Sophomore Ben Canada leads Guerin into sectional semifinals after blowout victory
INDIANAPOLIS — When Guerin sophomore Ben Canada hit a single in the first inning, first-year coach Dave Schrage knew his Golden Eagles was in good shape.
'Ben's the kind of guy who can lead us at the plate and everyone feels off that,' Schrage said after Guerin defeated Lebanon 13-0 in the IHSAA Class 3A sectional quarterfinals. 'When he's up in the first inning like he was today and gets a hit, our guys feed off that. We go as he goes, so we like to make him bat second. If he gets a hit in the first inning, our team feels good and say, 'OK, we're going to score runs today.''
Canada's first hit preceded an onslaught. Guerin (15-12) finished with 12 hits and pitchers Tate Troxell, Luke Gremelspacher and Finn Holden threw a combined no-hitter. Guerin also scored eight runs in the fifth inning. After the game, Troxell said he wanted to win sectionals for the team seniors. The Alabama recruit recognizes that the Golden Eagles' chances of winning start with Canada.
'His presence in the lineup is like no one else on our team,' Troxell said. 'When he's up, we know we're getting our best guy up there and he can compete with anyone. When we have him going, everyone seems to carry on with what he's doing.'
Canada finished Thursday's contest 2-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base. Canada leads Guerin in home runs (6), RBIs (27) and batting average (.431) this season. Canada admitted that he didn't expect to see this much success so early in high school but strives to 'work hard and see what happens.'
Canada started playing baseball at 4 years old when his dad, Brian, put a bat in his left hand and made him hit off a tee in the front yard of their Baltimore home. Brian played baseball at Miami University. Canada credits his dad with making him fall in love with the sport.
'When I took over the program in the fall, I thought he was a junior with how he carried himself, then I realized his dad played at Miami,' Schrage said. 'He's grown up with the game, so he has really good instincts.'
Schrage called Canada a 'quiet kid' who works hard and said Canada has 'probably taken the most swings in the batting on the team.'
'If he has a bad at-bat, he doesn't let it bother him,' Schrage said. 'A lot of kids sulk, or you can tell it frustrates them, but Ben's just even-keeled. If he goes 0-for-3, the next day he comes back and you wouldn't know.'
More: 'Friendly rivalry' to 'good friendship': How these two Brebeuf baseball players formed a bond
One key to Canada's success is boundaries. The 16-year-old said he finds time to complete his schoolwork and baseball practice before hanging out with friends.
Canada's focus has helped lead a young Golden Eagle squad to the sectional semifinals, where they will face Brebeuf (13-12) at 1 p.m. Monday.
'Winning sectionals would mean everything and I think it would be a really good accomplishment,' Canada said. 'We are returning most of our team next year, but this is the year to do it. It would mean a lot to our school.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
25 minutes ago
- New York Times
Why World Cup 2026 host cities are taking a light approach to the year-out hype
A year from now, the most expansive World Cup in history will kick off on North American soil, but you might not know it from walking around through any of the 11 U.S. host cities. Any soccer-themed billboards or Instagram advertising splashes are conspicuously absent. That the World Cup is coming is no secret, but the visible signs that we're at a 12-month countdown are few and far between. Advertisement By the time the 48 qualified teams begin their campaigns in the U.S., Mexico and Canada in 2026, the chances are that this will be the most hyped sporting event North America has ever seen. Yet despite the anticipation from soccer fans, the U.S. side has remained relatively hushed so far. So why hasn't there been more of a push? And why did the year-out marker pass by this week with so little domestic fanfare? 'It is kind of like the Club World Cup. We did not see a lot of action around it either,' Dave Wakeman of Wakeman Consulting, a strategy firm focused on sports, told The Athletic. There are several reasons U.S. host cities have not moved faster. For starters, many key details are still up in the air. Host cities do not know which matches they'll stage, the official draw isn't until December and unless you are eyeing premium hospitality packages that cost thousands of dollars, tickets for the general public aren't even on sale yet. With no significant financial help from FIFA, host cities are also juggling the responsibility of finding funds they need to use for promoting the event, multiple industry insiders told The Athletic. Add in the fact that FIFA traditionally launches its own major marketing push just six to nine months before the tournament, the current silence starts to make more sense. Still, for an event of this scale, the absence of orchestrated buzz could be seen as risky. 'Think of it like the launching of a blockbuster movie,' Wakeman said. 'You want to have an action plan that builds 90-180 days out. But you need to get going now because people have to plan. You are counting on people coming from around the world, but in the current environment you have to rely on American tourists more than usual.' But in most cases, the slow rollout appears to be a calculated move. Unlike most countries, the U.S. is saturated with major sporting events year-round, making it harder for any single tournament—even the World Cup—to dominate the spotlight. At least that's the reason one host city, San Francisco, is making sure it is using its resources efficiently. 'A year is actually a very short time before such a big event,' Zaileen Janmohamed, the president and CEO of the Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC), told The Athletic during the World Cup Host City event in New York on Monday. 