Since a young age, Brantford Mosquito Tier 2 Red Sox player Preston Waite has always had a burning passion for baseball.
“I’ve been playing since I was 7 years-old Waite said. “I just like going out on the field and throwing people out and hitting.”
For years Waite has been playing ball non-stop during the summer months but due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the Brantford Mosquito Tier 2 club has only played games spanning the month of August and a couple in September.
Striving to end the campaign on a strong note, Brantford who only have a couple of games left, put up a strong battle when on Thursday, September 3rd at Cockshutt Park, they got some key hits but fell short by a 13-9 score against Kitchener.
“Communicating well and hit the ball good,” Waite said referring to what the team did well against Kitchener. He also added, “We also scored runs.”
Playing first base Waite who bought a new glove that day proved flawless in catching a first inning pop-up, but the Kitchener bats proved too much as they surged out to a 7-0 third inning lead. Showing tremendous character Brantford rebounded with four third inning rounds but still had a steep hill to climb as they trailed 10-4 heading to the bottom of the fourth.
“We’ve played hard all season,” Brantford manager David Roussy said. When talk turned to the play of Waite, Roussy was full of some strong praise.
“He’s such a good leader. He’s had some great pitching outings and he is our best defensive player.”
Showing a tremendous arm, Waite was his steady self as he moved from first base to pitcher towards the end of the game.
“Two seam curveballs, and slider,” Wait said about what kind of pitches he throws. When asked how fast he throws, there was no hesitation before the 11- year-old stated, “About 50 miles per hour.”
Heading to the fourth inning, Waite made some noise with his bat as he slammed a single to right field before eventually scoring Brantford’s fifth run of the game. Riding the momentum, they would add four more runs but it wasn’t quite enough as they fell short against Kitchener.
