March 5, 2025

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

It was a two-hour round trip to the Mississauga Tigers facility for aspiring player Lachlan Maude.

First the subway, then a GO bus, then a 15-minute walk.

But Maude, then 17, made it without complaint. His work ethic has been consistent, unquestionable throughout his life where baseball is concerned.

Some might say it started when the catcher was just learning to walk, when he would prefer to play with baseball bats and sticks to cars and trucks. Or even earlier, when he was strapped into his stroller as a six-month-old, watching his mom play softball in the cozy comfort of a baseball dugout.

That same work ethic continued on to his time in a Tigers uniform.

The fire for Maude always lay within. Where others would shy away from challenges, Maude was the opposite. He enjoyed doing things that were hard because it pushed him to reach new goals.

That Mississauga commute from his home in downtown Toronto at Bloor and Spadina was no different.

“I think that drive comes from inside,” Maude said. “And I've always thought that anything you want, you have to go get yourself.”

That determination has helped the now 20-year-old find his current success with New Mexico Junior College.

The 6-foot-4 225-pound freshman slammed a 462-foot home run on February 24 in their game against Odessa College. There was no question when it left his bat - that ball was gone.

“I certainly knew it was going over the fence,” he said, of the ball that cleared it by a good 62 feet, bringing his total up to five home runs.

He’s also been an asset behind the plate for New Mexico, throwing out nine runners in 20 attempts.

If he’s not practicing, he’s putting in the work at the gym. The off days for him are few and far between, and that’s the way Maude likes it because it challenges him to be his best self.

There’s not much to do in the quiet city of Hobbs, New Mexico with terrain that his mom, Reagan, likens to Mars, but, even if there was, it’s likely that Maude would still be locked in practicing baseball. Not much seems to thrive in the flat, barren wasteland, but Maude is an exception.

He’s comparative to an old man in a 20-year-old body, he said. He doesn’t do a whole lot, but what he does a whole lot of is baseball.

His longtime catching coach who has watched him grow up on the field with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Intercounty Baseball League, and worked with him with the Tigers, can testify.

Damon Topolie used to run a summer camp in the city, and every year, Maude was the first player to register.

When they started up the Tigers program, Maude reached out to Topolie. He already had it in his head that he was going to be a part of the Tigers and make the lengthy commute to The Den, their training facility.

He has a strong arm, he’s athletic, and he’s a five-tool catcher, Topolie said. That paired with his work ethic is an impressive combination.

When Maude first moved down to New Mexico, he sent Topolie a picture of him working out in an empty gym at midnight.

It was of no surprise to Topolie.

“For him to be having success the way he’s doing it just goes back to the work ethic, it’s just the desire and the motor in him to get better every day,” Topolie said.

That work ethic is going to power him through the year, where his goal is to hit 15 home runs, and into his future with the D1 University of New Mexico, where he’s committed for the next two years.

For him, it’s never a question of putting in the extra time at practice, at the gym or on the field to achieve success, Maude said.

“It’s always worth it [to put the work in], I’d rather go much much too far than you know, go to bed at night and just think, ‘okay, that's enough for today,’” he said.

“I’d rather be tired than guilty.”

With that work ethic and his talent, Topolie has a lot of confidence in the young catcher who is progressing through the ranks, and finding success at every level.

He still has a lot of ceiling left, he said.

“I think he’s got a definite chance of playing professional baseball,” Topolie said.