'But we have a Super Bowl right before the World Cup, so we're making sure that we're prioritizing the right decisions at the right time. First we've got America's biggest game and then we have the world's biggest tournament.' Advertisement Starting Wednesday, many host cities will kick off their 'One Year Out' activations, following San Francisco's lead. In Seattle, the countdown clock will be unveiled at the base of the Space Needle during a fan celebration featuring local soccer legends and ambassadors to drum up excitement. Then on Sunday, which is exactly one year before Seattle hosts its first World Cup match, the host committee will team up with Seattle Reign and the Seattle Sounders to attempt a Guinness World Record for world's largest soccer clinic. In Houston, the host committee will host an exclusive event with city officials and potential donors, featuring former USMNT captain Carlos Bocanegra. In Kansas City, the chair of the host committee board will throw out the first pitch at Wednesday night's game between the Royals and New York Yankees to mark the one-year countdown. Despite being thoughtful about a big marketing push later in 2026, San Francisco is also planning on kicking off the marketing campaign with a plaque unveiling at the stadium with the city of Santa Clara on Wednesday, a speaking event with some of the biggest names in soccer from the Bay Area. It includes Bruce Arena, the coach of the San Jose Earthquakes, Brady Stewart of Bay FC and former USWNT legend and one of the owners of Bay FC, Aly Wagner, bringing together the soccer community in the Bay Area and will host a free and open clinic and a community festival in San Jose on Saturday for the public. Meanwhile, in Canada and Mexico, some of their host cities are already pitching things with posters revealed in public spaces to hype soccer fans. A post shared by FWC26Vancouver (@fwc26vancouver) But perhaps one of the most bizarre ways to kick off the World Cup promotions happened a few weeks ago in New York. For the first time ever, a professional soccer freestyler, Frankie Flo, juggled and dribbled a soccer ball through the Lincoln Tunnel, which connects New Jersey and New York, to spotlight 'the unifying power of sport and elevate community spirit,' according to the PR agency that promoted the event. Advertisement 'The Lincoln Tunnel Challenge 5K is a perfect reflection of what FIFA World Cup 26 NYNJ is all about, connecting the two great states of NY and NJ, and the entire region through athleticism, passion, and community spirit,' it read. Of all the ways to hype the biggest sporting event in history, a freestyling influencer dribbling a ball through a fume-choked tunnel every New Yorker despises, was an interesting one. It may have been an odd way to build buzz around the World Cup, but for organizers even a weird stunt like this signals a shift from vague hype to decisions and the beginning of the final push. 'How does it feel to be one year out? Does it make it more real? Of course!' Janmohamed explained. 'The good news is that the decisions start to get made instead of being in this phase where you're planning and thinking. We now have to make a decision, and that decision allows us to make other decisions. Understanding that the World Cup is coming next year, and I think it's actually going to be a really, really great tournament.'
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Summer McIntosh shatters two more swimming world records at Canadian trials
Three-time Olympic champion Summer McIntosh has done it again. The teenage swimmer set her second world record in three days at the Canadian trials on Monday night in Victoria, British Columbia. McIntosh swam the 200-meter individual medley in 2 minutes, 5.7 seconds, breaking the record of 2:06.12 set by Katinka Hosszu of Hungary in 2015. McIntosh is the first female swimmer to finish under 2:06. SUMMER MCINTOSH EARNS HER SECOND WORLD RECORD AT THE CANADIAN SWIMMING TRIALS 🤯👏 She breaks Katinka Hosszu's 200m individual medley world record with a time of 2:05.70. — CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) June 10, 2025 The 18-year-old from Toronto had already broken the world mark in the 400 freestyle on Saturday, completing the race in 3:54.18 and winning by more than 13 seconds. McIntosh took more than a second off the old record of 3:55.38 set by Ariarne Titmus of Australia in 2023. McIntosh broke her Canadian record in the 800 free on Sunday with a time of 8:05.07, which was just 0.95 of a second off the world record set by Katie Ledecky in May. Advertisement 'I knew that my training has been really good these past few months, and I knew that I could do something special,' McIntosh told the CBC. McIntosh also holds the 400 IM world record, as well as the 400 free, 200 butterfly and 400 IM records in the short-course pool. McIntosh and Ledecky are likely to meet in the 400 freestyle at the World Championships in Singapore on July 27. They also could battle in the 800 freestyle if McIntosh decides to swim in that race after bypassing it at the Paris Olympics. (Photo of Summer McIntosh: Joris Verwijst / BSR Agency / Getty Images)
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
It's England vs Senegal — and it's live!
Thomas Tuchel continues England's preparations for the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the U.S. with today's friendly against Senegal. The Three Lions made it three wins out of three in their qualifying campaign on Saturday, with a 1-0 victory against minnows Andorra in Barcelona. Nottingham Forest's City Ground hosts the game, marking England's return to the stadium for the first time in 80 years. Follow our build-up and live coverage below, including insights from our analysts and reporters at the ground. Kick-off: 7:45pm (UK), 2:45pm (ET), 11:45am (PT) 7:45pm (UK), 2:45pm (ET), 11:45am (PT) Watch: ITV1 (UK) ITV1 (UK) Streaming: Fubo (try for free) Fubo (try for free) Team news: likely to be revealed an hour and 15 minutes before kick-off likely to be revealed an hour and 15 minutes before kick-off Get in touch by contacting us at: live@ GO FURTHER Ten players who could steal the show at the 2026 World Cup
