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Tuesday March 06, 2012
March 1, 2012........Catcher, Chris Shaw and Left Handed Pitcher, Wyle Cunningham of the J Dawgs' Baseball Academy head south to join Canada's Junior National Team in St. Petersburg, Florida later this week. Shaw is a veteran of the National Team Program having played in Latin American last season while Cunningham joins the Jr. Nationals after strong performances at the 2011 Canada Cup and Midget National Championship. Both players attend Holy Trinity Academy in Okotoks and will play major roles in the 2012 J Dawgs' Season which kicks off March 29th at the Icebreaker Showcase in Kamloops, BC.
This fall at the end of the J Dawgs' 2012 spring and summer seasons, Chris Shaw has accepted a scholarship to Midland College in Midland, Texas while Wyle Cunningham has accepted a scholarshp to Salt Lake City College in Utah. Both players along with several other J Dawgs' standouts recently impressed Toronto Blue Jays scouts at an MLB scouting camp held at the Duvernay Field House.
The press release from Baseball Canada follows:
The Junior National Team will begin their 2012 season with a trip to St. Petersburg, FL from March 4th-14th to participate in the 2nd Annual St. Petersburg International Baseball Series.
The trip to St. Petersburg is the first of three training camps scheduled for 2012 in preparation for the IBAF 18U World Championship August 30th-September 8th in Seoul, South Korea.
Here are some highlights:
-The Juniors will be based out of the Walter Fuller (formerly Naimoli) Complex in St. Petersburg where they will hold daily workouts
-The Juniors will play an 8 game schedule including 7 games at historic Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg and 1 game at the Carpenter Complex in Clearwater against minor league prospects from the Philadelphia Phillies
-Circle March 13th on your calendars as the Juniors will face a split-squad version of the Toronto Blue Jays for the second consecutive year. Last year, the game featured Canadians Brett Lawrie, Adam Loewen, Michael Crouse and Marcus Knecht, while former Blue Jay John McDonald also played in the game. The city of St. Petersburg is declaring March 13th ‘Canada Day’ and the game is sponsored by RBC Wealth Management
-Other opponents on the trip include minor leaguers from the Baltimore Orioles, the Dutch National Team that claimed the Gold Medal at the IBAF World Cup last October and St. Petersburg Junior College
-The club returns 12 players that helped Canada to a 2nd place finish at the COPABE 18U World Qualifier in Cartagena, Colombia last November
-Key players to watch for include LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, ON) who won Junior National Team MVP in 2011 and pitched in the Under Armour All-American game at Wrigley Field; RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, ON) made his debut with the JNT in Colombia and quickly became a key member of the pitching staff, Cal is the son of former major leaguer, Paul; OF Gareth Morgan (Toronto, ON) is already catching the attention of scouts as a 15 year-old even though he is not draft eligible until 2014. Morgan joined Kellogg at the Under Armour All-American game last summer.
Please visit www.baseball.ca and/or follow Baseball Canada on Twitter (www.twitter.com/baseballcanada) for up-to-date news, scores and game reports.
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