Hlady learns a lot in freshman baseball season

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This article was published 15/06/2018 (2131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Many of the biggest lessons learned in university don’t come in the classroom.

William Hlady, now 18, moved down to Mount Pleasant, Iowa to play NCAA Division 3 baseball with the Iowa Wesleyan Tigers last fall. He admits it was an adventure.

“It was a big step obviously because at the time I was still 17,” Hlady said. “It was exciting but also nerve-racking knowing that I’m away from home and away from people who I know and have to make new friends and try to fit in. It really helped me grow as a person, I felt, and to be my own person and true to myself.”

Hlady ended up there by accident.

He was actually headed to the University of Winnipeg when the school cancelled its baseball program, a decision that also affected John Patmore of Pipestone.

“I had nowhere else to go and I was talking to some people states-side, and I had a connection in Brandon, Faron Asham, who I know and he mentioned a couple of schools down that way who are always looking for players from Canada to come down and show what they’ve got,” Hlady said. “I found one and gave them a call and the next thing I knew I was getting ready to go down to Iowa.”

In 17 games, the five-foot-11, 180-pound pitcher compiled a record of 2-1, scattering 25 hits over 23 innings with an earned run average of 5.48.

The right-hander struck out 16 batters, walked 13 and allowed 14 earned runs.

“When I first arrived there I was placed in a relief role to start with,” Hlady said. “Going through the year I got lots of work in during high-pressure situations trying to win games or stop runners from scoring. I’m really hoping that I can go back and get the opportunity to be a starter and help win some more games for the team.”

Hlady throws a fastball-slider combination, and was consistently clocked around 85 miles per hour.

One huge difference Hlady noticed as a pitcher is that college teams use metal bats. That’s a problem in a couple of ways, the least of which is home runs.

“On the pitcher’s mound, you’re only 60-some feet away and when some of those bigger boys get up there and turn loose, the ball moves pretty quick,” Hlady said.

Lee Fiala of White City, Sask., is the only other Canadian on the team, which boasts three Australians and one player from Ecuador.

Hlady said that playing in baseball’s heartland is a different experience. The team draws more than one hundred fans a game and can play in front of triple that number on the road.

“It’s very competitive,” Hlady said. “Going out to games and watching people line up just to watch you play a game of baseball is incredible. It’s frustrating sometimes when you go out there and have a rough day and you feel like you’re not just letting down your team but letting down the people who are coming to watch you play.”

Hlady won a provincial high school championship in his four years with the Dauphin Clippers, and also played with the midget AA Dauphin Devil Rays and the Parkland AAA midgets.

He played second base then too, and admits the transition to specializing as a pitcher was a bit odd.

“It was weird not to do different things every day,” Hlady said. “As a pitcher, most of my day throwing a baseball and shagging flyballs when they do live arm and BP (batting practice) and stuff like that. It was weird to watch guys take groundballs and not be part of it.”

This summer, he’s playing with the Dauphin Brewers in the Santa Clara Baseball League.

In statistics updated to May 27 on the league website, Hlady had 18 at-bats and was hitting .500, and in 10 innings on the mound is 1-1 with a .420 earned run average.

He said he’s a better player now than the guy who headed to college a year ago at age 17.

“My biggest improvements came in the weight room,” Hlady said. “Obviously everybody has a chance to do something with sports in their lives, and you have to go the extra mile because everybody else is.”

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