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Major League Baseball recently held its’ annual First Year Player Draft. By the end of the draft, there were 1521 players drafted by the thirty Major League teams. Out of those 1521 players drafted, forty were Canadian, with fourteen coming from right here in Ontario. To kick things off, the Toronto Blue Jays selected Newmarket native Jake Eliopoulos with their second pick and number 68th overall. In total the Toronto Blue Jays selected four players from Ontario. Also of note, in the 41st round the Detroit Tigers selected Chatham’s Larry Balkwill, who was Baseball Ontario’s 2008 Adult Player of the Year.

“We are very proud of all of the Ontario players who were recently drafted, and congratulate them along with their and their families on this achievement. They follow in the footsteps of fellow Ontario players like Scott Thorman, and Nick Weglarz. This is a true testament of the high level competition in Ontario, combined with the quality of coaching”, stated Baseball Ontario’s Director of Coach and Player Development John Milton. Over the past few years, Baseball Ontario has been in the forefront at Baseball Canada’s National Championships, including the prestigious Canada Cup.

“Based on the results of this draft and the previous drafts, it gives all young and aspiring baseball players in Ontario the confidence that the dream of being drafted and playing in the Major Leagues is not that far away. Many of our young players are a part of the same local programs, play on the same fields, and play for coaches that these players currently were drafted have been a part of,” boasted Milton.

Listed below are all of the Ontario players selected in this year’s draft.

2nd (68th) Toronto Blue Jays LHP Jake Eliopoulos Newmarket

12th (359th) Cincinnati Reds OF Josh Garton Guelph

15th (445th) Pittsburgh Pirates C Peter Bako Mississauga

15th (457th) Los Angeles Dodgers 3B Jeff Hunt Cambridge

19th (569th) Cincinnati Reds LHP Mitch Clarke Kitchener

20th (604th) Texas Rangers RHP Jerome Werniuk Toronto

29th (886th) Milwaukee Brewers OF Chandler McLaren Guelph

30th (903rd) Oakland A’s OF Royce Consigli Welland

41st (1230th) Detroit Tigers C Larry Balkwill Chatham

42nd (1270th) Toronto Blue Jays C Mike Reeves Peterborough

43rd (1300th) Toronto Blue Jays INF Maxx Tissenbaum Toronto

45th (1345th) Seattle Mariners 2B Kevin Mailloux Tecumseh

48th (1434th) San Diego Padres OF Andrew Ruck Pickering

48th (1450th) Toronto Blue Jays RHP Jeffrey Gibbs Toronto

For more information on Baseball Ontario, its’ members, and programs, please visit www.baseballontario.com