00:00:26
Speaker 1: With the first pick. All right, welcome back to another episode of On the Clock, brought to you by the Just Baseball podcast Network. We're back for another episode today with another draft spotlight, an interview with the one and only Sean Duncan, the top Canadian prospect of this class. Sean, how are you doing today? My man?
00:00:45
Speaker 2: Good? Good?
00:00:46
Speaker 1: How are you doing? Pretty good? Got my got my hockey jersey or I guess not jersey. I got my hockey sweater on. Just ready for the playoffs. But you know, we're here talk baseball, not hockey. For those of you don't know who's Shanna is Shawn, I'll let you introduce yourself and your journey through amateur baseball, because I would imagine it's a little different than the American style that we have here.
00:01:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, i'ven't been.
00:01:10
Speaker 3: I've been playing baseball my whole life. I started when I was like four, played the you know, started early in in Little league. When I was eleven, I was lucky enough to go play in the Little League World Series in Williams Sport, which was it was awesome. I'm at the time, you know, I didn't play as much as you would like. I was like the ninth or like the twelfth man on the bench, and I was like our designated pinch runner. But I mean the experience was amazing, and you know, it kind of was like the building blocks of me wanting to chase the dream to play, you know, baseball at the highest level because I got introduced to it really early. After that, I kind of it was COVID the next year, so uh, stuff didn't you know, happened like accordingly. But I then I moved to I moved out to Langley, started out with them, and it's been awesome so far. We go down to Arizona every every spring break. And when I was fourteen, I got to I made Team Canada, which was you know, it's been a great experience. I've gone to the Dominican Panama. We go down to Florida every year, so you know, it's it's just been a really great experience with Team Canada and Langley, And yeah.
00:02:26
Speaker 1: That's great. And like you mentioned, going down to Arizona, you know, the Dominican You know, that's something that most American kids, unless they make the eighteen U USA team, don't get the chance to do. So how do you feel like that kind of sets you up in a different way compared to some of these other kids in the same class as you.
00:02:44
Speaker 3: I think it's it's made me, you know, like more prepared than most, especially when it comes to, you know, the pro ball side of it is.
00:02:52
Speaker 2: I've kind of experienced.
00:02:54
Speaker 3: It and how you know, when we have we get our working early in the morning from like eight thirty eleven, and then we play at noon every day. So that kind of system that we've done for me, it's been four years now and it's almost like second nature at this point, and I find that it's you know, I've become accustomed to it and a pro at it, I would say. And then I guess as well as like, I've been facing pro competition since I was fourteen, and it's just you know, taught me how to compete against high level hitters and really you know, propelled my game and into who I am today. I mean, I've spent I would say, seventy days in the Dominican playing against the DSL teams and facing those guys. You know, it really forces you to throw off speeds in later counts, you know, or I mean sorry, off speeds in early counts, and you know, attacking hitters in a different way than how you would attack them in high school, where you know, you can just blow fastballs past most people. And when I face those kind of hitters, that's just how it works, and I think that's really helped me to who I am today, is just the way that I can attack different hitters with different stuff. You know, established a slider early in one oh, two oh counts, same with the change up and then attack you know, two one, two fastballs up and put guys away.
00:04:18
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's.
00:04:20
Speaker 3: Been a really great experience and really crucial for my development.
00:04:25
Speaker 1: Answering multiple questions. So once I like it because I was going to ask about the pitch ability, you know, uh, being able to sequence as well as you have going back to facing these Dominican teams or the Arizona teams, is there any fear or any like nerves because I know, like for me specifically, when I did sports in high school, if I was facing a big opponent, I was terrified, and admittedly it was track and field and not baseball, but like for you, are there any nerves or it just like this is another game in the ballpark. Go out and execute and just do what you do.
00:04:58
Speaker 3: It's I don't have any nerves. I honestly love being in that situation. Like having that challenge in front of me is something you know that I've always wanted and chased for, and every time I get to do it, it's I'm super excited to get out there and you know, just prove. I always feel like I got something to prove, and just you know, to continue to go out there and prove what I can do and be consistent with you know, my outings has just.
00:05:22
Speaker 2: Been it's been awesome.
00:05:23
Speaker 3: And yeah, I would never say that I'm nervous going into something. It's it's more excitement than being nervous.
