Tag: second round

From zero to 96, my life as it led to the draft and this World Cup

By Landon Leach

Here I am.

At the end of the world championships, playing right at home in Thunder Bay, with my friends and teammates on the Canadian Junior National Team, and my time as a junior player about to come to an end.

This last trip means everything to me, especially with this group of guys. We’ve been together for quite a while now, and I’ve seriously made friendships for life with the rest of the guys on this team. They’re my family now. I’m never going to forget them, the fun we’ve had, the games we’ve played here, and it just feels so great to be Canadian right now, honestly.

The World Cup got started with the opening ceremonies at Port Arthur Stadium, and that was fun. We were playing right afterward and there was a big crowd there, and obviously everyone was cheering for us because we’re the home team.

Our start to the tournament wasn’t quite as fun. After we lost in extras to Chinese Taipei on that opening night, I got the ball for our team against Korea, the top team in our pool. I was ready, but it didn’t exactly go as planned. Those guys are a whole lot different than anybody I’ve ever faced, with the style of hitting they use and the pitches they were looking for. I didn’t pitch to my potential, but I know the next time I’m going to come back and do a lot better.

There were definitely some moments where I had a good time out there, with the crowd behind us cheering and everyone there supporting us. It’s just such a great feeling, pitching in front of more fans than we’ve ever had at our games. All we want to do is give them something to cheer about.

Going down 0-2 in the tournament put us in a tough spot, and meant that we had to win every single game in the first round to move on. I got anxious there a few times, like with Italy leading our third game all the way to the ninth inning, but like Greg Hamilton, our manager, always says, we’re a resilient team. We always come back strong, and that’s what we’ve been doing.

Three wins in a row put us in the super round, and right where we belong, and wins against Japan and Cuba have us competing for bronze today. There’s really no feeling like wearing Canada across your chest and competing for your country. It’s hard to describe, but it’s an unbelievable experience. And it all starts with Greg, who has been the best leader we could ask for to guide us.

Opening the super round with a loss to USA definitely wasn’t what we wanted to do, but our team has been in every game and we know we could do more going forward. It’s been really hard for me when I have to sit on the bench and watch the games, because I have a pitch count and I need so many days’ rest, and I understand that, but sometimes I wish I could just go out there and do my job and help the team get the win.

But our team has been doing a great job. The guys out of the bullpen have been great so far and I have tons of confidence in them. But of course I wish I had the ball in my hand to do the job. I can’t wait to come I out of that bullpen against Japan and do absolutely everything I can for this squad and for this medal.

I’m really glad the Twins let me come here, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it. But this is the team, this Canadian Junior National Team, that helped me get to play with them. I’ve had two years with Team Canada, and it gave me the exposure and experience I needed to lead me to the draft. And before this World Cup, the draft was one of the best experiences I ever had.

Leading up to the start of the draft, it was a day like any other day.

I went to school, and then I actually had a dentist appointment after school. The only difference was that I went back home and called my agent, Mark Pieper. We’d had a few conversations leading up to the draft, and I knew there were a few teams that were really interested in me, and most of them were thinking the third round, because that’s where I was projected to go.

I wasn’t really thinking anything might happen the first day, with just the first and second rounds going on. I was excited about the third round though. Just getting drafted in general, knowing that it was going to happen to me, was truly an honour. There are so many great players who get drafted each year, and having that experience was going to be amazing. I knew it would be unbelievable.

I turned on the draft just before it started and watched maybe the first 10 picks before I had to stop and do my homework. Each pick was taking an eternity to be announced, and I still had to go to school the next day, so I figured I could watch more when I was done. But when I came downstairs to do that, my mom actually told me I should go to bed because I needed to get up early.

I usually have a late-night snack before I go to bed, so I started eating and getting ready to shut it down for the day. My mom was in the kitchen and my dad was already in bed, and maybe 10 minutes before I was about to go to bed, I got a call from Mark with the Twins offer, asking me if we were going to do this deal.

