Topping the batting order in first impressions
Owen Diodati earns freshman all-american honours after rookie season at Alabama
“It’s really hot down here. You don’t really know heat until you have a summer in Alabama.”
OWEN DIODATI
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA OUTFIELDER
Owen Diodati didn’t just roll with the Crimson Tide in his first year playing baseball at the University of Alabama.
At times, the 18-year-old A.N. Myer Secondary School graduate also led the Tide at the plate. His 22 runs batted in led all freshmen in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) while tying all rookies in the league in home runs, with five, and walks, 13, during a season shortened by COVID-19 restrictions.
Diodati’s accomplishment in the first year of a full-ride athletic scholarship to the Division 1 school did not go unnoticed outside the conference. Along with left-handed pitchers Antoine Jean, 3-0, 3.18 earned-run average; and Connor Prielipp, 3-0, 0.00 ERA; the catcherturned-outfielder was one of three Alabama players selected as freshmen all-americans by Collegiate Baseball News.
“It was definitely a bit of a surprise and an unbelievable honour. It’s something I can be very proud of,” the son of Ryan and Jody Diodati of Niagara Falls said in a telephone interview from Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“I had a pretty good start, and I was lucky enough to play as a freshman and be able to contribute to the team a little bit,”
He ranked his individual accomplishments behind that of the team.
“Our team was off to an amazing start. I think we were 16 or 17 and one before the season got cut short,” Diodati said. “But I was even more excited about how the team did this year.
“It’s a positive sign moving forward for my next few years here.”
The biggest adjustment he’s had to make in the SEC is at the plate.
“I think the biggest change I saw down here is the quality of breaking balls and off-speed pitches. In high school and through the whole showcase process,” he said. “As a hitter, hitting breaking balls and changeups more often, there is definitely a different approach when you’re at the plate.”
Thanks to playing for Team Canada at the under-18 World Cup in 2019 and the junior national team before that, Diodati had more experience under his belt than most Canadian players when he began his post-secondary career in the Deep South.
“The last couple of years I was lucky enough to play with the national team, so I got to play baseball more year-round than a lot of kids,” he said. “I got a bit of a longer season, which really helped.”
At any rate, Diodati wasn’t overly worried about being a step behind Crimson Tide teammates from areas where baseball can be played yearround.
“That’s never really been a big concern for me,” he said. “Obviously, growing up in Niagara Falls we get cold weather half the year, but it’s just about finding ways in the off-season to get stuff down indoors.”
Diodati’s definition of heat and humidity changed after he moved to the down south.
“It’s really hot down here,” he said with a chuckle. “You don’t really know heat until you have a summer in Alabama. It’s definitely a different type of heat. With the humidity, you’re outside for 10 minutes and you’re drenched in sweat.
“I don’t mind the heat too much. I just have to make sure to drink a whole lot more water than I used to, but I definitely would rather be playing in 90 degrees than 20 degrees.”
Diodati hasn’t seen a “big difference” in how hot, humid air affects the flight of a baseball.
“I think it travels just as far but it’s hard to say, too, because the players I’m around are bigger and stronger,” he said. “Maybe it doesn’t travel as far. Guys might be a little bit stronger, so it kind of cancels itself out.”
Diodati had been a catcher since age four but grew out of the position. He now stands 6foot-2, tipping the scales at 220 pounds.
“I caught my whole life from the time I played with the Falcons in the GNBA (Greater Niagara Baseball Association). It was a place I got really comfortable in,” he said. “Sometimes, there are things that I can’t really control that made it hard to be a catcher.”
He made the transition to the outfield with the help of coaches.
“It was definitely a learning experience trying to get to know the ins and outs of the position,” Diodati said. “Anyone who tells you that the outfield is easy has never played in the outfield.
“There’s a lot more to it than you might think.
“I’m working hard to improve my defence so I can help the team on both sides of the baseball, rather than just at the plate.”
He accepted a scholarship offer to major in accounting and finance at the university rather than sign with the Toronto Blue Jays, who drafted him in the 29th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft. He said while balancing social life, baseball and academics presents challenges, he never felt alone in overcoming them.
“The university gives us all the resources we need. Between our academic advisers and coaches, everyone is really supportive of us doing well in school, as well as baseball,” he said. “Everyone at the university kind of preaches that there’s life after your sport.
“They give us all the resources to succeed outside of baseball.”
Again, thanks to his time travelling with Team Canada, Diodati didn’t have too much trouble with homesickness in his first year living away from home full-time.
“I kind of got some training with homesickness in high school, playing around the country and around the U.S. I had a lot of time away from home,” he said. “Obviously, there were some times when I missed home, but it always helped having my parents come out to visit once in a while.”
With borders remaining closed, that “once in a while” has become quite a while for Owen Diodati. His last visit home was Christmas.
“I’m not really sure when exactly I’ll get to go home. I just thought I would be better off staying down here,” he said. “Just because the borders are closed, I didn’t know if I would have any trouble getting back into the U.S. to start school in the fall.”
He hoped to spend the offseason playing in a summer league in Cape Cod, but those plans have changed because of the COVID crisis. Instead, he will play in a league in Mississippi that will run a six-week season until late July.
“Hopefully, by then things kind of die down and I can come home for a couple of weeks before school starts back up again toward the end of August,” he said. “But I’m really excited to get back on the field and start playing a little bit of baseball.”
Diodati knows from calls home that he is missed by his family in Niagara Falls. The feeling is more than mutual.
“I know they miss me as well, but I don’t even think they realize how much I miss them sometimes,” he said, “It’s been about six or seven months since I’ve been home. It’s been quite a while, but I stay in touch with everyone back home.
“Calls with my grandparents, calls with my parents, talking with my siblings (Adrian and Alexis), it all helps.”