00:05:30
Speaker 1: That's great. I love that mindset. One thing I want to ask about too, since we go back to the arsenal. You know, fastball, slider, change up. Fastball gets on guys very quickly, change up. I think it's your best pitch. It was great and I saw you a couple of times and I Jared's seen you as well. But being able to have this kind of arsenal at this age, you know what kind of work goes into crafting your game and being able to have this kind of stuff at you know, eighteen years old.
00:05:57
Speaker 3: Basically, I think it's a lot of hard work and credit. I mean, I have a really great pitching coach. His name is Kyle Otscar. He was a first round pick in two thousand and nine to the Reds and me and Kyle have worked really close with each other for the last four years and it's been great. I mean he's you know, helped me with my mechanics and you know, like pitch design with the slider, and yeah, it's just been really awesome and a lot of hard work has been put into it, and I'm always looking for different ways to get better. My favorite is to watch videos and really slow down things to see, you know, how I do stuff. And I think that's kind of been the biggest part, is just you know, really being like making sure that I'm doing everything correctly, and it allows me, you know to get more rather rather it's like ride or or run or you know, like more horizontal on the breaking ball.
00:06:53
Speaker 2: And yeah, it's just been really good.
00:06:57
Speaker 1: I think I just getting myself there. We go, sorry about that, but yeah, no, that's great. Like being able to understand mechanics and everything is great in my opinion, because like that's something that we'll do going through is like what's different, you know, And I don't think people on the public scale kind of understand how like slight shifts and mechanics can really affect the entire game. So I think that's a that's a great kind of viewpoint to kind of look at it. Is like there's a lot more that goes into it than just like throwball and hope it hits his own. It's a there's a very finite detail and finite process to get to that point. And I think you did a very good job of explaining that you're welcome, man. But uh, you know, outside of Dominican and everything like that, you know, you've been at Area Coach, You've been at World wood Back, you hit ninety five in Jupiter this past October, and have been able to continue doing that having the chance to be at those events and also you know, create some friends along the way too, with guys that are on the opposite side of the border. What's that experience been like compared to obviously the Dominican and everything like that, It's.
00:08:00
Speaker 2: Been really awesome. I mean, getting to meet all those guys.
00:08:03
Speaker 3: I was lucky enough to play in the under Armor All American game, which that was crazy. I'd never done that kind of thing before, and you know, like the gear that we were given and like kind of the like the the schedule that we were on was just so crazy, and I mean I never experienced anything like that, and it was one of the most fun times I've had playing baseball. And yeah, like it's it's awesome competing against guys that you know, you'll see on social media and stuff and going out there competing against them is always fun.
00:08:36
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's it's always awesome.
00:08:40
Speaker 1: That was the event that was that came to the Yards.
00:08:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, yeah, yeah.
00:08:44
Speaker 1: That was that your first ballpark where you're like pitching in a major league stadium or is that?
00:08:49
Speaker 3: Uh No. Every year we have a thing it's called the Canadian Future Showcase. It's hosted in the Rogers Center. So I go there every September and then I get to throw. I think I've done it four times, which is it's been awesome. It's one of my favorite events.
00:09:05
Speaker 2: Every year.
00:09:07
Speaker 3: It's all my like all the high school's top one hundred and fifty players from Canada.
00:09:11
Speaker 2: We get put up in a hotel in downtown Toronto.
00:09:13
Speaker 3: We get to like walk, we walk from our hotel to the field every day and it's it's it's awesome.
00:09:18
Speaker 2: It's so cool.
00:09:19
Speaker 1: That's really sick. You mentioned the top one hundred and fifty Canadians, you know, I think Canada has had Obviously, there's been a pipeline the past couple of years, like you, Guys like will Hine two was drafted a year ago. There's a couple of other guys on the junior national team and the Sales, and I believe Katia is another guy that I was heavily considering for the prep list. Do you feel like that the the international wave is kind of taking over a little bit? Do you feel like having this Canadian pipeline that's helping you and your teammates in order to get trapped opportunities like.
00:09:50
Speaker 2: This one hundred percent Yeah.
00:09:52
Speaker 3: I think baseball is on the rise in Canada and every year it seems like guys are getting better and better. And I mean it was great what the Blue Jays did this year and they went on that crazy run. Uh. I think it really helped baseball in Canada. And whenever we're going down to tournaments, we're there to go compete and to win games. And I think we we we do our best when we go down and yeah, I definitely think baseball's growing in Canada.
