OTTAWA- Baseball Canada announced today the names of 31 players that have been invited to the Junior National Team’s (18U) annual Fall Instructional League Camp in Lake Buena Vista, Florida from October 2nd to 12th.
Fresh off a bronze medal performance at the recent 18U Pan American Championship in La Paz, Mexico, the Junior National Team program will now focus its attention on the 2015 IBAF 18U World Cup in Nishinomiya, Japan.
“Now that we have qualified for next year’s world championship the work towards preparing for Japan begins with the Fall Instructional League Camp,” said Head Coach and Baseball Canada’s Director of National Teams, Greg Hamilton.
The camp includes daily practices and a nine-game exhibition schedule against Major League Baseball Fall Instructional League clubs from the Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Washington Nationals and Toronto Blue Jays.
On Sunday, October 5th, the team will face Lake Sumter Junior College followed by Stetson University in a day/night double header.
All games and practices will take place at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports with the exception of the game on October 5th against Stetson University which will be played on the Stetson campus in Deland, Florida and the October 8th game against the Toronto Blue Jays that will see the team travel to Dunedin, Florida to play at the Bobby Mattick Complex.
Roster Highlights:
The roster features 5 players (JF Garon, Josh Naylor, Demi Orimoloye, Darren Shred and Mike Soroka) that recently took part in the COPABE 18U Pan American Championship in La Paz, Mexico where Canada won bronze.
Other players who have previously experience with the Junior National Team program include: Royce Ando, Isaac Anesty, RJ Freure, Peter Hutzal, Matt Ianni, Alexis Lavergne, Kristjan Storrie, Jackson Wark and Andrew Yerzy.
The 17 other players named to the Fall Instructional League roster will be participating with the Junior National Team program for the first time.
Head Coach Greg Hamilton leads the coaching staff, while coaches Shawn Bowman and Mike Johnson return to the staff. Former National Team players Adam Stern and Chris Robinson will join the staff as guest coaches, while former Junior National Team pitcher Jeff Duda will join the staff as a guest coach.
For the players, the training camp will not only offer them the chance to represent their country while improving their skills but will also provide plenty of exposure, as several college and professional scouts will use the training camp as an opportunity for talent evaluation.
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