He has averaged 68 runs scored , 22 doubles , 54 RBI , 19 stolen bases , and 59 walks per 162 games during his seven-year professional career .
Not bad for a Canadian kid who played on the same high school baseball team as Chicago White Sox second baseman Brett Lawrie . Then again , Darvill was a terrific athlete growing up .
“ I played baseball , basketball , football and a little bit of soccer growing up ,” he said . “ I played hockey with my buddies , but never played organized hockey . My buddy down the street would freeze over his tennis courts in the winter . I played basketball until Grade 10 and I then just played baseball .”
And did he ever play . One of the best high school and junior players in the country , he caught the eye of Canada ’ s national team program early in his career .
“ I played for the Langley Blaze ( of the highly-regarded British Columbia Premier Baseball League ), an awesome organization with great coaching ,” said Darvill . “ Then I played for Greg Hamilton on the junior national team with a lot of great coaches and great players there . I got lots of exposure there and it was fun playing . It was like a pro atmosphere there . I was drafted by the Cubs right of high school ( fifth round in 2009 ).”
This season , Forney signed four Canadians – Darvill , catcher Justin Marra from Toronto and pitchers Dylan Reault from Sudbury and Eric Sim from Abbotsford , B . C . All four looked solid at Saturday ’ s training camp opener .
Although Marra played independent baseball in Ottawa last season , the other three are Inday Ball rookies . Darvill is excited to play on a team that is playing to win , not teaching
young players how to play the game . “ I ’ ve never had an independent baseball experience before ,” he said . “ This is my first time and I ’ m looking forward to it . I ’ m excited about playing on a team of professionals who go out to win every game .”
He ’ s also excited about playing in Winnipeg , a city he ’ s experiencing for the first time .
“ I ’ ve never been to Winnipeg before ,” Darvill said with a laugh . “ It was a great drive coming here from Langley . Came down through the Rocky Mountains to Calgary then across Saskatchewan with all the big tractors . It was quite an experience . I actually liked it a lot . It was a cool drive .
“ Winnipeg is a great place to be and we have a great group of guys here I ’ ve met most of them and I think it ’ s going to be a really fun year .” •
Photography by Jeff and Tara Miller 204-430-5522 www . SportsLife . life
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