November 12, 2023

Part 3 - Xavier the bat boy

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

The ice water drenches 11-year-old bat boy Xavier Maccagno, courtesy of his 18 older brothers.

If there are screams, it’s excitement, and perhaps it’s a bit colder than expected.

Not to go tell mom or dad. He was screaming in excitement, not as an upset sibling sounding the alarm to tell on his older “brothers” that he got water poured on him.

Yes, 18. It was saved for him, with love from Maccagno’s new family, the Mississauga Tigers. Refreshing at first, he said. Then when the wind picks up and the adrenaline wears off, just cold.

He’s been part of three 18U Baseball Canada National Championship runs, but this year tops them all, he said.

“Because I got to run the bases and like I got picked up like 15 times by like everyone, especially Wes,” said Maccagno (Fort McMurray, Alta.)

Wes Johnston, Mississauga Tigers pitcher, and Maccagno, formed a special bond during the 2022 National Championships in Fort McMurray, both sharing a deep love for baseball.

“I kind of treated him like he was my little brother,” said Johnston (East York, Ont.).

The lead up to an impromptu ice shower started a few days before when the final piece of the 2023 Tigers showed up to the practice field as a surprise. If you were driving by, you might have wondered what the commotion was about … perhaps they’d just won gold?

No, the championships in Fort McMurray didn’t start until tomorrow. It was an explosion from the team for their much beloved bat boy from last year’s championship.

Maccagno wasn’t there by chance this time.

Tigers head coach Greg Byron had kept in touch with his mom and dad, ensuring they brought back Maccagno to the team this year.

He kept it as a surprise for the rest of the guys, so when Maccagno’s pal, Johnston saw him, it was completely unexpected.

“It was like a day hadn’t passed,” Johnston said.

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Verge: Xavier re-defines bat boy duties: Helmets, Bats, Gold … Part II, Mississauga Tigers

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* * *

He gave him a hug and introduced Maccagno to the new players on the squad. This year’s team was complete, just in time for Game 1 against Quebec.

Johnston was pitching, and it was back and forth the whole game. He didn’t do as well as he wanted, he said, but he gave the Tigers a chance to win. He threw 105 pitches in 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks. He fanned six and left the mound trailing 3-0.

Ontario loaded the bases in the seventh, and David Stanley (Toronto, Ont.) hit a walk-off double, securing their first win of the tournament 4-3.

It all started with a single to centre by Josiah Romeo (Caledon, Ont.). Anderson Fenwick (Mississauga, Ont.) walked and Jacob Berney (Mississauga, Ont.) singled, loading the bases.

Lead-off man Tom Hanger (Toronto, Ont.) worked a five-pitch walk to force home Romeo. Now there were two out. Now there were two strikes on Stanley. On the third pitch of the at-bat, he doubled to right centre to clear the bases for the walk-off winner. Owen Newman (Mississauga, Ont.) gained the win with a scoreless outing.

That wasn’t the last time they would face Quebec.

* * *

Nathan Currah (Mississauga, Ont.) and two Alberta pitchers hooked up in a pitching duel in the second game. Mississauga survived with a 1-0 victory. Each team had two hits apiece.

Currah needed only 98 pitches -- 61 strikes (62%) for the complete game shutout as he walked one, allowed two hits and struck out seven. Kaidan Baron (Spruce Grove, Alta.) pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing one unearned and Braedyn Vogstad (Leduc County, Alta.) contributed 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

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Verge: Xavier re-defines bat boy duties: helmets, bats, gold … Par 1, London Badgers

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Hanger led off the game with a double moved to third on a Stanley grounder and scored on a Matt Nellis (Toronto, Ont.) grounder.

* * *

Saskatchewan scored an extra-inning 6-5 decision to hand Ontario its first loss. Kacen Hyra (Lanigan, Sask.), Cam Marshak (Bruno, Sask.) and Jayden Sparks (Watson, Sask.) each had two hits, including Marshak’s two-run homer.

Maddix Mathies (Martensville, Sask.) worked four scoreless innings, while Adam Korte (Muenster, Sask.) started and pitched five innings, allowing three earned runs.

Berney allowed four runs in four innings, then Newman and Adyn Schell (Mississauga, Ont.) took over.

Kaden Wint (Cambridge, Ont.) had three hits for Mississauga, including a double and three RBIs, while JD Del Rosario also doubled.