00:10:18
Speaker 1: It's always great when Canada has, you know, the ability to do this because I feel like, you know, having the inclusive to having having an international stage as well, like obviously America will have Puerto Rico, which I guess depending on who you talk to, it's not really international. But at the same time you can also get guys from Cuba that affected the Florida didn't have this. I think that's like a great way to combine everything and I really do think that is a great thing that they're doing. So I'm excited to see what Canada can do in the next couple of years with the amount of talent coming down. The biggest thing I didn't want to touch on to h Vanderbilt, you know you can to an n SEC school had been for a few years now. The big thing though is obviously it's on the other side of the border. What what really made it the right fit for you? Obviously with like you go to Seattle not too far away from from where you're living, and having the big ten now down there, but where what really stood out for Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee. In general.
00:11:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, I had always wanted to go there. Growing up.
00:11:28
Speaker 3: We have really close family friends and one of the son and the family was he was a big Vanderbilt guy, and I wanted to be just like him. And as I was going through the process of you know, finding a school that I wanted to go to, I felt Vanderbilt just you know, met everything that I was looking for. It had really great academics, it had you know, amazing, really great coaching staff. And then when I was on my visit, I got to go to a practice, and when I was at the practice, I really realized like how familiar the team was ran compared to Team Canada. I found that like the way that Tim Corban would like coach a practice was very similar to how Greg Hamilton, the coach of Team Canada, coaches his practices. So I kind of just encapsulated like everything that I was looking for. Also, the team environment was like very focused on what I was looking for. And yeah, I just I really connected with everything that the school had to offer.
00:12:28
Speaker 1: That's awesome, man, I really do enjoy hearing stuff about that because, like Tim Corbin type, I think it's blanken Ship or blanken Meyer. Now he came back back. Yeah, yeah, like they've done a very good job. But they were recruiting classes. Obviously this year is a really big one. So I really want Steve Vnder to get back on that national scale a little bit because I know they've been slacking a little bit the past couple of years. But to see them back in Amah would be great for me personally. As a team, I grew up watching a lot last thing before we kind of get into putting you on the clock. British Columbia has had a rich history in the past few years. Obviously you think of Larry Walker, the Hall of Famer, but then you also look at like Tyler Tyler O'Neill was the biggest name that I can think of off the top of my head. How much have those guys influenced your game and how much do you look up to them as you're going through your journey.
00:13:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, well Tyler O'Neill, I know, there's like Tyler O'Neal, Brett Laurie. They're both from Langley, so they played for the Langley Blade, so we hear stories about them all the time and how the things they did in high school and how how how great they were, and basically I just try and be like them. I mean, go out and you know, compete every day, compete my butt off and just show the best I can, like how they did in high school. And yeah, just I think what they've kind of done is paved the way for a lot of Canadians now and it's just you know.
00:13:53
Speaker 2: They've done it, so it's obviously it's not impossible.
00:13:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, And like I think here's another one I forgot too, Justin Morenau, Nick Povetta. I don't know how I forget more No you Yeah, Hey, I'm going to put you on the clock here. We're going to go through some rap up fire questions that we're kind of wrapping up here. First things first, when you're in Langley, what's to go to food spot in town?
00:14:18
Speaker 3: Who? Me? Uh? This is good? Like this is pretty generic. But after like every game, all me and the guys on the team go to Chipotle.
00:14:26
Speaker 2: It's like our go to spot. We love going to Chipotle.
00:14:30
Speaker 1: Can't go wrong with Chipotle at all, honestly.
00:14:32
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:14:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, so far, what has been your most memorable moment in your pitching career. I know there's a perfect game where you took a very like you took a perfect game deep into a game one time, But what what is that that biggest moment.
00:14:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, I I threw a perfect game in like the eighth grade. I struck out like seventeen in a seven inning game. It was crazy, But uh, that was That was a good game. My favorite game, though, was in twenty twenty four I threw against Mexico and Panama at the World Cup qualifiers. And I started that game and going into the game, Mexico was like number two in the world.
00:15:11
Speaker 2: Canada was sixteen.
00:15:13
Speaker 3: And you know, we're like heavy underdogs, and we just went out there and it was like a really great team win.
00:15:20
Speaker 2: We won four to three. It was awesome.
00:15:24
Speaker 3: I remember after the game, we were on the bus just screaming over Canada, like we were so hyped.
00:15:29
Speaker 2: After the win.
00:15:30
Speaker 3: We all went to Subway after and got food and it was just like it was a really great day and a really good game. So that one kind of staying stands out as like my favorite game that I've ever pitched in.
