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By Ottawa Sports Pages, for Louis-Riel Rebelles
Five students from the Louis-Riel Sports-Study baseball program are getting rock-star treatment this week, as their Puerto Rican hosts have rolled out the red carpet for the boys in red.
Down in San Juan for training and a week-long tournament with the school’s affiliated Canada Reds Baseball Academy, the team receives a police escort whenever they travel to Roberto Clemente or Hiram Bithorn Stadium (which has hosted Major League Baseball opening-day games in the past).
The morning yoga on the beach behind the hotel is pretty sweet too.
“It’s like they’re living the big-league life right now,” smiles Canada Reds and Louis-Riel Sports-Études baseball program director Robert Fatal, who’s coached Team Canada at the 18U World Cup and Pan American qualifiers in the past.
“The event that Puerto Rico organizes is right up there with of any of those,” he underlines.
This is the second year the Canada Reds have participated in the DRD International Baseball Academies Tournament. The event runs from Feb. 3-9 and features many of the world’s best 18U academies from the U.S., Australia, Mexico, Czechia, Dominican Republic, Aruba, Germany, Japan and host Puerto Rico.
Fatal received an invitation to participate in the renowned tournament just nine days after he founded the Reds, thanks to the reputation and connections he’d established in his past work with Team Canada and the Canada Baseball Academy, which saw more than 60 players commit to U.S. colleges and several more get drafted to the MLB in four years.
Last year, the young Reds team felt a little starstruck playing in a world-class stadium in front of NCAA Div. 1 scouts against big names like IMG Academy, with pitchers who can throw up to 98 miles per hour.
“Are we going to be nervous at the beginning? Yes, probably, but I think we’ve got the experience now that we won’t be shaky like we were at times in last year’s tournament,” signals Fatal. “We’re still pretty young this year – it’s an 18U event and most of our guys are 16 or 17 – but we’ll be more prepared to go and compete, and I’m very excited to see all the progression we’ve had over the last year.”
Fatal says everyone is doing “tremendous work” in the Louis-Riel Sports-Study baseball program, which now has over 30 players.
Five top talents from Louis-Riel were selected to be part of the Canada Reds’ 24-player, five-coach group that flew to Puerto Rico this past Saturday.
They are:
> Maxime Decarie: a key player behind the plate as the Reds’ starting catcher, he’s a versatile talent who can play middle-infield and pitch as well.
> Nathan Roy: a towering first baseman at 6’4″, 190 lbs., he provides a big bat in the middle of the lineup too.
> Jordan Forde: a speedy weapon on the base paths and in the outfield, he sets the tone batting at the top of the batting order.
> Justin Lacroix: an infielder who can make big defensive plays from three positions, enhances the team’s depth.
> Simon Dubé: switched from catcher to second base in the fall, is a competitive player and solid hitter.
The quintet have been training with their Sports-Study baseball and strength coaches daily inside the Dome LR at school, and they’ve also enjoyed strong competition with the Reds Academy, as well as a fall instructional camp at IMG Academy in Florida.
“They’ve had very good preparation, and they’re very excited for the opportunity,” reports Fatal. “And they were pretty excited to see the forecast too, since it was minus-15 before we left.”
With daily highs between 27°C and 31°C anticipated during the event, the team arrived in San Juan a week in advance to adjust to their surroundings and play in four pre-tournament games. The Reds won their first exhibition 17-8 over Puerto Rico Baseball Academy and High School and then lost 6-5 to Carlos Beltran Academy.
“Then we compete all week so we can establish who’s got the best programs in the world,” Fatal highlights. “I think our players are going to realize we’ve made a big jump from last year. They’ve had a really great evolution as individuals and as a group.”
Learn more about the Louis-Riel Sports-Study baseball program by clicking on the image below to download a brochure. Louis-Riel high school will also be hosting an Open House on Feb. 22, 2024 from 6-8 p.m.
