“You can never have too many quality arms.”

It’s an axiom that has been heard many times over within the ranks of Major League Baseball and many other higher levels of the sport.

The simple truth is that it also holds true at most levels of rep play, including with the 18U Sudbury Voyageurs.

Hosting the London Badgers for a three game weekend set with a depleted roster for a variety of reasons, the locals battled for a double-header split on Saturday, winning 6-1 but falling 5-1 in game two before being manhandled in the Sunday afternoon finale.

Head coach Ethan Jodouin would have surely been far more despondent were this to be any kind of an indication as to what the remainder of the summer of 2024 might look like. It certainly doesn’t seem as though he’s donned his rose-coloured glasses when he provided some context for a team that sits 5-5 with plenty of baseball still ahead.

“We feel good about our staff,” suggested Jodouin, not long after he tried to cobble together enough pitchers to work through a six-inning affair with the Badgers – without the contest becoming completely out of control.

“This weekend in particular was just a tough weekend,” Jodouin continued. “We had a lot of events going on. Team Ontario tryouts drew in a couple of the 16U players. Two injuries to our pitching staff took away two weekend starters for us – and we were still missing four additional players from our roster (various out of town commitments).”

“It was a juggling act, for sure, and in the end, it kind of led to our demise in game three,” Jodouin added. “But I feel really good for the remainder of the season. I would take our staff any day of the week.”

In terms of highlights on Sunday, 16U call-up A.J. Dubeau battled his way through 2 2/3 innings, giving way on the mound with his team trailing 5-2 and still very much in the game. A double digit outburst in the fourth gave London all the cushion they would need as Jodouin looked to plug holes in the dam.

“Game three was kind of “Johnny Whole-Staff”, as I like to call it,” he said. “It was all hands on deck. Whoever can throw, throws. We were very limited as to who could go where and do what.”

The encounter was a far cry from the series opener when Callum Baron continued to build upon a very impressive start to his summer, tossing a complete game no-hitter in holding a highly explosive London lineup in check.

“Everything was working, to be honest – and I had (Alex) Frawley behind the plate too and he knows me really well,” said Baron, a 17 year-old senior at Lockerby Composite. “We went to elementary school together and he’s caught me for years now. He understands what I want to throw next to get guys out.”

With that outing behind him, Baron began his preparation for what is likely a game one start versus the Midwestern Ontario Bearcats at Jack Couch Park in Kitchener next Saturday. “It starts right after you’re done pitching,” said the younger of two children in the family, his older sister () an accomplished figure skater.

“You want to have a good recovery. At practices during the week, you want to monitor your arm health. Usually you have a mid-week bullpen, so I will throw on Wednesdays. It’s “touch and feel”, as we call it, getting to know your arm. We’re not throwing max effort. Other than that, it’s just long tossing every day to keep your arm healthy.”

Hard to argue with the results, to date, for the young man who is the undisputed ace of the Sudbury pitching staff. “Giving Cal Baron the ball is such a comfort as a coach,” said Jodouin.

“You know exactly what to expect. He’ll take care of business and give you a chance to win.”

Baron, for his part, would be ecstatic if these same words were being uttered next spring by the staff of the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks' baseball program, the team for whom he expects to be pitching come this fall.

“There will be a pretty big difference,” said Baron, chatting about the jump from the PBLO to the OUA. “Obviously the guys are older there so more mature as hitters. I feel pretty comfortable coming in with my four pitches but over the course of this summer, I want to get stronger, a lot stronger because I will have to keep up at their level, strength-wise.”

In pitching his no-hitter on Saturday, Baron may have been hurt more by five walks if not for the eight strikeouts he compiled, with his battery mate (Alex Frawley) leading the offense with two hits and a pair of RBIs.

The Sudbury 16U Voyageurs dropped a three game set to the London Badgers over the course of the weekend, but with scores of 11-6, 4-1 and 13-8, they clearly found themselves in the thick of each and every game. Their top producers at the plate included Braiden Paul (three hits; two RBIs), Colton Nowoselsky (four hits; three walks; 2 runs scored) and A.J. Dubeau (hit; three walks; three runs).

On the mound, Braiden Paul surrendered one run through seven innings before faltering in the eighth, with Christopher St Germain allowing four runs in five and a third and Hudson Fletcher giving up three in three and a third.

While both the 18U and 14U teams are on the road to face the Bearcats, the 16U squad will be at home, also opposite the Midwestern Ontario crew, for a four game set next weekend at the Terry Fox Sports Complex.