Kevin McBain
of The Clarion
Kindersley’s Joel McGrath’s baseball resume continues to grow.
The 16-year-old Grade 11 student who is attending the Badlands Baseball Academy in Oyen, Alta., recently competed at a Perfect Game West tournament in Phoenix, Ariz., with some of the best young baseball players in North America.
He has also recently been named to a tournament team – called the Alberta Prairie Sticks – that consists of the best academy ballplayers in Alberta. They will play (so far) in three tournaments this year: in Lethbridge in April; Indianapolis in June; and Ohio in September.
Kindersley ballplayer Joel McGrath is being recognized by scouts for his pitching abilities.
In Phoenix, McGrath played in two games during the tournament. It featured 26 teams from all across North America and was attended by pro and college scouts. McGrath played for the Milwaukee Brewers scout team, organized by a scout in B.C.
The tournament was played Jan. 12-15 at Camelback Ranch, the location of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox training facilities.
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McGrath stands 6’5” tall and weighs in at about 210 pounds.
In his first game, he pitched against his new team, the Sticks Baseball Academy, and completed two innings and allowed just one hit, no earned runs and one strikeout in a 7-0 loss to the eventual tournament champions.
In his second game, against the Aggies Baseball Underclass team, he pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed four hits and three earned runs, but he also struck out five batters. The teams ended the game in a 5-5 draw.
McGrath said that the tournament was a great experience.
“It was the first time throwing in a couple of months, but I think it all went pretty well,” he said. “There were lots of scouts there and it was pretty nerve wracking.”
He added that the facilities were very nice to play at.
McGrath’s fastball at the tournament averaged around 81 miles per hour, but was clocked at 84 during the Badlands’ fall season.
The Alberta Prairie Sticks is a tournament team put together by director Andrew Mclean. “This is an exposure-based high school baseball team designed to showcase and promote the top players playing within the Province of Alberta,” says the website. “The team roster has been selected via provincial scouting along with the consultation from a collection of scouting advisers throughout the province.”
Maclean is also the prep baseball director of scouting and is a leading authority on young ballplayers. This is what he said about McGrath in a recent scouting report:
“With a good throwing and weight program, consistency and a few minor tweaks to his mechanics, he should work his way into the discussion for top pitching prospects in 2018. …
“McGrath looks to develop into a weekend starter at the college level that can work ahead of hitters with his fastball and eat up a lot of innings.”
McGrath says he hopes to get bigger and stronger. Over the past year and a half, he says that his fastball has jumped close to 20 miles per hour and he hopes to speed things up even more in the coming months.
As far as his plans this season, he and his Badgers’ teammates will be heading to Las Vegas for their yearly trip at the end of February. Then he will be playing the Brewers’ scout team at the Best of the West tournament in Kamloops in April. That event features the top teams and players from Western Canada.
Along with the regular spring season with the Badgers and playing with the Prairies Sticks, he said that he may also try out for Team Saskatchewan this spring and may even play a little ball in Kindersley again.
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