It was literally 30 seconds before the second round was starting, and the Twins had the first pick. It all happened really fast, and I had to make a quick decision. I needed to answer Mark right away and I knew what I wanted to do, because it was too good to pass up. Of course, I said yes.

Part of me didn’t believe what was happening. I knew there was a possibility, because teams were interested, but they didn’t know what kind of money they had or what I would take, because I didn’t give out a hard number before the draft. There was a certain point where I would fulfill my commitment to Texas instead of playing pro ball, but I really wanted to play and I wanted to start my career right away. But we wanted to see where the value landed. So we weren’t really expecting it, but we were hopeful.

My dad wasn’t quite fully asleep when Mark called, but my mom had to run up the stairs to get him so that we could all watch the Twins announce their second-round pick together. Hearing my name, 37th overall, it was an honest shock.

I didn’t expect to go that high, and there hadn’t been much interest from the Twins that I had heard about. They weren’t one of the teams on my radar before the draft. I was really surprised they picked me, even though Walt Burrows had started covering Canada for them, but I was also really glad it was them, because of him. And when they called, offering me a place in the second round, $1.4 million, and a chance to be a part of their organization, I couldn’t say no.

Walt was the first scout who had ever shown any interest in me. When I first met him, he was working for MLB’s scouting bureau, running the camps across Canada. It was my 16U year and I had just started to pitch after spending all my time catching, convinced by my coaches Hyung Cho and John Marriotti to try out the mound, and it wasn’t long after that Walt invited me to a showcase. He was the only scout who talked to me at that first one.

So when Walt called me 10 minutes after the Twins picked me, it was a real emotional call for both of us. I’m not sure I was processing any of the information coming in at the time, but I couldn’t have been happier to talk to him and he seemed the same. It had been a good ride, and it was about to keep going.

The draft hadn’t even really entered my mind until this spring. There were some people telling me I was going to get drafted, and I never, ever thought it would be this high, but it wasn’t until spring that my draft stock rose and I started to make my way onto the scouts’ radar. It was also the first time that I really started to feel like I was fitting in, that I could compete with the other guys I played with for Team Canada, and that I belonged with some of the competition we were facing.

My first spring trip this year wasn’t so great. I didn’t really pitch to my potential after putting in so much work over the winter and trying to step up my game so that this year could be the biggest year for me yet. But on my second trip with the junior team, I was hitting 96 on the radar guns, and we had a game against the Blue Jays that was big for me. I came back from an iffy second inning against them and dominated, and really showing my composure on the mound, and I think coming back from a struggling inning helped my stock go up.

From there, everything happened really fast. My life changed in a matter of a few months, and it’s been hard to process it all.

About a week-and-a-half after the draft and all of the craziness that went along with it, the Twins brought me to Minnesota to sign my contract and show me around a little bit. Both of my parents came with me, and we got there on a Thursday night. It was my first time there, and I really loved Target Field. It’s a nice park, and the outside looks great with all the stone, and the clubhouse and training facilities and everything were amazing. It’s a cool atmosphere, being outside. I could easily picture myself coming out onto that mound, and I hope it happens one day soon.

My parents were pretty speechless at everything. We all were. They were really excited for me, and they love seeing their only son happy, so it was great to be able to have that experience with them, as a family.

The next day in Minnesota was a huge medical day for me. I had to go through all their medical tests and a bunch of stuff, and I finally signed my contract that night at Target Field, after getting all the clearance they needed. It was a little bit just like you think signing papers would be, but it was exciting at the same time. I was a little nervous, but mostly excited. It took me a little bit to sign my name at the bottom, and there were a lot of papers to sign, but it was awesome and I’m happy I was able to have the opportunity to do that.

And they made me a millionaire. I know I have to mention it because everyone talks about it, but my life isn’t going to change because of that. I’m still going to be the same person and I don’t even know what I want to do with it. Right now, I don’t have any plans for it, I’m just going to put it away.

