Rhys Cratty and Michael Stovman are off to the Dominican Republic.
The Langley Blaze duo are among the 27 athletes invited by Baseball Canada for the junior national team program’s Summer League camp.
The roster was announced on Monday (May 15) and the camp begins today (Friday) and goes to May 27.
“Players will be challenged with an intense schedule, while also dealing with elements in the Dominican Republic that they don’t face at home,” said junior national team manager Greg Hamilton.
“The strides taken at this camp will better prepare our team for success going forward.”
The highlight of the trip will come on May 25th at Estadio Cibao in Santiago when the juniors take on some of the Dominican Republic’s top prospects that are eligible to sign with Major League Baseball (MLB) clubs on or after July 2.
Cratty is an outfielder/first baseman while Stovman is a first baseman/right-handed pitcher.
Both players are 18 and in their final year with the Blaze Premier program and are Langley’s top two hitters.
Stovman, who is from Maple Ridge, is hitting an absurd .591 and is tied for the team lead with 14 RBIs in 22 at-bats. By comparison, the BC Premier Baseball League’s top RBI producer, Abbotsford’s Dylan Ohlsen, has 18 RBIs in 44 at-bats.
And on the mound, he is 3-1 with a 1.06 earned run average. He also leads the PBL with 39 strikeouts, which he has racked up in 26.1 innings.
Cratty, from Langley, is hitting .379 with nine RBIs.
The camp will also serve as the last event on the junior national team calendar before the final selection camp in August where 20 players will be selected to represent Canada at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in Thunder Bay from Sept. 1 to 10.
