Welland Jackfish a hit playing in Germany
A Welland Jackfish had a whale of a summer playing baseball in Germany.
While COVID-19 wiped out the regular season for the Jackfish and the other seven teams in the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) on this side of the pond, the 23-year-old first baseman was able to compete in the German’s elite league.
To say Dadson, the IBL’s 2019 rookie of the year, made the most of the opportunity would be a grand slam of an understatement. He was selected as Baseball Bundesliga’s north division batter of the year after enjoying the most productive season of his baseball career.
Dadson slammed five home runs, drove in 20 runs while compiling a .581 batting average, .677 on-base percentage in 43 plate appearances in 10 games for the Cologne Cardinals.
His slugging percentage was a remarkable 1.29.
The native of Bowmanville, Ont., who scored 17 runs, also hit seven singles, five doubles and one triple during his summer in Germany.
Dadson, a graduate of Durham College in Oshawa, is glad he decided to go overseas rather than take a year off after the IBL was cancelled.
“Personally, on the baseball field, I had my best season ever. I was looking to add to my powers,” he said in an interview after returning home to Canada. “That was a lot of hard work having a summer off-season, which was kind of strange.”
The baseball busman’s holiday in Germany was Dadson’s second playing overseas in less than a year. Last winter he played a season of 32 games in Perth, Australia.
Before leaving for Germany, Dadson worked with younger players at a summer camp hosted by the Jackfish.
He also helped out coaching youth with the Cardinals organization.
“I try to tell kids that I was just a kid who played on the local rep team and I went to a local Canadian college and I just kept my head down and worked and worked and worked,” he said.
“I was that squeaky wheel contacting teams and now I’ve been able to travel the world and play baseball.”
Bernd Franke is a St. Catharines-based journalist and the regional sports editor for the Standard, Tribune and Review. Reach him via email: bernd.franke@niagaradailies.com