Ottawa-Nepean Canadians
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20 Nov 2008
"(Baldock's) a special-type player. If you're smart in the classroom, it has a direct translation to your adaptability on the playing field."
- Buffalo assistant coach Jim Koerner
The Ottawa Sun Thursday, November 20, 2008 Page: 43 Section: Sports Byline: BY NEATE SAGER
BULLISH ON HIS FUTURE
A rising star on the field and in the classroom, St. Joe's shortstop powers his way to NCAA scholarship.
Alex Baldock has brawn and brains.
The 16-year-old St. Joseph student signing a letter of intent to play NCAA Division 1 baseball next season for the Buffalo Bulls is noteworthy. He will be the third shortstop from the Ottawa-Nepean Canadians to play college ball. An added wrinkle is that Baldock, a 6-foot-3, 190-lb. right-handed power hitter, is going on a academic/athletic scholarship.
"It seemed like a perfect fit for me -- I knew I would be going somewhere northern, since it would be close to home," says Baldock, who also plays basketball and football for St. Joe's. "(Buffalo's) a decent-size school with a great program. They have some key new additions and are going to be really good in the coming years."
Any ballplayer at age 16 is a rough diamond compared to what he'll be in a few years.
Buffalo assistant coach Jim Koerner says that during his scouting trips to Ontario last summer, the Bulls' interest in Baldock took off after Koerner learned the rangy shortstop won't turn 17 until four days after Christmas.
As for the cerebral element, Baldock is a stellar student who has represented St. Joe's in Canada-wide math contests.
"He's what we call a young senior," Koerner says. "Once I found out that he doesn't even turn 17 until the end of the year, it made him grow in our eyes, just to see someone who is that mentally and physically mature at that age. He's a special-type player. I'm a big believer that smart players have a better chance to get better. If you're smart in the classroom, it has a direct translation to your adaptability on the playing field."
Buffalo plays in the Mid-American Conference, which Koerner notes has 20-25 players taken each June in the MLB draft.
The Bulls already have Baldock slotted into a spot, if not necessarily for spring 2010, his freshman season.
"His potential's endless," Koerner says. "He's someone you look to be a middle-of-the-order hitter, maybe not as a freshman, but as sophomore, junior, senior, he's someone you'd look to have batting third, fourth, fifth."
Like most truly talented ballplayers, Baldock started out as a pitcher.
SOARED WITH EAGLES
In 2004, the son of Annette and Murray Baldock helped the East Nepean Eagles represent Canada at the Little League World Series.
"My hitting really picked up coming out of Little League and moving on to the Canadians with (coach) Don (Campbell)," Baldock says. "I got my growth spurt, went to all the clinics in the wintertime with (former Ottawa Lynx manager) Tim Leiper, and just kept working at it."
College baseball success will require another level of understanding of how to hit a round ball with a round bat squarely.
"I'm really interested in that part of the game, the adjustments you have to make, the little tweaks in your swing."
Baldock notes he's received a solid grounding, from his Little League coaches, Mike Crepin and Michael O'Byrne, to Campbell and Tim Nelson with the Canadians.
The latter have built a shortstop factory. Baldock's predecessors, Orleans' Chris Bisson and Wakefield's Denten Neill, are now playing at the University of Kentucky and New York Tech, respectively. Neill, a senior, has been elected team captain.
Baldock realizes he's got a long way to go to get to that level, regardless of potential.
"As soon I get down there, I'll have to play catch up," he says. "I'm not in a position where I can show up and be one of the top guys."
"(Baldock's) a special-type player. If you're smart in the classroom, it has a direct translation to your adaptability on the playing field."
- Buffalo assistant coach Jim Koerner
The Ottawa Sun Thursday, November 20, 2008 Page: 43 Section: Sports Byline: BY NEATE SAGER
BULLISH ON HIS FUTURE
A rising star on the field and in the classroom, St. Joe's shortstop powers his way to NCAA scholarship.
Alex Baldock has brawn and brains.
The 16-year-old St. Joseph student signing a letter of intent to play NCAA Division 1 baseball next season for the Buffalo Bulls is noteworthy. He will be the third shortstop from the Ottawa-Nepean Canadians to play college ball. An added wrinkle is that Baldock, a 6-foot-3, 190-lb. right-handed power hitter, is going on a academic/athletic scholarship.
"It seemed like a perfect fit for me -- I knew I would be going somewhere northern, since it would be close to home," says Baldock, who also plays basketball and football for St. Joe's. "(Buffalo's) a decent-size school with a great program. They have some key new additions and are going to be really good in the coming years."
Any ballplayer at age 16 is a rough diamond compared to what he'll be in a few years.
Buffalo assistant coach Jim Koerner says that during his scouting trips to Ontario last summer, the Bulls' interest in Baldock took off after Koerner learned the rangy shortstop won't turn 17 until four days after Christmas.
As for the cerebral element, Baldock is a stellar student who has represented St. Joe's in Canada-wide math contests.
"He's what we call a young senior," Koerner says. "Once I found out that he doesn't even turn 17 until the end of the year, it made him grow in our eyes, just to see someone who is that mentally and physically mature at that age. He's a special-type player. I'm a big believer that smart players have a better chance to get better. If you're smart in the classroom, it has a direct translation to your adaptability on the playing field."
Buffalo plays in the Mid-American Conference, which Koerner notes has 20-25 players taken each June in the MLB draft.
The Bulls already have Baldock slotted into a spot, if not necessarily for spring 2010, his freshman season.
"His potential's endless," Koerner says. "He's someone you look to be a middle-of-the-order hitter, maybe not as a freshman, but as sophomore, junior, senior, he's someone you'd look to have batting third, fourth, fifth."
Like most truly talented ballplayers, Baldock started out as a pitcher.
SOARED WITH EAGLES
In 2004, the son of Annette and Murray Baldock helped the East Nepean Eagles represent Canada at the Little League World Series.
"My hitting really picked up coming out of Little League and moving on to the Canadians with (coach) Don (Campbell)," Baldock says. "I got my growth spurt, went to all the clinics in the wintertime with (former Ottawa Lynx manager) Tim Leiper, and just kept working at it."
College baseball success will require another level of understanding of how to hit a round ball with a round bat squarely.
"I'm really interested in that part of the game, the adjustments you have to make, the little tweaks in your swing."
Baldock notes he's received a solid grounding, from his Little League coaches, Mike Crepin and Michael O'Byrne, to Campbell and Tim Nelson with the Canadians.
The latter have built a shortstop factory. Baldock's predecessors, Orleans' Chris Bisson and Wakefield's Denten Neill, are now playing at the University of Kentucky and New York Tech, respectively. Neill, a senior, has been elected team captain.
Baldock realizes he's got a long way to go to get to that level, regardless of potential.
"As soon I get down there, I'll have to play catch up," he says. "I'm not in a position where I can show up and be one of the top guys."