It’s been an amazing summer, and I’m so grateful for my first experience of pro ball with the Twins and I’ll be excited to go back and play with them again, but for now, it’s all about Team C. This is my team, now and forever, and I just want to go to war with these guys and put a stamp on the end of my junior career.

We’re ready.

By Landon Leach

Photo credit: WBSC/Christian Stewart

From Bermuda to Sarasota, my life as it led to the Orioles

By Adam Hall

It all started in Bermuda.

That’s where I was born, and where I was raised until I turned 12. I played every sport I could, and I knew they came easier to me than other people, and that if I worked hard, I could hope to be the best. I also knew that if I stayed on the island, I would probably max out my athletic years in track and field.

But I wanted to play baseball.

It wasn’t popular in Bermuda. I played for the Diamondbacks, and was lucky to play with kids older than I was so that I could get better. There wasn’t a ton of competition around, but it was a sport where you could always be working on something, even if you had no one else to play with. I gravitated to it because I could always be doing something to try and get better, and you can see improvements without even playing games.

My ceiling was up to me, and that has always been something I’ve enjoyed about it.

There haven’t ever been any professional baseball players from Bermuda before. I’ll be the first, when I officially take the field in Sarasota, Florida with the Gulf Coast League Orioles. It’s a cool fact, but I don’t feel like I overcame any odds to get here.

I’ve been fortunate to be on the path I took.

First, my parents, Helen and Tyler, let me move to Canada before I was even a teenager. We had visited every summer, coming to see my grandparents, and I got a glimpse of baseball in London, Ontario with the Badgers. My coaches now, who saw me then, said that I stood out, and that was probably what helped convince my mom and dad to let me leave. They mentioned it could be a possibility in the future, and I talked them into it that year, when I was 12.

That was the start of the next step.

I never really thought much about moving away from home, because I just wanted to go and play. I wasn’t too concerned about leaving my parents. I lived with Ken Frohwerk and Karen Stone, whose son Zach also played for the Badgers, and didn’t find it difficult to be in another country, although my mom might say something different. But I was playing baseball, so I was happy.

The next summer, a new program was starting in London. Adam Stern, who played in the big leagues with the Red Sox, had built a baseball facility in London when he retired, and with a few other pro guys from the area retiring from playing, they started the Great Lake Canadians, an elite program comparable to a travel-ball team in the States.

I went from playing 10 games a year with maybe 10 practices in Bermuda, to 60 games a season in London. During the off-season, I was probably going to Centrefield Sports, Sterny’s facility, three to five times a week.

That was when I started hearing about the draft, and what it might be like. My GLC coaches Sterny, Chris Robinson or ‘Robbie’, Jamie Romak and Brock Kjeldgaard all told me about their experiences and how different it was for all of them. Jamie went out of the same high school I did, A.B. Lucas Secondary, Brock from Indian Hills Community College, and Sterny and Robbie both went out of university, the University of Nebraska and the University of Illinois, so I got to hear their views and opinions on it. They told me what to expect either way, and tried to help me make sure that I would someday make the decision I wanted to make, not what other people wanted me to do, or thought was best for me.

Being with the Canadians helped me get to Team Canada, where I’ve had some of my best moments on the field. The junior national team has been my favourite thing to do, and I’m lucky I have been able to do it for three years. I couldn’t have been more excited when I first found out I made the team. It was a goal I had set for myself, and something I knew I wanted to do. I’m as much Canadian as I am Bermudian and it meant a lot to make the team.

The trips with Team Canada are the best, just because of how close you get with all the guys, and I’m pretty fortunate because I’ve been able to travel all over with them. I’ll keep some of the best moments with the team, but I’ve been to Australia, Japan, Dominican, Cuba, and throughout the States, and the whole experience has really been the best thing that I’ve done so far. It does so much for Canadian baseball players, and it did so much for me.

