Four Ottawa baseball players make top 150 for Blue Jays' futures tournament

Photo by Jose Francisco Morales on Unsplash.

Four local baseball players are among the top 150 selected by the Toronto Blue Jays during summer tryouts to participate in a major Canadian tournament.

The Toronto Blue Jays Canadian Futures Showcase tournament will be held at the Ottawa Stadium Sept. 20 to 24.

The 150 players taking part in the showcase come from all parts of Canada will show off their skills in front of Major League Baseball scouts and college recruiters from across the U.S. and Canada. This is the first time the Canadian Futures Showcase, now in its eighth year, will be held outside of Toronto.

The Jays say the tournament is being held at the Ottawa Stadium at RCGT Park because of “contractual obligations and unforeseen scheduling challenges at the Rogers Centre.”

The four Ottawa players are from the Watson Elite baseball club. They are outfielder Ty Hamilton, first baseman Tyler Bono, catcher Sam Byers and right-handed pitcher Sam McKay.

“It is really an amazing accomplishment for these four talented players,” said Watson Elite founder and former Seattle Mariner Tanner Watson. “I couldn’t be prouder of our guys.”

The showcase splits players evenly between six teams to compete against each other in a tournament-style format, starting with a scout day on Sept. 20, and concluding with a prospects game and home run derby on the final day.

The Blue Jays say Major League Baseball organizations have drafted more 110 former Canadian Futures Showcase participants since 2013. More than 500 participants have received college scholarships.