Mississauga News

The Mississauga Majors made their mark in Myrtle Beach.

The Mississauga Majors AAA Minor Bantam baseball team headed to South Carolina for the Ripken Experience, a 14 and under baseball tournament featuring teams from all over the United States. During the opening skills competition, the Majors led the Turn-Two challenge for the first half and finished in third place by only fractions of a second behind the leaders. But the evening really belonged to Julian Johnson, who smashed ball after ball over the fence to win the Home Run Derby. Johnson’s nearest competitor hit five home runs, while Johnson launched eight. Ripken officials confirmed that Johnson was the first Canadian competitor to ever win the Ripken Home Run Derby.

The Majors, the only Canadian team in the tournament, faced teams from Pennsylvania, Florida, Wisconsin, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, New York, and Ohio, to name a few. The Majors opened the tournament beating Pembroke Lakes Bulldogs (Florida) 5-4, and ended the tournament losing in the consolation championship game 4-3 to the Merton Mavericks (Wisconsin).

The team is currently undefeated in their regular season. Players who made the trip to Myrtle Beach included Robert Grilli, Scott Good, Joey Guaragna, Daniel Pinero, Daniel Peake, Rahul Badve, Brendan Butrimas, Christian Botnick, Julian Johnson, Hunter Evanylo, Ryan White, and Andrew Wilby. Coaches for the Majors are Ron Burke, Stan Windsor, John Grilli, and Rey Pinero.