Even though I don’t know right now what the plan will be, I do hope I get one more trip with the junior team this summer, to the world championships on home soil in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I’d like to be able to support the program and give back a little bit of what it gave to me, and I’m optimistic about it. I’ve heard really good things about the crowds in Thunder Bay, and having that many fans behind you as you’re representing your country, just thinking about it gives me chills.

When I started with the national team, that was when things really kicked into gear leading up to this summer. I began to look at college options, falling in love with Texas A & M and committing to the Aggies, and really started to get a feel for what the draft process was going to be like.

My parents and I learned a lot. Eventually they both moved to London and we got to be together again, and a lot of our life was about baseball. We were pretty unaware of the whole process of what would happen leading up to this year’s draft, and the whole extent of everything there is involved with it. There’s definitely more than you can expect, even if someone explains it all to you ahead of time. It’s a lot more when you go through it yourself.

We had a lot of meetings and phone calls, being introduced to agents and college recruiters and area scouts and cross checkers and scouting directors, having people visit our home, ask questions, answer questions, go to showcases, go to big league stadiums, more meetings, more phone calls. Each one of us learned through it all.

I learned that I can’t control everything that happens. I went into it all with the mentality to just keep playing my game and not worry about trying to impress scouts. Obviously, I didn’t know if that was how you should approach it, before getting into that situation, but that’s what I did learn, to just try to go out and play my game and be myself.

The process did not go the way I thought it would.

Last year, the year before my draft year, when I was in Grade 11, I performed pretty well in the spring and throughout that summer on the showcase circuit. I was having fun and playing well.

Then this spring, I had some difficulties getting my game back and getting ready.

This was my year, and I expected it to keep going into this year. That was a little bit of a problem for me. I was frustrated, of course. Anytime you’re not doing what you want to be able to be doing, you’re going to get frustrated. But I had to try to manage that, so that it was healthy instead of trying to do too much and pushing myself too hard.

Hopefully it has helped me. Now I have a better idea of how to get through a slump when it’s an important time and I might be pressing a little bit. I was able to find myself again, and if it ever happens again (hopefully it doesn’t), I will know I can get through it.

In the days leading up to the draft, there weren’t a ton of phone calls, definitely less than I might have expected. There were probably five teams that I talked to within a couple days of the draft. I had a bunch of workouts pop up right before, but I expected that. I went to Kansas City to work out for the Royals, and then to Florida for the Astros and Padres, and then there was one in Milwaukee for the Brewers.

The night of the first two rounds of the draft, every pick took a really long time. I was with my mom and dad, and the family who took me in when I moved to London at their house. We were all watching it, not really distracting ourselves with anything else, and I was getting restless. The time between selections was painful.

When the second round started, with the first pick, the Minnesota Twins took my Team Canada teammate Landon Leach. That was a temporary distraction because I was really happy for him. He’s worked hard and improved a lot, and it was definitely something he deserved.

About 10 seconds before the 60th pick of the night and of the draft, my agent Matt Colleran called me and told me the Baltimore Orioles were going to take me, and my name would be the next one to be called. Matt told me what they were offering and asked if I was good with it, and that was the extent of the call before I got to hear my name.

I was pretty happy, to say the least.

So were my parents, friends, and everyone around me.

Right afterward, Chris Reitsma called to congratulate me. Reits is a national cross checker with the Orioles now, but when I met him, he was coaching the junior national team. Other than playing for Team Canada while he was a pitching coach, I had never talked to the Orioles before the draft. He was my only interaction with the organization at all.

It was a little bit surprising, but I knew that was something to expect. That’s what had happened to Sterny when he got drafted. I knew it was a possibility. And it didn’t really matter who it was in that moment, it was exciting.

My next interaction with the Orioles came when the draft was all over, and they made arrangements for me to come to Baltimore to put pen to paper and make it official. I graduated high school a little earlier than my peers, and I was about to leave London and become a professional baseball player.

