Elliott: The best will compete on the Road to Okotoks and in the Morneau Cup
Seaman Stadium, home of the Okotoks Dawgs, will be the primary venue for Baseball Canada’s Morneau Cup which is slated to take place from July 14 to July 19, 2025. Photo: Okotoks Dawgs
September 24, 2025
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
The high school scene saw a seismic shift when the Toronto Blue Jays created Tournament 12 in 2014.
Later, it was renamed the Canadian Futures Showcase and it rolled into action earlier this month as the Blue Jays again showed they are solid corporate citizens.
Whether the player is from Comox, B.C., North York, Ont., or Dartmouth, N.S., the registration is the same for all players attending the event.
And now comes Baseball Canada’s Road to Okotoks, a true team national championship for 2026 for 19U players. It will be king of the hill, the best of all the events.
The atmosphere for the Road to Okotoks -- I predict -- will remind people of being at the provincial eliminations or the nationals. If you are not a ball fan, think March Madness for excitement and drama.
Every organization tells their players they have “signed up to play for the best organization in the country.” Now each year there will be an answer -- and one year’s bragging rights -- as only one team will hoist the Morneau Cup in Okotoks when the dust settles July 14–19, 2026. The trophy is named after Minnesota Twins legend and 2006 American League MVP Justin Morneau (New Westminster, B.C.), who has been inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys and into the Twins Hall.
Baseball Canada is making an effort to bring a Memorial Cup concept to the diamond. Every team -- well almost every team -- has a shot to win it all. And where better in the country to hold the final than the 5,500-seat Seaman Stadium, voted best summer college ball stadium in North America by Ballpark Digest in 2023. Some nights attendance has reached 6,600 when the berm is loaded for Canada Day or playoff games.
There are very few roster restrictions other than a player must be 19 and under and can’t be playing in college or university.
The qualifiers for the Road to Okotoks will be held in:
-Langley and White Rock, B.C., hosted by the Langley Blaze and the White Rock Tritrons with the four of the 16 teams qualifying at Macleod Athletic Park and South Surrey Athletic Park.
-Lethbridge, Alta. co-hosted by the Prairie Baseballl Academy and Vauxhall Jets (Spitz Stadium and Henderson Field) with three teams advancing.
-And in Ontario, four teams will host four or five-team qualifiers: the Ontario Blue Jays (Dan Lang Field), the Terriers (King’s Christian High School), the Ontario Nationals (Tip O’Neill park in Woodstock) and the Mississauga Tigers (at Meadowvale North). All Canadian Premier League teams are invited.
Quebec and a team from Atlantic Canada have been invited to compete in Ontario qualifiers.
There will be sub-qualifying opportunities for other elite leagues for teams from the Premier League of Ontario, the Fergie Jenkins Showcase League, the Elite League of Ontario or the new New Balance loop.
The final field at Okotoks will include four qualifiers from B.C., three from Alberta, plus the host Okotoks Dawgs, seven winners from the Ontario qualifier and one at-large team. Each team can draft a player bringing their roster to 25.
How many teams are eligible to make the Road to Okotoks and win the Morneau Cup?
By our count, last spring there were 81 teams who competed across Canada.
Gentlemen ... start your pitching machines.
A west-to-east rundown, of last spring’s leagues, of possible participants who could enter ...
British Columbia
Premier League (13)
Abbotsford Cardinals, Abbotsford
Coquitlam Reds, Coquitlam
Delta Blue Jays, Delta
Langley Blaze, Langley
Mid Island Pirates, Nanaimo
North Island Royals, Parksville
North Shore Twins, North Vancouver
Okanagan Athletics, Kelowna
UBC Thunder, Vancouver
Victoria Eagles, Victoria
Victoria Mariners, Victoria
Whalley Chiefs, Surrey
White Rock Tritons, White Rock
College Prep (9)
Chilliwack
Cloverdale
Comba
Kamloops
North Fraser
North Shore Twins
Ridge Meadows
Township, Trail
Victoria Mariners
The Prairies (16)
AHP Academey
ATHX Edmonton
Badlands Badgers
Calgary Blues
Calgary Bucs
Calgary Cubs
Calgary Cardinals
Central Alberta Sox
Lethbridge Elks
Okotoks Dawgs Red
Parkland Academy
Sylvan Lake Gulls
Vauxhall Jets
Webber Wildcats
Team Saskatchewan
Team Manitoba
Ontario/Quebec
Canadian Premier League -- won by FieldHouse Pirates (13)
Academie du Baseball de Canada
Fieldhouse Pirates
Great Lake Canadians
Ontario Astros
Ontario Blue Jays
Ontario Nationals
Ontario Royals
Team Atlantic
Terriers
Titans
Toronto Mets
Watson Elite
Windsor Selects
Premier League of Ontario won, by the Oshawa Legionaires (8)
Kingston Jr. Ponies
London Badgers
Midwest Bearcats
Ontario Giants
Ontario Yankees
Oshawa Legionaires
Sudbury Voyaguers
Tecumseh Thunder
Fergie Jenkins loop, won by the Tri City Giants (7).
Aberfoyle Wolfpack
Bullettproof Elite
DCBC Panthers
Ontario Devil Rays
Ontario Tusks
Tri-City Giants
WOW Factor Canada
Elite League of Ontario, won by Mississauga North (15)
Ajax Spartans
Barrie Baycats
Bradford Tigers
Clarington Orioles
Etobicoke Rangers
Leaside Leafs
Markham Mariners
Mississauga Majors
Mississauga North Tigers
Newmarket Hawks
North Toronto A’s
Peterborough Tigers
Scarborough Stingers
Vaughan Vikings
Whitby Canadians
New Balance Future Stars Series
(2026 first year of operation)
Durham Stallions
Kage Cobras
Midwest Bearcats
Mississauga North Tigers
Vaughan Vikings
In all, this summer there were 77 CPBL teams (ages 13U-18U), 73 in the Fergie Jenkins league (10U-to-18U), 68 in the Elite League of Ontario (15U-to-18U) and 35 in the Premier League of Ontario (from 15U-18U) last spring. That’s 253 ... baseball has come a long way from the days of the late Gene Bartolozzi starting the Hamilton Blue Jays.