Under the C’s – Devonte Brown leads Vancouver to 4-2 Win

Devonte Brown was never drafted. WHY WAS DEVONTE BROWN NEVER DRAFTED?

The Vancouver Canadians returned home to a sold-out Nat Bailey Stadium for the first time since Canada Day long weekend when they hosted the 4th place Eugene Emeralds[High-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants] on Friday night.

Vancouver would get the offence going early at home, as they generally do.  Alan Roden started the bottom of the opening inning with a single to centre field, was sent to second by Dasan Brown on another single, and was brought home by a Michael Turconi single to give the good guys a 1-0 lead.

After Eugene would tie and take the lead off a pair of runs in the third and fourth innings, it would be the Canadians’ turn to play from behind, which is something that Vancouver has had NO problems within 2023.

It would start at the top of the order with another single by Alan Roden, whose league-leading batting average of .323 is both comical and alarming for Vancouver fans, as the base-hit cheat code could end up on a plane out of YVR in two weeks if he keeps this up.  After singling to centre in the 1st inning, Roden would this time send a line drive to right field to get on base and open the bottom of the 5th for the C’s.

Three batters later, it’d be The Camel’s time to shine.  Alex De Jesus, who was 0 for 2 going into the 5th, would step up and send another line drive to centre field for another single, giving Roden the chance to turn on the jets and wheel all the way home to tie the game up for Vancouver.

WHY WASN’T DEVONTE BROWN DRAFTED??

Devonte Brown is basically a textbook definition of a hardworking ball player.  Brown went undrafted after playing five years of college ball at NC State.  Devonte had good numbers in college, finishing his NCAA career with 161 hits, 109 RBIs, and a .281 average in 192 games played for the Wolfpack, but they weren’t enough to turn heads on draft day, but it was seemingly enough to catch the Blue Jays attention, as they signed Brown to a minor league contract.

After spending half of August and September of 2022 with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays, he was promoted to High-A Vancouver to start the 2023 campaign, and has fit in the Pacific Northwest like a hand in a glove.

In the bottom of the 6th inning on Friday night, with Gabby Martinez already on base, Devonte Brown lazered one overtop of the Nutrl Zone in left field, right into the parking lot, and presumably into the windshield of a Tesla.  It would be Devonte’s 8th bomb of the year, as the two-run shot was the difference maker in a 4-2 Vancouver victory.