Burlington pitcher tosses for gold at 18U national championships

The COVID-19 pandemic went a long way in shaping Kieran Glassford’s baseball future.

Until then, he had played all of his minor ball with his hometown Burlington Bulls. But not wanting to lose a season, he joined the Mississauga Tigers, who were among the first teams to start traveling to U.S. tournaments.

His brother was already pitching for the Tigers, so when training options were limited the two worked out together. Glassford, a lefty, had always done some pitching throughout his minor ball career, but he had never really concentrated on it until his workouts with his brother.

“I really fell in love with it,” he said. “To me it’s that feeling of being in control. It’s you vs. me. Do what you can to beat me. If you beat me, OK, but I’m going to make you beat me.”

That was put to the test as Glassford and the Tigers represented Ontario at the Canadian under-18 baseball championships in Fort McMurray, Alta. Seeking a second straight national title, Glassford was called upon in the semifinal against Quebec.

Coming on in the top of the sixth inning (of a seven-inning game) with two runners on in a 6-3 game, Glassford got a groundout to get his team out of the jam.

Though a couple of two-out singles in the seventh led to a Quebec run, Glassford closed out the game to send Ontario to the final.

Glassford was set to start the final against New Brunswick, but while warming up before the game he had an allergic reaction.

“I couldn’t see the ball when the catcher was throwing it back to me,” he said. “It’s been happening for years. It’s still a mystery what causes it, but it just comes up at random times.”

While the timing was certainly not ideal, Ontario won 7-2 to clinch its second straight championship.

It was eventful tournament for Ontario, which had each of its four round-robin games decided in the final inning. Ontario got a bases-loaded double with two out in the seventh to walk off Quebec 4-3, beat Alberta 1-0, lost 6-5 to Saskatchewan in extra innings and then after surrendering three runs in the top of the eighth, scored four times in the bottom half of the inning to edge British Columbia 4-3.

“It was amazing to end (my minor baseball career) with back-to-back national championships,” the 18- year-old Assumption Catholic Secondary School graduate said. “It meant a lot to me to go out that way.”

Glassford is now looking forward to the team’s 17-day trip in September that will see the Tigers playing U.S. college teams. With a baseball scholarship as his goal, he hopes to make an impression.

“It’s a good opportunity for me,” he said. “It’s my time to pitch in front of scouts and see where my home is going to be.”