Baseball Canada announces U18 roster for Dominican Summer League tour
May 9, 2019
By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
OTTAWA- Baseball Canada is pleased to announce the names of 26 athletes that have been invited to the Junior National Team’s (U18) annual tour through the Dominican Summer League (DSL) from May 17-25.
The team will play 13 games over nine days against Dominican Summer League clubs from the following Major League Baseball organizations: Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies.
The Junior National Team program has travelled to the baseball hotbed each year since 2001 providing young Canadian players with a truly unique baseball experience.
“The Dominican Summer League camp is a very important component to our Junior National Team program and will provide an invaluable experience to our players,” said Head Coach Greg Hamilton “Players will be challenged with a competitive schedule while also dealing with elements in the Dominican Republic that they don’t face at home. The strides taken at this camp will better prepare our team for success going forward.”
Roster Highlights:
-All 26 players named to the roster have participated in previous events with the Junior National Team program.
-OF Dasan Brown (Oakville, Ont.), C/1B Owen Diodati (Niagara Falls, Ont.), LHP Antoine Jean (Montréal, Que.), RHP Theo Millas (Burnaby, BC), LHP Connor O’Halloran (Mississauga, Ont.), C Raphaël Pelletier (Mascouche, Que.), LHP Keegan Pulford-Thorpe (Newmarket, Ont.), INF TJ Schofield-Sam (Brampton, Ont.) and INF Cesar Valero (Calgary, Alta.) helped Canada win a bronze medal at the 2018 COPABE U-18 Pan Am Championships in Panama.
-Manager Greg Hamilton (Ottawa, Ont.) leads the coaching staff that includes former National Team members Chris Begg (Uxbridge, Ont.) and Mike Johnson (Sherwood Park, Alta.) along with Robert Fatal (Boucherville, Que.).