Verge: Jean-Gilles Larocque looks for players to help Ontario win Canada Cup
Sudbury Voyageurs coach Jean-Gilles Larocque ( Chelmsford, Ont.) is searching for players to complete his Ontario roster for the Canada Cup.
April 15, 2023
Jean-Gilles Larocque takes over Ontario’s Canada Cup entry
By Melissa Verge
Canadian Baseball Network
The pavement rushes by underneath Jean-Gilles Larocque’s wheels.
While other nine-year-olds are at home, watching TV or hanging out with friends, Larocque is on his way to the ball field.
It’s all pedals to the medal to Lorne Brady Park. In this case, we’re talking about bike pedals.
The nine-year-old is still a ways away from driving a car. Never underestimate the powerful engine of a kid who loves baseball. His legs push around the pedals faster and faster, propelling him forward to his destination. His game is over, but there is still work to be done. He’s headed there to do his homework, analyze the other team, see where they’re hitting the ball and what they’re doing on the field.
Looking back it’s “a little crazy when I think about it,” Larocque said.
That early passion and analytical baseball mind were a sign of things to come for the now experienced 46-year-old coach.
“I think I’ve always wanted to coach, I loved doing it,” he said.
Larocque is currently preparing for an important role after accepting the position of Ontario Youth Team head coach. He’ll head to Regina, Sask., this summer where he’ll manage Ontario at the Baseball Canada Cup, alongside Perry Scott, Shawn Schaefer and Geoff Allen. Ontario is the defending champ after David Quattrociocchi managed Ontario to gold a year ago in Niagara Falls.
Baseball Ontario usually selects coaches from provincial hotbeds like Toronto, Windsor or London. Larocque (Chelmsford, Ont.), who played at West Virginia State University, came home and founded The Baseball Academy and the Sudbury Voyageurs.
His 17U team is still TBD. The first set of tryouts are coming up April 21-22 in Kitchener, where they’ll be looking for strong physical athletes, but also assessing the mental side of their game and how well the young players can keep their composure.
“If you are an outfielder [or] infielder making an error, how are you bouncing back?” he said. “Baseball, it’s a negative sport, we’re trying to find positives all the time, it’s just how are you going to bounce back from those kinds of things?”
Playing wise, they’ll be looking for pitchers who can fill the strike zone and who also have good velocity. How they deal with high pressure situations will also be an important factor in if they make the team Ontario roster.
“Everyone is good when things are going good, but how are they going to deal with things when the pressure is on,” he said.
They’re expecting over 200 young athletes to try out for the team, with tryouts also happening April 28-29 in Oshawa. From there they’ll pick the top 40, and have a final tryout in Vaughan from May 19 to 21.
His coaching style will be dependent on the team that they end up selecting to represent Ontario in Regina August 9-13. That’s because Larocque is very versatile. He adapts his coaching style much like a chameleon changes colours, not only to the specific situation on the field, but also to the athletes he’s coaching. Some structure is important, but so is the ability to change on the fly, he said.
That’s why it’s important for him to know not only the competition in and out, as he strived to do as a young kid biking to the field, but also to know his own players well.
“What I’m learning is there are different ways of doing it,” he said. “Your clientele is always different, our teams are always different so you have to adjust and I love that challenge.”
For players, the tournament will also bring its challenges, and is a rewarding experience players in the province don’t want to miss, he said.
“To be able to compete against the best players in your country,” Larocque says, “representing your province is an honour.”