The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

22 Independent & Free Press,Thursday, May 19, 2011 SPORTS & LEISURE Anderson impressing ball scouts By EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer He doesn't turn 17 years of age until Boxing Day, yet local resident Adam Anderson is already starting to get the attention of Major League Baseball clubs. Anderson, a 5-foot-11, 200pound lefthanded pitcher, is the second youngest player on the 30-man roster of the Canadian Junior National Team (18 & under) at the annual Dominican Summer League and will play in a series of games against MLB pro prospect teams from May 18-27. The Grade 11 Christ the King student attended an MLB Scouting Bureau camp in Etobicoke on May 11 and apparently impressed CJNT head coach Greg Hamilton, who last Friday invited Anderson to make the trip to the Dominican Republic. Becoming the first graduate of the Georgetown Eagles' rep minor baseball to be selected to the junior national squad, after five years in the organization, Anderson joined the Cambridge-based Ontario Terriers' under-18 team late last summer (even though he's still young enough to play with the under-16s) in the Premier Baseball League of Ontario. A rigid off-season training regimen paid immediate dividends on the mound this spring as Anderson tossed a one-hitter against Niagara Falls and then a two-hitter in a win over the Ontario Blue Jays in his first two starts with the Terriers. "It's starting to get a little overwhelming, going from small-town Georgetown last year and moving on to this," said Anderson, the recipient of plenty of attention these days from U.S. and Canadian universities, especially with an 82.5 average in school. "It's great exposure and great baseball to experience. That's been my goal since I joined the Terriers last August. It's the next step before I get a chance to go play university ball or go to the draft. This is the highest point I can get to right now and I'm glad to play for my country." Anderson is scheduled to make two appearances through the week, working three innings against the Atlanta Braves' affiliate on Sunday and four innings versus the New York Yankees' farmhands Tuesday. "I guess that's everybody's ultimate goal, that you want to make it to the big leagues," he said. head coach. "This is a great opportunity for him to pitch to professional hitters in a environment that is unfamiliar to him. Over the last six months he has really matured and begun to understand is capabilites. He is less worried about the fringe variables and more concerned about throwing strikes and getting hitters out. He has performed his way into this opportunity and should be very proud." Along with a busy tournament and showcase schedule for the Terriers that will see the team play in Nashville, Syracuse and Arizona in the coming months, Anderson has been asked to play for Canada's juniors next month at the Sunbelt Invitational in Oklahoma. He hopes to pitch well enough to remain in the rotation of the national junior team for the Cuba Summer Series in July and eventually the World Junior Qualification Tournament in Cartagena, Colombia Sept. 23 to Oct. 2. From there, the top four countries will qualify for the 2012 World Junior Baseball Championship in Seoul, South Korea. "This trip (to the Dominican Republic) doesn't guarantee me anything," added Anderson. "If you do well, you'll stay on the team. It's just another opportunity to see players who can play at that position and there are a bunch of steps leading towards late September." Anderson isn't the only Georgetown Eagle to catch on with the well-respected Terriers' provincial program. Catcher Jonathan Palumbo and Acton's T.J. Baker are on the under-17 team, while Georgetown's Owen Stubberfield and Tyler Hardie suit up for the under-16 Terriers. For the under-18s, Tom Byckowski played alongside Anderson on those Canadian championship teams and lived in Georgetown until the family recently relocated to Etobicoke. `I've been told that I'm a prospect for next year's (MLB) draft, so as long as I keep what I'm doing now, hopefully things will work out.' "I've been told that I'm a prospect for next year's (MLB) draft, so as long as I keep what I'm doing now, hopefully things will work out." Having earned Canadian championships under coach Bill Byckowski as an underage player with the Eagles in 2007 as a peewee and again in '09 with the Georgetown bantams, Anderson is used to facing older batters and in the Dominican he'll be staring down some prospects who are in their late 20s. He employs a fastball that hit 86 miles an hour on a recent official school visit to the University of British Columbia, a change-up and a curveball that he calls his "big seller." "Adam's selection to the Junior National Team is a direct result of his commitment to his craft. He is strong like a bull and has three above-average pitches he can throw for strikes at anytime," said Scott Van de Valk, a Georgetown native and manager of the Terriers, with Byckowski serving as the Sixteen-year-old Adam Anderson of Georgetown was chosen last week to play for the Canadian junior men's under-18 baseball team that is in the Dominican Republic over the next few days playing against the farm clubs of Major League organizations. He's slated to pitch against the Braves and Yankees. Photo by Eamonn Maher Football Jamboree this weekend Georgetown's new Kiwanis Field facility will play host to a series of gridiron games over three days this weekend as the Ontario Minor Football League holds its opening Jamboree. It's the first time that the Halton Hills Minor Football Association has staged the opening weekend of action and all three of its North Halton Crimson Tide rep teams will play under the lights on each evening. Games will also be played at Bishop Reding Secondary School in Milton. NEXT GENERATION N Seventeen games are scheduled in total beginning Friday. The bantam Crimson Tide (14 yrs. & under) is set to take on the Mississauga Warriors Friday at 8 p.m. at Kiwanis Field, with North Halton's junior varsity squad (16 & under) facing the Niagara Storm Saturday at 8 p.m. On Sunday, North Halton's varsity Crimson Tide collides with the Ajax Pickering Dolphins beginning at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5 per person and youths under 13 will be admitted free of charge. NEXT GENERATION LEASE FOR 2012 Civic. There's one for you. $ 250 @ 3.99 APR per month for 48 months % ** 2012 CIVIC SEDAN* 2 2012 CIVIC COUPE* $ 0 Down *** Security Deposit ** On approved credt OAC, payment plus HST due on delivery. ***First Payment plus applicable taxes. Model No. FB2E2CEX www.georgetownhonda.ca Serving Georgetown for over 30 years! *Not Exactly as shown 316 Guelph Street, Georgetown 905-873-1818 905-874-3021 HONDA