Several ex-WCBL players selected in MLB draft
Former Okotoks Dawg Tyrelle Chadwick (Burnaby, B.C.) was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 2025 MLB Draft. Photo: Dawgs Academy
*This article was originally posted on Alberta Dugout Stories on July 15. You can read it here.
July 16, 2025
By Ian Wilson
Alberta Dugout Stories
After 20 rounds of picks and more than 600 player selections, the Major League Baseball Draft has come to a close.
The prospect-plucking exercise took place in Cumberland, Ga., with the first three rounds taking place on July 13 and the remaining 17 rounds happening on July 14.
Among the picks were a number of players with ties to the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL).
Here’s a closer look at some of those draft choices:
TIM PIASENTIN, 5th Round, 143rd Overall, Toronto Blue Jays
Drafted as a third baseman, Piasentin is a hard-hitting slugger who can play both infield and outfield positions. The Coquitlam, British Columbia product moved to Okotoks to study at Dawgs Academy and boost his odds of playing high-level college baseball.
“This move out to Alberta has probably taught me more than anything else I’ve done in my life,” Piasentin said in a 2024 interview with Alberta Dugout Stories.
“It’s just taught me so much about the work you have to put in to get to the next level.”
The move paid off for the former Little League World Series two-way star. He suited up for Baseball Canada’s Junior National Team before taking centre stage at the 2024 Canadian Futures Showcase in Toronto, where he claimed the Home Run Derby title.
The lefty batter is on the 2025 Okotoks Dawgs summer collegiate roster but he did not play in the WCBL this season.
RILEY NELSON, 5th Round, 162nd Overall, Cleveland Guardians
The Toronto-born first baseman grew up in Texas and played this year for Vanderbilt University. Before he joined the Commodores, Nelson was one of the first recruits of the Saskatoon Berries in their inaugural season in 2024. He played alongside Saskatoon outfielder Nolan Sparks at Yavapai College. Despite initially signing on with the Berries, Nelson never suited up with the club, opting instead to take his talents to the MLB Draft League.
TY DOUCETTE, 10th Round, 294th Overall, Cincinnati Reds
The 21-year-old first baseman studied at Dawgs Academy and played in the WCBL during the 2021 pandemic-shortened season. With the Okotoks Dawgs Black team that summer, Doucette appeared in 30 games, posting a .316 batting average, a .444 on-base percentage, 20 runs, 24 RBIs, eight doubles and one home run. The Nova Scotian spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons playing in the Big Ten Conference with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
TYRELLE CHADWICK, 18th Round, 527th Overall, Colorado Rockies
The right-handed pitcher and former Dawgs Academy pupil was a two-way player when he stepped between the lines of Seaman Stadium as a member of the Okotoks Dawgs Black squad in 2021. That summer the son of former MLB player Ray Chadwick pitched in nine games and registered 24 strikeouts over 20 innings pitched. At the plate, the British Columbian had four hits in 25 at bats. Chadwick dropped the bat soon after and ended up taking the mound for Illinois State University, where he pitched between 2023 and 2025.
CANON REEDER, 18th Round, 533rd Overall, Pittsburgh Pirates
The 22-year-old from Bend, Oregon appeared in 16 regular-season games for the Okotoks Dawgs in 2023. In 60 at bats that year, the outfielder had a .317 batting average, a .400 on-base percentage, 13 runs, 13 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Reeder played 107 games with Oregon State University from 2023 through 2025.
PRO SIGNING
Shortly after the MLB Draft concluded, outfielder Jonny McGill inked a deal with the Los Angeles Angels as a non-drafted free agent. The University of British Columbia student played for the Edmonton Prospects in the WCBL in 2021. That year, he took the field in 40 games, including three postseason contests. The lefty batter hit .296 with 27 runs, 24 RBIs, nine doubles, five stolen bases and one home run.