IN terms of his amateur baseball career, North Vancouver's Lachlan Fontaine has already blasted his way around first, second and third base and all that's left now is to see if he gets waved in to make the final charge home.
The North Shore Twins third baseman and Sutherland secondary Grade 12 student is in the midst of a whirlwind year that will culminate with the Major League Baseball draft in June when his name, in all likelihood, will be called out by a big league team.
Fontaine first broke out in a big way last summer when, after putting together a solid season with the Twins, he exploded on one magical day in the B.C. Premier Baseball League playoffs. Facing a doubleheader of must-win games during the league's final four tournament, Fontaine hit three home runs and collected 11 runs batted in in two games to propel the Twins all the way to the championships final.
"It kind of went by really fast, it seemed like it wasn't real," Fontaine said, recalling that monster day. "The whole team was intense about the games, it was just a different feeling playing those couple of games. Everyone was just more intense about the game."
The wins put a cap on amazing streak for the Twins that saw them rip off nine straight victories to make the provincial final after just barely squeaking into the playoffs. It was a fun stretch of baseball, said Fontaine.
"It felt like we could just go out and we weren't going to lose," he said. "It felt like we could win every game and we were expecting to win every game. There wasn't really a thought that we would lose any games and we played like it too."
The Twins eventually lost the final but the swing in the team's fortunes from also-rans to runners-up left everyone feeling good. Fontaine, in particular, kept the streak rolling into the winter when he made a name for himself at a Perfect Game prospects camp held in Arizona. Competing against other elite young players, Fontaine earned the title of No. 1 Top Prospect at the camp, setting the event's record for infield throw by uncorking a 90 mile per hour toss across the diamond from third to first. Scouts raved about his hitting and he evened fooled around on the mound for one inning, wowing onlookers with a fastball that pushed 88 miles per hour and a nasty slider.
The magic continued earlier this month when Fontaine earned a spot on Canada's National Junior Team, joining the squad for a stint in Florida where they faced off against rookie ball teams representing MLB clubs like the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays.
By the end of the camp it was clear that Fontaine was showing up clearly on the radar for the 2013 draft - 29 of the 30 MLB teams have contacted him and had him fill out pre-draft paperwork. On top of all that, the 17 year old has been fielding calls from colleges and universities on both sides of the border eager to scoop him up if his draft number isn't high enough or a pro contract isn't signed. Baseball is unique in its draft structure with high school grads eligible to be picked. The prospects then either sign right away and head off to rookie ball or they don't sign and then go to college with the potential to re-enter the draft a couple of years down the road. Fontaine has covered all the bases, registering with the NCAA and taking SATs so that he could play university ball if his preferred choice, the pro route, doesn't work out this summer
"The (pro teams) try to persuade you away from school a little bit," he said with a chuckle. "I tell them I want to play pro ball but, I mean, whatever happens I'm comfortable going to school as well. We'll see what happens."
It's a unique experience for these young players but also a stressful one. Just back from Florida and playing his first regular season game with the Twins on Thursday night, Fontaine struck out in all three of his plate appearances. His batting eye still needs an adjustment after switching from the 90-plus mile-per-hour heaters he was seeing while playing for the junior national team to the 75 and 80 mile-per-hour stuff the pitchers in the BCPBL are throwing him.
"Going from 95 miles per hour to 75, it's just completely different - you have to change your swing a lot, your whole approach," said Fontaine, visibly peeved that he didn't produce for his team in a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Cannons. It's a tricky transition, parachuting back into his hometown team after taking time off to play with Team Canada.
"I find that playing for this team there's a lot more pressure, I just get a lot more nervous," he said. On top of being counted on as the home team's cleanup hitter, the whole circus of college coaches, pro scouts, endless travel and online rankings is a lot to handle, particularly considering the normal high school exams and graduation that all other kids face. "It just gets a little overwhelming at times, you've just got to forget about it at times and just go out and play the game you grew up loving and try to forget about everything else. . . . If you think about it too much you're going to try too hard to get that hit or throw the ball 100 miles an hour across the infield. I didn't do that today so I've just got to focus on that for next time."
No one sees the stress more than Lachlan's father Bob, a retired West Vancouver police officer who has been trailing his son around the continent to the various showcases and camps.
"It's a lot of fun for me - because I'm retired I can go down and watch him play, I can travel with him. Well, I don't travel with him, I travel behind him," he said with a laugh. "There is stress there but he's handling it well. I try to help him as much as I can."
Bob's been watching his son play since Lachlan raced out of the house as a three-year-old toddler to hit off a tee with his older brother Elliot. Playing the game now is what keeps all the outside craziness in perspective for his son, said Bob.
"He loves playing baseball. That's his life, he just loves playing it. In all the years that he's played ball he has never complained about practice, about going to a game - never."
Life will become simpler again once draft day has come and gone. Lachlan said he won't be doing anything special on the day - he'll go to school as usual - but he will keep a keen ear just in case one of those big league scouts wants to call him with some good news.
"I'll have my phone on," he said, "loud."
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The Twins will be back at home for their next eight games, starting today with a doubleheader against the Victoria Eagles. Game 1 gets underway at 11 a.m. at Parkgate Park with Game 2 scheduled for 1: 30 p.m. For a full schedule visit northshoretwins.com.