I flew to Maryland with my mom and dad, and the first night we got to walk around the city a little bit. It was my first time in Baltimore, and it was definitely interesting. It’s right on a bay, so I guess you could say it has some similarities to Bermuda.

We got to go to Orioles Park at Camden Yards the next day. First, I had to go through all of their medical examinations, so they could make sure they were getting a healthy player before signing over their money and committing to me, but then we got to go to the field. They gave us a tour, and we got to watch the team take batting practice, and we stayed for a game against the Cleveland Indians.

The ballpark was a lot different than I expected, but most are. I really liked that out in right field, on Eutaw Street, they have a marker for every home run ball that’s been hit in a game on the ground in the street, with the distance and the name of the guy who hit it.

It would have to be a pretty deep opposite-field shot for me to get there, but maybe someday.

We met quite a few guys in the Orioles’ front office, and it was good to get to talk to them, because they’re people I’ll be dealing with in the future now. It was with them that we made it official.

The actual signing of the paperwork wasn’t very ceremonious. They took a picture with me and my parents and the contract after I had gone through it all, but you just go through and sign what needs to be signed, and it’s all done with less importance than you might think.

But the Baltimore Orioles made me a millionaire. I don’t have the money yet, so technically I’m not, but I signed with them for $1.3 million, and I wouldn’t even say it if it wasn’t posted everywhere for anyone to see. I don’t think I’m going to do anything with it right away. A lot of guys I know bought cars with their bonuses, but I won’t need one down in Sarasota, so I’m not going to get a car right away.

I would like to do something for my parents, but they won’t want me to do that. I’m going to have to try to figure that out.

But now it’s official.

I’ve been fortunate with what I’ve been able to do, being able to move from Bermuda, being able to play with the Badgers, and then the Great Lake Canadians, and then with the junior team. I don’t think I could have been in a better position from where I’ve been, with my parents and all the support they’ve given me.

Obviously growing up in Bermuda and playing baseball isn’t the most ideal place to start, and maybe the odds were not necessarily in my favour, but I feel like they’ve been pretty good.

They worked for me, and here I am, ready to move again.

Great Lake’s Hall selected in second round of draft

Hailing from the opposite of a baseball hotbed in Bermuda to becoming the 60th overall pick in Major League Baseball’s first-year player draft this year, selected in the second round by the the Baltimore Orioles, Adam Hall has proved himself to be an anomaly over and over in his young career.

Born and raised on the British island territory in the Atlantic ocean, Hall grew up playing soccer, cricket and volleyball, excelling in track and field, while honing his baseball skills in the country’s rookie league and benefiting from competing against older players, a opportunity given to him by the late Tom MacNeil, before earning funding from the Bermudan government to help him pursue his dream further.

On a summer trip with his parents Helen and Tyler to Ontario, the young infielder experienced his first chance at a Canadian baseball season before his teenage years. Hall was always an exceptional athlete, and his talent was recognized early. Not long after that first season, he moved full-time to London, Ont., essentially on his own at first, living with a host family and playing for the local Badgers team.

Fast forward several years since then, and two additional moves to bring his father and then his mother to southwestern Ontario, Hall graduated to the Great Lake Canadians program in its inaugural season, and as the program grew, so did the London resident’s presence on the Canadian baseball scene.

Hall joined the Canadian Junior National Team program at 15 years old and along with the guidance of national squad guru Greg Hamilton, has had a plethora of big-league coaches along the way, starting with Great Lake’s Adam Stern, Chris Robinson and Jamie Romak, and continuing with Team Canada instructors Pete Orr, Justin Morneau, and Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar, to name a few.

“If I had stayed in Bermuda, I wouldn’t even be playing baseball because they don’t have age groups for me,” Hall said earlier this year. “Maybe I would be doing track and field…Canadian baseball has changed my life a lot. Getting to work with Stern and [Robinson] and those guys at Centrefield Sports, they’ve been a huge part of my development. I would be here if it wasn’t for them.

