Griffin Anderson heading to Lake Region College
Earlier this month Lake Region Secondary College in Devils Lake, North Dakota announced that they signed on 17 year old Griffin Anderson of Glenboro to the Royals baseball team as catcher. While at Lake Region College, “Griff” as his friends call him, will be studying the Fitness Trainer Technician course. Griffin is the son of Cory and Robin Anderson of Glenboro and will be attending LRSC on a scholarship.
Griffin has been a valuable player to whatever team sport he is a member and he is on quite a few. He’s a key player for the Wildcats Hockey team holding the position of centre. He may have only been introduced to curling a few years ago but he along with Michael Wytinck, Austin Dubyts and Tyson Naismith (Bryden Cornock as the 5th) have swept their way through many ends to the Zone final. Although he enjoys and has an appreciation for each sport; it’s easy to see that Baseball has his heart.
During the interview he and his mom, Robin, joked about how many hours in the evenings and on weekends spent in the backyard or at the school Griffin Anderson heading to Lake Region College grounds, playing catch and hitting some balls. You could safely assume that baseball is in Griffin’s DNA as his dad also played baseball at the college level.
It wasn’t surprising to hear Griffin say that his dad, Cory has been his biggest mentor. Cory has also coached the Canucks AAA team of which Griff is behind the plate. But there are others who he feels are pivotal to his growth in skills. “High School Coach Bryce Watson and assistant coaches Warren Birch of Carberry and Drew Haight of Cartwright have all spent a lot of time working on skills with me.”
When asked to comment on Griff’s impact on the ball diamond, coach Bryce Watson said, “He’s a quiet leader, for the most part he lets his play do the talking. As a catcher he has worked over the years to become very reliable at such an important position. He has earned the trust of his pitchers due to his ability to frame close pitches or block the balls in the dirt. Those are small aspects that a casual spectator might not notice, but to a pitcher they are everything!” Bryce also elaborated on how Griff’s arm behind the plate has greatly improved over the past two years and has become a lethal weapon to shut down the running game of the opposing team. “At the plate, Griff is a contact-first hitter who gets on base a lot. He knows the strike zone and will work a walk, but if the pitcher makes a mistake Griff will square one up.” Bryce also added he is confident that Griffin will be a team leader next season and is excited that he will continue his baseball career at college level next year.
Griff is lookin g forward to the Canuck’s upcoming season with great anticipation having had great success in the past winning the league championship most years and the zones last season. He has enjoyed playing with the Baldur Regals where his Panther coach is now just another team mate. Griff also gets a lot of experience behind the plate as he is often requested to join other teams as well.
Leaving home for college is exciting to this talented catcher but he is comfortable with the move; “We’ve visited the campus and it kind of reminds me of Glenboro, it is small and personable. I felt really comfortable and I know a few students as well.” Aside from playing baseball, Griff reported that he has also sent in a request to join the local recreational hockey team as well.”
