Renfrew baseball player Corson Scobie is no stranger to travelling with his team, but his latest journey is his farthest yet.
The 16-year-old member of the Canada Reds Baseball Academy is more than 3,000 kilometres away, playing in the third annual DRD International Baseball Academy Tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Corson’s parents, Lindsay and Jeremy Scobie, are cheering him on from home, live-streaming the games when possible and staying in regular contact with the Grade 11 St. Joseph’s Catholic High School student.
Corson has been playing baseball since he was young, said Lindsay.
“He started off with Renfrew Minor Baseball, so he was probably t-ball age, and then he just kept going, and going,” she said.
He’s been with the Canada Reds, an Ottawa-based team made up of players from Kingston, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec and beyond, for the past three years. The Canada Reds are a competitive team competing in the Can-Am United Baseball League in the regular season.
Corson is primarily a catcher, but also sometimes plays first base and is sometimes called on as a designated hitter.
He’s known as a true team player, said Lindsay.
“He will do what he needs to do for his team,” she said. “He’s the happy one, he likes to pump his team up.”
Corson’s experience with the Canada Reds has been great, she said, and involved plenty of travel – the team goes to Florida for spring training and has attended various tournaments in the U.S. – but this trip was a little different.
It was an honour to be asked to play but he was a bit nervous to make the longer than normal journey.
“But once he got down there and they started to do their practices and their games he’s beyond excited and having a great time,” said Lindsay.
They’re certainly missing having him at home but it’s been fun following the action.
“We get to watch online most of the time, parents will stream the games, so we’re lucky enough to have a really good baseball family around us that send us pictures and updates so that’s definitely positive,” said Lindsay.
Corson is humble about his baseball success, says his mom.
“If you ask him, he’s just doing what he loves, right? He doesn’t think that he’s successful, he doesn’t think that it’s a big deal but for us, just to see him on the big screen, even, it’s surreal for sure,” said Lindsay.
His parents are understandably proud and are grateful to all in the local community who are joining them in cheering him on.
“When he started this journey, it was kind of like, baseball in Renfrew, it’s not really a thing but he gave up a lot to continue. He never complains when he has to go to practice, he just jumps in the car, even though it takes us two hours, he never complains when he has to get up early or he misses things, so for that, just knowing how much he loves it, how much he’s given up, we’re just so proud of him.”
The Canada Reds finished second in their pool and are heading into semi-final play on Thursday, Feb. 8.
The tournament, which runs Feb. 3-9, features 10 teams from around the world – Aruba, the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Czechia, Germany and Puerto Rico.
For more information on the team or the DRD International Baseball Academy Tournament, visit ‘Canada Reds Baseball Academy’ on Facebook.
(Written by Sherry Haaima)
