Verge: Surrey’s Bourgeois prepares for 3 a.m. NBC World Series start
Right-hander Noah Bourgeois (Surrey, B.C.) is planning to go to bed tonight at 6 or 7 p.m. to get some sleep before his 3 a.m. Sunday morning start for the Haysville Aviators in the NBC World Series. Photo: Edmonton Riverhawks
July 27, 2024
By Melissa Verge
Canadian Baseball Network
Sacrificing sleep to sling baseballs well into the night is a welcome renouncement for Canadian right hander Noah Bourgeois.
Instead of being cozy under the covers, at 3 a.m. Sunday, Bourgeois will be reporting for pitching duty.
His mission?
Get the win.
The right hander from Surrey, B.C. will be starting the game for the Haysville Aviators in the NBC World Series July 28 at three in the morning. The tournament will see 16 summer collegiate teams from around the U.S. competing for a national championship in Wichita, Kan.
It’s not typical, but middle of the night baseball has happened before at the World Series as part of their Baseball Round The Clock Event.
Bourgeois, who’s love for the game has taken him thousands of kilometres away across the border to play in the U.S., doesn't mind the early start.
“Other than sleeping, playing baseball at 3 a.m. sounds like the best way to spend your morning,” Bourgeois said, who, prior to Sunday, had his latest game start at 10 p.m.
As part of the Baseball Round The Clock Event, 11 straight games will be played beginning at 12 p.m. Saturday, and running until 6 p.m. Sunday. It’s a unique tradition that started back in 1990, and ran all the way up until 2016 when it was discontinued. This is the first time in eight years that more than 24 hours of straight baseball will be back.
And Bourgeois is just glad to be a part of it.
He started playing baseball when he was four years old, and was drawn to the game immediately in those early years, from the moment he picked up a bat and played t-ball for the first time.
It’s a love that has stayed with him throughout his life.
“[I] just kind of based my whole life around it honestly,” he said. “There was nothing else that I wanted to do.”
The 18-year-old went to Ecole Salish Secondary School in Surrey, spending time playing with the Edmonton Riverhawks, and just finished up his freshman year at Cloud County Community College in Kansas.
At 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, he reaches 90 mph with his fastball, and has a changeup and breaking ball that sit at 77 mph.
He’s focused on improving his strength and velocity moving forward.
He hit 90 mph for the first time last year. After injuries and fatigue, that dropped down, but as of last month he’s gotten it back up to 90 again.
He’ll be returning to play at Cloud County Community College in the fall, but for now, his present start is in focus.
The athlete will have a 6 or 7 p.m. bedtime Saturday night, he said, and report for duty at 1 a.m.
“3 a.m., not the ideal time to start a baseball game, but I’m just excited to have the experience to do something that I won’t be able to get to do every day,” Bourgeois said.
Although it’s likely his only middle of the night start of his career, he’s optimistic that his baseball career will have many, many more starts in the future.
“Hopefully I can continue it as long as possible,” he said.