Eight Junior National Team grads selected on second day of MLB draft

Junior National Team alum Ty Doucette (Dartmouth, N.S.) was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 10th round of the MLB draft yesterday. Photo: Baseball Canada

July 14, 2025

Baseball Canada

OTTAWA – A strong wave of Junior National Team (JNT) alumni highlighted Day Two of the 2025 MLB Draft, as eight former members of the program were selected between rounds four and twenty.

Leading the way was Micah Bucknam of Abbotsford, BC, who went 112th overall in the fourth round to the Toronto Blue Jays. A hard-throwing right-hander out of Dallas Baptist University, Bucknam played with the Junior National Team program in 2021.

The Blue Jays stayed close to home with their fifth-round pick, selecting Tim Piasentin of Coquitlam, BC, 143rd overall. The corner infielder and Okotoks Dawgs product participated in three camps with the Junior National Team this spring, including the recent MLB Draft League tour.

Shortstop Core Jackson, originally from Wyoming, Ont., was selected by the New York Yankees at 164th overall out of the University of Utah while the Colorado Rockies turned to another JNT grad in the seventh round, taking Antoine Jean of Montréal, Qué. A left-hander now with Houston, Jean represented Canada at the 2019 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in Gijang, Korea.

In the 10th round, the Cincinnati Reds selected Ty Doucette, a powerful first baseman from Dartmouth, N.S., who plays collegiately at Rutgers University. Doucette spent 2021 and 2022 with the Junior National Team including participation in the WBSC Americas U-18 World Cup Qualifier in Mexico.

The Reds added another JNT product in the 12th round, grabbing Carson Latimer, a right-hander from Delta, BC, out of Sacramento State. Latimer played for Canada in the 2022 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in Florida.

Rounding out the JNT picks was Ryan Heppner, a right-handed pitcher from Delta, BC selected 577th overall in the 19th round by the Atlanta Braves. A University of British Columbia arm, Heppner had a stint with the Junior National Team in 2022.

With the final pick of the draft, left-handed pitcher Shane Brinham was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 20th round. The North Vancouver, BC native participated in three Junior National Team camps this spring.

Complete List of Canadians drafted

Name Hometown School Round Selected By