Blue Jays Academy names T12 All-Star team

After last week's second annual Tournament 12 presented by New Era, which ended with Quebec-Blue coming out on top, the Blue Jays Baseball Academy named an All-Star team.

The most notable name on the roster is Eric Senior from Ontario-Black, who was also named Tournament MVP. Senior batted .529 for the tournament and played very well defensively. Tournament commissioner Roberto Alomar was extremely impressed with Senior's all-around play.

"He seemed to be on base all the time, and he played really well out in right field," Alomar said. "He's got a chance to be a really good player."

Four members of Ontario-Green were named to the All-Star team, including Tristan Pompey, brother of Blue Jays center fielder Dalton Pompey. Tristan batted .357, scored five runs and stole five bases.

"Tristan played hard for the four days, put the ball in play consistently and ran the bases really well," said Ontario-Green coach Adam Stern.

Joining Pompey from the Ontario-Green team are catcher Tony Hrynkiw, who led the tournament with a .571 batting average, and pitchers Nick Virdo and Michael Brettell, who combined to throw 16 scoreless innings.

Tournament 12 champions Quebec-Blue had three players named to the squad, including the tournament's Top Pitcher, Mathieu Denault-Gauthier, who went 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA and struck out seven over 10 innings.

"He attacked the hitters and got a lot of ground balls. He won two very big games for us," said Quebec-Blue coach Denis Boucher.

The other two Quebec-Blue members are outfielder JF Garon, who batted .400 with six walks and four stolen bases, and Jason Tarapasky, who pitched a complete-game shutout in the semifinals vs. Ontario-Green.

The Futures-Navy will also be represented by three players, outfielders Issac Deveaux and Cooper Davis as well as shortstop Adam Hall. Hall led the tournament with eight RBIs, while Deveaux and Davis dazzled scouts with their combination of speed, power and defense.

"I think you got a glimpse of three young ballplayers that will be a big part of the future in Canadian baseball in the coming years" said Futures-Navy coach Stubby Clapp.

The rest of the infield will be made up by Trevor Lofstrom of BC-Orange, who batted .467 with seven RBIs, second baseman Blake Gallagher of Atlantic-Grey, who batted .375 with three runs scored, and Alberta-Red's Nolan Rattai, who batted .286 with a home run and five RBIs.

In the DH spot will be Junior National Team standout Josh Naylor, who batted .357 for Ontario-Black. He also collected four RBIs and stole four bases despite missing the first game because a hurricane stranded all flights out of Mexico following the World Championship Qualifier.

Rounding out the roster are infielder Brett Esau from Prairies-Purple, who batted .286 with three RBIs and five walks, as well as pitcher Ethan Skuija from BC-Orange, who earned a win and had an ERA of 1.00 with 13 strikeouts.

The Coach of the Tournament honors went to Boucher of Quebec-Blue. After a blowout loss in the first game to Prairies Purple, 10-1, Boucher led Quebec to an undefeated record the rest of the way.

"I'm really happy with all of the players who were selected for the tournament and I am happy to give recognition the 17 players who were selected as Tournament 12 All-Stars" Alomar said.