August 2, 2023

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Almost every day, while he was attending Richview Collegiate Institute in Etobicoke, Ont., Brady Cerkownyk would walk by Joey Votto’s photo in the front lobby.

And on many of those days, Cerkownyk would also stop to read the clippings in another display about Votto by the gym.

Cerkownyk was inspired by his school’s most famous athlete, but unfortunately has never met him.

“He [Votto] came back for a week during COVID,” said Cerkownyk. “And he played basketball in the gym with some of the basketball guys, but I wasn’t at school at that time.”

But chances are Cerkownyk will have another opportunity to meet Votto soon, now that he, too, has joined the ranks of professional baseball.

The 20-year-old slugger played two years at Richview before being selected in the 15th round of this year’s MLB draft by the Detroit Tigers. He has since signed with the club and reported to the Tigers’ minor league complex in Lakeland, Fla.

Cerkownyk will likely be assigned to the Tigers’ Rookie Ball Florida Complex League affiliate this week.

“I was really excited to be drafted by the Tigers. They’re close to home,” said Cerkownyk. “My parents can come watch games . . . Their Low-A team is in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their double-A team is in Erie, which is close, and then their triple-A team is in Toledo, which is also close.”

But Lakeland is the first pro stop for the young slugger in what has been a whirlwind few weeks.

Despite a monster season with the Connors State Cowboys that saw him lead all NJCAA players with 107 RBIs and a .985 slugging percentage, he was not selected in the first two days of this year’s draft. The reason was clearly not his performance, but likely the dollar amount he was seeking to sign.

“My advisor said, ‘If you don’t go day 1 or day 2, we’ll just go to the Cape Cod [League] and get ready for the next year because we don’t know how much they’re going to offer,” said Cerkownyk. “So, I flew out to Boston on day 3 of the draft and as soon as I landed, my advisor called me and said the Tigers had drafted me and then I flew home that night.”

Shortly thereafter, he signed a contract that includes a $397,500 signing bonus with the club.

It was a dream come true for the Canadian slugger who played his first organized baseball in High Park in Toronto when he was six. His father, Eugene, coached him for much of his youth.

He played his minor ball in High Park and Etobicoke and began catching when he was 14.

Cerkownyk quickly developed into a standout on the diamond and he joined the Ontario Blue Jays when he was 16 and then played three years with the Mississauga Tigers, all under Sean Travers and Greg Byron with Damon Topolie as his catching coach. He gives credit to all three for helping him become a big league prospect.

Byron coached Cerkownyk for parts of four seasons. He was impressed by the young catcher from the first day he saw him.

“A former teammate of mine and another Connors State Cowboy was George Kottaras, and the only difference between George and Brady was George was a little quieter and he hit left-handed,” said Byron. “But they have very similar tools. It was plus catch. It was plus throw. The compete level was off the charts and the work ethic was there.”

Byron said Cerkownyk learned how to work with a pitching staff and how to navigate the long baseball season while with the Mississauga Tigers and he credits Travers for finetuning Cerkownyk’s approach at the plate.

“At 16, Brady wanted to hit everything 500 feet because he knew he could, but at the same time, that resulted in a lot of swings at pitches that he probably couldn’t hit 500 feet,” said Byron. “So, we kind of had to reel him back. And I always use the phrase, ‘Let’s keep the fire in the fireplace.’ We love the fire burning, but we just can’t let it get outside the fireplace because there are times that it would be when he was young.”

Cerkownyk also played for Richview Collegiate Institute for two years before COVID-19 wiped out his final two high school seasons.

“Brady played shortstop for us, which speaks to his athletic ability,” recalled Stath Koumoutseas, who, along with Bob Hunter, coached Cerkownyk at Richview. “To have a kid in grade 9 or 10 as your shortstop on a varsity team, I mean that’s saying a lot about their ability. He was competing against kids who were two or three years older than him.”

Koumoutseas says Cerkownyk was already a polished player in grade 9.

“He had a strong throwing arm. He had good bat speed,” he said. “You don’t see a lot of kids coming in in grade 9 be able to catch up to the average high school kid’s fastball. But Brady had really good bat speed and he was a line drive hitter and he had a strong arm . . You could tell that if he was going to stick to baseball that he would have a lot of potential.”

