Firth fans seven in three innings in Team New Blue win

Ontario Blue Jays right-hander Charlie Firth (Ottawa, Ont.) fanned seven batters in three scoreless innings for Team New Blue on Thursday in an 8-4 win over Team Black at the Canadian Futures Showcase. Photo: Adam Iannetta

September 18, 2025

By Adam Iannetta

Centennial Sports Journalism

TORONTO - Charlie Firth (Ottawa, Ont.) pitched three stellar innings for Team New Blue on Thursday in an 8-4 win over Team Black in the Canadian Futures Showcase at Rogers Centre.

Firth recorded seven strikeouts and allowed zero runs, earning him player of the game honours.

“I had all my off-speed pitches working today,” Firth said after the game. “I really worked the sweeper, which is a pitch I've been working on this off-season, and then the change-up as well.”

Despite being on the wrong side of the scoreline, Luke Laird (Langley, B.C.) was the biggest offensive threat in the game. Laird went three-for-three for Team Black, hitting a double, a lead-off single and an RBI single.

Team New Blue’s offence started strong, scoring two runs in the first inning. After Lucas St-Laurent (Ascot Corner, Que.) singled, two wild throws from pitcher Austin Blair (Victoria, B.C.) allowed St-Laurent to advance to third.

Later in the first, with two runners on base, Alex Kuypers (Bethany, Ont.) hit an RBI double to give his team a 2-0 lead.

Team Black also got their first hit in the opening frame, a single from Christian Caminero (Mississauga, Ont.). Noah Arkell (Mississauga, Ont.) walked the next at-bat, but Team Black left two runners on base as Firth forced three consecutive outs to end the inning.

Blair continued to struggle to find the strike zone, giving up two walks in the second frame. With the bases loaded and no outs, Blair recovered and retired the next three batters.

After Blair walked four more batters in the third inning, Kuypers scored on a sacrifice fly to extend Team New Blue’s lead to 3-0. Louis-Charles Larouche (Okotoks, Alta.) made it 4-0 after a wild pitch. Blair walked eight batters in three innings.

Team Black cut the deficit to 4-2 in the fifth frame. They got two runners on base after Laird singled and Rhys Whiteford (Duncan, B.C.) was hit by a pitch. Madden Peters (Lantzville, B.C.) then hit an RBI single, bringing Laird in. Arkell grounded out on the next at-bat, ending the inning but allowing Whiteford to score from third.

Walks and wild pitches continued to haunt Team Black in the sixth. After giving up back-to-back walks to Quincy Jenkins (St. Albert, Alta.) and Brody McCready (Brantford, Ont.), a wild pitch by Matthew Neufeld (Kingsville, Ont.) allowed Jenkins to score. Team New Blue extended their lead to 6-2 when a groundout by St-Laurent brought in McCready.

After Ben Bradley (Oakville, Ont.) walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch, RBI singles from Sam Ellis (La Pêche, Que.) and Laird drew Team Black within two runs going into the seventh inning.

In the final frame, Neufeld gave up four walks and two runs as Team New Blue extended their lead to 8-4.

After conceding an early single to Simpson in the bottom of the seventh, Team New Blue pitcher Kayden Militello (Victoria, B.C.) retired three consecutive batters to seal the win.