00:15:42
Speaker 1: That's great. Gotta love a good underdog. Store. I did not realize Canada was ranked that low in that tournament either, that is I can't right my head around that, but.
00:15:53
Speaker 2: It was nuts. I was shocked.
00:15:55
Speaker 3: They were like, yeah, we were sixteenth going into that game, and I was like, we were really and then yeah, it was it was nuts.
00:16:02
Speaker 1: That's great. I love that when you're not on the mound. Is there a way you like to decompressed? What What are some hobbies you take off outside of the field that really keep your attention going.
00:16:13
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:16:14
Speaker 3: I do a bunch of stuff. I play a lot of golf with my buddies. My cousin who's like my best friend. Uh, he works at a golf course, so you know, we'll get like free golf sometimes and stuff, so it's pretty awesome. And then yeah, I like to do a bunch of stuff, you know, like go to the movies. I'll play some video games from time to time. So yeah, just just a little bit of everything.
00:16:40
Speaker 1: Okay, I dig it. How good of a golfer are we talking about here, because you're not the first person to say you golf, and I'd like to say I'm a little avid golfer, so I kind of want to see what the handicap is here. Can I beat you.
00:16:53
Speaker 2: Can you break a hundred, yes.
00:16:56
Speaker 3: Then you'd probably beat me. Yeah I could, Like I'll shoot like like mid to high nineties.
00:17:01
Speaker 2: I'm not great. I'm just going out there to have fun and hit bombs.
00:17:03
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, there is nothing better than the giant bomb down the middle of the fairway. Yeah yeah, does not get it.
00:17:12
Speaker 2: It's what keeps you going.
00:17:14
Speaker 1: Absolutely are you making like a sixty foot putt where you have no chance? Like you you don't think you have a chance of making it, And all of a sudden it's like, Okay, I can really do this, and next hole is like oh three foot or yeah, okay, we're back to the original here. What's something I've said of baseball that people will be surprised to learn about you.
00:17:33
Speaker 2: I did hip hop till I was like ten years old.
00:17:36
Speaker 3: My mom runs a dance studio, and I did hip hop from I think I was like four until ten, So I can dance a little.
00:17:43
Speaker 1: Bit, Okay, okay, yeah, honestly I respect it. I sis, yeah, did the same thing growing up. I said. It was like, I would imagine they cannot do it anymore for a good reason, because they they hurt their knees. Doing it, but hey, it's that's gotta be fun as hell.
00:18:01
Speaker 3: Honestly, Yeah, honestly, I think I think that's where, like if you watch my how I pitch and how I move around the mound, and I kind of like I bounce and have some some rhythm on the mountain, I think, you know, that's kind of where I get it from.
00:18:14
Speaker 2: Is my hip hop my hip hop career?
00:18:17
Speaker 1: I guess yeah. Honestly, I definitely looking back in my head, like the times I watched your film, I see it now because it starts with a little hop and we get down the mountain. I like it. I want you to build your mount rushmore of left handed pictures if you could.
00:18:34
Speaker 3: Okay, I think I gotta start Sandy Kofax okay, and then Randy Johnson's gotta be up there.
00:18:43
Speaker 2: Hmmm, we'll go.
00:18:46
Speaker 3: I think Scooball's earned it, he can go up there, and then Kershaw we get those.
00:18:52
Speaker 2: Those are the top four for me.
00:18:54
Speaker 1: That's a solid four. Cannot go wrong with any of those guys. Speaking of Major League calib for players, is there any hitter in the league that you like to face now? And what would be the first pitch you throw?
00:19:05
Speaker 3: To him, I probably want to face Otani lefty, lefty. I would go like, fastball up and in, set the tone and just go from there.
00:19:16
Speaker 2: That would be That would be my first pick, my first.
00:19:19
Speaker 1: Pitch, I dig it. I don't think we've had anybody tell us like, hey, I'm gonna start with fastball at the chin and just hope that no, not that high.
00:19:27
Speaker 2: I go up in it. I'm not doing that. No, no, no, no, no no. Would you know, I go up and in.
00:19:34
Speaker 3: I try and spot it up and in for a strike, you know, show him I'm not afraid, and then uh, we'll go from there.
00:19:42
Speaker 1: Awesome. I love every single bit of that. Sean. Thank you for jumping on the show today to talk. This has been amazing. I've really enjoyed everything that's gone down in this interview. And we're gonna be rooting for you the whole way. Man, where we've got your rate tie for a reason. I'm excited to see what you can do this spring and best let the rest of the way my man.
