Mateychuk throws smoke as MLB takes notice

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This article was published 30/08/2019 (2085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seventeen-year-old Maddux Mateychuk from Dominion City can throw absolute smoke from baseball’s pitching mound.

Although he only turned 17 a couple of months ago and will be entering grade 12 this fall, the 6’3”, 220 lb. Mateychuk is a burgeoning baseball star that can throw the ball 93 mph as was registered on a radar gun this summer.

That fire power has garnered a considerable amount of interest from a number of Major League Baseball (MLB) teams as Mateychuk will be eligible for the MLB draft next June.

For young Mateychuk, baseball is in the genes and he comes by it honestly as his father Jason, who is the principal of Roseau Valley School in Dominion City, has twice been inducted, both as an individual and recently with the Carillon Sultans, into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame.

Maddux, who has four younger siblings, including hockey standout Denton who is in camp with the Moose Jaw Warriors, was a multi-sport athlete while growing up, as he also excelled in track and field and hockey.

But for the past two years, he has set his sights and his focus on baseball. He spent his grade 11 year in Alberta at the highly-regarded Vauxhall Academy of Baseball (VAB), which is a high school that also offers a year-round baseball academy and includes some of the top young baseball prospects from across the country.

He returned to Vauxhall this week where he will begin his grade 12 year of studies and further developing his career in baseball with the VAB Jets as he hopes that next June will not only yield a high school diploma but will also hear his name called at the Major League Baseball draft.

He was a promising hockey player that saw him pile up a ton of points for the Eastman City Selects in the 2017-18 season, as he had 47 goals in 47 games and 84 points in all for the Selects that season. But he subsequently hung up the skates as he now focusses on his baseball career.

Last year in his first year at Vauxhall, he was one of seven pitchers at the Academy, and he topped out at about 89 mph. Coming in this year at 93 mph, he is expected to be one of the top hurlers at the school.

This is a school that has produced a number of MLB draft picks over the years, including two last year, both pitchers.

During the year the school baseball team does not participate in any leagues, but rather play in various tournaments and exhibition games, and also competes at various locales in the U.S.

In mid-September, and for the second year in a row, Mateychuk will travel to Toronto where he has been invited by the Blue Jays as one of the top prospects in the country to participate in the T12 Baseball Academy. Mateychuk was initially invited as one of the top 50 prospects in the country and an additional 100 players will also be invited.

The whole purpose of the T12 program, which pays all of their expenses to come to Toronto, and is hosted by Roberto Alomar, is to centralize the best Canadian prospects, exposing them to as many pro and college scouts as possible.

Mateychuk says he is aware that a number of Major League teams are looking at him, including the Blue Jays and San Diego Padres, along with the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers.

He says next year he hopes to play college ball in the U.S. as a number of schools from across the U.S. have already spoken to him.