OTTAWA- Baseball Canada announced today the 24 players that have been invited to the team’s final selection camp in Toronto and Trieste, Italy August 15th-26th.
Players, coaches and staff will arrive in Toronto on August 15th where they will hold two practices at Rogers Centre and play an exhibition game against MLB Bureau Camp before travelling to Trieste, Italy for an eight game tune-up series against Italy, Czech Republic and a USA Select club. At the conclusion of the selection camp, the final 20-player roster will travel to Seoul, South Korea for the IBAF 18U World Championships August 30th-September 8th.
“This camp will allow the coaching staff an opportunity to evaluate players before making final roster decisions,” said Junior National Team Head Coach, Greg Hamilton. “The World Championship is the culmination of a two-year process for our Junior National Team program. Our coaches and players are looking forward to this opportunity to represent Canada and intend on being a competitive club in Seoul.”
All 24 players named to the roster participated in the annual Dominican Summer League Camp in May where the club compiled a record of 4-5-3.
The Junior National Team selection camp roster features:
-Eleven players that were selected in June’s MLB First Year Player Draft (Botnick-Cubs; Caputo-A’s; Dawe-Yankees; DeSouza-Blue Jays; Dykxhoorn-Reds; Fernandez-Phillies; Kellogg-Blue Jays; Marks-Mets; Robson-Padres; Seifrit-Mariners; Shaw-Brewers).
-Three of the drafted players have since signed professional contracts (Dawe, DeSouza, Seifrit).
-Eleven players were members of 2011 JNT that finished in 2nd place at the Americas 18U Qualification Tournament in Cartagena, Colombia (Caputo, Dawe, Hann, Isherwood, Kellogg, Morgan, Pinero, Quantrill, Robson, Shaw, Siddall)
The JNT will open the IBAF 18U World Championship on August 30th when they take on Panama at 6pm local time inside Seoul’s Mokdong Stadium. Canada is coming off a fourth place finish at the 2010 World Championship that was held in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Canada’s last medal at an 18U World Championship came in 2006 when a club led by Brett Lawrie defeated Mexico 6-2 to claim the bronze medal.
