BWDIK: Baseball Canada Awards Banquet edition
Baseball Canada’s National Teams Awards banquet was held on Saturday night. Photo: Baseball Canada
January 11, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
Thank you to the Baseball Canada team of Greg Hamilton, Adam Morissette, Eugenio Matos, Nancy Dunbar, Sandra Girard and Jason Dickson for all their efforts in making Baseball Canada’s National Teams Awards Banquet and Fundraiser held at the Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel inside Rogers Centre so memorable last night.
Award winners
Congratulations to all of Baseball Canada’s Award winners.
The following awards were handed out:
Russell Martin Award (Junior National Team MVP) – Sean Duncan (Port Coquitlam, B.C.)
Canadian Futures Award – Will Hynes (Mississauga, Ont.)
Stubby Clapp Award – Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.)
Larry J. Pearson Alumni Award – Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.)
Special Recognition Award – Toronto Blue Jays
Special Achievement Award – Alli Schroder (Fruitvale, B.C.)
Special Achievement Award – Jonah Tong (Markham, Ont.)
Baseball Canada Wall of Excellence – James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.)*
Duncan repeats as Junior National Team MVP
Left-hander Sean Duncan (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) was presented with the Russell Martin Award, as Baseball Canada’s Junior National Team MVP, by Russell Martin. It was the second year in a row Duncan has captured the honour.
After impressing in two Extended Spring starts with the Junior National Team in April, Duncan was even better the next month, on the Dominican Pro Academy Tour, when he tossed seven scoreless innings and fanned 14 batters in his two starts. He followed that up by allowing just one earned run, while striking out eight, in seven innings in two MLB Draft League starts in June.
“The Junior National Team has improved my development so much,” said Duncan from the stage on Saturday night.
At just 17, the young lefty has already pitched in four Canadian Futures Showcases and is the No. 1 ranked prospect on the 2026 Canadian Baseball Network Draft List and No. 76 on MLB Pipeline’s 2026 draft rankings.
In 2025, Duncan also impressed at the Area Code Games, in Perfect Game’s WWBA World Championship and at the Canadian Futures Showcase.
The 6-foot-2 southpaw is committed to Vanderbilt University (NCAA Div. 1), a school that has a reputation for developing outstanding major league pitchers, including David Price, Sonny Gray and Walker Buehler. However, being picked early in this summer’s draft could change Duncan’s mind.
Hynes collects Futures Award
Right-hander Will Hynes (Mississauga, Ont.) received the Canadian Futures Award.
He dominated with the Junior National Team in Extended Spring Training and on the Dominican Pro Academy tour, permitting just two runs, while striking out 15 batters, in a combined 14 innings in four games (three starts). He also made an appearance against Major League Draft League competition before the Cleveland Guardians selected him in the second round of the draft in July. He was the first Canadian high schooler taken.
From the stage on Saturday night, Hynes thanked Hamilton and Junior National Team pitching coach Chris Reitsma for bringing him into the program when he was 15 and working with him to get where he is today.
“Will is a mature kid,” said Reitsma on Saturday night. “With Will you know he’s actually going to listen . . . He was a pleasure to coach.”
If he hadn’t already done so, Hynes, 18, cemented his place as the top Canadian high school prospect in the 2025 MLB draft with his final start with the Ontario Blue Jays at the 18U Perfect Game Canadian National Championship Tour event in Dorchester, Ont., on June 4. In that start, Hynes was overpowering, striking out nine in six scoreless innings against the Mississauga Tigers.
After signing with the Guardians, he reported to the team’s complex in Goodyear, Ariz. According to MLB Pipeline, he is the Guardians’ 26th best prospect. He will make his pro pitching debut in 2026.
Hicks receives Stubby Clapp Award
Miami Marlins catcher Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.) was presented with the Stubby Clapp Award by Stubby Clapp.
The Stubby Clapp Award is known as Baseball Canada’s “grinder award” and it was created to recognize a national team player for their hard work, perseverance, positive attitude and strong performance on the field.
