TNXL Academy Draws Canadian Players

By Tyson Shushkewich

Canadian Baseball Network

Each year, Canadian-born high schoolers are eligible for the major league draft. On top of the strong number of Canadians in the pro rankings, there are hundreds of Canucks found across various post-secondary programs, stretching anywhere from Division I to JUCO ball (1,002) players to be exact).

Not to be forgotten, there are also numerous travel ball programs within Canada as well, including teams like the Great Lakes Canadians, Toronto Mets, Terriers, Ontario Blue Jays and the Langley Blaze or academies like the Okotoks Dawgs, Vauxhall Jets and Prairie Baseball Academy.

It almost seems everywhere a ball fan looks, there is sure to be a Canadian player on the roster or coaching staff.

While most people associate Canadian sports in relation to hockey, which makes sense given most of the nation is under snow for roughly 4-to-6 months of the year, ball players are starting to branch out south of the border even before embarking on their post-secondary journeys. It began during 2020 when Canadian diamonds were locked due to COVID-19.

And joining American programs and academies in order to improve their development has continued. One of those programs is TNXL Academy, located in Ocoee, Fla. near the shores of Lake Apopka and a stone’s throw away from Orlando.

Founded in 2014 by Brian Martinez, TNXL Academy, is described as a high school alternative that focuses on the balance between gaining an education but also improving on and off the diamond in terms of skill, strength and conditioning, and physical education. TNXL is part of the National Academies Association, a group of five premier academies that features three separate squads: the Premier, Prospect, and National divisions.

Martinez, a former Barry University infielder and product of the Orlando Scorpions travel team, said that the program, “is a ten-month development academy where players train from August to May, with most of the students heading home in the summer to play with their respective travel ball programs. I compare TNXL to a pro development complex where we can get our players exposed to scouts and other talented players that can really bring out the best of the best.”

TNXL does that, as the players face some of the top Junior College programs in Florida as well as facing other academies such as Georgia Premier or Pro5 Academy with regularity within the NAA schedule. Players are able to utilize the Florida Virtual School, which helps players balance their time on the field to continue their development working towards moving on in their baseball careers while still achieving a quality education.

One standout graduate from the program is Washington Nationals top prospect Elijah Green, who spent his first two high school campaigns with TNXL before transferring to IMG Academy and eventually becoming a first-round pick (fifth over-all) in 2022.

In recent years, more Canadian high-schoolers are heading down south to play during the winter months, including numerous players taking their talents to TNXL.

“Around the time the COVID-19 pandemic started, we saw a lot more players coming down from Canada and I started getting calls from scouts and coaches up that way,” said Martinez. “We played against some teams from Quebec (Academy Baseball of Canada) and got to meet their staff and players. Some of those guys later spent some time in TNXL before pursuing college opportunities.”

Historically speaking, some notable Canadian players who attended TNXL around 2019-20 and went on to post-secondary programs include Yohann Dessureault (Trois-Rivieres, Que.), who went to Stetson College, Turner Spoljaric (Lisle, Ont.) and Matthew Grabmann (Dartmouth, NS), both at Oregon, Dominic Teoli (Montreal, Que.), who attended Medaille College and Gabriel Archambault (Laval, Que.). Martinez said over 95% of senior players at TNXL receivied college offers.

Nicolas Deschamps (Quebec, Que.) and Mathieu Voros (Montreal, Que.) were both undrafted but later signed free-agent deals with the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets respectively.

Drafted players from the program include:

Ryan Dease to the Texas Rangers (2017; Round 4, who peaked at class-A Spokane).

Jack Leftwich to the Detroit Tigers (2017; 39th round – did not sign, who went to University of Florida and was at class-A Lake County in 2022).

LHP Calvin Ziegler (Kitchener, Ont.) highest-drafted Canadian prospect, going in the second to the Mets in 2021 for a $910,000 bonus.

RHP Jacob Zibin (Langley, BC) drafted in the 10th round of the last year’s draft to the Cleveland Guardians for a 10th round record bonus of $1.2 million.

“What I have been most impressed by with Canadian players who attended our program is their knowledge of the game and how they are respectful to learning and getting better from our coaches,” Martinez added. “The one thing that really separates us from a Canadian program is the Florida weather. The ability to play more, combined with our coaching philosophies, gets them ready for a very tough schedule, playing JUCO programs and other academies in Florida. It is tough to find a better schedule than what we are doing in regards to getting players ready in terms of facing increased velocity and facing some very talented players who are already committed to programs or potentially on the draft radar, which is great from a development standpoint.”

Current Canadians at TNXL Academy include RHP Matteo Pare (Windsor, Ont.), INF Charles Davalan (St-Bruno-De-Montarivlle, Que.), INF Cole Leclair (Toronto, Ont.), INF Jack Lines (Okotoks, Alta.), and INF Sam Shaw (Victoria, BC), all of whom have commitments to college programs to continue their careers. Shaw, and Pare are ranked in the top 15 of the Canadian Baseball Network projected draft list heading into the July draft.

With such success at their Ocoee facility, Martinez recently announced that TNXL would open up a second facility later this year in Miami, opening up more opportunities for high school players to continue developing.

“TNXL is excited to be expanding to South Florida and expanding our footprint. This will allow players in the Miami area to get training and development at the highest level.”