September 6, 2022

By Scott Langdon

Canadian Baseball Network

The Mississauga Tigers High Performance Program won the Baseball Canada 18U national championship at Fort McMurray, Alta., recently.

Tournament MVP, Seth Hedges, faced a far weightier challenge just to be on the Tigers’ team.

When Hedges, 18, of Ingersoll in southwestern Ontario, first showed up for a workout with Sean Travers, the Tigers’ director of player development, in 2020, the teenager weighed just over 300 pounds.

“We did 45 minutes of fielding, followed by 45 minutes of hitting. That was the plan anyway. But Seth was exhausted after three swings. We stopped,” Travers said during a recent telephone interview.

Hedges’ determination to play on the team resulted in a nine-month weight loss effort when he lost 100 pounds. Today, the recent tournament MVP, who hit .500 with a home run and a team-leading 10 RBIs during five games in Fort McMurray, stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 220 pounds. He had dropped as low as 199 pounds before adding muscle.

“Sean and I had a weekly challenge to see who could lose more weight,” Hedges explained. “I basically followed the Keto diet approach and changed my diet, cut out carbs and ate only steak, chicken and lots of vegetables. I also took long rides on my bike and worked out in a home gym my family built.”

The Keto, or ketogenic, diet is a popular approach to health and wellness that focuses on muscle gains while reducing fat.

Hedges says his dedication to a proper diet and training was challenging at first, but he stayed with it to earn a spot on the Tigers’ roster in 2021, his first season with the team.

“I had to lose weight to play on the team. It is the best team in Canada. There is no program like it with high quality coaches and opportunities to play in the U.S. during the season,” he said. “The hardest part of losing weight was the mental part. At first, I just didn’t know if I could keep it up. But you adopt a mindset that keeps you going. The first step is the hardest one.”

While Travers credits Seth for his accomplishment, he quickly adds that his parents deserve kudos as well.

“They drive Seth to Mississauga four or five times a week for practices and workouts from Ingersoll. And in the winter months as well. They have been very supportive of Seth and his baseball goals,” he said.

David Patterson, Seth’s stepfather, is proud of his son’s baseball achievements, but is prouder still of his “dedication and effort” to lose weight and train to get himself into better physical condition. He says the weight loss is “life changing” and that the family has noticed a positive change in attitude and demeanor as well.

“Seth loves baseball. You could see some baseball IQ even when he was very young playing T-ball. It is that love of the game that has driven him to where he is now. As parents, we do all we can for our kids to help them attain their dreams, but you can’t love it for them. The passion has to come from them,” he said.

Hedges was asked what advice he would give children if he had the opportunity. There was momentary silence over the telephone as he gave the question some thought.

“Anything is possible if you put your mind to it,” he said.

The 18-year-old is currently putting his mind to earning a post-secondary baseball opportunity at a school in the U.S. In his baseball dreams, he plays at a junior college for a year or two, joins a Division 1 program and gets drafted into Major League Baseball.

He has already made one baseball dream come true with the Mississauga Tigers program and understands if you put your mind to it, anything is possible.