Brooklin's Nathan Borges makes his best scholarship pitch Brian Mcnair bmcnair@durhamregion.com BROOKLIN -- Nathan Borges found some inspiration for his promising baseball career even before he boarded the plane to attend two important camps in the sunny south recently. Walking to his gate at Pearson International Airport to catch a flight to Arizona, Nathan, a 17-year-old Brooklin resident, stumbled upon Brett Lawrie and Brandon Morrow of the Toronto Blue Jays, awaiting the same flight. Lawrie, a graduate of the junior national program that Nathan is now a part of, was of particular interest. "I was really nervous to go up to him, but I guess I got the courage to shake his hand and we started talking and I told him I was part of the Canadian national team, and he told me to work hard, do my best and say hi to everyone," Nathan recalled of his conversation with Lawrie. "He was really friendly to me, gave me some good advice." Nathan, a right-handed pitcher, would like nothing more than to continue following Lawrie's path and one day make it to the Major Leagues. He's off to a good start, given the interest shown in him of late. Nathan's plane that day was headed for Peoria, Arizona, where he attended one of the largest scouted baseball weeks in the United States, the Arizona Senior Fall Classic. For 10 days, he participated with an Arizona Diamondbacks scout team against top teams from all over the U.S., including some pro level teams. As if that wasn't enough, Nathan then made his way to the beautiful Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida, where he joined the Canadian junior national team for its annual trip to Disney. "I was a bit nervous in the beginning and it was hard to adjust to the pro league strike zone," said Nathan, who has returned to his Grade 12 studies at All Saints Catholic Secondary School. "The strike zone's pretty small compared to what we have back here in our own league, but I kind of got used to it as we kept going and once I got used to it, I thought I did pretty well." Nasthan began playing ball at age eight in Whitby, and moved over to the Ontario Prospects program at 11, working under the tutelage of former Major League players Rob and Rich Butler out of Ajax. National team director Greg Hamilton had been keeping tabs on Nathan for about a year before inviting him on the trip, clearly intrigued with the five-foot-11 righty. "We knew that Greg had been keeping a close eye on Nate and why not? His breaking ball is just nasty and his arm action is effortless and the ball just jumps out his hand," said Prospects pitching coach Chris Kemlo, in a press release. "Nathan has really benefited from being in the Prospects program at such a young age as his throwing mechanics are flawless." Nathan's fastball currently clocks in at 87 miles per hour, but he said his curve ball is his go-to pitch. He's been working on a change-up with Kemlo and has shown progress with a new grip he practised with Chris Reitsma, pitching coach for the junior national program. An 'A' student at All Saints, Nathan has set his sights on an NCAA Division I scholarship and ultimately, he hopes, a career in the game. He's hoping to be part of the junior national team's next trip, to Florida in April, to continue to show what he can do. "With Team Canada, there's more opportunities now and every trip that I go on with them will open some new doors." SaBrina ByrneS / Metroland WHITBY -- Whitby baseball player Nathan Borges, who was at a training camp for national junior program.