Staff

Jason Booth

Director of Baseball Operations/ College Placement Coordinator

EmailJasonbooth1515@gmail.com

Coaching

Placed over 150 players into College Baseball
Team Ontario Baseball (Canadian Premiere Baseball League)
Director of Baseball Operations 2012-Present
18U Head Coach 2012-Present
Oakville Royals (Premier Baseball League of Ontario) 2009-2012
18U Head Coach 2009-2011
17U Head Coach 2012
College Placement Coordinator 2009-2012
University of Saint Francis, Indiana (NAIA)
Pitching Coach and Recruiting Coordinator 2005-2009
Hamilton Thunderbirds (Intercounty Baseball League)
Field Manager 2008,2009
Thornhill Reds (Ontario Baseball Association)
OBA Champions Field Manager 2007 & 2008
Future Stars Baseball Camp
Camp Director (2005-2008)
Eric Wedge Baseball Camp (Fort Wayne Indiana) 2005 – 2008
Ontario Diamond Jack
Director of Baseball Operations 2005

Player:

Tiffin University, Ohio (NCAA) 1999-2001
Goshen College, Indiana (NAIA) 2001-2004
Kitchener Panthers (Intercounty Baseball League) 2003-2004

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Kyle McKay

Director of Player Development/Pitching Coordinator/ Assistant Director of Recruiting

Emailkyle_mckay@rogers.com

Professional Baseball Career:

3 years professional baseball between 4 pro teams:

Traverse City Beach Bums (Frontier League), 2016

Trinidad Triggers, posted 1.22 ERA (Pecos league), 2016

Pecos League playoff championship finalists
Northern Division Champions (captured the Northern Division title, regular season and playoffs)

High Desert Yardbirds (Pecos League), 2017

Skagit Valley Lumberjacks (Mount Rainier Pro Baseball League), 2015

Team Canada

World Baseball Challenge 2013, represented Canada
2nd best tournament ERA, posting a 1.29 ERA
Threw 7 innings against Japan, allowing only 1 earned run
Strong outings versus Cuba and Japan, two international baseball powerhouses

Amateur Tournaments

Ramada Inn World Baseball Challenge, BC

Pitcher for Sidearm Nation for a Bronze Medal finish
Posted a 2-0 record in 3 outings with a 2.10 ERA

Semi Pro Career

Kitchener Panthers (Intercounty Baseball League), 2010-2015

IBL pitcher of the week honors in 2015
2015 IBL playoff championship berth
Multiple 1-hit outings throughout career vs Toronto Maple Leafs, London Majors, and Ottawa Fatcats

College Summer Baseball

Medicine Hat Mavericks 2013 (Western Major Baseball League)

WMBL championship finalists
Captured the Western Division title
Set single-season league team wins record, 46-10
CG 1-hitter vs Weyburn, June 9th, 2013
Received WMBL pitcher of the week honors
Posted a 2.15 ERA on the season

College Baseball Career

University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne, 2012-2014

All-time single season strikeout record holder
All-time career ERA record holder
First Team All Crossroads Conference honors

University of South Carolina Upstate, NCAA D1, Atlantic Sun Conference, 2011-2012

Second-place regular-season finish in the ASUN Conference

Kaskaskia College, NJCAA D1, 2010- 2011

Ranked in the Top 25 nationally for K’s per 9 innings in 2011

COACHING BACKGROUND AND HIGHLIGHTS:

Pitching Coach, University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne, 2014-2015

In charge of pitchers’ throwing programs/schedules, lifting/weight training, and running

Team Ontario Pitching Coach, 18U, 2015- 2016

Team Ontario Pitching Coordinator, 2016— present

Team Ontario Astros 16U Head Coach, fall 2017—present

2019 Troy Memorial Invitational champions (6-0 record)
2018 2nd place finish at Perfect Game Columbus
2018 2nd place finish at DSP World Series (3-1 record)
2019 Elite Baseball Oakland U Grizzlies Classic semi-final berth

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Dan Gillis

Director of Education

Coach Dan Gillis is in his first year on the 18U coaching staff and will serve as Coach Booth’s bench coach to keep our big team organized and disciplined. Coach Gillis grew up in Nova Scotia, playing multiple sports including baseball under the tutelage of East Coast legend Sam Turnbull (grandfather of Olympian Blayre Turnbull) and Ray Slovaka (formerly of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization). He was also a competitive rugby player in Nova Scotia and at Saint Mary’s University (SMU).

Dan has coached baseball since the age of 16 and has been involved in several organizations in Nova Scotia and Ontario. He was on the staff of the first Rep team in the Stouffville Baseball Association. He distinguished himself as a coach for several years with the Newmarket Hawks, capping his career with an OBA championship team at the Minor Midget level in 2016. He is an NCCP provincially certified baseball coach.

