By JOE McFARLAND

Leo Griffin was undoubtedly going to play baseball.

With a family heavily involved in the game, the challenge was actually in deciding where on the field he wanted to play.

Playing the utility role throughout his youth baseball career, the Boucherville, Quebec native moved with his family to Okotoks after his older brother joined the Dawgs Academy program.

Even then, the younger Griffin was torn on his position on the field, until deciding that his most dangerous skill, his speed, needed to be exploited.

His career took off with a move to the outfield and is now enjoying a breakout freshman campaign at Hutchinson Community College.

So much so that Griffin has already rewritten the school’s record books after stealing four bases in a game against Rose State College on Feb. 15, tying for third in Blue Dragons’ single-game history.

“It feels amazing for sure,” he told Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast. “I just keep doing myself and I’m going to keep playing the game how I’ve always played it.”

Griffin is confident even better days are ahead of him, as he has some lofty goals for this college season and beyond.

NO PRESSURE

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Griffin loves the game.

His father, Marc, suited up for Baseball Canada at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and had a five-year professional career in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Montreal Expos organizations before turning to the broadcast booth.

“He always put baseball in my life and I just quickly fell in love with it,” Griffin said. “Growing up, I didn’t think about a future in baseball so much as just focusing on enjoying it.”

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The youngster didn’t feel any pressure to play the game, although was exposed to more of it as his older brother, Hank, loved it as well.

When his older sibling moved to Okotoks, Griffin admits he wanted to follow in his footsteps.

“I just think that’s where the switch flipped,” he said. “That’s when I realized I wanted to focus on baseball and go to the Dawgs because it looked like a great program.”

DAWG ON THE MOVE

While Hank, who is now at the University of Mary, began his college career at Bossier Parish and then Hutchinson, Leo plied his trade in Okotoks.

In fact, their parents and youngest brother, Eddy, had moved to the community to allow the kids a chance to chase their baseball dreams.

Immersing themselves in the community, Griffin says the opportunity changed him in many ways, as he appreciated being valued as an individual and made him feel comfortable from the very beginning.

“It’s changed me as a teammate, a leader, a human being and as a brother,” he said. “I’m just so thankful for what they’ve done and how they’ve brought me to being the player I am today.”

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Among the highlights of his time with the Dawgs include throwing a no-hitter for the academy team in his 15U season.

Despite his success on the bump, Griffin says he knew he had speed to burn and, after careful consideration, dedicated himself to hitting so he could get on base.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound reformed-hurler took in every early-morning batting practice and late-night cage session to get better during his high school days.

CHAMPION’S EXPERIENCE

One of the most memorable moments of Griffin’s young career came last summer with the Western Canadian Baseball League champion Okotoks Dawgs.

An affiliate player who picked up a hit and stolen base in two regular season games, he was brought in during a key moment of the Dawgs opening-round series against the Lethbridge Bulls.

As a pinch-runner in extra innings, the speedster scored the series-clinching run when Ricky Sanchez laid down a suicide-squeeze bunt in extra innings to capture the 4-3 victory.

Griffin says it was moments like that which allowed him to understand the weapons he has for feet, also giving him the confidence he needed heading into his first college season.

He doesn’t feel like he’s guessing or being afraid on the basepaths.

“You have to really trust your instincts and I think that’s really been helping me so far.”

“When I’m out there, I just feel confident that I can swipe a bag,” Griffin said. “Either it’s a delayed steal or a ball in the dirt or getting that little hop before a pitcher throws, as a good base-runner, you have to be confident and not guess.”

If all goes according to his plan, the 19-year-old says he would love to steal 50 bases this spring, which would topple the Blue Dragons’ single-season record of 48, set by Nick Thigpen in 2003.

STILL HAVING FUN

It’s one of those baseball sayings that might be as old as the game itself – and it’s one that Griffin says he’s heard plenty of from his father.

“He always says that ‘baseball is 99 per cent mental and one per cent physical,’” he laughed. “I truly agree with him because when you play your best is when you feel your best.”

As Griffin continues to cruise through his freshman season in college, he’s hoping to keep working on other elements of his game so that he can take it to the next level.

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He’s also mindful of the impact that his words can have on future generations of Dawgs players as well as those in his home province.

Griffin says it all comes back to enjoying the game as much as possible and making sure that it never feels like a chore, leading him to heed one more piece of advice from his father.

“My dad always says that home plate in baseball is like a home – it’s shaped like a home,” Griffin said. “If you’re happy on the field, if you love what you’re doing with your teammates, it becomes such a big part of your life.”

In speaking with the fleet-footed phenom, it leaves no doubt that baseball will remain a big part of Leo Griffin’s life for years to come.