Opportunities stacking up for Adam Hall heading into draft year

By: Alexis Brudnicki

Canadian Baseball Network

Baseball Factory’s Under Armour All-America Game is another opportunity for Adam Hall.

The 17-year-old Bermuda-born native of London – and mainstay member of the Canadian Junior National Team and the Great Lake Canadians – is getting a lot of those lately and he’s doing his best to take advantage of every one.

Each chance is a piece of the puzzle that is seeing Hall’s dream of playing professional baseball at the highest level start to come to fruition. And after relocating from Bermuda to Ontario with his parents Tyler and Helen – in part for love of the game – he believes that every step in the right direction makes it all worthwhile.

“I’m sure they’re happy to see me getting to experience the opportunities that I am,” the young middle infielder said of what his parents enjoy the most about his journey. “Just the overall everything, getting to watch it unfold and see everything work out.

“You can’t really plan for this the way it’s worked out, after moving from Bermuda. But seeing everything go the way we wanted it to go so far is probably most exciting for them.”

Each opportunity Hall has received from the time he moved permanently to the Great White North right up until next year’s draft – the selection process that he will head into as Canada’s top high school prospect – is one he made for himself, but with some help along the way.

The Londoner grew up playing soccer, cricket and volleyball in Bermuda, but loved the times that he found himself on the diamond. Playing in Bermuda’s rookie league under Phil Ray, he began developing his baseball skills by competing with older players, a chance given to him by the late Tom MacNeil, before earning funding from the Bermudan government to help him pursue his dream further.

Moving to Ontario, he learned under the staff of former professional players at Centrefield Sports, becoming a member of the Great Lake Canadians program in its inaugural season. He began the showcase circuit early and was quickly offered several scholarship opportunities – committing to the Texas A & M Aggies – and became a Team Canada mainstay.

“Obviously you’re always trying to create separation for yourself and do the best you can, whatever that means for you to do to show all aspects of your game,” Hall said. “But things are going pretty well for me as of right now.”

Pretty well is a slight understatement.

Just this season, Hall has been all over the map as scouts get their last full-season looks at the teenager before he graduates from A.B. Lucas Secondary School. In March and April, he travelled with Team Canada to Florida to match up against spring training competition. In May, the Junior National Team went to the Dominican Republic to play Dominican Summer League squads.

In June, he participated in a Perfect Game All-American event in Fort Myers, before being named to the Perfect Game All-American Classic game, which will take place at Petco Park in San Diego in August. From there, he rejoined Team Canada for their Cuba summer series amidst his Canadian Premier Baseball League schedule with the GLC.

After Saturday’s Under Armour All-America Game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Hall will head to the East Coast Pro Showcase in Tampa before the Area Code Games in California, and a final trip with the national squad to Orlando in October.

“It’s obviously a great honour to be the only Canadian going to the [Under Armour All-America Game], and just to be going to the game itself, but I’m not looking at just Canada,” Hall said. “I’m looking at all of North America and comparing myself.

“So it’s good to be able to go up against those guys and see what they are, see them all at once and what you’re up against. I’m excited for it, but you’ve got to use it as a learning experience too. Obviously there’s more work to be done but you can see what you have to do and what you are going up against.”

While the young shortstop doesn’t think of himself as the prototypical type of player expected at these kinds of showcase events, not blowing anyone out of the water in any one category, his ability to remain consistently at the top of every facet of the game is what separates him from the crowd.

“You think of the guys who go to that game and you think of big guys who are hitting the ball far and pitchers who are throwing 95 mph plus,” Hall said. “I wouldn’t say I’m the typical guy to go to that but obviously I’m pretty happy that I’m going to it…

“I can bring a little bit of everything to it. Whether that’s speed, defence, my arm, batting, power. When I bring all of that to a game, that’s what impresses people. It’s not just one thing in particular that I’m going to impress someone with, like using [power-hitting Canadian Marlins prospect] Josh Naylor as an example, and him hitting a huge home run. I’m not going to hit one as far as he is.”

With the Under Armour All-America game set to get underway, and Hall just in the middle of his summer run through showcases and high-profile games, the young infielder is as relaxed as ever, always looking forward to what’s next.

“There’s always a certain amount of pressure, but I can’t say I go out there feeling any of it,” Hall said. “I don’t think I did before but I didn’t have any experience with big events and whatnot. Tournament 12 [hosted by the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre] was really the first thing I did and even then you’re young.

“But once you realize that there are lots of events and you’re going to have lots of opportunities for the most part, there’s still the pressure that people expect you do well but as long as you don’t pressure yourself too much and don’t let it get to you then you don’t feel it.”

Finally entering his year of draft eligibility, after watching many of his Team Canada teammates and friends move on to Division-I colleges or into the professional realm, and seeing players he shared a field with like Naylor and Mike Soroka chosen in the first round of the selection process, Andrew Yerzy taken in the second round just over a month ago, and Demi Orimoloye and Miles Gordon chosen in the fourth round, Hall is looking forward to where his future might take him, and what else he might be able to get his parents excited for.

“This year isn’t different quite yet,” Hall said. “I don’t think it’s completely started to sink in but I’ve been looking forward to having my turn at the whole experience…I’m my own player, and I know I’m not the same as those guys, but seeing where they’ve gone and what they can do, you get excited being able to do the same things in that way, with the draft or going to school, or whatever the option turns out to be.”