For those not geographically inclined, up means Upper Peninsula. As in the State of Michigan and Bay State College.

Mitch Sills, a graduate of the Quinte Royals, a PECI student, and current member of both the Kingston Jr. Ponies and the Muskoka Outlaws Baseball Academy (MOBA), will take his glove and spikes to Escanaba, Michigan in September to ply his trade for the Norse. 

Bay State College, an hour west of Sault Ste. Marie, competes in Division II of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

“Bay College is a really great school and had what I believed to be the best opportunity for me,” Mr. Sills told the Gazette. “Talking to Coach Mike Pankow, he said the grind is going to be hard, just like anywhere else, but the team is very welcoming and, in his words, ‘one big family’.”

Mr. Sills knows about the grind. After finishing up his summer season with Kingston he went north to enrol at MOBA. He immediately started turning heads.

In the fall season, the local fireballer took a perfect game into the final inning of his debut outing with his new club and later earned a win in an exhibition game against Laurentian University. Mr. Sills was also a big part of the Outlaw’s success at the Long Island Hot Stove Halloween Haunt classic in New York City in late October. In a must-win situation in the semi finals, Mr. Sills fired a one-hit shutout while striking out 13 batters.

When he wasn’t dominating from the pitcher’s mound, Mr. Sills was consistent from the dish, hitting for a .320 average over two dozen games. He managed to swipe 30 bases.

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“I moved to Bracebridge in September to join (MOBA) and it’s one of the best decisions I have made. They helped me grow into an even better baseball player and person,” Mr. Sills said. “Without the help of coaches Zack Boese and Joe Hickes, I wouldn’t be in the spot that I am.”

The Outlaws have a pair of U.S. tournaments left to play this spring in Arizona and Orlando as well as a spring season in central Ontario. Mr. Sills will return to the County later this year and graduate PECI in June before taking up with the Ponies again this summer.

Then, it’s off to Bay College in the fall where he will study in Arts.

“The dream is to stay in the States and attend a four-year university program for school and baseball, but I just want to get the most out of my experiences and see what comes my way after my time there.”

In addition to training at MOBA, which features young baseball talent from across Eastern Canada, Mr. Sills paid tribute to his Quinte Royals coaches, staff at PECI and all the people in Prince Edward County who have supported his dream of playing baseball.

His former Quinte Royals skipper Chris Lisle planned a trip around Myrtle Beach, South Carolina earlier this winter to coincide with a tournament featuring the Outlaws.

“The continuous supports from people within the Quinte Royals organization has been one of a kind. The support from people around Quinte and the county area has been amazing, whether it being old teammates, coaches or even teachers. I can’t say enough about that kind of support and I really appreciate all of it.”