Hicks, 26, was selected from the Detroit Tigers by the Marlins in the Rule 5 draft in December 2024. The Rule 5 draft rules stipulate that the Marlins had to keep Hicks on their big league roster for the entire season or offer him back to the Tigers for $50,000.
“It was cool to see a team value you and pick you,” said Hicks on Saturday night. “But you’ve still got to get there [make the team].”
Hicks made a pact with himself that if he was sent back to the Tigers it was not going to be because he didn’t do everything he could to secure a spot with the Marlins. And his hard work paid off. He impressed at the plate and made it his mission to get to know everything he could about the Marlins’ pitching staff. This convinced the Marlins to keep him. He ended up spending the full season with them, batting .247 with a .346 on-base percentage with six home runs and 45 RBIs in 119 games.
A Toronto Mets alum, Hicks was chosen in the ninth round of the 2021 MLB draft by the Texas Rangers. He played parts of four minor league seasons in the Rangers and Tigers organizations before graduating to the big leagues in 2025.
He will make his national team debut with Canada at the World Baseball Classic in March.
Clarke receives Larry Pearson Alumni Award
Outfielder Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.) was honoured with the Larry B. Pearson Alumni Award.
In 31 games for the A’s triple-A Las Vegas Aviators prior to his first big league call-up on May 23, 2025, Clarke batted .286 and posted a .436 on-base percentage.
After his promotion, he made several highlight reel catches in centre field for the A’s, which made him the first player to win the MLB Electric Play of the Week award in three consecutive weeks and earned him the Capital One Premier Play of the year at the MLB Awards (For the play in the following video).
From the stage on Saturday night, Clarke shared that he made that play on two hours sleep and joked that he felt “out of it” in that game.
Clarke also donated his spikes (believed to have been worn when he made that play) to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday.
The 25-year-old outfielder missed the final two months of the season with a right adductor strain. In total, in 47 major league contests, he batted .230 with three home runs, eight doubles and two triples.
The Toronto Mets and Junior National Team alum has committed to play for Canada in the World Baseball Classic in March. It will be his second appearance in the WBC; he played three games for Canada in 2023.
Tong recognized with Special Achievement award
New York Mets right-hander Jonah Tong (Pickering, Ont.) was presented with a Special Achievement award.
Tong (Markham, Ont.) put together one of the most dominant minor league seasons in recent history, combining to go 10-5 with a 1.43 ERA in 22 starts between the double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies and triple-A Syracuse Mets. His 179 strikeouts were the most by any pitcher in the affiliated minor league ranks in 2025. He also topped all minor league hurlers in ERA and opponents’ batting average (.148).
For his efforts, he was named the Canadian Baseball Network’s Wayne Norton Award winner as top Canuck pitcher in the affiliated minor ranks, Mets’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Eastern League Pitcher of the Year and Baseball America’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
His minor league dominance earned him his first big league call-up in late August. In his MLB debut on August 29, he pitched against the Marlins and fellow Toronto Mets alum Liam Hicks. For Tong’s final out of the fifth inning – which he needed to secure the win – he got Hicks on a called strike three.
“Sorry, Liam, it was a ball,” Tong admitted from the stage on Saturday night, “but I’ll take it.”
In total, in five major league starts with the Mets, he went 2-3 with a 7.71 ERA and had 22 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings.
Tong, 22, will compete for a spot in the Mets’ rotation in the spring.
Schroder honoured with Special Achievement award
Alli Schroder (Fruitvale, B.C.) was also presented with a Special Achievement award.
In November, Schroder (Fruitvale, B.C.) became the first Canadian selected in the Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) draft when she was taken fifth overall by Boston. She has since signed with the club.
The scouting report on the WPBL website called the 23-year-old right-hander “one of the most decorated Canadian players in the draft.”
“Schroder is a wildfire fighter, a nine-year Canadian national team veteran, a CCBC history-maker, and a star of two national documentaries,” reads the scouting report. “Her presence adds toughness, durability, and big-game poise.”
On the stage on Saturday night, Schroder was asked about how she balances being a firefighter and a baseball player. She said she savors “both protecting Canada on the front line and pitching for Canada.”
