Years of dedication to the sport of baseball have paid off for a local youth.
Jacob Thornback, 18, of the Harriston area, was given his first baseball glove at birth. With parents Jeff and Gillian both avid ballplayers, it seemed natural that Jacob would follow in his parents’ footsteps.
“Jacob was a natural and he started by playing T-ball in Guelph. When most kids were playing in the gravel or picking flowers at the diamond, Jacob was keen to play ball,” Gillian said.
Thornback added, “I had so much fun playing ball. To me, ball is a deep sport. It’s like a chess match on the field. There is a lot of strategy involved.”
Having played most positions, infield and outfield, Thornback seems to have found his niche as a catcher. He likes to be involved in every play of the game and finds that unique to catching.
Thornback recently signed a letter of intent to attend Jefferson Community College in Watertown, New York. Playing for the a junior college with 3,000 students will allow Thornback more playing time than a larger school and make him draft eligible. Although scholarships are not available the first year, Thornback will be a scholarship recipient in his second year.
After graduating from the criminal law course at Jefferson, he hopes to play professional baseball.
Life after baseball
His plans after baseball include work as a detective with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) or as a professor of criminology.
Thornback was playing for the Listowel Legionnaires when recruited by scouts to play for the Ontario Nationals then-based out of Stratford.
In the second year changes in the league allowed Thornback to compete in the U-14 division with the Ontario Expos and with the U-16 Ontario Nationals as a substitute. Both teams were based out of London. In his third and fourth years, Thornback played with the Ontario Nationals.
By year five the Ontario Expos came under new sponsorship by Nakona, a ball glove manufacturer.
In his sixth and final year, Thornback will be suiting up for the Ontario Nakona Expos U-18 team with a 40-game schedule on diamonds in Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Toronto and Simcoe.
He is the first player from the organization to sign a letter of intent to go to college in the United States.