He has also coached at the high school level and was co-founder of high school baseball at Sir William Mulock Secondary School in Newmarket. He also started high school hockey at Mulock SS, winning a York Region championship in the team’s second season. He has also coached rugby for many years in York Region high schools. Coach Gillis is a high school principal at Sutton District High School; but prior to this, he spent four and a half years as a vice principal at Bill Crothers Secondary School, where he helped many young athletes move on to university sport in Canada and the United States.

Dan continues to coach community hockey. He sits on the executive for York Region Athletic Association for high school sports and the Ontario Federation of Secondary Schools Athletic Association Principals Council.

Coach Gillis brings a wealth of coaching and administrative experience to the Team Ontario Astros and has been selected to sit on the board of directors of the organization. Welcome to the 18U coaching staff, Coach Gillis!

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Jon Carson

Analytics and Strategies Coordinator

Team Ontario are pleased to announce the addition of Jon Carson to our staff as a Analytics and Strategies coordinator.

Working directly with all Team Ontario age groups, Jon will provide support and analytical information to players and coaches throughout the year to improve player performance.

Having been involved in baseball for over 30 years, Jon has coached at various Youth, High School and at the OCAA level.

Jon runs a number of very successful charity baseball tournaments to honour fallen police officer Garrett Styles. The funds raised from these tournaments go towards baseball-related activities that engage youth in the GTA, which helps break down cultural barriers and assists those in need.

Using his background in performance optimization and psychology, he has taught emergency service personnel resiliency skills for the last 10 years.

Jon recently completed training in scouting and data analytics, and has joined the staff of Prep Baseball Report and the Philadelphia Phillies as a scout / associate scout respectively. He looks to bring his personal and professional experiences to the Team Ontario family to help all players improve their performance and resiliency on and off the field.

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Al Nixon

Assistant Director Baseball Operations

Veteran player and coach Al Nixon joined Team Ontario’s staff in 2016 and assisted the 16U squad during their successful American Midwest road trip through Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana in July 2016.

Al is a baseball lifer who started playing at age 4. He grew up in Scarborough, playing for Agincourt up to and including his Midget seasons and left to play Junior Baseball in Leaside for 4 seasons. It was with Leaside that Al started catching full-time.

Al signed with the Intercounty Maple Leafs and also played Senior Baseball with Leaside. With Leaside, Al won several OBA championships and lost three Senior Canadian Elimination Finals to the Windsor Stars. After the final trip to the Canadian Elimination Finals, Al changed teams and played for the Thornhill Reds of the Metro Senior League until the end of his playing career in 2004, when he retired at the age of 38.

Al switched his focus to coaching when his twin boys, Shane and Drew, turned 4. He coached the Markham Mariners for 11 years, and his teams won several YSBA championships and an OBA championship in 2014. Al is a veteran coaching presence on the 18U coaching staff, where he had the opportunity to coach his sons Shane and Drew for two years with the Astros before they departed for their successful college careers in Oklahoma and Iowa, respectively.

The Team Ontario Astros benefit from Al’s coaching savvy and playing career successes at the IBL and Provincial levels. Al remains a student of the game, and he looks for all the small edges for our players to prepare them for baseball at the college level. He was selected as the Team Ontario Astros Coach of the Year in 2018 for his contributions in building the program and the brand of the Astros on and off the field. Al Nixon is a valued member of the Team Ontario Astros community.

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Nick DeSanctis

Fielding Coordinator

University of Arkansas Little Rock NCAA D1 (Sun Belt Conference)

Connors State College NJCAA D1

-World Series Appearance 2006 -Ranked in top 20 -Honorable Mention All Conference Team -Regional Champions 2006

Nick played high school ball for King City Secondary School, advancing to the Prentice Cup in 2003 and 2004.His collegiate career began at Connors State Junior College. During his two seasons at Connors State, the team was never ranked outside the top 20 Division I Junior College teams in the country.

Nick earned All-Conference Honourable Mention in 2005 and advanced to the Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado in 2006.

Nick played two years at the University of Arkansas Little Rock in the Sun Belt Conference. During the 2007 and 2008 seasons at Little Rock, Nick appeared in all 97 games while drawing starts in 88 of them. In 2007, Nick led the Trojans in batting average, on base percentage, and stolen bases during Conference play.Nick batted a combined .283 and compiled a .964 fielding percentage during his two seasons at Little Rock.

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Daryl Ringwald

Catching Coordinator

Coach Daryl Ringwald’s wide range of coaching experiences provides Coach McKay with many complementary attributes. Daryl’s coaching career started at the age of 16 when he trained the catchers of the Oakville Whitecaps—a team that captured the 12U Halton Region district championship. He served as a player coach at Thomas A. Blakelock High School in Oakville in 2001 and 2002.

