Ladner pitcher Boston Warkentin made the most of his two scheduled appearances for the Canadian junior men’s national team in an 18U Friendship Series against the United States that wrapped up last Thursday in Florida.
The University of Washington 2022 commit first took to the mound in Canada’s 14-2 loss in the series opener. Warkentin allowed two runs off of three hits and had a game-high six strikeouts in 3.1 innings of relief work.
His next scheduled appearance was last Wednesday’s 9-0 defeat and again was effective in a relief role. The right-hander allowed no runs and one hit, while fanning four in three innings to close out the game.
Warkentin was one of five B.C. players named to the Canadian team that was selected based on a training camp held in Ontario that wrapped up on Sept. 2.
The 6-foot-2 right-hander, came through Ladner Minor Baseball, the Delta Tigers and North Delta Blue Jays program before taking his career across the Rockies to the Okotoks Baseball Academy in Alberta. The 18-year-old’s 90-plus mph fastball got the attention of NCAA Division One before Warkentin committed to the UW Huskies as part of their 2022 recruiting class.
He is the first Ladner player to be part of the national junior team since former Toronto Blue Jays draft pick and pitcher Tom Robson.
The seven-game Friendship Series took place in Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Bradenton. US won the series with a 5-1-1 record.
