St. Albert Cardinals pitcher Jackson Wark is on the radar screen for the Major League Baseball draft next month.
The six-foot-six, 220-pound righty will showcase his skills with the Canadian junior national team prospects for the U18 World Cup during a series of 13 games in nine days in the Dominican Republic.
“It’s pretty exciting. The Dominicans is the last showing before the draft,” said Wark, who leaves Wednesday for the tour through the Dominican summer league.
The Grade 12 Bellerose Composite High School student has already committed to the St. Louis University Billikens in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
“It’s possible I could get drafted but I think the better option is probably going to school,” Wark said. “I’ve filled out questionnaires and correspondence from about 14 different clubs, which is pretty good, and I’ve talked to a couple of scouts here and there as well.”
The third-year midget AAA Cardinal was selected for the annual Dominican trip after participating in the Canadian junior team’s extended spring training camp last month in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
“It’s pretty cool, especially since I didn’t quite make it last year,” said Wark, who has attended a variety of Canadian junior camps for two years. “My last trip was probably my best so far. It was a lot of fun.”
Last year, the first pitch Wark ever threw in a game for the Canadian junior team was a juicy fastball against the Atlanta Braves’ prospects that sailed over the right-field fence.
“It went a fair ways. We were in the stadium so it was probably a little longer fence too,” he said. “It was one of those things where you kind of forget about it, it happened and you get back at it. You don’t think too much about it.”
In Florida he pitched six innings overall in the Canada Red versus Canada Black intersquad game and against the Houston Astros’ prospects.
“It was an amazing experience. Obviously the baseball is incredible,” he said. “In the intersquad against the Canada guys I struck out a couple of projected first rounders and I got to pitch against the Astros minor league sort of extended spring training team and I did OK. They were a pretty decent team.
“In the intersquad, I wanted to show that I can compete against the best hitters in Canada and then try and carry that over in the minor league game against the Astros.”
Wark wasn’t fazed by the magnitude of the moment.
“It’s amazing what you can do when you’re given that adversity. It’s a lot easier to perform when you’ve kind of got nothing to lose,” he said. “There are a lot of great arms on that team and I’m just trying to hang in there. Obviously I’m trying to get better every time I pitch.”
The Dominican summer league series is another stiff test to pass to make the selection camp in Australia in mid-August, leading up to the Aug. 28 to Sept. 6 worlds.
“You’ve got to take it one trip at a time. If you don’t to do well in the Dominican you’re not going to go to Australia,” said Wark, who will celebrate his 18th birthday in the Dominican. “We’re going to play against kids our age who are trying to make it. They’re all going to the MLB academies down there and eventually they hope to get signed and go to the minor leagues.
“We will also play against guys that are going to be our competition in worlds as well so we’ve got a chance to win some games and show that we’re a baseball nation.”
Wark is more than a fastball pitcher with a heater in the 90 miles-per-hour range.
“I throw fairly hard but for the national team I’m average,” he said. “My fastball I’ve been able to locate it pretty well. I’ve got a pretty good slider too. I’ve been working on my changeup a lot this spring because it wasn’t quite there and it’s got a lot better. It’s kind of that one thing I needed.
“It’s amazing how much that extra pitch adds to what you can do. They just think the slider is coming because he just threw me a fastball and you’ve got that changeup to go back to.”
Wark’s last start for the 2014 Baseball Canada silver medallists and provincial midget AAA Tier I champions was the 10-0 loss to the Okotoks Dawgs Red in last weekend’s Norwest league game in Okotoks. He gave up 10 runs (nine earned) on 12 hits, while walking three and striking out two on 86 pitches - 49 strikes and 37 balls - in four innings.
“I wasn’t missing my spots too much. They’re a good team, I’ll give them that, but they found holes, balls landing an inch from the foul line and barely going through the infield. They still put in a lot of good swings on a lot of pitches.”
Wark is among 11 returnees on the 19-man roster from one of the best St. Albert baseball teams ever assembled.
“Last year we were pretty good and more than anything we were a tough team,” he said of the 47-16 Cardinals. “So far this year I’ve been impressed. We’ve got a lot of young guys and they’ve pulled their weight but we’ve got a lot of work to do and I think it will be a good season.”
The Cardinals (3-1 in Norwest and 5-2 overall) play SEEBA 1 Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at John Fry Park.