Cerkownyk was on a summer trip with the Mississauga Tigers in 2022 when he made his first connection with Perry Keith, the legendary head coach at Connors State.

“We had a practice at Connors State. I had BP . . . and I guess he [Keith] liked what he saw. He came to watch us the next week in Oklahoma City where we had a tournament and he offered me a scholarship,” said Cerkownyk. “And then before our [Mississauga Tigers] fall trip, I accepted it.”

Located in Warner, Okla., Connors State has a tradition of bringing Canadians into the fold. Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.), Kottaras (Scarborough, Ont.), Marcus Knecht (Toronto, Ont.) and Jared Young (Prince George, B.C.) all played at Connors State before Cerkownyk.

And in Oklahoma this year, Cerkownyk blossomed into one of the best NJCAA players in the U.S., hitting .470 (second in the nation among NJCAA players), belting 27 home runs (second), while driving in 107 runs (first). He also topped NJCAA players in total bases (199) and slugging percentage (.985).

One of the most impressive numbers on his 2022 collegiate stat line is that he only struck out 18 times.

“During my travel ball, I was more like a swing and miss [hitter], just because I would try to overswing,” said Cerkownyk. “But during the season, I cut down my swing and I didn’t strike out a whole lot. So that really surprised me.”

As he was racking up his NJCAA leading numbers, Cerkownyk started noticing more scouts at his games. He knew the Tigers had strong interest when one of their cross-checkers asked for a meeting with him ahead of the draft.

Following his collegiate season, Cerkownyk played for the Frederick Keys in the MLB Draft League, where he further honed his catching skills under manager and ex-big league backstop Rene Rivera.

In one of his pre-draft workouts at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Cerkownyk opened more eyes when he belted four home runs into the train tracks above the Crawford boxes in left field.

All of this gave him a good feeling heading into the draft, but he still wasn’t certain if he’d be selected until the draft’s last day – a day in which the former Mississauga Tiger became a Detroit Tiger.

Cerkownyk will receive his minor league assignment from the Tigers this week.

In the meantime, he is savoring his time in Lakeland at the club’s historic minor league complex. Cerkownyk grew up a Derek Jeter and New York Yankees fan, but he’s fast becoming an Alan Trammell and Detroit Tigers fan.

“They have pictures up all over the place down here [at Lakeland] and apparently he [Trammell] comes and visits all of the time,” said Cerkownyk. “So that’s going to be pretty cool to meet him.”

Cerkownyk hopes to be playing in front of friends and family at Comerica Park in Detroit soon.

“I’d like to get up to the big leagues in the next three or four years, that’s the goal,” said Cerkownyk. “I’d like to get up there early and get a long career in.”

When that happens, Cerkownyk will likely have a photo in the front lobby at Richview Collegiate Institute alongside Votto’s. But this fall, his high school coach plans to make room for some Cerkownyk clippings in the Votto display near the gym.

“I definitely will be doing that,” said Koumoutseas. “We’re proud of Brady. He’s a good kid and he has a really nice family and we’re very happy for him.”

***

More observations about Brady Cerkownyk:

“He came in and had a great year for us. Some of these guys are ready physically, some are ready mentally for what it takes to succeed at that level, but Brady’s ready. He’s ready for what it’ll take, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him in the Major Leagues. And that’s why he came here, was to make an opportunity for himself and he capitalized on that. I couldn’t be any prouder of him.”

—Perry Keith, Connors State Cowboys coach, in a news release issued by the college.

"The catcher is a ballplayer - the game needs those kind of kids."

— Dave Trembley, former Baltimore Orioles manager and manager of the State College Spikes of the MLB Draft League

“I’m sure he’s got another learning curve coming out of college to start his professional career . . . but I’m excited to watch. But Brady will be fine. He’ll go and do what he’s already done and that’s just play hard and get after it and let his athleticism play. He’s just super, super athletic.”

— Greg Byron, Cerkownyk’s coach with the Mississauga Tigers for parts of four seasons.