November 10, 2023

Part 2 - Xavier the bat boy

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

“Tigers on three,” a young boy’s voice yells out. “One, two, three, … “TIGERS,” the players scream.

The huddle of Ontarians plus one Albertan at Legacy Dodge Field in Fort McMurray exudes passion, and the Albertan, 10-year-old Xavier Maccagno, is an important contributor to it. He’s loud. He’s got a personality larger than the space from the backstop to the centre field wall.

And he’s there to help the Mississauga Tigers win it all at the Baseball Canada’s 2022 18U Nationals in Fort McMurray.

The experienced bat boy is in charge of leading the cheer, among other things. It’s been four years since his last national championship win with the London Badgers, so it’s only fair he has more responsibilities. Despite his resume, when asked if teams were fighting to get him, he responded with a “not really.”

That’s okay, the 10-year-old can advocate for himself. It’s almost a repeat of four years ago, except this time, he’s popping the big question. “Can I be your bat boy?” Or something along those lines is proposed to Mississauga head coach Greg Byron at the flag ceremony.

His genuine personality and love for the game shines through almost immediately to Byron.

“He’s taking selfies with the guys, chirping them,” Byron says. When Byron finds out the back story, that the young bat boy has in fact helped another Ontario team win a few years earlier, it seals the deal.

His proposal is accepted.

“Me being the superstitious coach is like ‘We’ve got to take this kid, he’s a winner, he can’t hurt us,” Byron said. “So I kind of joked with him day one I said ‘we’ll see what happens tonight.’”

What happened that night?

The Tigers beat the host team, Fort McMurray. Cole Leclair (Etobicoke, Ont.) was a big part of that victory, hitting a home run, a single and three RBIs in the 6-4 win. Kaleb Thomas (Brantford, Ont.) pitched six innings allowing two earned runs and striking out 10. Josiah Romeo (Caledon, Ont.) pitched a 1-2-3-4 seventh allowing a base hit and striking out two.

Maccagno (Fort McMurray, Alta.) still had his job as bat boy. And the Tigers had their first win of the tournament.

Did the Ontario flag cleverly concealed in the dugout have something to do with it? It was accidentally taken back there after the flag ceremony. Now, it’s purposefully hidden. Wes Johnston (East York, Ont.) who pitches for the Tigers, and Maccagno get together to figure out how to keep it that way.

“So now the two of them are scheming on how to hide the flag the rest of the tournament so we can continue to have it as good luck,” Byron said.

Johnston and Maccagno hit it off soon after arriving at the field, six years apart, bonded together by their passion for the game. Throughout the games, Johnston, who grew up without any siblings of his own, said they started to form a brotherly bond.

“I kind of treated him like he was my little brother and I would kind of call him my Albertan little brother,” Johnston said. “I’ve kind of grown to that relationship with him.”

Said Maccagno: “So he loved me at the start ... like he would just pick me up and like toss me around.”

The experienced bat boy quickly became part of the team, wanting to win each game as badly as the players beside him on the bench. He couldn’t hit or field for Mississauaga, but the 10-year-old focused on what he could do. Besides the routine bat boy duties, be as loud as possible, start chants in the dugout and pick up players when they were feeling down.

“He would get the boys fired up, he would say something and it would just get our bench going,” Johnston said.

When their players experienced a rough inning or a challenging play on the field, Maccagno was the bright light sitting inside the dugout awaiting their return. He helped the team do what is a vital part of being a player. Do not dwell on a missed opportunity, focus on what is still in your control, and move on to the next play or at bat.

“It’s hard to carry, I won’t say anger, but frustration from a tough loss, or a tough day, or a tough at-bat and see a kid smiling and be upset,” Byron said.

* * *

Mississauga fell to a 1-1 record losing 9-7 to Alberta as Carter Liske (St. Albert, Alta.) and Caedyn Colford (Drayton Valley, Alta.) each had three hits, including a double and a homer. Colford drove in four, while Liske knocked in one. Brendan Wabick (Bezanson, Alta.) pitched 6 2/3 innings for the win, allowing six runs, walking six and fanning seven. Seth Hughes (London, Ont.) was 4-for-4 with three RBIs, while Keshav Tebeck (Toronto, Ont.) drove in three. Johnston took the loss pitching six innings and allowing four earned runs, while fanning six.

Next came a 13-6 win against British Columbia as Cody Fuss (Kitchener, Ont.) went 4-for-4 with two homers and six RBIs. Hedges also had two hits. Gavin Lake (Mississauga, Ont.) worked the win giving up four runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Then they went on to secure a 4-1 win against Quebec the same day. Ryan Marton (Scarborough, Ont.) threw 100 pitches in six innings, allowing one hit and whiffing nine. Romeo came on for the 11-pitch save. Hedges drove in two runs with a homer and a single, while Stefan Di Corrado (Toronto, Ont.) doubled and scored.

Those wins propelled them into the semi-final match against Saskatchewan, where Ontario scored a 3-1 win. Romeo pitched a complete game on an econimical 94 pitches as he allowed four singles and a double, while striking out three. Tebeck tripled, while Daniel Sandoval (St. Thomas, Ont.), Leclair and Hedges drove in runs.

* * *.

It’s Maccagno’s second national championship final game in less than five years. And he’s ready, like the players on the Tigers, to take on team New Brunswick and do whatever he can in his role as bat boy to help.

Hit. Field. Run. That’s up to the players. Assisting with the mental side is Maccagno.

Scream. Chant.

Cheer. Cheer up players when they’re down.

Together, the Tigers and their young bat boy, beat New Brunswick 15-1 in the final to take home the gold.

David Stanley (Toronto, Ont.) was 4-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, while Tebeck had three hits with a double and three RBIs, plus Hedges doubled plating four runs. Sandoval and Fuss each had two hits. Fuss had a double as Lachlan Maude (Etobicoke, Ont.), Di Corrado and Leclair each singled in runs.

There’s a picture of coach Byron looking down at “X” as he fondly refers to him, that almost brings him to tears still when he sees it.

“You can tell the emotion that’s involved and that relationship how quickly it grew just over seven days,” Byron said.

For the kid, it’s another gold medal win at a national championship.

Not bad for a 10-year-old.

“He wants to win as bad as we do, and I think he helps us do that.” Johnston said.

Number two is in the books for him. Why stop at two though?

He’s not done yet.