Men’s Baseball Signs Seven for 2024 Recruiting Class
Windsor, ON – Looking to reload for a chance at an OCAA Championship 4-peat, the St. Clair College Men's Baseball team is eager to announce the signing of seven new commitments in preparation for the 2024 fall campaign.
Four of the group include local standouts 5'11" RHP Cameron Beale (LaSalle, ON/Sandwich), 6'2" RHP Michael Grondin (Windsor, ON/Riverside), 6'0" LHP Jonas Le Clair (Windsor, ON/Holy Names) and 5'9" IF/OF Finnigan Russett (Windsor, ON/Holy Names).
Beale, Le Clair and Russett are a part of the 18U Tecumseh Thunder program who won the Premier Baseball League of Ontario Championship last summer and advanced to the Ontario Provincial AAA Elimination Championship tournament final.
Beale is an Honour Roll student at Sandwich competing in several sports including being named a WECSSAA Football Tier 1 All-City selection in addition to the team's Offensive MVP in 2023 and the Most Improved in 2022. He has excelled in javelin with the very successful Sabre Track and Field team where he earned an individual 4th Place at OFSAA in 2022 and then a 6th Place provincially in 2023. He also participated in basketball for three seasons winning a WECSSAA Junior Boys title in 2022. Beale will be enrolled in St. Clair's Fitness and Health Promotion program starting in the fall.
Saints Head Coach Roberto Duncan stated of Beale, "Cameron is a right-handed pitcher that we had the opportunity to see develop through the Tecumseh Thunder organization. He has come a long way and last year was an example when he posted a 1.05 ERA with the Thunder."
Le Clair will be taking Business Administration-Accounting and was a 2019-2020 Marc Picard Coaches Award winner while at Corpus Christi Academy. During the 2023 Ontario AAA Elimination Championship tournament he took the hill against Mississauga giving them their lone loss who were on their way to winning the 18U Provincial and Canadian titles.
Duncan praised Le Clair, "Jonas is a left-handed pitcher that has a good fastball with some movement to go with good breaking pitches to compliment. Last year, Jonas was part of a combined no-hitter against the London Badgers."
Russett is another multi-sport athlete in addition to having Honour Roll status in the classroom at Holy Names. He captained the U18 Windsor AA Hockey team to a championship in 2022-23 as well as being named a Bluewater Hockey League All-Star. On the field he was selected as a Premier Baseball League of Ontario All-Star in 2023 and will begin his Honours Bachelor of Applied Arts in Social Justice and Legal Studies program at St. Clair in September.
Duncan commented about Russett, "Finnigan is a right-handed hitter that can play anywhere on the infield. He is a contact hitter who posted a .366 BA with the Tecumseh Thunder last summer."
Grondin was named Co-MVP of the Riverside Secondary Baseball team in addition to being a Second-Team WECSSAA All-Star in 2023 but played his club ball for the Windsor Selects after winning a 2017 OBA Championship with the Riverside Royals Minor Baseball program. He will taking the Electrical Techniques program academically in the St. Clair classroom.
Duncan said of Grondin, "Michael is a right-handed pitcher with a good fastball and breaking pitches coming from the Windsor Selects organization. Michael has an athletic build with a lot of room for development."
Out of town additions include 5'8" LHP/CF Jake Heinbuch (Stratford, ON/St. Michael), 6'3" 1B/3B Cole Saros (Toronto, ON/Monarch Park) and 6'3" 1B/OF Will Snider (London, ON/ John Paul II).
Heinbuch has spent time with the Stratford Nationals and the Midwestern Ontario Bearcats organizations. He was awarded the 2022 MVP of the Stratford Nationals and his high school accolades include the 2023 MVP of the baseball squad as well as the Athlete of the Year Award at St. Michael. Heinbuch won the 2018 OBA B Championship with Stratford and moved on to claim the 2021 Inter-County Baseball Association Championship. He will study Mechanical Engineering Technology - Automotive Product Design at St. Clair.
Duncan mentioned about Heinbuch, "Jake is a left-handed pitcher that throws lots of strikes and has good control of all his pitching repertoire. He will be mainly a pitcher but can also play in the outfield which is something we are excited to look at once our workouts start."
Saros played with East York Bulldogs, Scarborough Stingers, and the East Toronto Dodgers programs in the GTA and was recognized with the MVP Award at the Richmond Hill Phoenix Tournament. He will start the Sport and Recreation Management program in the fall at St. Clair.
Duncan expressed about Saros, "Cole is a left-handed hitter that will bring a lot of power to our roster and can hit the ball all over the field. He also plays good defense with some versatility at both corners of the infield."
Snider is another Sport and Recreation Management program student and won the 2019 Junior Athlete of the year Award while at John Paul II. His experience saw him lineup for the London Badgers, London Tecumsehs and the Ontario Nationals but won the 2019 Canadian Premier League Championship with the renowned Great Lake Canadians program.
Duncan commended about Snider, "Will is a right-handed hitter that makes a lot of contact and has a lot of potential to be a strong hitter for years to come. Will is bringing solid defense to our outfield and first base."
Duncan said of the incoming recruits, "We are happy to add these talented players to our already young core and we look forward to working with them to see what they can do on the field. They all have a lot of room for development and that's what we are most excited about."
Duncan continued, "We are potentially losing some of our core players due to graduation. But we are confident that this group has the tools to help us stay competitive in our upcoming season."