Her Women’s National team coach Anthony Pluta provided an example of Schroder’s toughness. He recalled a game where Schroder hid some serious burns on her catching hand sustained from her fire-fighting job because she was so determined to play.
In 2024, Schroder was chosen over six other Canadian nominees to be featured in a groundbreaking documentary called “See Her Be Her,” directed by Jean Fruth and co-produced by Jeff Idelson, which shone the spotlight on girls and women in baseball from across the globe.
In 2021, Schroder became the first woman to compete in the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference (CCBC) when she took the mound for Vancouver Island University.
*I will publish a full feature article on James Paxton in the next few days.
Freeman will not play in WBC
Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Freddie Freeman will not play for Canada in the World Baseball Classic this March for “personal reasons.” That was shared at the press conference prior to the National Teams Awards banquet on Saturday.
Freeman, who has helped the Dodgers to two consecutive championships, has played for Canada at the last two World Baseball Classics to honour his mother, Rosemary, who grew up in Peterborough, Ont. She died from melanoma, a form of skin cancer, at the age of 47. His father, Fred, is from Windsor, Ont.
In 2025, the 36-year-old Freeman batted .295 with 24 home runs and 90 RBIs in 147 regular season games. Those numbers were added to an already Hall of Fame worthy resume. Freeman leads all active major leaguers in hits (2,431), runs (1,379), doubles (547), RBIs (1,322) extra-base hits (947) and total bases (4,145).
Other Canadian baseball news . . .
Diaz signs with Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed right-hander Indigo Diaz (North Vancouver, B.C.) to a minor league contract.
The team announced the transaction on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old right-hander enjoyed an excellent season with the New York Yankees’ double-A Somerset Patriots in 2025, going 8-3 with a 2.58 ERA in 42 relief appearances. He had six saves and struck out 46 batters in 52 1/3 innings. That was his best of three seasons in the Yankees’ organization after being acquired from the Atlanta Braves on December 28, 2022.
Chosen by the Braves in the 27th round of the 2019 MLB draft out of Michigan State University, the 6-foot-5 righty made his pro debut with the Braves’ Gulf Coast League club the same year.
After not pitching in 2020 due to the pandemic, Diaz was lights out in 2021, posting a combined 1.20 ERA while striking out 83 batters in 45 innings in 32 appearances between High A and double-A.
He followed that up by going 3-4 with four saves and a 3.08 ERA in 49 relief appearances with the double-A Mississippi Braves in 2022.
The North Shore Twins and Coquitlam Reds alum made his national team debut with Canada in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. In two relief appearances, he allowed one run and fanned four in 3 1/3 innings. He plans to pitch for Canada again at this year’s WBC.
Brash avoids arbitration with Mariners
Reliever Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) avoided salary arbitration with the Seattle Mariners on Thursday when the two sides agreed to a $1.55 million contract for the 2026 season.
After missing the 2024 campaign following Tommy John surgery, Brash returned to the Mariners in May to serve as a key setup man. In 53 regular season relief appearances in 2025, the 6-foot-1 right-hander recorded a 2.47 ERA and had 21 holds and four saves. He fanned 58 batters in 47 1/3 innings.
Brash was also a go-to reliever for the Mariners in the post-season, registering a 2.00 ERA, while striking out 10 batters in nine innings, in eight appearances. In the American League Championship Series against the Blue Jays, the Canuck righty permitted just one run in 4 1/3 innings in four games.
Brash is on board to pitch for Canada in the World Baseball Classic in March. He struck out the side to close out a mercy-rule 18-8 win over Great Britain in his sole appearance for Canada at the 2023 WBC.
January 11th Birthdays:
1922 – Kaye Kaminishi, former Vancouver Asahi player (died in 2024)
1955 – Rocket Wheeler, longtime manager in Toronto Blue Jays’ organization
1955 – Dan Norman, former Montreal Expos outfielder
1969 – Manny Acta, former Montreal Expos coach
1974 – Cody McKay (Vancouver, B.C.), former St. Louis Cardinals catcher