Aidan Malish '22 Recruiting Profile

Baseball has had a major impact on my life.  I believe all sports teach us the skills we need to excel not only in our sport, but in life with our family, school and careers.  This past year has been a significant year for me.  I am in the Class of 2021, but I have a late birthday, so every year I compete in baseball, I am always one of the youngest players on the field at the level I am playing.  I take pride in my impeccable work ethic and coach-ability.  I dedicate myself fully to everything I pursue.  I set goals for myself that are realistic and I can self-evaluate and accept any criticism while trying to achieve those goals.  I always want to be moving forward in life and these traits have allowed me to not only excel in school, but also play baseball at a level higher than my age category for the past 2 years.  

The 2018/2019 baseball season was a significant year for me.  I tried-out for our Senior Premier team, the Okanagan Athletics, which plays in the British Columbia Premier Baseball League (BCPBL) in Canada.  The Senior team consists of mainly Grade 12 (Senior) and over-age players, and I made the team as a Grade 10 Sophomore.  I was one of only three Sophomores to make the team.  Playing such a high level of baseball at my young age was a challenge.  There are many players in the BCPBL that go on to play NCAA Division I , II, III, NAIA  and Junior College baseball and several players per year get drafted to the Major Leagues, so the level of play is outstanding.  Playing at this level taught me patience and persistence.  It gave me a sense of humility that makes me thankful for all of my achievements.  I learned to deal with failure and not be afraid to make mistakes on the field as long as I was giving 100% effort and being the best team player I could be.  I saw the importance of leading by example and being accountable and responsible to both my teammates and my team.  I had to work hard every second I was on the field just to get into the line-up.  I started the year batting low in the order, either in the 9 or 10 spot and started only in half of the games.  By the end of the year, the life skills I had learned by making the team allowed me to excel, moving up the batting order to the number 5 spot as a regular starter in all the games for the last half of the season.  I ended up in the top three for batting average on the team and was a significant contributor to our team's success.  Most importantly, the leadership qualities I learned from our senior players really showed me the importance of having that element of character always present to have success, both on and off the field

My goal is to play a high level of baseball and compete at an elite level.  I take pride in my work ethic and leadership characteristics.  I have a talent for hitting for power and contact and am defensively highly skilled.  I am very competitive and I feel that my experience will allow me play at the highest level and make an immediate contribution to any program. My sense of duty, responsibility and accountability to my team, teammates and coaches allows me to step in and fill any role needed to compete for a common goal and success.  I am in the Class of 2021; however, because I have a late birthday, I may play an over-age year with the Okanagan Athletics after my Senior year.  My plan is to work to get more employment experience and gain more life skills while enhancing my baseball skills, growing and developing as a player and a person, readying myself to start university in 2022.  This will depend on the opportunities available to me in my Senior year and I am keeping an open mind.  However, I want to play an elite level of baseball and continue to teach myself the skills I'll need to excel in my education, baseball and life.