves ready for a championship where they haven’t seen many of their counterparts.
They took another step towards finalizing their plans with the first-ever Morneau Cup Draft. Each team was able to select three players from teams that didn’t qualify for the main event (each player had to register themselves as draft-eligible).
Let’s take a look at what each of the Alberta and Saskatchewan teams did during the draft, as well as the players from our provinces that landed on other squads:
OKOTOKS DAWGS BLACK
When you’re one of the top-ranked programs in North America, you don’t necessarily need to tinker a whole lot.
Owning the third overall pick, Dawgs Academy decided to make its one-and-only selection, going out of province by choosing pitcher Caleb Miller of the Delta Blue Jays.
With some draft-eligible players turning some heads, including AJ Rogers and Josh Mills, head coach Jeff Duda decided to make sure he had his bases covered heading into the tournament.
“Our pitching depth is unmatched across the country,” he said. “Offensively, we have a healthy blend of speed, contact and power from top to bottom, while maintaining balance between right-handed and left-handed hitters that makes it difficult for teams to match up against.”
VAUXHALL ACADEMY JETS
Armed with the 15th, 18th and 47th picks, Vauxhall Academy decided to dip into the talent pool with a pair of selections before passing in the final round.
The Jets targeted pitcher Carson Burton from HRSC Academy out of Winnipeg with the 15th overall pick. The righthander actually pitched against Vauxhall in the Prairie Regionals, allowing one run on two hits and a walk while striking out nine over four innings.
Three picks later, head coach Les McTavish went to another hurler in Richard Marshall of the Ontario Yankees.
“I think we have a well-rounded group with some pitching depth, defense and some offensive production,” McTavish said. “Long tournaments like this – it’s important to get off on the right foot with game one and that’s all we’ll be worrying about over the next little bit.”
TEAM SASKATCHEWAN
Probably to the surprise of no one, Team Saskatchewan declined their draft picks even though they had the first overall selection.
They are in a different situation than other teams in that it’s a provincial team instead of an academy-only squad, so they felt it was important to keep it as a Saskatchewan-only team.
“We aren’t drafting anyone as I believe you have to at least endure a winter or two here first before you put on our jersey,” said head coach Greg Brons.
He says he also likes his team’s depth, which was shown when they went 4-0 in the round robin of the Prairie Regionals before falling to Vauxhall in the semi-finals.
AHP ACADEMY RENEGADES
As expected, AHP Academy will be sticking to their guns going into Okotoks.
After registration was opened for the draft, the Renegades took to social media to say that they were extremely excited for the opportunity to compete for a national championship and that they wouldn’t be making any selections.
“I think this group is really resilient and learned how to play for each other during the Qualifiers,” AHP president and director of performance Taylor Burns said.
“They have done an awesome job of buying into the offensive approach and executing at a high level.”
He says a lot of guys have stepped up, particularly showing the strength of their pitching depth, which is something many teams targeted during the draft.
SYLVAN LAKE GULLS PREP
The most active of any Alberta team at the draft, Gulls Prep stayed close to home with all three of their picks.
They started things off with the fourth overall selection, taking Junior National Team infielder Zach Macdonald of Webber Academy. They then targeted pitcher Lucas Gensler of ATHX Academy with the 29th selection, before wrapping things up with ATHX utilityman Caleb Mercer with the 36th pick.
Head coach Josh Zanolli says he liked what he saw at the Prairie Qualifiers, where the Gulls went 4-1.
“It feels like our lineup is starting to hit together and generate consistent offense,” he said. “We’re starting to really slug and impact the ball, so if we get some key performances on the mound, we could make a run in Okotoks.”
HOT COMMODITIES
Aside from Macdonald, Gensler and Mercer, a handful of other Albertans will also be heading to Okotoks, albeit on out-of-province teams.
Webber Academy product Tyson Dyck was taken in the first round by the UBC Thunder, while Medicine Hat Mavericks Prep catcher Ethan Chenard went to the Etobicoke Rangers.
In the second round, the Abbotsford Cardinals used their pick to select Webber hurler Beck Button, and the Ontario Kobras took Hunter Sampson of ATHX.
Only six players were chosen in the third and final round of the draft, with none being from Alberta.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
We also know which teams will face each other in pool play during The Road to Okotoks.
Pool A will feature the hometown Dawgs Black squad, as well as Gulls Prep, Atlantic Frontier and Terriers Baseball.
Pool B sees Team Saskatchewan take on the Abbotsford Cardinals, Mississauga Tigers and UBC Thunder.
Pool C gets Vauxhall Academy, DT Select, Ontario Blue Jays and Victoria Eagles.
And Pool D has AHP Academy duking it out with the Etobicoke Rangers, Langley Blaze and Ontario Kobras.
The first four days of the tournament will be for pool play, then July 18 will see a play-in round and the quarterfinals. The semifinals and Morneau Cup championship will be held on Sunday, July 19.
The championship week will also feature Opening Ceremonies on July 15 and a Home Run Derby on July 17.
It has also been announced that HN Live will be the broadcast home for the tournament.
You can see the broadcast schedule and links for each game here.
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