Fitzpatrick: HRSTC hoping to rep Manitoba at Road to Okotoks
Winnipeg Goldeyes right-hander Landen Bourassa (Lethbridge, Alta.) also serves as the director of player development for the Home Run Sports Training Centre (HRSTC) in Winnipeg. A 19U team from HRSTC will attempt to qualify for a spot in the Road to Okotoks. Photo: Winnipeg Goldeyes
April 30, 2026
By Trevor Fitzpatrick
Canadian Baseball Network
Despite the upcoming Road to Okotoks only holding regional qualifiers in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C., the other provinces won’t go without a representative in the tournament.
Making the trip from Manitoba to the Ontario regional qualifiers is the Home Run Sports Training Centre (HRSTC) team out of Winnipeg. The training centre, which is the only indoor training space specialized for baseball in the city, will feature a 19U team which will compete at the tournament.
“Greg Hamilton reached out to our director Jon Ali, and said, we want there to be representation (for Manitoba),” explained the team’s director of player development, Landen Bourassa (Lethbridge, Alta.). “With us not being a baseball hotbed yet per se, but being hand chosen to represent this region was super exciting.”
Bourassa, a national team grad, is an imposing 6-foot-4 right-hander from Lethbridge who played for the San Francisco Dons in college. Following his four seasons there, he landed with the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the American Association.
He’ll be returning to the Goldeyes for their 2026 campaign while he continues his work with the HRSTC. He posted a 4.20 ERA across 15 starts for the Goldeyes in 2025.
The team is hoping that their advantage of being a baseball hub for the province will give them an edge for the upcoming tournament.
“How many high school academy teams get the chance to face four pro pitchers in one evening?” asked Bourassa, referring to the Goldeyes players and Winnipeg baseball alumni who often stop by. “It’s great to give our guys that chance to see what baseball looks like at the next level and take away any of the shock value.”
HRSTC’s roster will consist of mostly their own players, but also a few from other programs. Just a few that Bourassa wanted to highlight include:
LHP Aidan Shepherd (Winnipeg, Man.): “He’s a true pitcher. He can mix speeds and throw the fastball to all four quadrants of the zone.”
McCook Community College commit RHP/SS Lincoln Carriere (Winnipeg, Man.): “He’s been really figuring out a changeup and been up to 91 on his fastball. It’s cool when guys have that light bulb moment.”
Fellow McCook commit C Cole Adamson (Winnipeg, Man.): “He has to be one of the best athletes at the catching position in the country without a doubt.”
“Across the board, everybody has been talking about competing against the best players across the country,” said Bourassa. “It’s super exciting not only that they are getting the opportunity, but they all realize how big this opportunity is.”
The qualifying round will take place May 28-31, with the pool play winners going on to play in Okotoks from July 14-19. Of all the teams across the four Ontario qualifying sites, only seven will proceed to the next round.
As Bourassa puts it, for the class of 2026 players on the team’s roster, this tournament will be one of their last big ones before they all head their separate ways for post-secondary.
Looking at the tournament with an even wider lens though, it should be an excellent opportunity for Canadian baseball to continue its rapid growth from recent years.
“It almost feels like we export all of our baseball, right? There’s so many good players here (in Canada) and they all get exported,” said Bourassa. “Having a tournament like this to centralize and tie everybody together, I think it’s really cool.”
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