Bloxham’s Baseball Heavy Hitter

We sat down for a chat with baseball star Aiden to learn more about his successes and his plans for the future. Did you know that baseball and Bloxham have an interesting and surprisingly long-standing connection? Click here to learn more.

How long have you been playing baseball and what do you love about it?

I started playing baseball when I had just turned 7, so I have been playing now for 7 years. I started playing competitively with a travel team when I was 10, and I love the adrenaline I get from playing, especially when I pitch. I like how even though it is a team sport, most players have specific roles within the team. Baseball requires a strong mindset and the ability to anticipate where the ball will go.

Tell me about your recent successes.

Since moving back to England in 2021, I have played for two different baseball teams in London: London Youth Baseball League (LYBL), and the London Archers, which is a competitive baseball team. I compete in baseball tournaments all over Europe with the London Archers. In 2023, I played in an U14 PONY League tournament in Prague, in which we placed third overall. In June, I played in an U13 tournament in London, and we placed second overall losing to the other half of the London Archers team. In September, I played on the U14 Archers team as we competed against other London-based teams and the Archers were the top team in the tournament. In October, I travelled to Barcelona to play in the U14 Perfect Game tournament in which we placed second overall, losing to a European All-Star team who had the best players from three different countries. I have had the opportunity to pitch in every one of these tournaments and helped get my team to play in the finals in all but one tournament. I had a personal best of hitting two home runs during the tournament in June.

What is your next goal in the sport?

My next goal is to increase my pitching velocity, which I improved in 2023 from a pitch speed of 61-67mph. I would like to aim for the 70s.

How does Bloxham support you in your baseball commitments?

Bloxham has been very supportive of my baseball commitments by allowing me to take time off school to compete. Baseball for me is year-round and when I am not playing games in the fall and spring, I have winter training and conditioning.

Who are your sporting heroes?

My sporting hero is Max Scherzer who is a pitcher for the Texas Rangers, but who used to play for the Washington Nationals. I have seen him play six times in person in Washington D.C. during the 2019 season when the Washington Nationals won the world series.

How do you manage your nerves?

I think it helps that I have a laid-back personality and I don’t often show big emotions. During the Prague tournament, the Dutch team were absolutely screaming while I was pitching, but I focused on what I was doing and blocked out everything except my catcher and the more strikes I threw, the quicker they got. To block out the opposition you have to be very good at not being distracted by anyone or anything, and you have to focus on the task at hand.

What is your best moment from your baseball career so far?

My best moment was playing at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona on the actual field where professional baseball was played when they hosted the summer Olympics in 1992. In that tournament I pitched nearly an entire game, all but one out before I hit my pitch count limit of 100 and had to be pulled. In the semi-finals for that tournament, I went two for two in batting and scored two of my team’s five runs and helped us come back when we were down. We eventually won 5-3 and advanced to the final championships game.

We wish Aiden the very best of luck with his upcoming competitions.

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