September 14, 2024

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

The Maritimes are small, and Noah McIntosh’s skills on the diamond, eye-catching.

The combination makes the second baseman from the quaint east coast city of Dartmouth N.S., well known in the province's baseball community.

But now, McIntosh, who received the Baseball Nova Scotia athlete of the year award last year, is working to make a name for himself across the country.

The Maritimer will take on Toronto starting on September 17 to showcase his skills at the Canadian Futures Showcase in front of scouts and college recruiters. Out of 161 players, he’s one of only four Atlantic Canadians selected to represent the best amateur talent in the country.

McIntosh has both power at the plate, and performs well on defence, said Vauxhall head coach Les McTavish.

“He’s a raw, athletic infielder that moves well, so usually that translates to good things on the field,” McTavish said.

McIntosh’s dream took him from the East Coast, to the mountains of Alberta earlier this year to play for the academy. Upon his arrival, he started his Vauxhall playing days off with a smash, crushing a home run in his first at bat of the fall.

Bam. McIntosh had arrived on the Alberta baseball scene with a loud and impressive entrance.

It was a cross country move that he didn’t think twice about, he said. When he got the offer, he knew he wanted to take it right away.

It’s a certainty he never felt about hockey or soccer growing up. He started off playing soccer, but he didn’t like all the running, he said, and the hockey skates and the tight, uncomfortable helmet, hurt.

Baseball was it. He was all in.

“I tried baseball for once and I was kind of good at it so I started loving it,” he said.

That passion has shone through in his activities out of uniform. McIntosh has been helping out with the Challenger Baseball program in Nova Scotia for the past two years, working as a buddy to one of the athletes, his mom, Jessica St-Georges said.

Baseball is his life, she said. (And there still time for family video calls mixed in, she FaceTime’s McIntosh every evening at the academy at 7 p.m. MDT.)

“He’s just obsessed with baseball, it’s his passion,” St-Georges said.

McIntosh will be joined at the showcase by his fellow Vauxhall Academy teammate, Cedric LeBlanc.

Playing at the academy isn’t the only thing the two have in common.

LeBlanc is also a Maritimer, hailing from Dieppe, N.B. His first language is French, and upon arriving at the academy, he had to transition to not only a new home, but using English every day.

He showed up to the academy as a two-way player, but has since focused more on the pitching side.

They’re all adjustments LeBlanc, 17, is happy to make to pursue the sport, and make an impression at the showcase coming up.

“It's definitely like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, right,” LeBlanc said. “Super cool, definitely I think my goal is just going to be to enjoy every moment of it.”

He’s hard to miss when he takes his place on the mound. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound right-hander has a strong on-field presence, made even more noticeable by his snappy fastball.

He picked up four mph on the radar gun in just one bullpen session with them this year, McTavish said.

They adjusted his arm slot to a lower release point, and that was the missing piece to get him up to 90 mph.

With the extra velocity, he’s a threat on the mound, McTavish said.

“He’s tall, lanky, athletic, he moves well, he’s got plenty of arm strength,” McTavish said.

Although as a pitcher, LeBlanc is still very raw, McTavish expects a lot from him on the diamond.

At the showcase, the two Maritimers from small communities will be working to make names for themselves on the big stage, beginning with LeBlanc's strong arm.

“It’s going to take some time but he’s a 6-2, 6-3, 190-pound kid that has a really good loose arm, so you know I think the recipe is there for a lot of success,” he said.

The same is true for McIntosh’s future in the sport.

“It’s going to take a little bit of time, but I expect big things from him certainly,” McTavish said.