00:20:00
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you,
Speaker 1: With the first pick. All right, welcome back to another episode of On the Clock, brought to you by the Just Baseball podcast Network. We're back for another episode today with another draft spotlight, an interview with the one and only Sean Duncan, the top Canadian prospect of this class. Sean, how are you doing today? My man?
00:00:45
Speaker 2: Good? Good?
00:00:46
Speaker 1: How are you doing? Pretty good? Got my got my hockey jersey or I guess not jersey. I got my hockey sweater on. Just ready for the playoffs. But you know, we're here talk baseball, not hockey. For those of you don't know who's Shanna is Shawn, I'll let you introduce yourself and your journey through amateur baseball, because I would imagine it's a little different than the American style that we have here.
00:01:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, i'ven't been.
00:01:10
Speaker 3: I've been playing baseball my whole life. I started when I was like four, played the you know, started early in in Little league. When I was eleven, I was lucky enough to go play in the Little League World Series in Williams Sport, which was it was awesome. I'm at the time, you know, I didn't play as much as you would like. I was like the ninth or like the twelfth man on the bench, and I was like our designated pinch runner. But I mean the experience was amazing, and you know, it kind of was like the building blocks of me wanting to chase the dream to play, you know, baseball at the highest level because I got introduced to it really early. After that, I kind of it was COVID the next year, so uh, stuff didn't you know, happened like accordingly. But I then I moved to I moved out to Langley, started out with them, and it's been awesome so far. We go down to Arizona every every spring break. And when I was fourteen, I got to I made Team Canada, which was you know, it's been a great experience. I've gone to the Dominican Panama. We go down to Florida every year, so you know, it's it's just been a really great experience with Team Canada and Langley, And yeah.
00:02:26
Speaker 1: That's great. And like you mentioned, going down to Arizona, you know, the Dominican You know, that's something that most American kids, unless they make the eighteen U USA team, don't get the chance to do. So how do you feel like that kind of sets you up in a different way compared to some of these other kids in the same class as you.
00:02:44
Speaker 3: I think it's it's made me, you know, like more prepared than most, especially when it comes to, you know, the pro ball side of it is.
00:02:52
Speaker 2: I've kind of experienced.
00:02:54
Speaker 3: It and how you know, when we have we get our working early in the morning from like eight thirty eleven, and then we play at noon every day. So that kind of system that we've done for me, it's been four years now and it's almost like second nature at this point, and I find that it's you know, I've become accustomed to it and a pro at it, I would say. And then I guess as well as like, I've been facing pro competition since I was fourteen, and it's just you know, taught me how to compete against high level hitters and really you know, propelled my game and into who I am today. I mean, I've spent I would say, seventy days in the Dominican playing against the DSL teams and facing those guys. You know, it really forces you to throw off speeds in later counts, you know, or I mean sorry, off speeds in early counts, and you know, attacking hitters in a different way than how you would attack them in high school, where you know, you can just blow fastballs past most people. And when I face those kind of hitters, that's just how it works, and I think that's really helped me to who I am today, is just the way that I can attack different hitters with different stuff. You know, established a slider early in one oh, two oh counts, same with the change up and then attack you know, two one, two fastballs up and put guys away.
00:04:18
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's.
00:04:20
Speaker 3: Been a really great experience and really crucial for my development.
00:04:25
Speaker 1: Answering multiple questions. So once I like it because I was going to ask about the pitch ability, you know, uh, being able to sequence as well as you have going back to facing these Dominican teams or the Arizona teams, is there any fear or any like nerves because I know, like for me specifically, when I did sports in high school, if I was facing a big opponent, I was terrified, and admittedly it was track and field and not baseball, but like for you, are there any nerves or it just like this is another game in the ballpark. Go out and execute and just do what you do.
00:04:58
Speaker 3: It's I don't have any nerves. I honestly love being in that situation. Like having that challenge in front of me is something you know that I've always wanted and chased for, and every time I get to do it, it's I'm super excited to get out there and you know, just prove. I always feel like I got something to prove, and just you know, to continue to go out there and prove what I can do and be consistent with you know, my outings has just.
00:05:22
Speaker 2: Been it's been awesome.
00:05:23
Speaker 3: And yeah, I would never say that I'm nervous going into something. It's it's more excitement than being nervous.
