BMOC: Wilson, Marks, Dressler, Fagnan

Dane Steinhagen, left, embraces Jeremie Fagnan (Calgary, Alta.) after Fagnan’s game-winning hit in the 10th as the TCU Horned Frogs walked off a win over the Oklahoma Sooners. Photo: Ron T. Ennis, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

It was another strong week for Canadians in college baseball. Teams are relying more and more on their Canadian talent as their seasons wear on. Here is a look at the past week and how Canadians stacked up.

Big 12 battle sees Canadians go head to head:
It was senior Jeremie Fagnan (Calgary, Alta.) who pinch hit and knocked in the winning run as the TCU Horned Frogs walked off on the Oklahoma Sooners in a Big 12 midweek duel and the Fort Worth Star Telegram was there to document matters TCU would go on to sweep Wichita State last weekend as Fagnan would go 2-for-3 with a run scored and a pair of RBIs in Game 3. Fagnan would also work a walk in the game. TCU is now 21-5 on the year and 4-2 in Big 12 action.

Shaw also solid:
Although Chris Shaw (Winnipeg, Man,) would not record a hit against TCU, he sure did bounce back on the weekend against Baylor. The Sooners traveled to Waco, Tex. to take on the Bears and Shaw would go 2-for-3 with a walk in Game 1. After getting a rest in a 7-2 Game 2 loss, Shaw was thrust back into action in Game 3 as the Sooners were looking to avoid the sweep. Shaw did his part as he went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. The Sooners would also avoid the sweep, taking Game 3 handily by a score of 13-3.

Degano continues to dazzle:
Everyone who reads this column should be use to the name Jeff Degano(Surrey, BC) by now. Degano has become almost an automatic name in the BMOC and this week was no different. This time it was the Evansville Purple aces who tried to solve the Canadian left hander, and just like most this year they were unsuccessful. Degano scattered just three hits over 7 1/3 innings while walking five and striking out eight. An even more impressive stat? This was Degano;s sixth straight quality start. Do not feel bad Evansville, you are not the first.

Kellogg clips Cardinals:
Speaking of familiar faces, Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) pitched his Arizona State Sun Devils to a 6-3 win over the Stanford Cardinals. Kellogg threw six innings, allowing a pair of earned runs on two walks and a couple of punch outs. The Henry Street High School grad is now a perfect 5-0 on the season through seven appearances, all starts, with a 3.26 ERA. He is yet another southpaw Canada is proud to call their own.

Davenport keeps on rollin’:  [Zac_Wilson]
The Davenport University Panthers improved to 27-2 over the last week in large part due to the play of sophomore outfielderZac Wilson (New Lowell, Ont.) In Game 2 against Lourdes University, Wilson went 2-for-3 with a run scored. That was followed by a 4-for-4 performance in Game 3 that saw the young Canadian score two runs and also drive in a pair. Wilson would also score a run later in the week against Purdue North Central in another Panther victory. Against Lourdes, Wilson finished 7-for-8 and is currently hitting .368 over 24 games played. Oh yeah, and the Panthers have now won 18 straight ball games.

Foster comes up big against Delaware:
Michael Foster (Pickering, Ont.) was doing it all over the weekend in an exciting 3-2 13 inning victory over Delaware. In game one he flashed the leather multiple times at shortstop to rob Blue Hens hitters of base hits. It was not just in the field where Foster was brilliant, at the plate he had quite the day as well. Foster, batting second in the Northeastern lineup went a stellar 3-for-6 on the day. As if that was not enough, the red-shirt junior swiped a bag as well. In Game 2, Foster would go 1-for-2 while also being hit by a pitch in a 5-3 Northeastern win. In Game 3 he contributed a triple en route to a 2-for-5 day with a run scored and two RBIs, leading the Huskies to the three game sweep. In the midweek contests against Rhode Island and Bryant, Foster had a hit in each of the two games. Foster now leads the conference with a .420 that includes 34 hits.

[jake marks] Making a Mark against Albany: 
Jake Marks (Sarnia, Ont) would have a solid start for the Maine Black Bears as they took down the Albany Great Dane 4-3 over the weekend. Marks would throw 4 1/3 innings, giving up five hits and two earned runs. He would also walk three and strikeout four.

Dressler leads Cisco to win:
It was yet another lefty stealing the show in college baseball. This time it was Steven Dressler (Burlington, Ont.) throwing a complete game (seven innings) giving up just five hits and two earned runs while walking one and striking out four. He is now 4-1 on the season through 42 2/3 innings pitched and a 1.69 ERA. He also has 44 strikeouts to his name.

Closing it out: 
Jeremy Filipek (Langley, BC) makes his second appearance in the BMOC. This time he was collecting his second save for the University of Texas San Antonio Roadrunners. Filipek would come on in the eighth and record the final out of the inning before shutting down Incarnate Word in the ninth for the save. All in all he threw 1 1/3 innings, did not surrender a run or hit. The only runner to reach base was via a walk but he also struck out two.

