NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks pitcher Garrett Nicholson walks off the mound greeted by his teammates during his start in the Mavericks 12-5 loss to the Edmonton Prospects on June 12.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Wherever Garrett Nicholson plays, the colour red follows.
The 23-year-old is a returning Medicine Hat Maverick from Minot State University in North Dakota, which also wears the colour red. He said he’s wore the same colour for the last four years and also donned it in little league back in Sydney Mines, N.S.
“I think it’s just kind of meant to be,” Nicholson said.
The left-handed pitcher is one of five seniors on the Mavericks pitching staff and one of only three returning players from 2019. He said it was a comfortable experience coming back to the Mavericks knowing a couple of his teammates, and the biggest difference between his first stint and now is confidence.
“Coming back as one of the older guys and one of the more experienced guys on the team, I think my confidence this year compared to 2019 is much more improved,” Nichols said. “And it’s been shown a little bit.”
Nicholson has been utilized in a starter role and has also relieved during his scheduled bullpen outing days.
Mavericks head coach Tyler Jeske said he’s been impressed with how the pitcher has carried himself and sees him in a late game role to use his confidence and experience to get outs.
“We’ve got guys who can start a ball game but we don’t have a lot of guys who are mature enough mentally and have the experience on the mound to come into a ball game in the seventh inning with the bases loaded, one out and feel confident,” Jeske said. “We feel confident that like his heads in the right spot, he can go right at the hitter fearlessly and attack them.”
Confidence hasn’t always been Nicholson’s strong suit. When he committed to play division one baseball at Central Michigan University he said he defeated himself immediately by thinking he didn’t belong because he was one of the younger guys. He said it was when he realized the game was the same no matter where he played or how old he was that the confidence came back.
“You’re still throwing 60 feet six inches, everything’s still the same, just being able to mature that way,” Nicholson said. “Just understanding it isn’t the end of the world if you have a bad outing. So what? You’re going to pitch again next week. Just have fun and I want to be in the big moments now and thriving a lot in those big situations.”
The 6-foot-4 pitcher says he was always a fan of MLB pitchers Jon Lester and Clayton Kershaw but has drawn comparisons from his Mavs teammates to Madison Bumgarner; who became famous for coming out of the bullpen as a starting pitcher to help the San Fransisco Giants win the 2014 World Series. He says it’s the first time he’s ever heard the comparison and is proud of it.
“It’s kind of cool and when I really think about it, I’ve always been listed as a bigger guy with longer limbs and have always been kind of a longer, more rotational (pitcher),” Nicholson said. “I think that’s what has made me more effective on the mound because the ball kind of gets on hitters a little differently.”
The Nova Scotia product likes being outdoors in his time away from baseball with golf, working out and fishing his main past times. His favourite fishing story doesn’t involve catching anything, because they didn’t that day.
“My two roommates and I, we found this one pretty cool lake and it was calm, it was beautiful. And we’re like, let’s rent some kayaks because the fitness centre on campus, you can rent them. So we did and we went back out the next day, and it was rough. It was whitecaps and everything but we’re like, ‘Screw it. We’re going anyway.’ We get out there soaked head to toe just crashing through all the waves but it was a fun experience.”
The Mavericks and Nicholson next action is Wednesday night against the Okotoks Dawgs at Athletic Park for a 7:05 p.m. contest.
