Outfielder Tyson Gillies will wear the Maple Leaf on the baseball diamond next month at the 2015 Toronto Pan American Games.
Gillies has been named to the roster of Canada’s baseball team.
The Chase native is batting .268 through 33 games for the San Antonio Missions, a double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres in the Texas League. The speedy centre-fielder from the North Thompson was at one point a top prospect of the Phillies before being signed by San Diego.
Canada’s roster is headlined by veteran major-league pitcher and B.C. native Jeff Francis.
He made his major league debut on Aug. 25, 2004, with Colorado and has pitched with Kansas City, Cincinnati, Oakland, the New York Yankees and Toronto.
Canada’s roster includes eight players from the team that won gold at the 2011 Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico: Andrew Albers, Shawn Hill, Brock Kjeldgaard, Kyle Lotzkar, Dustin Molleken, Chris Robinson, Tim Smith and Skyler Stromsmoe.
Other B.C. players on the team are infielder Jesse Hodges of Victoria, infielder Jordan Lennerton of Langley, pitcher Adam Loewen of Surrey, pitcher Kyle Lotzkar of Abbottsford, outfielder Tyler O’Neill of Maple Ridge, and outfielder Rene Tosoni of Port Coquitlam.
The baseball schedule at the Games gets underway on July 11, when Canada will play its first game, against the formidable Dominican Republic.