“And the program that Greg runs is just phenomenal. When you talk to American scouts and they’re impressed and saying that it’s the best program out there, you know that’s really complimenting it. They’re going to want to say that the US has something better – the US is a baseball powerhouse – [and] they’re saying the Canadian junior program is the best program. What I’ve been able to develop through that and improve through that, it’s really been everything.”

Since joining Team Canada, Hall has been on countless trips to St. Petersburg and Orlando, Florida, along with the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Australia, and to the 2015 U18 Baseball World Cup in Osaka, Japan. The shortstop cherishes each tour as much as the entirety of the experience of representing Canada on the diamond.

“You remember the people you played with, the people you met, how close you were with them, and just how the family comes together that is Baseball Canada,” he said. “The experiences will last a lifetime and you’re a part of the family forever.”

Hall’s initial shot at the showcase circuit was at the Toronto Blue Jays-hosted Tournament 12, the first of many doors to open for the 6-foot, 170-pound shortstop. Beyond four appearances in four years at Tournament 12, the middle infielder also participated in multiple Perfect Game events, the East Coast Pro showcase, the Area Code Games, the Under Armour All-America Game, and Perfect Game’s All-American Classic at PETCO Park.

Though the 18-year-old never considered himself the prototypical type of player expected at the kinds of showcase events he participated in – not blowing everyone out of the water in any one category – his ability to remain consistently at the top of each of his tools was what separated him from the crowd.

“You think of the guys who go to those games and you think of big guys who are hitting the ball far and pitchers who are throwing 95 [miles per hour] plus,” Hall said. “I wouldn’t say I’m the typical guy to go to those but obviously I’m pretty happy that [I did]…

“I can bring a little bit of everything, whether that’s speed, defence, my arm, batting, power. When I bring all of that to a game, that’s what impresses people. It’s not just one thing in particular that I’m going to impress someone with.”

Hall has certainly impressed all those he’s been around throughout his years of development in Canadian baseball, and the Texas A & M commit has a bright future ahead of him, no matter what decision he makes.

Hall’s selection in the draft followed fellow Canadian Premier Baseball League member and Team Canada teammate Landon Leach, taken by the Minnesota Twins with the first pick of the second round, 37th overall, who was most impressed throughout his tenure with the national squad by the infielder.

“Adam Hall has really impressed me the most since we’ve been playing for the Junior National Team,” the 17-year-old right-hander said. “Especially with his work ethic and his hitting ability, and his defence as well. Overall, he’s been a good teammate and a good player to be around.”

Mets’ Leach first Canadian off this year’s draft board

On Monday night, just 37 picks into Major League Baseball’s first-year player draft, Landon Leach became the first Canadian chosen in this year’s selection process, the Minnesota Twins taking the right-handed hurler with the first pick in the second round.

An alumnus of the Toronto Mets and Canadian Junior National Team programs, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound pitcher has come a long way since his days behind the dish. It was just a couple of years ago when the Mets opted to send him to the mound, believing in his arm and helping Leach make the transition that eventually led him to this point.

“I’d always been a catcher my whole career,” the 17-year-old said, before the draft. “So in my 16U year, I wasn’t sure at first about making the move. I was kind of iffy about it. Now that I’ve seen the results, I’m definitely happy that we’ve made the change…and I have a lot more sympathy for my catchers now. Even [earlier this year], I was trying to catch a guy in the bullpen, and he was just warming up and it was difficult. I can’t catch up to 80 [miles per hour] now. I wouldn’t be able to catch myself.”

This spring, playing for the Mets in the Canadian Premier Baseball League and for Team Canada – on two trips to Florida and one trip to the Dominican Republic to face professional competition – Leach was up to 96 with his fastball, also finding success with his slider and changeup, which he has been trying to implement more in game action.

“My biggest strength is definitely my secondary pitches,” the native of Pickering, Ont., said. “And obviously my fastball, because I can get it up there, but definitely my secondary pitches and my composure on the mound. I try to focus early in the count, obviously getting my fastball ready, and then once that’s ready, everything comes together with my secondary pitches.