* * *

BC and Ontario played seven innings and there was nothing but zeroes on the scoreboard. But in the eighth ...

BC’s lead-off man Joe Madill (Nanaimo, BC) and Lucas Laukkanen (Nanaimo, BC) reached on errors and Eli Pakosz (Ceadar, BC) walked to load the bases. Carter Cathers (Nanaimo, BC) hit a fly ball to knock in a run, Brendan Underhill (Campbell River, BC) walked and Jaiden Wong (Nanaimo, BC) singled in a run.

In the bottom half, Hanger singled, Di Corrado doubled and Stanley was walked intentionally to load the bases. Nellis singled in a run, there was a double play ball and then Romeo finished his memorable day at the park with a walk-off single to centre.

Romeo had pitched seven scoreless, allowing four singles and one walk. He struck out 13. He threw 105 pitches (70% strikes). He did not get the win -- Jordan Raposo did -- but he made sure Mississauga won thanks to his bat.

Nellis was 4-for-4 with two doubles, while Di Corrado had two hits and drove in a run and Fenwick had two hits.

* * *

Ontario and Quebec met again in the semi-final, with Mississauga going on to win 9-3.

Di Corrado and Schell each homered as Di Corrado had two hits and drove in three. Schell hit a solo shot and pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run, while striking out 12. He threw 110 pitches (64% strikes). Kieran Glassford (Burlington, Ont.) pitched the final 1 1/3 innings, allowing one run.

Fenwick doubled, driving in two and Hanger drove in a pair of runs. The victory landed Mississauga a spot once again in the final of the 18U National Championships.

* * *

There for it all for a third time was Maccagno.

In between his bat boy duties, he was sitting beside Johnston in the dugout, yelling cheers for their players at the plate. After an at bat, he was there if things didn’t go as well as hoped.

“You can kind of tell when guys are down he tries to pick them up, says a couple of jokes to try and cheer them up,” Johnston said.

The two had conspired early on, and an Ontario flag was once again hidden in the team’s dugout throughout the tournament.

“He got together with his boy Wes again,” Byron said, to keep the good luck flag from the opening ceremonies in the dugout.

* * *

Playing good ball, (the flag?) and possibly the youngest Tigers’ moral support, helped the team beat New Brunswick, just as they did last year, for a second national championship gold medal.

Four fourth-inning runs paced Mississauga to a 7-2 win against Saskatchewan. Di Corrado had three hits, as Nellis, Schell and Wint had two hits apiece. Wint knocked in three and Schell doubled.

Raposo gained the victory, pitching four innings and allowing two runs while Newman picked up the save with three scoreless.

The ice water was dropped on Maccagno’s head, and the 11-year-old rounded the bases in a victory lap.

“I think it was just a match made in heaven honestly,” Byron said of his youngest contributor. “I think it was just the right time, right spot, we happened to be in the right spot at the right time.”

What started as being team Ontario’s flag carrier as a six year old in 2018 has continued to relationships that extend off the baseball field. Maccagno even joined in the after game pool party before his older brothers flew back home. But not before getting Johnston’s phone number, - a highlight of the tournament for the young bat boy.

“We got a picture [together again] and now I have his phone number,” he said.

In September his family spotted him in a video during the Canadian Future’s Showcase at Rogers Centre shaking hands with Jose Bautista. The event showcases top amateur high school talent in Canada. He sent Johnston a text, saying something along the lines of “who’s that guy with Bautista?”

“It’s really cool because I’m chatting to him like we’re buddies, so I think that’s the best thing about it,” Johnston said. “I think I’ll be able to keep this relationship with him for a while, hopefully as long as I can.”

After Maccagno’s first day of school, he reached out again to update him on how it went.

Johnston attending Paris Junior College to pursue baseball in the fall, and Maccagno will also 100% be kept up to date on his first day, he said.

Maccagno’s on field skills have seen much improvement since observing how the Tigers do it from the dugout, upping his game just in time for 13U, which he starts next year. He’s still got his eyes set on his first home run.

And as far as his bat boy career goes - it’s not over yet. If the Tigers qualify in 2024 for nationals, which are set to be held in Ontario, Byron has already informed Maccagno’s parents that he wants their son to be there.

“He was one of the guys. He literally in our eyes he’s as much as a Tiger and as much as national champion as anybody else.”

Each year teams are allowed to add players for the nationals. When the Canada Cup takes place in Fort McMurray teams could by vying for the bat boy with the golden touch.