Slugger heading to Texas

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Ever since he was winning Ontario Baseball Association championships and MVP awards as a youngster with the Hamilton Cardinals, Daniel Hickling has dreamed of donning the uniform of a major league baseball team.

Starting in September the 18- year-old St. Thomas More student will take a big step toward that dream when he puts on the uniform of the Grayson County College Vikings.
Hickling has a full-ride two-year scholarship with the school located in Denison, Texas, that is widely considered a baseball factory.
“I signed an agreement about a month ago,” said Hickling, a natural long-ball hitter who had a .560 batting average with the elite league Ontario Blue Jays last season.
He also patrols third base and shortstop.

The Grade 12 student is usually up each day around 4:30 a.m. and heads to the gym for an hour-long workout. Then it’s off to Field House Athletics, an indoor baseball training facility in Burlington, where he works on his hitting and fielding before going to school.
This week he’s spending most of his time at Field House on a co-op work placement where he gets to work on his hitting in the mid-afternoon after a few hours of cleaning up around the complex.
While he hasn’t visited the college, Hickling has spoken to Grayson head coach Dusty Hart, who signed him on the advice of Matt Baird, a long-time baseball coach and scout and co-owner of Field House.

“He (Hickling) has always been one of the better players in his age group, all the way up,” said Baird, who has been working with the west Mountain resident for the past nine years. “I think Daniel has a chance to play at the next (professional) level.” Baird said his relationship with Hart goes back many years to their college days when he played at North Central Texas and Hart was at Grayson. Since then Baird said he has recommended four or five players to Hart; Hickling is the first from Hamilton.
Baird said Hickling will get a good look from major league clubs over the next two years.

“That’s a school where there’s going to be probably anywhere from five to 10 scouts every day,” he said.
Baird said Hickling needs to shed a few pounds, work on his arm strength and be prepared to be part of a baseball team that expects to challenge for a national championship every season.
Meanwhile, Hickling continues to concentrate on his indoor workouts.

He plans to play baseball this summer with the Ontario International Baseball Academy prospects team before heading to Texas.
Hickling noted he has also improved his attitude in the past year when it comes to striking out or getting thrown out.
“If I got out, I’d get really frustrated with myself, I’d be mad at my coaches. Now, I listen to everything they say, I’m more mature.”