00:05:30
Speaker 1: That's great. I love that mindset. One thing I want to ask about too, since we go back to the arsenal. You know, fastball, slider, change up. Fastball gets on guys very quickly, change up. I think it's your best pitch. It was great and I saw you a couple of times and I Jared's seen you as well. But being able to have this kind of arsenal at this age, you know what kind of work goes into crafting your game and being able to have this kind of stuff at you know, eighteen years old.
00:05:57
Speaker 3: Basically, I think it's a lot of hard work and credit. I mean, I have a really great pitching coach. His name is Kyle Otscar. He was a first round pick in two thousand and nine to the Reds and me and Kyle have worked really close with each other for the last four years and it's been great. I mean he's you know, helped me with my mechanics and you know, like pitch design with the slider, and yeah, it's just been really awesome and a lot of hard work has been put into it, and I'm always looking for different ways to get better. My favorite is to watch videos and really slow down things to see, you know, how I do stuff. And I think that's kind of been the biggest part, is just you know, really being like making sure that I'm doing everything correctly, and it allows me, you know to get more rather rather it's like ride or or run or you know, like more horizontal on the breaking ball.
00:06:53
Speaker 2: And yeah, it's just been really good.
00:06:57
Speaker 1: I think I just getting myself there. We go, sorry about that, but yeah, no, that's great. Like being able to understand mechanics and everything is great in my opinion, because like that's something that we'll do going through is like what's different, you know, And I don't think people on the public scale kind of understand how like slight shifts and mechanics can really affect the entire game. So I think that's a that's a great kind of viewpoint to kind of look at it. Is like there's a lot more that goes into it than just like throwball and hope it hits his own. It's a there's a very finite detail and finite process to get to that point. And I think you did a very good job of explaining that you're welcome, man. But uh, you know, outside of Dominican and everything like that, you know, you've been at Area Coach, You've been at World wood Back, you hit ninety five in Jupiter this past October, and have been able to continue doing that having the chance to be at those events and also you know, create some friends along the way too, with guys that are on the opposite side of the border. What's that experience been like compared to obviously the Dominican and everything like that, It's.
00:08:00
Speaker 2: Been really awesome. I mean, getting to meet all those guys.
00:08:03
Speaker 3: I was lucky enough to play in the under Armor All American game, which that was crazy. I'd never done that kind of thing before, and you know, like the gear that we were given and like kind of the like the the schedule that we were on was just so crazy, and I mean I never experienced anything like that, and it was one of the most fun times I've had playing baseball. And yeah, like it's it's awesome competing against guys that you know, you'll see on social media and stuff and going out there competing against them is always fun.
00:08:36
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's it's always awesome.
00:08:40
Speaker 1: That was the event that was that came to the Yards.
00:08:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, yeah, yeah.
00:08:44
Speaker 1: That was that your first ballpark where you're like pitching in a major league stadium or is that?
00:08:49
Speaker 3: Uh No. Every year we have a thing it's called the Canadian Future Showcase. It's hosted in the Rogers Center. So I go there every September and then I get to throw. I think I've done it four times, which is it's been awesome. It's one of my favorite events.
00:09:05
Speaker 2: Every year.
00:09:07
Speaker 3: It's all my like all the high school's top one hundred and fifty players from Canada.
00:09:11
Speaker 2: We get put up in a hotel in downtown Toronto.
00:09:13
Speaker 3: We get to like walk, we walk from our hotel to the field every day and it's it's it's awesome.
00:09:18
Speaker 2: It's so cool.
00:09:19
Speaker 1: That's really sick. You mentioned the top one hundred and fifty Canadians, you know, I think Canada has had Obviously, there's been a pipeline the past couple of years, like you, Guys like will Hine two was drafted a year ago. There's a couple of other guys on the junior national team and the Sales, and I believe Katia is another guy that I was heavily considering for the prep list. Do you feel like that the the international wave is kind of taking over a little bit? Do you feel like having this Canadian pipeline that's helping you and your teammates in order to get trapped opportunities like.
00:09:50
Speaker 2: This one hundred percent Yeah.
00:09:52
Speaker 3: I think baseball is on the rise in Canada and every year it seems like guys are getting better and better. And I mean it was great what the Blue Jays did this year and they went on that crazy run. Uh. I think it really helped baseball in Canada. And whenever we're going down to tournaments, we're there to go compete and to win games. And I think we we we do our best when we go down and yeah, I definitely think baseball's growing in Canada.
