McFarland: Morgan draws inspiration from Sabrowski heading into Canadian Futures Showcase
AHP Academy and Junior National Team catcher Dominik Morgan (Sherwood Park, Alta.) will compete in the Canadian Futures Showcase at Rogers Centre this week. Photo: Baseball Canada/Twitter
*This article originally appeared on Alberta Dugout Stories on September 17, 2024. You can read it here.
September 17, 2024
By Joe McFarland
Alberta Dugout Stories
Dominik Morgan has never run as fast as he did when his phone started ringing while he was at work.
Just a day earlier, the young catcher was speaking with one of his AHP Academy coaches, who gave him a heads up that he would be getting a phone call.
Sure enough, he looked at his phone and saw the caller ID as “Baseball Canada.”
“I’m sprinting out of the shop to get to a quiet space and he goes, ‘Hey, this is Greg. How’s it going, Dom?’” Morgan told Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast. “I’m like, ‘Whoa, this is going to be a really cool phone call.’”
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Listen to Alberta Dugout Stories interview Dominik Morgan here.
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The caller was Baseball Canada Junior National Team head coach Greg Hamilton, who was telling the Sherwood Park Minor Baseball Association product that he was being added to Canada’s Selection Camp for the WBSC Americas U18 Pan-American Championships in Panama.
It set off a whirlwind summer for the 18-year-old, who has plenty left in his tank for more baseball this fall, starting with the Canadian Futures Showcase in Toronto.
CATCHING FLIGHTS
Morgan says he didn’t even know he was on Baseball Canada’s radar prior to getting the phone call from Hamilton.
He admits he blanked out on the call, trying his best to capture as much information as he could before he needed to board a flight to Cary, North Carolina.
“When I saw him calling, I freaked out – like, how is this happening?” Morgan said. “I always worked hard for any opportunity to get and I never thought it would come.”
Once the shock of the call wore off, he packed his bags and got himself ready to take advantage of the opportunity being given.
However, it didn’t take him long to realize that the level of competition and quality of pitching he was about to see was about to go up a few notches.
“That first week of catching all the guys, learning all their stuff – this is gross, this is nasty – everyone just has gross pitches,” Morgan said. “Learning them all and seeing how guys like to pitch is cool.”
He became fast friends with veteran JNT member and Port Coquitlam, B.C. native Sean Duncan, who the backstop says has some of the best stuff he’s ever seen.
HARD WORK PAYS OFF
A day before the team headed to Panama for the championship, Baseball Canada unveiled the 20-man roster and Morgan was once again surprised to see his name on the list.
He credits being able to push his usual nerves aside and just embraced wearing the maple leaf.
“I was like, ‘I deserve to be here,’ and now I just have to go out and play,” Morgan said.
“I found that was a flip for me that I haven’t really had before where I was just like, ‘This is the moment that I get to play in,’ and not, “This moment is going to overtake me and I have to do good in this moment.’”
As Canada finished fifth in the tournament with a 5-2 record, he saw action in two games, going 1-for-4 with a run scored, a run batted in, one walk and a hit-by-pitch.
Morgan says it provided him with the assurance that he can play with the best in the country.
He also walked away with plenty of memories and mementos, including a new Team Canada bat and catcher’s gear.
“The first time I put on the jersey and saw ‘Canada’ across the chest, it’s such a surreal feeling,” Morgan said. “The coolest thing for me was the bat as I like to have a bat in my hands.”
SHOWCASE SHOWDOWN
As if the international experience wasn’t enough, Morgan’s season is far from over.
His next venture is east where he will be taking part in the annual Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
“I’m going to walk in there for the first time and definitely have an awe moment,” Morgan said. “I’m going to have to soak it in for a couple of seconds before I lock in.”
He doesn’t have many expectations of himself aside from playing hard and having fun.
The 6-foot, 205-pound catcher has also been tabbed for the upcoming Prep Baseball West Coast Games in Southern California in October.
Like any high school player at that level, he’s hoping to eventually sign on with a NCAA Division I school and continue working towards his goal of playing professional baseball.
Interestingly, Morgan doesn’t have to look very far to see a path from Alberta to the big leagues.
INTO THE FRYING PAN
Whenever the Cleveland Guardians are playing, you can be sure everyone at Absolute Human Performance and AHP Academy are watching.
Back in late-August, AHP alum Erik Sabrowski was called up to the MLB squad after battling through two Tommy John surgeries and bouncing through the minor league system.
A week later, Sabrowski made his debut, and Morgan finds it unreal that just a few months earlier, he was catching Sabrowski in a few offseason bullpen sessions at AHP.
“The first time I caught him, it was definitely a frying pan,” he laughed. “I did not do that good, but after catching him a few times, you do better, but his stuff is nasty for sure.”
Morgan says Sabrowski is an inspiration to everyone at AHP, showing that you can overcome all kinds of adversity to achieve your dream.
It’s going to take work, but he’s in it for the long haul.
“You have to love the work – you have to love to get better and to struggle,” Morgan said. “I love challenging myself and making myself get better and failing to get better.”
With that kind of mindset, Morgan’s hoping to make a few more mad dashes to take important phone calls in the future.