Infielder Brady Porter slid into the limelight at the recent Toronto Blue Jays showcase for Canada's top amateur players at Tournament 12.
The 19-year-old Red Deer teen, who spends summers playing on the Innisfail Indians Senior ‘AAA' Baseball Club, Innisfail Merchants ‘AAA' Baseball Club and spends the fall playing college ball in Lethbridge, joined a roster of 15- to 20- year-old cross-country competitors in search of a spot in the major leagues during a national baseball tournament hosted by the Blue Jays between September 20 and 24.
“It was surreal to have the opportunity to play in front of scouts,” Porter explained after the tournament for teens wrapped up. “I couldn't turn it down.”
The Blue Jays Baseball Academy, Blue Jays Scouting Department, Baseball Canada and the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau hand-picked each competitor for the national tournament.
“Brady is an exceptional baseball player with great instincts in the field, and has a quick and balanced left-handed swing from which he generates a lot of power,” said Innisfail Merchants Jr. ‘AAA' coach Desmond Bouteiller. “He is a committed athlete, and one of our most feared hitters. His power bat plays well as a corner infielder but he is also so versatile that there isn't any worry sliding him in to play at either second or shortstop.”
Porter had three hits reported after a mere 13 at-bats in four games, including one double and one triple.
“I didn't do as good as I thought, but I was real nervous for the first couple games,” he said. “I played and it was kind of cool just to be playing in that stage of the tournament in front of the scouts and everything.”
But Porter's love of the game is ongoing.
“It's kind of different to get adjusted to coming back here to windy Lethbridge,” he said. “I took a week off of (college) and it's been a little bit of a struggle to get back, but I think I'm caught up now so that's good.”
He is currently in the midst of his third year of taking general studies at Lethbridge College. Porter is optimistic about the possibility of getting a scholarship on an American team.
“I've got a coach down here (Lethbridge) who said it's easier to transfer to the United States like this,” Porter explained about his general course load at Lethbridge College. “That's my goal anyways.”
For more information about Porter's statistics, visit http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/tor/baseball_academy/tournament_12.jsp.