00:10:18
Speaker 1: It's always great when Canada has, you know, the ability to do this because I feel like, you know, having the inclusive to having having an international stage as well, like obviously America will have Puerto Rico, which I guess depending on who you talk to, it's not really international. But at the same time you can also get guys from Cuba that affected the Florida didn't have this. I think that's like a great way to combine everything and I really do think that is a great thing that they're doing. So I'm excited to see what Canada can do in the next couple of years with the amount of talent coming down. The biggest thing I didn't want to touch on to h Vanderbilt, you know you can to an n SEC school had been for a few years now. The big thing though is obviously it's on the other side of the border. What what really made it the right fit for you? Obviously with like you go to Seattle not too far away from from where you're living, and having the big ten now down there, but where what really stood out for Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee. In general.
00:11:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, I had always wanted to go there. Growing up.
00:11:28
Speaker 3: We have really close family friends and one of the son and the family was he was a big Vanderbilt guy, and I wanted to be just like him. And as I was going through the process of you know, finding a school that I wanted to go to, I felt Vanderbilt just you know, met everything that I was looking for. It had really great academics, it had you know, amazing, really great coaching staff. And then when I was on my visit, I got to go to a practice, and when I was at the practice, I really realized like how familiar the team was ran compared to Team Canada. I found that like the way that Tim Corban would like coach a practice was very similar to how Greg Hamilton, the coach of Team Canada, coaches his practices. So I kind of just encapsulated like everything that I was looking for. Also, the team environment was like very focused on what I was looking for. And yeah, I just I really connected with everything that the school had to offer.
00:12:28
Speaker 1: That's awesome, man, I really do enjoy hearing stuff about that because, like Tim Corbin type, I think it's blanken Ship or blanken Meyer. Now he came back back. Yeah, yeah, like they've done a very good job. But they were recruiting classes. Obviously this year is a really big one. So I really want Steve Vnder to get back on that national scale a little bit because I know they've been slacking a little bit the past couple of years. But to see them back in Amah would be great for me personally. As a team, I grew up watching a lot last thing before we kind of get into putting you on the clock. British Columbia has had a rich history in the past few years. Obviously you think of Larry Walker, the Hall of Famer, but then you also look at like Tyler Tyler O'Neill was the biggest name that I can think of off the top of my head. How much have those guys influenced your game and how much do you look up to them as you're going through your journey.
00:13:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, well Tyler O'Neill, I know, there's like Tyler O'Neal, Brett Laurie. They're both from Langley, so they played for the Langley Blade, so we hear stories about them all the time and how the things they did in high school and how how how great they were, and basically I just try and be like them. I mean, go out and you know, compete every day, compete my butt off and just show the best I can, like how they did in high school. And yeah, just I think what they've kind of done is paved the way for a lot of Canadians now and it's just you know.
00:13:53
Speaker 2: They've done it, so it's obviously it's not impossible.
00:13:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, And like I think here's another one I forgot too, Justin Morenau, Nick Povetta. I don't know how I forget more No you Yeah, Hey, I'm going to put you on the clock here. We're going to go through some rap up fire questions that we're kind of wrapping up here. First things first, when you're in Langley, what's to go to food spot in town?
00:14:18
Speaker 3: Who? Me? Uh? This is good? Like this is pretty generic. But after like every game, all me and the guys on the team go to Chipotle.
00:14:26
Speaker 2: It's like our go to spot. We love going to Chipotle.
00:14:30
Speaker 1: Can't go wrong with Chipotle at all, honestly.
00:14:32
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:14:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, so far, what has been your most memorable moment in your pitching career. I know there's a perfect game where you took a very like you took a perfect game deep into a game one time, But what what is that that biggest moment.
00:14:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, I I threw a perfect game in like the eighth grade. I struck out like seventeen in a seven inning game. It was crazy, But uh, that was That was a good game. My favorite game, though, was in twenty twenty four I threw against Mexico and Panama at the World Cup qualifiers. And I started that game and going into the game, Mexico was like number two in the world.
00:15:11
Speaker 2: Canada was sixteen.
00:15:13
Speaker 3: And you know, we're like heavy underdogs, and we just went out there and it was like a really great team win.
00:15:20
Speaker 2: We won four to three. It was awesome.
00:15:24
Speaker 3: I remember after the game, we were on the bus just screaming over Canada, like we were so hyped.
00:15:29
Speaker 2: After the win.
00:15:30
Speaker 3: We all went to Subway after and got food and it was just like it was a really great day and a really good game. So that one kind of staying stands out as like my favorite game that I've ever pitched in.
00:15:42
Speaker 1: That's great. Gotta love a good underdog. Store. I did not realize Canada was ranked that low in that tournament either, that is I can't right my head around that, but.
