AHP Baseball Academy’s Miguel Tetreault played for Team Grey at this year’s Canadian Futures Showcase. Photo: Toronto Blue Jays Academy

*This article originally appeared on Alberta Dugout Stories on October 18. You can read it here.

October 19, 2024

By Joe McFarland

Alberta Dugout Stories

Miguel Tetreault couldn’t help but smile as he glanced around Legacy Dodge Field.

Playing in Team Alberta’s first game of the 2024 Baseball Canada Cup in Fort McMurray, the starting shortstop was living every Canadian baseball player’s dream of representing their province on home turf.

While Alberta fell 3-0 to Manitoba in the opener on their way to a sixth-place finish in the national championship, Tetreault says he will never forget the emotions of the opener.

“That first pitch, I was looking up in the crowd and it was a surreal moment,” the infielder told Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast. “Playing in front of friends and family, it was definitely a blessing to represent not only my hometown but my home province, too.”

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Listen to Alberta Dugout Stories interview Miguel Tetreault here.

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It’s been an fascinating journey of patience in baseball for Tetreault, who moved away from home a couple of years ago to fine-tune his game at AHP Academy in St. Albert, Alta.

The appearance at the Baseball Canada Cup, along with a few other major events and a recent college signing, are making it feel like all of the challenges have been worth it.

TAKING A CHANCE

A multi-sport athlete growing up, Tetreault wasn’t entirely set on chasing a baseball dream.

After playing t-ball and mosquito baseball, he actually quit the game in peewee to focus on hockey.

Tetreault saw some success on the ice, but felt the urge to get back onto the diamond. He re-entered Fort McMurray Minor Baseball in bantam and immediately started turning heads.

He admits he fell in love with the game, dropped hockey and started looking at his options to focus solely on baseball.

At the age of 15, Tetreault was given the opportunity to head south to AHP Academy.

“When I got the shot, I took it,” he said. “My parents were on board with me. We knew it would be hard and risky and didn’t know what was to come, but I think it was a big turning point to what led me here.”

DRIVEN FOR GREATNESS

A slow-and-steady philosophy has allowed Tetreault to be patient.

He focused on his defence first and, when he could, hit the gym and weight room to increase his strength, hoping for his ability with the bat to catch up.

In early 2023, Tetreault started to appear on some top prospect lists in Alberta, which garnered some curiosity amongst scouts and coaches looking for talent.

“My progression over time, working out and all throughout the offseason, I’ve set goals and achieved them,” he said. “It’s been a long process of doing all those things, but that’s just what it takes in wanting to be great.”

The sound of the ball coming off Tetreault’s bat started to sound more impactful, with his analytics showing a jump in exit velocity, and he started taking his game to the next level.

MAKING WAVES

Coming into the 2024 season, Tetreault was viewed as one of the top prospects to watch across the province with his already stellar defence and improving hitting abilities.

After a few outstanding performances with AHP, Baseball Alberta came calling for the Canada Cup in his hometown.

But he wasn’t done there as Tetreault was invited to the Canadian Futures Showcase in Toronto.

The 17-year-old’s goal was simple: be himself.

“I know I’ve worked hard enough to be there and I deserve it,” Tetreault said. “I just need to go play and do me, and hopefully I can do some cool things.”

Suiting up for Team Grey, the left-hitting shortstop went 2-for-8 with two runs, three walks and two stolen bases in four games.

While it wasn’t enough to play in the main showcase game between Team Bautista and Team Encarnacion, it was another step in the right direction for Tetreault.

Bound and determined to get himself to get the right college opportunity after he graduates high school, Tetreault also went to the Prep Baseball West Coast Games in Southern California to round out his fall.

HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

With the whirlwind season behind him, Tetreault’s first order of business was to finalize his collegiate plans.

And it didn’t take long for him to make his call, announcing he had committed to Cloud County Community College.

Located west of Kansas City, the school is no stranger to having Albertans on its baseball roster with past names including fellow AHP product Erik Sabrowski as well as Clayton Loranger, Matt Bondarchuk and Tom Poole.

Cloud County is also known as a springboard to four-year schools.

“Ever since I started baseball, my dream has been Division-1,” Tetreault said. “I’m still working on that goal and hopefully I can achieve that dream of mine.”

Before he gets there, the 5-foot-10, 170-pound infielder wouldn’t mind getting a call from Baseball Canada to join the Junior National Team in 2025.

However, he knows he will have to work for it, something he’s happy to do.

“Getting these opportunities, you have to work for them,” Tetreault said. “I’ve never not wanted to do that, so it’s definitely been a blessing to finally start achieving things and showing all my hard work is paying off.”

Everywhere he looks, he sees baseball. And that’s exactly what he wants to keep doing.