Every summer of his childhood Quinn Gammage could be found on the sandlots in Cambridge working on his game.
The young infielder entered organized baseball in minor mosquito and until his U18 season he donned the red, white and blue of the Cambridge Cubs' AAA rep teams, plying his trade everywhere from Riverside Park to Churchill Park.
This past fall, the up-and-comer joined the Ontario Nationals 18U elite program and took part in their college tour. While making their way through the United States and playing college teams along the way, the Nationals made a stop at the University of South Carolina Sumter, a Division I junior college.
The stop at Riley Park turned into much more than a workout and an exhibition game.
After impressing the Fire Ants coaching staff during their stay, he was offered an opportunity to join the program after high school. It was a chance that he couldn’t turn down.
“Having the opportunity to go there on the Nationals fall trip in late September and early October was great because we got to see the field, talk and meet with the coaches, as well as play a game against the team,” Gammage said.
“Overall for me it was a mix of beautiful Riley Park, the combined knowledge and experience the coaches share and the opportunity to move on to a four-year school after that made it the right fit for me.”
Gammage describes himself as a top to middle of the lineup hitter who can get on and steal the occasional base.
With the ability to play second base, shortstop and third base, he hopes his defensive flexibility in the infield will open up opportunities.
“My goals once on campus are to try and be a day-to-day impact player for the team, playing in whatever role I can in order to help win games,” he said.
“I also want to develop my own strengths and weaknesses into becoming a better ball player. I feel like I’ve gotten better at the mental side of the game and not letting one mistake snowball and realizing that’s it’s in the past and moving onto the next play. Along with that I feel like moving away from home will allow me the chance to mature more away from the game.”
Being able to call himself a college baseball commit is something that still catches Gammage by surprise when he stops to think about it.
“It had always been a dream of mine to play college baseball in the states,” he said.
“I started to think it was possible once I went on the college trip with the Nationals and got attention from some of the coaches. For it to happen fairly quickly, just three months after joining the Nationals, is pretty surreal and I don’t think it's fully sunk in or hit me yet.”
With the next step in his baseball career decided, it’s time for Gammage to continue to improve. Along the way he’ll lean on his support system to help him become the best player, and person, he can be.
“Without a doubt or question, my parents have been the biggest influences for me,” he said of his mother Sandra and father Mike.
“The constant support, love and time they’ve put in and continually put in for me is something I can never repay them for," he said.
"The honest feedback and advice they’ve given me along the way made the decision a lot easier knowing that no matter what, I know they supported wherever it was that I chose to go.”