OTTAWA- The 2010 version of the Junior National Team featured a group of 20 teenagers that won the hearts of the locals in Thunder Bay, Ontario when the northwestern Ontario community played host to the IBAF World Junior Baseball Championship.
Capacity crowds packed Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay to cheer on Team Canada as they walked-off the Czech Republic in dramatic fashion to win their first round pool and trounced Italy in a quarter-final match-up before losing a heartbreaker to Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals.
Following the tournament, players went their separate to begin either their professional or college careers, while some came back for another year of eligibility in 2011.
Eight members of the 2010 team are currently in the midst of their professional careers and four of them were profiled last week in our ‘In the minors’ segment that can be found here. Today, we take a look at the remaining four.
Dalton Pompey (Mississauga, ON) CF New Hampshire Fisher Cats - AA (Blue Jays)
Perhaps no player in minor league baseball has enjoyed the type of breakout season that Pompey has had to this point in 2014. Ascending up the Blue Jays minor league ladder at a steady pace since he was taken by his hometown team in the 16th round of the 2010 draft, Pompey ripped the Florida State League apart to the tune of a .319 batting average with 12 doubles, six triples, six home runs, 34 RBI and 29 stolen bases in only 70 games. Rewarded with a spot in the FSL All-Star Game in June, Pompey also earned a promotion to Double-A New Hampshire later on in the month. During the Major League Baseball All-Star Game festivities earlier this month in Minneapolis, Pompey played for Team World in the prestigious Futures Game where he recorded a pair of singles. The eyes of the prospect world have also taken notice as Baseball America now has him ranked among their Top 50 prospects in baseball at #47. After somewhat of a slow start with New Hampshire, Pompey is finding his stride hitting .241 with a pair of homers and six steals in 22 games. In his last ten games, he has hit .359. Pompey last appeared in a Canadian uniform at the World Junior Championship in Thunder Bay in 2010.
Tom Robson (Ladner, BC) RHP Lansing Lugnuts – A (Blue Jays)
As a 17 year-old, Tom Robson put himself of the draft prospect map after blanking powerhouse Cuba for six innings at the 2010 World Junior Championship in Thunder Bay. A year later the Toronto Blue Jays made him the highest Canadian taken in the 2011 MLB Draft when they grabbed the right-hander in the fourth round. After experiencing some growing pains in his first two seasons in professional baseball, Robson was literally unbeatable in 2013 putting up video game numbers at two short-season stops that saw him lead his hometown Vancouver Canadians to their third consecutive Northwest League championship. Beginning the 2014 season with Single-A Lansing, the now 21 year-old noticed some discomfort in his elbow during a start on May 16th and was subsequently shut down upon further review. Just last week, Robson underwent ‘Tommy John’ surgery performed by renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews and will miss the remainder of the 2014 season. Robson last represented Canada in Colombia in 2011 at the COPABE Americas 18U World Cup Qualifier.
Jesen Dygestile-Therrien (Montréal, QC) RHP Williamsport Crosscutters – SS (Phillies)
A mainstay for the Junior National Team pitching rotation in both 2010 and 2011, Dygestile-Therrien spent the first three seasons of his pro career with the Gulf Coast League Phillies before making the jump to full-season baseball to start the 2014 season. Armed with a fastball that reaches the mid-90’s, Dygestile-Therrien primarily worked out of the bullpen with Single-A Lakewood making 22 total appearances for 45 and 1/3 innings of work. He managed to win two games and strikeout 28, but was sent to short-season Williamsport in early July where he has been very effective in his last two outings. On July 18th he worked one and two-thirds shutout innings before coming back on July 21st to work two shutout innings with three strikeouts against Brooklyn. Dygestile-Therrien last represented Canada in Colombia in 2011 at the COPABE Americas 18U World Cup Qualifier.
Rowan Wick (Vancouver, BC) OF State College Spikes – SS (Cardinals)
Few in baseball can claim to have a start to the season the way Rowan Wick began his 2014 campaign with Short Season State College. Since having two, two homer games through the first four games of the season, Wick has been on a tear setting a State College Spikes single season home run record in the process. He currently leads the New York-Penn League in all three triple-crown categories with a .378 batting average, 14 home runs, and 38 RBI. Wick was a 19th round selection of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010 but chose to attend St. John’s University instead. In 2012, he transferred to Cypress College in California before the St. Louis Cardinals took him in the 9th round of that year’s draft. Wick belted 10 homers with Rookie level Johnson City in 2013 and is well on his way to doubling that number in 2014. Wick has made himself a strong case to get his first ‘full season’ assignment in 2015. He last wore the red and white with the Junior National Team in 2010.
