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Cut twice from team, Dilks comes through for Ontario squad
Friday August 29 2008
EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer
 
On two occasions this summer, Georgetown’s Brad Dilks had to endure the disappointment of being cut from Ontario’s 17-and-under boys’ baseball team that played in the 2008 Baseball Canada Cup, only to be invited back both times after last-minute decisions.
And those changes in plans turned out to be wise moves by the Ontario Selects’ braintrust, as the 17-year-old righthanded pitcher threw some important innings in helping his teammates capture the Canadian title earlier this month in Medicine Hat, Alta.
“I got two late calls— after they told me I’d been cut from the 40-man roster and then again for the final team,” said the Grade 12 Georgetown District High School student.
“It was all last-minute and I didn’t have much time to get ready to go out west but it all worked out. I’m fine with it.”
Dilks had every right to feel persona non grata with the squad, even after the 2008 Baseball Canada Cup was over, as the boxscores from the tournament still list him as being highly touted pro prospect Evan Grills of Whitby, who pulled out of the event at the last minute.
That presented the former Georgetown Eagle with his opportunity to perform in front of about 40 scouts from post-secondary schools and Major League Baseball organizations.
Less than a day after arriving in Medicine Hat, Dilks was pressed into service during Ontario’s second game in his familiar closer role, picking up the win in a 4-3 triumph over Saskatchewan.
He also threw three innings of relief in another 4-3 extra-inning win against B.C., giving up just one run and two hits. Dilks’ other appearance of the tourney came in the championship game, coming in for the fifth inning, lasting just two-thirds of the frame after three errors led to two opposition runs. Ontario hung on for an 8-6 win.
“We made some errors and I just couldn’t get any calls. That’s gonna happen sometimes,” he added. “It was a great game, going back and forth, and the main thing is that we won.”
It’s the second year in a row that Dilks has been on the provincial team and his confidence as a hurler has risen as quickly as his height, having grown three inches in the past year, now standing in at 6-foot-4, 175 pounds. His fastball tops out at about 86 miles an hour and he’s added an effective split-finger fastball to his array of pitches, which also includes a curve ball.
“I figure that I didn’t make Team Ontario the first time because I need to work more and get bigger, up to 190, 195 pounds, so I can throw harder,” he said.
Dilks noted that he’s unsure of his intentions after graduating from GDHS and hopes that his efforts at the Baseball Canada Cup will help ensure that he’s not on the bubble again when the tryouts for the 2009 under-18 provincial team progress.
“I’m going to be the oldest pitcher on the team so if I make it they’ll probably use me as a starter,” he said. “I’d rather close, but if they ask me, I’ll do whatever it takes. I used to start games so it’s not that big of a deal.”
The under-17 team attended tournaments in Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Mississippi this year, with trips upcoming to Florida and the University of Maine during the fall and winter. Dilks’ Ontario under-17 teammate, Georgetown’s Will Cook, wasn’t selected for the provincial team that won in Medicine Hat, although both have already begun tryouts for next year’s under-18 squad and will play in tournaments throughout September.

(Eamonn Maher can be reached at emaher@independentfreepress.com)