The North Delta Blue Jays will have to get along without one of their top pitchers for a couple of weeks.
Luke Manuel has been invited to join the Baseball Canada National Junior Team (18-and-under) for an eight-day stint in the Dominican Republic May 23-30. The Canadian team will play a dozen games against Dominican Summer League opposition, all of which are affiliated with Major League Baseball teams.
Manuel, a student at Fleetwood Park Secondary School, has pitched a team-high 27.2 innings this season. He is ranked second in the B.C. Premier Baseball League with 39 strikeouts, and is ninth with a 1.52 earned run average.
“We are really happy for Luke,” said Blue Jays head coach Brad O’Hara. “He has put in a lot of work and has become one of the elite pitchers in the BCPBL. It’s nice to see him get recognized at the national level.”
The six-foot-two, 180-pound right-hander will be part of the Canadian team which will arrive in Santo Domingo on May 22. A day later, they will play their first game against a rookie team from the Minnesota Twins farm system.
– The Blue Jays will play four games this weekend, hoping to improve on their 7-6 won-lost record. They will be in New Westminster to play twice against the Vancouver Cannons at 1 and 3:30 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday), then will host the Nanaimo Pirates for a doubleheader Sunday at Mackie Park.
North Delta thumped the Cannons 9-2 in their only meeting this season, and split a double header in Nanaimo against the Pirates last weekend.
Sunday’s games at Mackie Park are set for 1 and 3:30 p.m.