After staying away from baseball for a couple years due to injuries, he started Northern All-Stars Baseball and is entering his 14th season as a professional instructor. During this time, he has taught over 500 players, including many that are currently playing on scholarships in Division I, II, III, NAIA, NJCAA, and OUA schools, such as Bowling Green State University, Indiana University Kokomo, San Joaquin Delta College, Slippery Rock University, Labette Community College, Western University, University of Guelph, University of Rochester, Hofstra University, Point University, Trinidad State Junior College, Indiana Tech, Midland University, and Bemidji State University, as well as Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati Reds).

Daryl has joined the instructor staff at The Dugout—the Team Ontario Astros off-season training facility that also provides clinics and camps to younger players.

Coach Ringwald began playing organized baseball at four years old in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. He moved to Ontario at 12 and played for the Oakville A’s where he was a Bantam COBA All-Star and a high average/contact hitting pitcher, catcher, and third baseman. He played two seasons for the Halton Athletic Club in the CEBC, SEMBA, and AABC, but suffered an arm injury at 16 that could not be surgically repaired. He played his final season for the Ontario Falcons, primarily as a DH/1B and finished his playing career with a .500 batting average.

Despite numerous opportunities at junior colleges and Division II programs, Coach Ringwald opted not to attend post-secondary on baseball scholarships after a second failed attempt at shoulder repair. When one door closes, another opens; and Coach Ringwald’s love of the game eventually led to Northern All-Stars and 14 seasons of successful business practices in the training of college-bound baseball players. Coach Ringwald’s positive impact on the 16U squad has been immediate, based on the team’s quick development and their recent undefeated run at the Memorial Day tournament in Troy, Ohio. Welcome to the Team Ontario Astros, Coach Ringwald!

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Joe Presutti

Outfield Coordinator

Coach Presutti is in his third year with the Team Ontario Astros. He was selected Coach of the Year by the organization in February 2019 for his 14U team’s rapid progress all the way to the 2018 CPBL finals, where they narrowly lost to the Great Lake Canadians. Coach Presutti has high hopes for his squad as he has moved with them to the 15U division in 2019.

Joe joined Team Ontario’s coaching staff in 2016-2017 after playing at the American collegiate level (see below).

Joe made his mark at St. Theresa of Lisieux CHS as one of the finest baseball players in the school’s history. He was a very effective leader and served as captain. He led the Lions to YRAA North Division titles and two semi-final berths in his four seasons as STL’s best player.

Based on his high school results, Joe earned a scholarship to Southeastern Illinois Community College. He later transferred to Morton Community College, where he earned 2nd Team All-Conference Honors in the Skyway Collegiate Conference. In addition to his fine accomplishments on the field, Joe demonstrated his student-athlete commitment to the classroom when he earned Skyway Collegiate Conference All-Academic Honors at Morton CC, and he graduated with two associates in Liberal Studies and Arts.

Joe played two years for Catawba Valley Stars in the Carolina Virginia Collegiate League, a competitive summer league that competes against numerous Coastal Plains League teams. There, he had the opportunity to play against the Team USA Junior National Team in Cary, North Carolina. Joe went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts Degree at Trinity Christian College with a major in Criminal Justice and a minor in Business. He also had the privilege of participating in the school’s first-ever appearance in the Opening Round of the NAIA World Series and was coached by former Major League pitcher Adrian Hernandez and minor league outfielder Ricky Angell.

As a 14U Head Coach for two seasons, Coach Presutti has been steadily building our Elite Baseball program and establishing firm foundations for the Astros organization. He is a terrific addition to our community because he is a skilled baseball coach who has an easy-going, positive way with our players and was an exemplary student-athlete at the high school and collegiate level.

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Shaun McGuire

1st Base Coordinator

Coach Shaun McGuire enters his first season as an Astros 16U staff member and brings a wealth of playing, coaching, and administrative experience to our organization. Currently the president of the Aurora King Baseball Association, Coach McGuire has grown the relationship between the AKBA and the Team Ontario Astros through coach and player clinics.

Coach McGuire started playing baseball at six years old at East York and continued playing for the next 34 years, during which he won numerous batting titles, MVP awards, and team championships. His wide range of playing experiences included capturing the Canadian national championship in 1989, winning a national bronze medal in 2006, and finishing seventh at the national championships in 2008.

Shaun also played two seasons of travel baseball with the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays organizations, touring US colleges under Andy Lawrence and Ron Chabot in 1988-89. Shaun received various offers to attend US colleges and chose Armstrong State Junior College in Savannah, Georgia in 1990. After his college playing career, Shaun became a player-coach with East York and also helped administer the organization by becoming East York’s voting member on league-wide issues between 2004-2010.

Coach McGuire broadened his administrative and coaching experiences by coaching the Georgina Bulldogs in 2011 and 2012, coaching the Aurora Jays in 2013-2015, and serving as the Vice President of Aurora King Baseball Association (2015-2016). Shaun coached with Rich and Rob Butler in 2017. We welcome Coach Shaun McGuire to the Astros 16U Coaching Staff.

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Loretta Murray

Director of Finance