HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2017-06-28, Page 22 Huron Expositor • Wednesday. June 28, 2017
ABCA says recent Local phenom baseball
rainfall tops charts pitcher Pepper is back in
Seaforth for the Summer
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
The Ausable Bay-
field Conservation Author-
ity (ABCA) is calling the
rainfall that recently
blessed Southwestern
Ontario as "historic", they
also noted that compared
to other parts of the region,
Seaforth "got off lightly."
Commencing last
Thursday at approximately
10 p.m. until 5 a.m. the
next morning, Seaforth
saw 40-50 mm of rain
while the Harriston Ont.
region received 100
mm -170 mm.
The north side of the
water shed faced the
"bulk" of the precipitation,
said the communications
coordinator for ABCA,
Jayne Thompson arid also
added that the event wel-
comed four times more
precipitation than was
originally forecasted.
She said Benmiller and
Blyth each received
roughly 100 mm of rain.
"We consider this to be a
historic rainfall," stated
Thompson while mention-
ing last week's storm
exceeded the 2008 water
levels, which at the time
were the highest they've
witnessed in recent years.
When the ground col-
lects large amounts of
water in such a short
period of time, Thompson
said this leaves no time to
soak, resulting in run-offs
and floods.
Since it's already near-
ing the end of June,
Thompson says this is
above average rain.
And she predicts the
water level to stay high for
several days, so the ABCA
is urging the public to stay
clear from watercourses..
"What is normally a tiny
trickle in a ditch is a raging
torrent," stated
Thompson.
The ABCA works around
the clock 24 hours a day
seven days a week,
through stream and rain
gauges and such, they
inform municipalities
when a potential rain
event might happen.
According to the
Weather Network, Sea -
forth will potentially face a
few showers between June
26-29, however, the follow-
ing week they predict
sunny days with tempera-
tures reaching into the mid
20's.
SL FORTH LIONS CLUB
FAMILY FUN DAY
COME CELEBRATE CANADA'S 150TH AND
LIONS INTERNATIONALS 100TH ANNIVERSARIES
Saturday July 1st, 2017
At Seaforth Lions Park and Pool
From 12 PM To 4 PM
PRE MITE BASEBALL GAME TO KICK
THINGS OFF 0 12PM
Jordan Pepper,
Ar pitcher for
the Seward
County College
Saints in the
U.S. took part
in a exclusive
interview last
week to inform
the area about
his first year of
college baseball
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
Off for the summer, local
pitching baseball star Jordan
Pepper is back in town -he left
a fit teenager and disem-
barked a bulky muscled man.
Living in the U.S. and
based out of the state of Kan-
sas, the Seaforth native
played for the Seward
County College Saints; he
had to pay for his rent and
meal plan but otherwise the
school provided him with a
full -ride scholarship.
Those benefits are begin-
ning to show on the 20-year-
old's physique.
Stepping on the scale at
165 pounds before leaving
Canada, not even six weeks
into training camp, Pepper
was elated to report a gain of
twenty pounds onto his
growing body, he credits a
big part of his muscular
frame to his vigorous
training.
Most days, Pepper is up at
4 a.m., a half hour later he
joins the team intense ath-
letic program known as the
"agility ladder."
This is believed to boost
quickness, foot speed, hand
eye coordination, body
awareness and in Pepper's
case, enhance his ball throw-
ing abilities.
Along with hours of
pumping iron, swimming
and ab -exercises, Pepper
said June 21 by phone that
Reaping the benefits from a practically full -ride baseball scholarship, Seaforth native Jordan Pepper,
20, has finished his first year of school.
this is fairly new to him com-
pared to workouts he's used
to while playing ball in
Huron County.
His new body is aiding his
pitching as well, he admitted
that he was previously hit-
ting the 80-85 mph mark and
currently his arm is topping
out at 88 mph consistently.
"Now that I'm 185 pounds,
I feel like there is more
strength and end`rirance,"
Pepper said.
Besides his size, the big
change for Pepper in the for-
eign land is their use of steel
bats compared to the wood
he's used to back home.
He said Canada plays this
way to have an edge on the
Americans," there (are) more
sweet spots on the wood,"
which subsequently help
with home runs or long hits.
But it's a double-edged
sword so to say because Pep-
per revealed, "at the same
time a ball can travel further
at times using metal.
For the time being though,
bats and the offense side of
baseball are not his priorities
as his coaches have advised
him to discharge the passion
of "two-way" play.
He's been told that there is
no need to strain his arm in
other activities on the field.
The newfound focus is
already paying off.
Although the Saints have
had one of their worst sea-
sons with a 17-38 record,
Pepper is looking at in a pos-
itive note as he was
appointed the starting
pitcher in his freshman year.
He's currently completed
his first year of college in a
physical education program
and he told the Expositor a
contract has already been
offered with a "letter of
intent" for his last season
with the Saints.
Ile plans to register in
University after graduating
and hopefully land on a divi-
sion -one team.