July 15, 2016

By: Tyler King

Canadian Baseball Network

It’s 7:50 a.m. on Day 1 of the Sandlott World Championships in Nashville, Tenn. 

The hotel restaurant that had just housed the entire Ontario Terriers 18-U and 17-U teams has nearly emptied. Head coach Scott Van De Valk is still sitting at a table waiting for the last of his players to finish their breakfast and make their way over to the team bus. He is surveying the restaurant with the same stoic stare that he wears when he’s at the diamond, perhaps with runners on first and third.

But his unchanging grin breaks slightly as Sam Turcotte - one of his most senior and most talented pitchers (and Junior National Team member) - walks in.

“What time does the clock behind me say?” Van De Valk asks the 6-foot-5-inch right-hander.

The orders were clearly laid out the night before. Breakfast at 7:30. Turcotte knows he messed up.

He looks his manager in the eyes and does the only thing he can do. He tells the truth.

“I’m sorry Skip’. I slept in. It’s no excuse. It won’t happen again.”

You can tell his apology is sincere. And you can also tell that this is the type of personal ownership and independence Van De Valk demands of his players. He’s not afraid to be direct when more is demanded of them, especially if a senior player of Turcotte’s calibre and promise is involved.

After all, this would become just one of many examples of how the Terriers organization prepares its players for the impending rigous of college baseball ...

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Turcotte, or “Big Turk” as he’s known to his teammates and coaches, has received a scholarship to pitch at Stony Brook University in New York, where he will be attending and studying sociology next year. But while currently at the Sandlott World Championships in Nashville, he admits he has more work left to do before wrapping up his six-year Terriers career and turning his focus to college.

“This is my last time out with the Terriers, my last season, my last summer,” Turcotte told the Canadian Baseball Network prior to his first start at the Nashville tournament. “I want to give it my all.”

As much as the Terrier program clearly means to him, it’s equally obvious just how much the program values Turcotte.

Before they even made the bus ride to Nashville, Turcotte claims he had an idea of what game he’d be starting ... whichever one was against the powerful East Cobb team from Marietta, Ga. - consistently one of the top programs in the country. 

And as soon as the schedule was released, he found out he was right.

“Last week when we got the schedule Skip’ said ‘OK, you’re starting against East Cobb.’ We beat them last year. It was one of the most intense games I’ve ever played in.”

To be sure, this year’s re-match - played a day later than originally scheduled due to rain - did not disappoint, and although Turcotte and the Terriers eventually lost 4-2, there were plenty of learning opportunities and bright spots for the Toronto native. 

He allowed five hits and an uncharacteristic seven walks through 5 1/3 innings, yet despite battling his command he somehow managed to escape jam-after-jam and keep his team in the game.

He walked the leadoff man in four of his five separate innings, but thanks to his heavy (HEAVY) fastball, the free pass only hurt him once. In the second inning, with two on and one out he threw nothing but that hard fastball, inducing two weak pop ups. In an identical situation in the fourth, again he threw only heat, with the same result - nobody scored.

According to PerfectGame.com, Turcotte’s average fastball velocity is 88 MPH, but Turcotte himself says he’s been throwing 90 for over a year, since he first hit the magic number at the London Bureau camp last spring.

But despite being able to overpower the average 17-or-18-year-old, his experience with the Junior National Team has taught him that he can’t simply rely on his fastball forever (a lesson that he knows will serve him well as he transitions to college).

“All Spring and Summer I pitched against good teams, but they weren’t the best. They couldn’t hit the fastball so I’d just throw fastball-curveball, fastball-curveball. But when I was with the National Team guys could hit the fastball so I’d have to throw my changeup in there. When I could use all three pitches, and throw strikes with them, that’s when I was at my best.”

He likely shocked everyone in attendance at old Shelby Park on Friday (teammates and amateur sportswriters included) when he opened the game against East Cobb by throwing three straight breaking balls - two of them for strikes; something he says he had planned before the game with Terriers catcher and Niagara University commit Joe Tevlin.

That being said, the fastball remains a go-to weapon in Turcotte’s ever-growing arsenal, and one that turned what could have been a real ugly start into a game decided by just a single pitch: a hanging breaking ball that became a three-run shot to left centre.

But even though that mistake ended up being the difference between a win and a loss, Terriers coach Dean Dicenzo saw the pitch as an opportunity for his players to learn.

“That’s why we bring the kids down here and play in tournaments like this one, face the tougher competition,” Dicenzo said after the game. “In our league, [Turcotte] might get away with that pitch. It’s actually probably a strikeout. But not to these guys. It’s important to see that.”

Tournaments like the one in Nashville have been a staple of the Terriers program for years, and guys like Turcotte understand how much his time with the organization has meant to his development.

“Just the exposure you get, from the National Team to US Colleges to pro scouts. [Terriers founder Dan Thompson] helped me with my scholarship for sure.”

In fact, it was with the Terriers when he made the 15-U team (despite being only 13-years-old) that he first knew he had the gift.

“That’s when I was like ‘I think I have a future,’” Turcotte said. 

He still considers the Terriers 15-U coach, Ryan Armstrong, to be one of his greatest mentors and fondly remembers working with him at the Baseball Zone in Mississauga - now the home of the Terriers - when he was seven-years-old.

Now, 11 years later and he’s still trying to learn his craft. Only the challenges he’s about to face are tougher and, presumably, more daunting. 

“The biggest difference in college is probably going to be statistics,” Turcotte predicts. “I’ve never played baseball where stats matter. Now your ERA is going to be important, your win-loss is important - they’re going to affect when you start next. I’ve never experienced that.”

But even with the added pressure Turcotte claims he’s ready for anything. Yes, even a pitcher’s worst nightmare ...

Metal bats.

“Honestly I think I’ll be OK. Those broken bats are just going to be singles now, but I was with the National Team for two years and I played against the best minor league guys - their instructional leagues, Dominican academies - and I did alright there, I handled it pretty well. So I think I’ll be OK ... I’ve always been playing against [older guys].

No matter what happens, he’s clearly approaching the next step with the right attitude. And when he takes the mound at six-foot-five, throwing that heavy fastball, it may just be those NCAA hitters - not Turcotte - who face the bigger challenge.

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