Chilliwack Minor Baseball grad Cade Smith turned in a dominant performance at the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Academy Tournament 12, pitching his team into the semi-finals.The big kid from Abbotsford threw five innings for BC Orange on Sunday, striking out 10 overmatched Prairie Purple batters.Standing six-foot-five, the right hander was bringing the heat in the first inning, striking out the side.His teammates put four on the board in their half of the inning, and Smith cruised from there.He encountered minor trouble in the fourth inning when he issued three straight walks.But Smith struck out the next two batters to snuff out the threat, getting ahead with an 88 mile per hour fastball.“That’s probably the best performance I’ve seen him throw all year,” BC Orange head coach Corey Eckstein told the Canadian Baseball Network. “It’s probably the right time to do it too,” “His fastball was good. (He) kept the ball down. His secondary stuff was good today and he kept guys off balance all game.”BC Orange beat Atlantic Maroon 2-1 in a Monday afternoon semi-final, then fell 6-3 to Ontario Black in the evening’s final.Smith wasn’t involved in either game.Tournament 12 (T-12) is an annual showcase, held this year at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.The eight-team field brings together 160 of the best 14 to 19 year old amateur players who are born in Canada and have college eligibility.Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar  was the commissioner of this year’s tournament, getting assistance from Blue Jay alums Paul Quantrill, Tanyon Sturtze, Devon White, Lloyd Moseby and Duane Ward.Get T-12 information online at toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/tor/baseball_academy/t12.jsp

Chilliwack Progress