HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-05-04, Page 22 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, May 4, 2016
In Baseball, height doesn't measure heart
Huron County
Native heads
to New York
Shaun Gregory
Postmedia Network
A Seaforth born and
raised teenager has shared
similarities in appearance
and body type to his idol,
Blue Jays' star Marcus Stro-
man. A few leagues and
years divide the two; in the
coming season one is the
forefront pitcher of Toronto
while the other leaves
Huron County and heads to
the Big Apple for a baseball
scholarship.
The cities boroughs also
mimic one another with
Toronto having North
York, Scarborough, York
and Etobicoke, East York
and Old Toronto. New
York on the other hand
has one short with the
likes of the Bronx, Brook-
lyn, Manhattan, Queens
and Staten Island.
Separating the 19 -year-old
Seaforth native, Jordan Pep-
per and Stroman, 24, is
roughly an inch and five
pounds. Both are under six-
foot tall, putting them in the
lower percentile of height
compared to the average
MLB pitcher. That stature
can make the ambition of
baseball more than difficult,
seeing as it goes hand and
hand with the philosophy
that taller pitchers are better
than the shorter ones. In
Canada, the average male is
a little over five -foot -nine
and according to ESPN, last
year there were 14 MLB
clubs without a pitcher
under six feet tall in the
bullpen.
"For me being small, I got
to work on getting the veloc-
ity up and make sure I keep
going up in accuracy. If you
don't throw hard, they don't
look at you much," Pepper
stated at his home in Sea -
forth, referring to baseball
scouts.
Regardless of the meas-
ure of inches, nor age, the
five -foot -ten, 175 -pounder
is winning championships,
locally and province -wide
left and right. Last year, he
managed to play on two
baseball teams at the same
time. He pitched for Mitch-
ell's midget squad and also
their senior men's 22 and
up club, the Mitchell
Astros. He was the youngest
player in the league. With
an end result of going 4-0
plus a save for the Astros,
when they captured the
Ontario Baseball Associa-
tion (OBA) Senior 'C' title
on Labour Day in Thorold
Ont. He technically wasn't
eligible to be playing on the
roster, but as he was a call-
up for the midget team he
was allowed to play. In any
instances that the two
schedules were conflicted
his appropriate -aged team
had to come first, they too
won an Ontario champion-
ship. Starting baseball at
three -years -old, Pepper
was practically born with a
bat and glove. However,
those hands that are capa-
ble of throwing fastballs
84-85 mph, also gripped a
hockey stick.
"That's been my dream,
baseball or hockey with the
intentions of riding one
out," Pepper said also add-
ing that he played junior
hockey for the Goderich
Flyers last year.
That was 2015, hockey
season is over and he's hung
up the skates momentarily.
Now, Pepper said he's going
to focus everything on base-
ball. In doing so, he trains
seven days a week from 2:30
p.m. to 5 p.m. Also to spruce
up his skills, every Wednes-
day he travels to Kitchener,
Ont. to train for an extra two
hours. This doesn't include
all the games he competes in
on the weekends. It's a work
ethic that some teens his age
are not eligible of accom-
plishing. Instead, they have
other extracurricular activi-
ties, specifically 19 -year-
olds, because they can pur-
chase alcohol.
"I just want to separate
myself from everyone else.
Partying can just wait. I've
got the rest of my life to
worry about," Pepper said at
his home in Seaforth.
The same discipline has
landed him a 55 per cent
paid baseball scholarship
for the Globe Institute of
Technology in Manhattan,
New York. A college where
he will study a two-year
sports management course,
which is only a hop and a
IrM77.747711n, 757,1117q -c7711
EARLY DEADLINE
EARLY DEADLINE FOR
May 25th
Seaforth Huron Expositor
All ADS must be completed by 2pm on
Thursday, May 19`h
OFFICE HOURS:
Mon. - Thurs. 9am - 5pm
Fri. 8am - 4pm
CLOSED TUESDAYS
For all your marketing needs contact Nancy deGans '
ndegans@postmedia.com • 519-527-0240
*on
Expositor
8 Main St., Seaforth
PH: 519-527-0240
WWW. s eaforthhuronexp ositor. com
skip away from the Empire
State Building and Times
Square. It was a tough deci-
sion for Pepper because of
the four other 'serious
offers' from institutes as far
as South Dakota, Maine,
Minnesota and Illinois. In
total 22 schools tried to
sign the right-hand thrower
before the start of the 2016
school year.
Dave Pietschmann has
known Pepper since the
young age of one, he's tech-
nically his stepson, but to
him that's his son. He went
on to say that Pepper's life-
long passion of playing AAA
baseball has cost $10,000-
$20,000 per program. And
without Pepper's grandpar-
ents, financially this would
not have been accom-
plished. "They were the ones
driving him all over Ontario,"
he said.
"His grandparents were
definitely his biggest influ-
ences when he was
younger."
Pepper and his father will
fill up two cars and be New
York bound on August 10. It's
roughly a nine -hour drive
across the border and a
country away, so
Pietschmann told the Expos-
itor, Pepper will need to be
focused mentally.
"There is no real fun time
once you get to college.
Because if you have a real
goal for going into baseball,
while your buddies are out
partying, you need to be
working out or working on
the field for that one thing
Shaun Gregory/Huron Expositor
Jordan Pepper, 19, holds the ball he threw for a no-hitter game,
which means the opposite team was not able to record a hit. He
did this in his final high school game for Clinton Huron Secondary.
that was giving you prob-
lems," explained
Pietschmann.
"We'll drive down, let him
set in and wish him good
luck. It's time for him to live
his own life and follow his
dream."
Mobile Power Washing
Flood/ Fire/ Wind Remediation
Remodeling/ Rebuilding Contractor
"Insurance Certified" 24/7 On Call
bA
N•
NITRATE
2 Bedrooms & Living Room $189.00
Furnace AC Duct Cleaning
Most Family Homes $289.00
Residential - Commercial - Business
Call Us First - Price & Satisfaction GUARANTEED!
524.2440 ' www.gavincleaning.com Locally Owned & Operated