September 23, 2023

By Trevor Fitzpatrick

Canadian Baseball Network

With just seconds left on the two-minute clock, Nathan Flewelling (Innisfail, Alta.) was anxiously waiting along the first base line. He had just belted six home runs during his turn of the final round, but Esteban Dessureault (Trois-Rivieres, Que.) was at five when he sent one deep.

As the buzzer went off the ball was still in the air. Never mind cutting the tension with a knife, if you took anything to it, it would snap.

The ball looked really good, it flew, flew some more, and then even more. This ball was in the air for what felt like an eternity and yet somehow it still stayed in the yard, harmlessly bouncing off the wall.

That was it. Flewelling was the champion. Cheers erupted from his teammates around him and his friends and family in attendance.

As he was handed the belt, every person on the field with a media pass was shoving to get a picture and an interview first. Eventually, everyone settled with just swarming around Flewelling and asking at the same time.

“It feels great, I’m still in shock right now, to be honest. Life doesn’t even feel real, I might not even remember this, I could black out anytime now,” Flewelling said as he chuckled, “I’m sure it’ll sink in later, maybe in the evening.”

Representing the Red Deer Braves, the Gonzaga commit Flewelling had to battle hard for the championship belt.

Alongside him and Dessureault, six other prospects were in the derby: Benito Bonilla (Halifax, NS), Gianluca Montanaro (Aurora, Ont.), Lee Jones (Toronto, Ont.), Aidan George (Woodstock, Ont.), Brendan Lawson (Toronto, Ont.), and Keegan Russell (Whitby, Ont.).

After the first round, only Dessureault, George, Flewelling, and Montanaro remained, hitting eight, six, five, and two longballs respectively.

Consistency ended up being key as Flewelling’s six home runs in the final round outlasted Dessureault and Montanaro’s five each.

“I’m so tired right now, the adrenaline was pumping so much in the moment,” Flewelling recalled, “You can’t even tell which [balls] go out while you’re hitting, to be honest, I thought each one I hit was gone but that wasn’t the case.”

According to Flewelling the very first day of the tournament during batting practice was what gave him the confidence to compete as well as he did.

During day one’s batting practice, he had hit a few balls off the walls of Rogers Centre with a wooden bat. Stepping up to the plate with a metal bat in hand gave him the boost he needed to power it over the wall.

“During the scouting day, I knew I was a little smaller than some of the other guys but that batting practice made me sure that I could still compete with them.”

At 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, the catcher Flewelling played great during the showcase, earning him a spot in not only the home run derby but also the prospect all-star game.

“It’s an incredible honour, it means everything to me to be selected for the prospect game. It’s just one of those moments that makes you realize why you love the game as much as you do.”

Being a part of the 2025 draft class while already being committed to Gonzaga gives the young signal caller lots of time to decide what he wants to do moving forward. Expect to see him back at next year’s showcase to give pro scouts more to look at.

For now, Flewelling’s celebration will continue through to the end of the day, before he has to decide where to put his new hardware.

“Probably right above my bed. I can’t think of a much better place for it than that.”