00:15:53
Speaker 2: It was nuts. I was shocked.
00:15:55
Speaker 3: They were like, yeah, we were sixteenth going into that game, and I was like, we were really and then yeah, it was it was nuts.
00:16:02
Speaker 1: That's great. I love that when you're not on the mound. Is there a way you like to decompressed? What What are some hobbies you take off outside of the field that really keep your attention going.
00:16:13
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:16:14
Speaker 3: I do a bunch of stuff. I play a lot of golf with my buddies. My cousin who's like my best friend. Uh, he works at a golf course, so you know, we'll get like free golf sometimes and stuff, so it's pretty awesome. And then yeah, I like to do a bunch of stuff, you know, like go to the movies. I'll play some video games from time to time. So yeah, just just a little bit of everything.
00:16:40
Speaker 1: Okay, I dig it. How good of a golfer are we talking about here, because you're not the first person to say you golf, and I'd like to say I'm a little avid golfer, so I kind of want to see what the handicap is here. Can I beat you.
00:16:53
Speaker 2: Can you break a hundred, yes.
00:16:56
Speaker 3: Then you'd probably beat me. Yeah I could, Like I'll shoot like like mid to high nineties.
00:17:01
Speaker 2: I'm not great. I'm just going out there to have fun and hit bombs.
00:17:03
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, there is nothing better than the giant bomb down the middle of the fairway. Yeah yeah, does not get it.
00:17:12
Speaker 2: It's what keeps you going.
00:17:14
Speaker 1: Absolutely are you making like a sixty foot putt where you have no chance? Like you you don't think you have a chance of making it, And all of a sudden it's like, Okay, I can really do this, and next hole is like oh three foot or yeah, okay, we're back to the original here. What's something I've said of baseball that people will be surprised to learn about you.
00:17:33
Speaker 2: I did hip hop till I was like ten years old.
00:17:36
Speaker 3: My mom runs a dance studio, and I did hip hop from I think I was like four until ten, So I can dance a little.
00:17:43
Speaker 1: Bit, Okay, okay, yeah, honestly I respect it. I sis, yeah, did the same thing growing up. I said. It was like, I would imagine they cannot do it anymore for a good reason, because they they hurt their knees. Doing it, but hey, it's that's gotta be fun as hell.
00:18:01
Speaker 3: Honestly, Yeah, honestly, I think I think that's where, like if you watch my how I pitch and how I move around the mound, and I kind of like I bounce and have some some rhythm on the mountain, I think, you know, that's kind of where I get it from.
00:18:14
Speaker 2: Is my hip hop my hip hop career?
00:18:17
Speaker 1: I guess yeah. Honestly, I definitely looking back in my head, like the times I watched your film, I see it now because it starts with a little hop and we get down the mountain. I like it. I want you to build your mount rushmore of left handed pictures if you could.
00:18:34
Speaker 3: Okay, I think I gotta start Sandy Kofax okay, and then Randy Johnson's gotta be up there.
00:18:43
Speaker 2: Hmmm, we'll go.
00:18:46
Speaker 3: I think Scooball's earned it, he can go up there, and then Kershaw we get those.
00:18:52
Speaker 2: Those are the top four for me.
00:18:54
Speaker 1: That's a solid four. Cannot go wrong with any of those guys. Speaking of Major League calib for players, is there any hitter in the league that you like to face now? And what would be the first pitch you throw?
00:19:05
Speaker 3: To him, I probably want to face Otani lefty, lefty. I would go like, fastball up and in, set the tone and just go from there.
00:19:16
Speaker 2: That would be That would be my first pick, my first.
00:19:19
Speaker 1: Pitch, I dig it. I don't think we've had anybody tell us like, hey, I'm gonna start with fastball at the chin and just hope that no, not that high.
00:19:27
Speaker 2: I go up in it. I'm not doing that. No, no, no, no, no no. Would you know, I go up and in.
00:19:34
Speaker 3: I try and spot it up and in for a strike, you know, show him I'm not afraid, and then uh, we'll go from there.
00:19:42
Speaker 1: Awesome. I love every single bit of that. Sean. Thank you for jumping on the show today to talk. This has been amazing. I've really enjoyed everything that's gone down in this interview. And we're gonna be rooting for you the whole way. Man, where we've got your rate tie for a reason. I'm excited to see what you can do this spring and best let the rest of the way my man.
00:20:00
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you,
