Braidyn Hopkins has made it known that he’s ready to pursue a baseball career.
The multi-sport athlete is set to suit up with the rest of his Under-16 Thunder Bay Lakers teammates this week in Chicago as part of the GMB Memorial Day Classic.
This will only be a continuation of the season for Hopkins, who has now been able to move the baseball workouts outdoors.
“After the first two years (of playing the sport) I realized that I was a solid baseball player,” reflected Hopkins, when asked about taking baseball more seriously. “I also didn’t have a good couple of years playing hockey, which included this past season. I feel like baseball could take me farther, and I knew I had to commit myself to baseball and start playing more.”
Hopkins was a defenceman for the Under-18 ‘A’ Norwest Stars, and feels there are transferable skills to be a multi-sport athlete, pointing to increased upper body strength if you shoot everyday and if you’re a good skater, that will help you run the bases.
Even with the snow on the ground, Hopkins and his teammates went to the gym together every Tuesday and Thursday for the last four months, which worked in concert with practices on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
As for a preferred position on the field, Hopkins notes “I like pitching, I like the idea of it. I would also say third base because I model myself after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Even though he’s a first baseman now, he came up with the Blue Jays as a third baseman.”
Hopkins will take part in three other events south of the border, which he feels will only help get him further exposure and talk to more scouts about taking that next step in his baseball journey.
The Lakers will also play some games against the Kenora Selects from July 7-9 at Baseball Central.
“They’re pretty good. We played the (Under-14) and (Under-18) teams last year, we lost to the older age group. They’re very positive and a great group of kids. I’m looking forward to playing them again.” Hopkins added.
The Under-16 Lakers are coached by Colin Campbell, Kurtis McCallum, Andrew Biscardi and David McCallum.
