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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-11-18, Page 21CrosTIMAI)�'OCAI'1: roads Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, November 18, 1998 Sticking with baseball pays off for Grant Play ball! Denfield's Bob Grant is ready to take the field for the Owens College Express baseball team By Crag Bradford TIMES ADVOCATE STAFF DENFIELD —.Bob Grant hopes to catch,on in Totedo. • Grant, 20, will say goodbye to his native Denfield to.try his luck hitting, running and catching for the' Owens Community College Express hardball team. He'll also say goodbye to thg-Lucan Jr. D Irish hockey team which he's been a member of for three years.. • Owens, a• catcher/third baseman in baseball and a right winger in hockey, is looking forward to starting -school on Jan. 11 at the Toledo, Ohio, area 'junior col- lege' where he'll study general 'arts and 'science for two years. After graduating from Owens, Grant hopes to move down the Interstate to either Ohio State University or Bowling Green to continue his'studies.towards a physio- • therapy career and, of course.. continue backstopping .90+ mph pitchers. - Paying - Paying his own way this year since Owens has yet to -achieve scholarship status, Grant said he might be eligi- ble, for a scholarship next year when it is granted that • status. Owens is -a virtual city unto itself with an enrolcnent of over 23.,000 students. Grant said Americans have a .higher ,regard for -their. community .colleges than • Canadians do and consider them a stepping stone to uni- • versity. Grant spent last baseball season with the St. Thomas Jr. Tomcats where he swatted nine homers 'and batted an eye-popping :355. The 'Cats won the OBA champi- onship but fell short in' the league final series to Stratford. Grant played minor ball in Ilderton. Two seasons ago Grant, as a'member of the Ilderton bantams, won the OBA championship. The season before -that Grant played with the London a• � = AAA 'midget, Badgers._ Grant also played minor hockey with Ilderton before playing for the highest Ailk 'homiQtown' team. the Irish. Though Grant has regrets leaving \, in the middle of the season, the Irish' • coaching staff knew at the outset of the season Grant was done in January and he has their. full blessing til pursue his education and collegiate baseball career. - "I feel. I'M letting them down," Grant said. "I'm sur- prised they gave ine a card, They told me they felt 1 .deserved it and earned it. Irish co -coach Jason l3ukala said Grant will be sorely missed. • "It's going to be a pretty -big loss to the team when he goes," Bukala said. "Ile's just a classy individual. Ile's great to have in -the dressing room. Ile's an all-round fun individual to have -around." Grant said it .wasn't a hard decision choosing which sport to pursue to coincide with his education. "'There's more of a future in baseball than hockey for myself," he said. "1 couldn't see myself going any further with hockey." •- - -. Grant isn't just a two -sport guy. Ile has had a varied high school sporting career with Medway. In Gr. 9 he played football and was on -the.track and field team; in Gr. 10 he switched to swimming and track; in Gr. 11 it was badminton and• track; in Gr. 12, he focused on track;_ in OAC be -concentrated on his studies and stayed away from school sports. Throughout it all. Grant continued to play baseball and hockey. • Grant -won the Middlesex Conference gold medal for - javelin in. Gr: 10 and was a member of Medway's silver medal winning.4X100 relay team while in Gr. 12. Grant' has also dabbled with discus, shot put, high jump, long jump and the 110m hurdles in his high school and Legion club track career. "I just got bored and I, did it long. enough," Grant said of switching sports throughout the years. Ilighlights of his sporting career include being a mem- bctr of a London baseball team that won the 'Gold Bat' international tournament in Sarnia a couple of years. ago: Grant said he DH -ed most -of the games but caught tine game and played third base in the final game. The best moment of the -tournament for Grant was hitting a homerun in the first .game after going .0-2 in his first- at bats. •. "'That's a very respectable tournament," Grant said, aiding teams come from throughout the U.S. and, even froi" Puerto Ricci and other Caribbean countries well known for -generating top Major League stars. Mother baseball highlight for Grant was winning the OBA-championship with the Ilderton bantams that included all of his friends. His fondest memories with the Irish include his very first game and when -the team 'played a 'home' game in Ilderton his first year.• Going to the U.S..to school is an exciting proposition • for Grant and the Toledo area will provide some interest- ing contrasts and similarities: Toledo is a "working man's" city in an agricultural region (not unlike any .urban area in southwestern Ontario). • "'There are bean fields jukt over the centre field. fence," Grant said with a smile. But hockey isn't as important there and are- • nas are .spread out thinly. Grant said the. nearest hockey rink to where he'll be going to school is over an hour drive away. The chance to play for•.Owens almost didn't hap- pen. Grant said: he knew about ()wens and has a friend there but didn't think he could make the team. His friend secured a tryout session for Grant and invited him down for a visit.' ,. • Grant said. he showed up at the tryout in his street - clothes not really expecting to be asked to'do much since he thought he •was late. After what seemed to be the. end • of practice, the coach asked Grant to suit up to catch a couple pitches. . Without any warm-up stretching, pitches .or running (and outfitted with a mask and other Owens equipment -that didn't --fit), Grant caught an Owens pitcher. Ile was then asked to throw to second base like it was a stealing situation. Not -only did Grant•throw a strike to second, he . did it two more times. "Those were the best balls I've ever thrown in my life, (.;rant said. Those throws got him the spot on Owens and Grant is happy for the.chance. "They -liked what they saw -and 1 like what I saw," Grant said of his time at Owens. "It was a happy mar- riage." Grant even considered not playing ball at all last sum- mer: Ile was leaning -towards trying out lacrosse in London.. - "I'm glad I stuck with baseball,"- Grant said with a smile. •- Owens.is expected to make some noise in Ohio colle- giate baseball this season. • ,"They say we have two guys who can.throw in the 90s and a lefty who can throw 86," Grant. said. "We're expected to go to the state finals." Grant lists Ilderton baseball coach' Rudy Godwin as one of his mentors. "Ile realized I was good enough to play somewhere •'else and gave me a little push," he said. Grant also credits his parents, Lynne and Barrie. his older brother Paul, and- his extended family for, all their support.. - - - "They've watched a lot of boring baseball games," he - said. - Grant plans. to return home for the summer to play . another season, his last due to age eligibility, with the St. 'Phomas Tomcats. • When asked if there was anything lw would like to tell hopeful young --baseball players like himself, Grant underlined people should look at all their options: "If anyone wants to get into a U.S. college, use the Internet and give schools your stats," he said. "They. .don't know anything about a Canadi• .kid. The- worst • thing they can say is no. No one is goin out to find you." Ready for the. sale • - Members of the Precious Blood Mission Catholic • . Women's League prepare for the Annual Christmas Penny Sale last Wednesday. Back row from left: Pat Campbell,ActoniaVerbeke,•Monique Van Bruwaene, Mary Smits, Joanne Steffens, Mariette Bilcke; Maria Schroeders and Truus Klaver. Front -row from left: Joan Agnew,Annette Denomme, Mary Koricina, Cecilia Mittelholtz, - Aggie Groenewegen with Grace Stephens and Doreen Regier. Profits from the penny sale will be used for several projects: baskets for shut ins at Christmas, needy families who have suffered a • tragedy from a fire, the death.of a young parent, or a physically challenged child, Camp Trillium (a camp near Waterford for children with cancer), articles needed in the church and the building fund for the new church in Exeter, the food bank and the' Christmas Bureau, books for Precious Blood - School and the establishment of a bursary for St. Anne's Secondary School in Clinton.