A couple of young Squamish baseball players had the chance recently to be “boys of summer” during the bleak weather of November.
Brady Reed and Coleman Kawaguchi spent several days in Nevada playing ball from Nov. 8 to 13 at the Veterans Day Challenge, held in Las Vegas and nearby Henderson, Nev.
“I knew it was going to be fun because we were going to Las Vegas,” Kawaguchi said.
Both had taken part in baseball camps in Oliver run in the summer by Marty Lehn, founder of the Big League Experience Camp. Along with some players from the North Shore, the two were invited to join a team based out of White Rock.
Reed played with the U12 team and Kawaguchi was with the U11s.
Reed’s team played five games and ended with two wins and three losses, while Kawaguchi’s won one and lost the other three.
“There were some teams that weren’t that strong, and there were some teams that killed us,” Reed said.
Kawaguchi plays shortstop and pitcher and likes to model his game after his idol, Yankee legend Derek Jeter, while Reed, who likes to catch and play first, says his favourite players include backstops David Ross and Yadier Molina, along with Canadian Joey Votto.
While in Nevada, the two had the chance to work with some big league talent as coaches, such as former all-star corner infielder Shea Hillenbrand and pitcher Albie Lopez, who won a World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001. They also picked up tips on technique, especially running from former Olympic sprinter Ed Lovelace. All in all, it was a learning experience, even if the odd opportunity came through the occasional misfortune.
“I got picked off twice in the same game,” Reed admits with a laugh.
Kawaguchi’s younger brother Gavin even got a chance to take some turns pinch-hitting and pinch-running. While on the bases, Gavin surprised everyone by making a headfirst slide.
“Everybody was super-shocked at what he did,” Kawaguchi said.
Lehn, himself, is a scout for the Milwaukee Brewers and is a former Team Canada coach. Kawaguchi and Reed both attended his camp in the Okanagan this past summer, as did several other players from Squamish.
Kawaguchi also attended a tournament in Arizona this past year through his connections with Lehn’s camp, but the trip south was a new experience for Reed.
“This is my first year at camp and my first year going down,” he said.
They are hoping to head south again for a spring break tournament in Arizona.
The pair also had the chance to play at a facility called Big League Field of Dreams, which includes smaller replicas of famed major league ballparks, such as Fenway Park and Wrigley Field. The Squamish boys had the chance to play in the Vegas version of Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. There, they even saw former big league slugger Jose Canseco playing slo-pitch.
Even though Reed and Kawaguchi are in the midst of hockey season, they started conditioning, even increasing their water intake a couple of weeks before, to be ready for the tournament and the warmer weather, so they did not find it too much of an adjustment to pick up their gloves for a sport that they have not played since summer.
“It wasn’t that difficult,” Kawaguchi said.
Reed, though, added that his arm had not had a lot practice of late.
“I haven’t thrown for, like, two months.”