“I do work on it a lot during the off-season, especially my changeup because I need to perfect that. I’m still working on it, but it’s coming along, so I’m happy about that…Honestly, last year I barely used my changeup. Maybe once an outing. I just didn’t really need to use it at first. Obviously back home I didn’t really need it, but [in Florida] I definitely do, playing against pro teams. But right now, on a scale of one to 10, it’s around a seven. Last year, it was a two probably. It’s come a long way.”

Since earning his way onto the Junior National Team roster, and facing professionals on a more regular basis, Leach has learned a lot about himself as a pitcher, evolving with both his failures and his successes.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself since I’ve been facing professional hitters,” Leach said. “It’s definitely difficult. My first trip with Team Canada last year in March was a big eye-opener for me, but I’ve definitely learned a lot coming on these trips and seeing the competition level. I feel like I’ve done a good job about it, but I have to continue to do that, and if everything works out hopefully I’m actually facing these guys on a professional team.”

During the off-season, Leach spent a lot of time hearing from a former teammate what the transition from the junior squad to the pro ranks is like. Andrew Yerzy, who was last year’s top CPBL pick in the draft – taken 52nd overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second round, and eventually signing for $1,214,100 before starting his pro career – offered his experience to Leach as he headed into the end of his high school playing days.

“I’ve talked a lot with Andrew Yerzy, he’s one of my good buddies,” the Texas commit said. “I worked out with him in the off-season as well, and I talked to him about how pro ball is and what it’s been like for him. He told me everything about it and what he liked about it. He said it’s obviously a grind, but he’s enjoying it at the same time, because he loves to play…

“He said it’s a big transition obviously because our trips are [to play pros] for two weeks, and you’re over there for eight months, so it’s definitely a big change in time, but honestly I feel like I’m ready. I know I’m ready for that.”

In order to prepare for what Leach knew would be a big spring for him, the young hurler made some changes to his winter routine, and was happy with the results he gleaned while with Team Canada.

“Out of the Mets program, I joined the Pitching Performance Canada program,” Leach said. “I took two months off this year in the winter instead of one, just so I could rest my arm, because I knew this was going to be a big year for me.

“I started doing the weighted-ball program for around a month, and then from there it was mostly long toss and drill work to get my mechanics right. After that, I started bullpens around five weeks before my first trip with the Junior National Team in March…

“The weighted-ball program was good for me. I gained velocity this off-season, so I feel like it did help. Hitting 96 [in the spring], I didn’t even feel like I was throwing that hard when I was pitching, it was more of the motion of letting go that was different. I didn’t feel like I was overpowering the ball, so I didn’t feel like it was an effort to throw there.”

Leach’s success in the spring with the national squad led to a quick rise in his stock and the 37th overall selection by the Twins in the draft. Though he still has a decision to make, the teenager feels ready for the future, with the support of his friends, teams, teammates, and family, no matter it might hold.

“The draft is exciting, but all spring I’ve been doing my best to go one trip at a time, not really thinking too much about the future,” Leach said. “I just wanted to do my best in every game that I pitched, and it’s definitely exciting.

“My whole family is excited about the future. It’s not a big family, but they’re all happy for me and they’re going to support me through anything. My parents have come on a few trips to see me, and my dad is usually hiding somewhere because he always gets really nervous, but they’re happy for me and everything I’ve done already.”

Andrew Yerzy selected in second round of draft

Things are happening quickly for Andrew Yerzy.

The 17-year-old catcher for the Toronto Mets could hardly believe that his tour with the Canadian Junior National Team was coming to an end before his final trip to the Dominican Republic in May, and now, after the first day of Major League Baseball’s first-year player draft, the whirlwind has just begun.

Selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second round on Thursday night, 52nd overall, Yerzy is likely to make a decision on his future before the weekend. Committed to Notre Dame University, if the 6-foot-3, 200-pound backstop were going to forgo signing with the D’backs, he would be heading off to Indiana immediately, the school not requiring him to complete his final exams at York Mills Collegiate Institute before getting a jump on the upcoming school year.

“Right now I’m going to Notre Dame,” Yerzy said prior to the draft. “Hopefully if things go the way I’d like them to go, I’ll be in a pro uniform.”

Taken on the first night of the selection process – the second Canadian chosen after Stanford’s Cal Quantrill was taken eighth overall by the San Diego Padres – the only question left for Yerzy in determining whether or not things go according to plan is the amount of money on the table. If it matches what the young player has in mind, he could be at extended spring training in Arizona as soon as he graduates high school and obtains a work visa.

Watching his friends and former Team Canada teammates graduate the program ahead of him, make their choices, and venture off into the working world, Yerzy believes that he has an idea of what could potentially be in store for his future.

“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “I know [2015 first-round selections Josh] Naylor and [Mike] Soroka are the only guys in my three years who have gotten past rookie ball [both playing in the Class-A South Atlantic League] but it’s cool thinking that that could be me next year.

“And then you might have [15-year-old junior team member] Noah Naylor saying that he played with me three years ago and now I’m doing this. I think back to how much further they were ahead of me when I was in Grade 10, and now I’m in Grade 12 and they’re in Grade 10.”

While last year’s Canadian first-round picks have made early impressions on their respective organizations – Naylor with the Miami Marlins and Soroka with the Atlanta Braves – Yerzy understands that moving up the ranks of the professional realm can come at a much slower pace as well.

“It’s still pro baseball,” the catcher said. “And it’s only been two years since I’ve seen some of those guys, so they could easily be in the major leagues in two more years for all I know. It’s just a small sample size, and I’m ready to get after it, if the opportunity presents itself.”

Yerzy and Soroka have kept in touch since parting ways from the junior team, and though they hadn’t specifically spoken much before the draft about what might happen for the backstop, the right-hander had given his battery mate an idea of what he went through on the same night last year.

“I still talk to Soroka a lot,” Yerzy said. “We haven’t talked about draft day much but he said it’s awesome. You go into it and you want to have the right mindset. You go in thinking that you’re going to school and then if everything happens the way you want it to, then you might be pleasantly surprised with a two-million-dollar paycheque.”

Aging, maturing, and growing in multiple ways throughout his time with the national squad and his years with the Toronto Mets, Yerzy knows that he has come quite a distance in a relatively short time.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Yerzy said. “It’s been three years with Team Canada – a pretty short three years in my mind. I still remember my first at-bat of my first trip…I struck out on three pitches. I didn’t swing. Just thinking about it all, it’s happened really quickly. I’m thankful for all the opportunities they’ve given me, and the ability to represent my country 17 times.”

Not only has he gotten better and learned an immense amount, Yerzy believes that the game north of the border is improving all-around and will continue to do so with opportunities to showcase talent with the Junior National Team and the Canadian Premier Baseball League.

“Baseball in Canada’s definitely getting better,” he said. “No knocks on those guys but if you think back to my first year with Team Canada, we were getting blown out like 16-2 and averaging three hits a game.

“Now we’re winning games, tying games, playing multiple one-run losses. Even if we’re losing 4-3 to a bunch of pro guys and we’re 16 and 17-year-old kids, it shows that we’re heading in the right direction.”

Whether Yerzy decides to go pro out of high school with the Diamondbacks, or a start to a college education with the Fighting Irish next week, he’s learned what’s most important and is looking forward to what the future holds.

“The biggest thing I learned from Greg [Hamilton, Baseball Canada’s director of national teams] is to just have fun playing baseball really,” Yerzy said. “It’s going to be a job but you aren’t going to make it if you don’t have fun playing the game. You see a lot of guys burn out by Double-A just because they don’t enjoy doing it, so you have to have fun with the game.”