Rixon Wingrove was just two days old at his first baseball game.
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Now the fourth-generation Phoenix Charlestown player has been signed by a major league franchise in the US.
The Garden Suburb 17-year-old put pen to paper at Kahibah Sports Club on Friday in front of family and friends as well as Philadelphia Phillies representative Howard Norsetter.
Wingrove then proudly donned his new red cap.
“Having a Phillies hat on is something I’ve been working towards for a very long time,” Wingrove told the Newcastle Herald.
“I’ve always wanted to represent an organisation, an historic organisation like the Philadephia Phillies. It’s something that I’m very proud of and hopefully I get to wear for a very long time.”
As an early teenager left-handed batter and catcher Wingrove was discovered in Australia for the Phillies by Norsetter.
He said “Major League Baseball was the end of the rainbow, but now he [Wingrove] knows it exists. This isn’t the end of something, it’s just the beginning” and plenty of “hard work” over “time” could lead to a debut down the track.
“I see the potential for an impact bat,” Norsetter said.
“He’s got a great swing, great size, great strength and he can drive the ball, now at his age, over the centre field fence. Plus he has a great approach to the plate.
“I can see someone who has offensive potential for a line-up down the track.”
Norsetter said once the contract and visa were officially approved, the 193-centimetre Wingrove would travel to America.
There he should take part in the “extended spring training program” before joining the Phillies minor-league squad at Florida’s rookie-level Gulf Coast League.
“I’m excited to get over there and get into the every day grind of minor league baseball,” Wingrove said.
“All in the hope to achieve my goal of making the major leagues and being successful at that level.”
Wingrove only returned home from the States earlier this week after being part of an “Australian Showcase Tour”. Last year he helped the Australian squad finish fifth at the Under-18 World Cup.
His rise through the representative ranks, including Newcastle and NSW Country, started with Hunter outfit Phoenix Charlestown.
Following in the footsteps of father Leighton, grandfather John and great-grandfather Jack, who helped form the club almost 90 years ago.
“It’s a proud moment for the club,” Phoenix Charlestown president Ben Terry said.
Over summer Wingrove was part of Australian Baseball League side the Sydney Blue Sox.
Also on Friday the Phillies accounted for the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-0.
Meanwhile in the Newcastle Baseball Association and Toronto have started their first-grade title defence with a 13-10 win in a grand-final replay against Belmont. Sunday marks round three of the competition with Toronto meeting Boomerangs while Phoenix Charlestown challenge White Sox. Belmont has the bye.