Medicine Hat’s Andie Suhai is coming off a stint with Team Alberta as an outfielder (Photo courtesy Ross Lavigne)While Team Alberta did not return with a medal and settled for a fifth-place finish at the national tournament, Andie was able to get in three games in the outfield registering one hit and a pair of runs.
Back closer to home, another Suhai was hitting the diamond at Athletic Park suiting up for his childhood team.
Older brother Jack has spent the season throwing heat as a reliever for the Medicine Hat Mavericks, getting into a dozen games to this point.
“It’s really cool, I enjoy coming to the park and doing it every day,” said Jack. “It’s really special.”
Although it’s Jack’s first year playing for the Mavericks, he’s nearing the end of his collegiate career with the Okanagan College Coyotes in British Columbia.
Medicine Hat’s Jack Suhai has pitched in 12 games for the Medicine Hat Mavericks this season (Photo courtesy Scott Roblin)It’s a long way from growing up on the diamonds of Medicine Hat, showing his younger sister the ropes of the game.
“Just playing catch with her, toughening her up so that she could be good at baseball,” said Jack. “That’s why she’s so good, she had to deal with this meathead of a brother.”
That tough love seasoning seemed to catch on for Andie, who worked her way through the Medicine Hat Little League system before joining the Monsignor McCoy High Colts.
“Just playing catch with her, toughening her up so that she could be good at baseball,” said Jack. “That’s why she’s so good, she had to deal with this meathead of a brother.”
A program which she just graduated from mere weeks ago.
“Jack taught me baseball growing up, I play baseball because of him,” said Andie. “So, watching him succeed and me succeed, it’s great having both members of my family being in the sport that they love.”
In the years since those early days of catch, the pair are now two of southern Alberta’s best with Andie now pursuing opportunities to play Division I ball south of the border.
That competitive drive evidently has not been hard to find.
“Competition level is very hard between the two of us,” said Andie. “He competes at me not even in the sport, but in daily life no matter what’s going on. So, my competition level has definitely gotten higher because of him.”
Both Jack and Andie cited the support of their parents for the early mornings, long nights and thousands of kilometres travelled that have made their dreams a reality.
“They do everything so that we can succeed, so it starts with them,” said Jack. “Day in and day out they’re there for us, they back us, they want us to do well. We just go out and try to do the best we can and make them proud. It’s what we want to do, it’s what we work hard for and what we set our goals out to be. So, it means a lot for all of us and we’re happy to see each other succeed.”
While baseball has made extended visits few and far between for the pair, it’s also the connecting thread that continues to tie the star siblings together.
“It’s really cool for us to both succeed and both play in the same sport,” said Andie. “Learning from each other, learning from him… and his mistakes. And, being able to travel. We’re mostly away from each other, but we’re still connected through the sport that we love.”