Caissie, Tong, Vallée, Skirrow named 2025 Canadian Baseball Network award winners

November 18, 2025  

Official Canadian Baseball Network News Release

The Canadian Baseball Network named the winners of its 2025 awards for top Canadian minor league hitter and pitcher in both the affiliated and unaffiliated ranks on Tuesday.  

Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.), who belted 22 home runs in triple-A in the Chicago Cubs’ organization, is the repeat Randy Echlin Award winner, as the top minor league hitter in the affiliated ranks. 

Meanwhile, right-hander Jonah Tong (Markham, Ont.), who topped all minor league pitchers with 179 strikeouts with the New York Mets’ double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies and triple-A Syracuse Mets, has been named the Wayne Norton Award winner as the Canadian minor league pitcher of the year.   

In the unaffiliated ranks, Mathieu Vallée (Saint-Eustache, Que.), who set a Frontier League record with 83 stolen bases with the Trois-Rivières Aigles, was named the Murray Zuk Award winner, as offensive player of the year, while right-hander Noah Skirrow (Stoney Creek, Ont.), who went 15-3 for the independent Atlantic League’s Lancaster Stormers, received the Claude Pelletier Award, as top pitcher.  

Caissie spent the bulk of the season with the Cubs’ triple-A affiliate in Iowa. In 99 games, he batted .286 and posted an .937 OPS with 22 home runs, 55 RBIs and five stolen bases. His performance earned him his first big league call-up on August 14. He belted a home run and had four RBIs in 12 major league games. Following the season, the left-handed hitting outfielder was named a Triple-A All-Star by Minor League Baseball.   

Caissie also won the Echlin Award in 2024. This makes him the fourth player to win the award more than once. The others are Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) who took home the honour in three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017 and two-time winners Brett Lawrie (Langley, B.C., 2010-11) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que., 2017-18). 

Tong put together a dominant season with the New York Mets’ double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies and triple-A Syracuse Mets, combining to go 10-5 with a 1.43 ERA in 22 starts. His 179 strikeouts were the most by any pitcher in the affiliated minor league ranks this season. He also topped all minor league hurlers in ERA and opponents’ batting average (.148). For his efforts, he was selected a First Team Minor League All-Star by Baseball America. His minor league dominance earned him his first big league call-up in late August.       

Vallée set a Frontier League record with 83 stolen bases in 88 games for the Trois-Rivières Aigles. He also ranked third in the league in hits (127), sixth in batting average (.352) and tied for sixth in runs (75). The left-handed hitting outfielder also had 19 doubles, 47 walks and a .428 on-base percentage. His performance earned him selection to the Frontier League’s 2025 All-Star Team that was announced in late August.  

Skirrow went 15-3 with a 3.99 ERA in 25 starts, spanning 137 1/3 innings, for the Lancaster Stormers in 2025. He topped all Canadians in the unaffiliated pro ranks in wins, starts, innings pitched and was second in strikeouts (143). His 15 wins also led the Atlantic League, while he finished second in innings pitched and strikeouts. For his efforts, he was selected the Atlantic League Pitcher of the starting pitcher on the 2025 Atlantic League All-Star Team following the season.  

Eleven baseball experts were polled for the Canadian Baseball Network’s annual awards that have been handed out in 16 previous years. Each award has been named after a Canadian who has made significant and long-lasting contributions to baseball. Randy Echlin (1950 to 2011) was a judge and former head of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Selection Committee, while Wayne Norton (1942 to 2018), Murray Zuk and Claude Pelletier have served as legendary scouts in Canada.