After spending his young baseball career traveling around Edmonton, Seth Suer is happy going to a warmer climate when he goes to college.
The 18-year-old grew up in Morinville before beginning a whirlwind tour through the capital region which included stops with the Edmonton 18U ‘AAA’ Expos, AHP Academy in St. Albert, and, most recently, ATHX Performance back in Edmonton.
Suer got his first big taste of what college baseball will be like when he joined the Canadian team for the Prep Baseball West Coast Games in October, where the 6-foot-1, 170-pound righthander garnered some attention as a two-way player.
Phoenix College came calling in January, and Suer is excited for the opportunity to continue his baseball journey.
We first got to know him on Episode #303 of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast, and we were able to ask him a couple of more questions via Instagram to bring you our latest 1 Thru 9.
1. How excited are you about being able to sign on at Phoenix College?
I’m so excited. I have always wanted to play ball in Arizona and being able to do that will be great. And, honestly, my coaches (Wyatt Hummel and Mark Osanna) went down there and helped me so much. When he told me about the school, it sounded like a perfect fit. New field, facilities and everything, also the connections in the area was also a given.
2. What was it about the school and program that made you believe it was the right fit for you?
They had the major I planned on taking (business/accounting) and that was also a major point. Overall, just being in Phoenix – away from the cold – was a major point. I love the city and am so excited to live there.
3. You had the chance this past year to suit up at the Prep Baseball West Coast Games. What was that experience like for you?
It was so fun. Playing baseball with people I’d played with for a while like at AHP and even other guys from Alberta. It was very fun being in the nice weather, too.
4. Did you have any expectations of yourself heading into the event, especially given that you’re playing with some of the best across the west coast?
I wanted to play my best and just honestly have fun, which was obviously pretty hard not to have fun when you’re in California with friends and some pretty good coaches. It was pretty fun.
5. Do you remember the moment where you went from “baseball is fun” to “maybe I have a future in this game and I want to take it as far as I can”?
Honestly, when I went to AHP when they had their junior academy. Once they told me I could play on their top team, I was like, “maybe I can make this a reality and actually play college baseball.” Although, I didn’t think I was going to be able to when I was younger. They gave me a hope and a sight for the future that I could possibly have. It was amazing.
6. What did the AHP experience mean to you and your development, not just as a ballplayer but as a human being as well?
They trained me from when I was a small kid to when I grew up and got way better at baseball. You can ask them: I was not the greatest player coming in there and they kept me driven going in there. It was a lot of baseball six days a week but they made it fun. They made it enjoyable and the environment is unbeatable. It was very good to go there and just train and have fun.
7. You had the chance last spring to watch Erik Sabrowski train at AHP as well. What was that like?
Honestly, one of the best players I’ve ever witnessed. He would train in the facility and it was just different. The facility would shut down, everyone would watch him throw a bullpen. He would just lift in our gym like he was just a normal person, which was really weird to see but it’s how it should be. It was so cool.
It was insane, an MLB player now, but still, we all knew he would end up pro because of the stuff he had. His determination was the craziest thing. He was the most determined athlete I’ve ever seen. He just knew he was going to be an MLB player one day. It was so inspiring to see.
8. Looking back on the young career to this point, any favourite memories or moments on the field where you had to take that step back and go “I can’t believe I get to do this”?
Honestly, the Best of the West was pretty cool. And the Kansas trip where we went to a bunch of different schools. But Best of the West was the main one. Playing in the best tournament in Canada, which was pretty cool. It was nice to see that I can play baseball and not just for fun but for competitiveness and stuff like that. When we won qualifiers, that was surreal.
9. Let’s say you’re chatting with some young kids just starting out on their baseball journeys and they want to get to where you’re at now, what would you want to get across to them?
Have complete trust in yourself. If you have no confidence in yourself, baseball is going to eat you up. Honestly, just have fun. If you don’t have fun playing baseball, there’s no point in playing it. So have fun.
