Rémi Lemay is on the fast track to making his dreams come true as a baseball player.
Currently in Grade 10, he has already made the Academy Baseball of Canada team that trains in Montreal at Centre Claude Robillard.
A right-handed pitcher and corner infielder who can hit, Lemay joined the first year of Chêne-Bleu’s Sports Studies program, in Pincourt, which constitutes a half-day of both school and sports.
Quickly accelerating in baseball, Lemay developed skills well beyond his age category.
“He’s got a very heavy bat, he has power and he hits the ball it explodes,” said Milton Lopez the head coach of Chêne-Bleu-Baseball reflecting on his skills. “This is something you can’t teach a kid. He just needs to be consistent.”
In September of 2020, Prep Baseball Report Canada held an event for scouts to recruit future players, which is where Lemay was seen by the Academy Baseball of Canada.
“From there I made the team and after there everything went well,” said Lemay on his ascension in the program. “(In 2021) we went to the United States to play baseball. We went to Florida, Atlanta and North Carolina.”
There are many new specific skills to be learnt jumping from a Quebec Sports Studies program to the ABC.
“The biggest difference between the ABC and Sports Studies program is that the ABC coaches are much more technical.”
The 16-year-old is looking forward to what the future holds.
A Ste-Martine native, Lemay grew up in a culture where his studies were viewed as just as important as his sport. He strives to make sure baseball takes him to a good school where he could pursue his studies in a field such as Kinesiology or Physiotherapy.
His ultimate dream would be to make Major League Baseball, like other players coming out of the ABC such as Abraham Toro, and four-time All-Star Russell Martin. For now though, he is keeping his options open as he still has one more year left of high school.
“In Grade 11 I will train all year with the ABC,” said Lemay on his prospects. “After that, it depends if there are any offers from colleges, junior colleges or D1 universities. My goal is to go D1 and be in a school that is equally as good for studies as it is in baseball.”
Ideally, the teen has his sights set on the University of Mississippi, to follow in the footsteps of some of the great Quebec baseball players who took the Junior College or University route down south. He follows all of their games and is impressed by both their facilities and academics.
This is a list of current players from Quebec in the college or university circuit in the States –Edouard Julien (Quebec, QC ), Mathieu Gauthier (Cardiac, QC), and Martin Vincelli-Simard (Boisbriand, QC). Lemay aspires to see his name amongst these individuals one day soon.