Boyd collects hits in 4 of 6  [louis boyd]
Cochise Community College had a busy week and a half as they won five of six. That streak was helped by Louis Boyd(Vancouver, BC) Boyd had a hit in each of the first four games and helped Cochise improve their record to 33-9. In the first game against Phoenix College, Boyd would go 1-for-4 with an RBI in a 7-2 victory. The second game also saw Cochise take on Phoenix College with Boyd going 1-for-3 with a walk in a 4-3 loss. Cochise would then pound Pima Community College 15-1, Boyd would again go 1-for-3 but would also score two runs and drive in one. In another 7-6 win over Pima, Boyd was yet again 1-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and a walk. Not a bad week for the sophomore.

Thibideau rakes in wild one:
The final, 19-18, was not exactly a regular score. That was the final in a game between Midland College and Odessa College on March 25th. Fortunately the Canadian in this game was a position player. Chris Thibideau (Dartmouth, NS) went 3-for-5 while leading off in that game. He also walked twice, scored three runs collected three RBIs. One of Thibideau’s hits was a two bagger in the loss. Thibideau would also collect three RBIs in Game 1 of four against Western Texas College, a Midland victory. The second game of the series would go to Western Texas 13-10. Thibideau was back at it going 1-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Thibideau would then score a run in a 9-7 win over Western Texas in the third game. He also would walk and score a run in the game 4 win. Then it was off to New Mexico Junior College where Midland would be handed a 5-4 loss. Thibideau would go 1-for-4 with a walk and a RBI. Another busy week for a Canadian junior college player.

[cole peragine] Terrier round up: 
Cole Peragine (Belle Ewart, Ont.) collected three hits against UMass Lowell over the weekend, helping his Stonybrook Seawolves to a 10-1 victory. He would also walk and score a run in game two and walk twice and score a run in game 3.

David Head was 2-for-5 with two runs had three RBIs in Northern Kentucky’s win over Xavier. He would then go 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI in game two. He would cap his weekend with a 1-for-3 performance and an RBI. Northern Kentucky would sweep the weekend and now sits 9-15 on the year.

Joel Brophy (Burlington, Ont.) was 1-for-3 with a couple of walks in Niagara University’s 11-2 win over St. Peter’s in game one of a three game set. He also went 1-for-3 in game two with a run scored and an RBI. It was another 1-for-3 day in game three for Trophy as Niagara took two of three. Brophy is hitting .298 with six RBIs while appearing in 18 games (15 starts).

Ontario Blue Jays round up:
SS Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) sure has been a BMOC at Virginia this year. He continued his solid campaign with a 3-for-3 performance with a pair of walks and two runs scored against Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Game 1 over the weekend. He would also collect a hit and score a run in a 5-4 Game 3 victory. Virginia swept the three game series. Pinned would then go 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs against VCU in a mid0week contest. It was back to back midweeks for the Cavs as this time it was VMI and Pinero hit them as well going 1-for-4 with a walk, run scored and an RBI.

John Whaley (Oakville, Ont.) went 1-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI in a Game 1 a 13-7 UBC win over Oregon Tech. He would then go 1 [john whaley] for-3 with a walk, two runs and an RBI in a Game 3 win. He would cap his weekend with a 3-for-5 weekend with two runs and an RBI. UBC swept the four game series over Oregon Tech.

Kyle Hann (Oakville, Ont.) went 2-for-5 with a run scored in his St. John’s River State College win over Daytona State College. He followed that with a 3-for-6 day with four RBIs against Sante Fe College. Taking on Sante Fe for the second time in as many days, Hann put up a pair of hits going 2-for-5 with a run. Closing out a three game series he would again go 2-for-5 with a run scored. And apparently loves going 2-for-5 as he would do it again against Pasco-Hernando State College, he also scored another run.

Toronto Mets round up: 
Johnny Caputo (Toronto, Ont.) was trying his best to keep up with teammate Cole Peragine as Stonybrook went against UMAss Lowell over the weekend. Caputo went 2-for-4 with an run and RBI in Game 1. Game 2 would see Caputo go 1-for-3 while he went 1-for-4 in game 3, successfully getting a hit in all three games. Stonework improved to 10-11 on the year and 4-2 in America East play.

Jordan Giller (Toronto, Ont.) went 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run and an RBI in a Game 2 Oswego State win over Plattsburgh. He also recorded a walk in Game 1. Oswego would go on to sweep the three game series.

[conor panas] Connor Panas (Toronto, Ont.) was 2-for-5 in a midweek game against the University of Buffalo. He would then go 1-for-3 with a walk in the opener of a series with Fairfield. Game 2 would see him go 1-for-3 again but this time with a run scored. In the finale he went 1-for-5 with another run scored as the Griffs took two of three.

It is clear Canucks are helping our teams in college baseball.