Filmon looking to take next step

Adam Filmon, a Winnipeger spending this summer playing for the London Majors, is hoping to help the team rack up wins – and further his pro ambitions.

Manitoba native Adam Filmon is one of the new Majors players this year looking to have an impact — with both his bat and glove — as Intercounty baseball returns in 2021. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

Adam Filmon isn’t too worried about shaking off the rust as he returns to real baseball games this month. A newcomer to the London Majors, the 23-year-old Winnipeg, MB native spent his time wisely in May and June.

“I’ve got a couple of brothers and a dad with a rubber arm,” Filmon said. “I went to the diamond by my house pretty much every day to stay in baseball shape and train.”

He took batting practice, he shagged fly balls, and he maintained his fitness levels. And he prepared mentally for the challenge that lay ahead: a trip to a new city, with new teammates, in a new league, and with aspirations of parlaying that experience into a professional opportunity abroad.

Why London? Filmon, who played collegiate ball at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC, had a teammate who’d played in the Intercounty, so he knew it was a strong league with plenty of talent. He reached out to a number of teams.

“I chose the Majors because they seemed to be the most professionally run team,” said Filmon, who arrived in London in late June. “They have the best ballpark in the league, and the best fans, and I also felt like my playing style matches up really well with Roop’s coaching philosophy.”

That’s Roop Chanderdat, the Majors’ GM and field manager. Now in his 15th season at the helm, Chanderdat is known for providing opportunities for young players to put up good numbers and advance their careers – whether it be in independent ball, overseas, or even in the affiliated minor leagues (Filmon has an interest in playing pro ball in Australia).

In recruiting Filmon, Chanderdat watched video and relied on his existing knowledge of the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC), the seven-team league that Thompson Rivers University plays in. Scouting, after all, is not an exact science.

“There’s great baseball out west,” Chanderdat said. “If you bat three or four in a lineup out there, I think you can have an impact in our league. Adam is good young ballplayer, and he’ll have an opportunity to produce here.”

Filmon led the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack with a .352 batting average in 2019 (his final official season due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

He certainly had an impact in the CCBC.

In three seasons with the WolfPack (before the pandemic wiped out both his fourth and fifth years), Filmon hit a combined .340 in 239 at-bats over 70 regular season games. In his third – and final – season in the spring of 2019, the outfielder hit a team-best .352 with 17 RBIs and 22 runs scored in 27 games to help lead Thompson Rivers to a regular season title with a 21-7 record. Though he didn’t know it at the time, a Game 3 playoff contest against the University of Fraser Valley (UFV) would be Filmon’s last official CCBC game. He drove in two runs on a single, scored once, and stole a base.

Filmon and the WolfPack represented British Columbia at the National College Baseball Championship in Toronto in the fall of 2019 (and earned a silver medal), and they continued to train throughout 2020 and 2021 – including some exhibition games – when restrictions made it possible. But neither year allowed for a regular season to be held. Filmon’s last game action came in the fall of 2020 in an exhibition contest against UFV.

In other words, he’s itching to get back to real baseball – now, as a member of the London Majors.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said the 23-year-old, who can play all three outfield spots. “I’m looking forward to it. The team’s been great. Everyone’s pretty chatty, so it hasn’t taken long to feel comfortable in the clubhouse and on the field.”

Filmon cited long-time Major Cleveland Brownlee, as well as pitcher Owen Boon and infielder Keith Kandel, as players who have made the transition to a new team easy for the youngster. The Manitoba native has been to the GTA a couple of times, but he’d never visited London before he touched down in June. He’ll be subletting the apartment of a cousin who attends Western University.

A business grad, Filmon will be spending his time away from the diamond completing a marketing internship (virtually) for the Winnipeg-based Value Partners Investment, where his dad works.

It’s a change from the summer job he had (for four years) as a university student, where he served on the ‘Graffiti Task Force’ for the City in Kamloops.

“We met some interesting people while doing that job,” Filmon said, with a laugh. “Some of the language of the graffiti I can’t repeat.”

The focus this summer, though, will be on the baseball field – including at the historic Labatt Park.

“It’s a beautiful ballpark,” Filmon said, “and they’ve got it pristine.”

It’ll be a demanding summer for all Intercounty Baseball League players this year, as the condensed season will mean more games in a shorter period of time. But Filmon is used to the grind. In fact, in the CCBC he regularly played nine-inning doubleheaders on both Saturdays and Sundays (Ontario University Athletics, as a comparison, plays seven-inning doubleheaders).

“Only playing one game a day on the weekends will be a big difference,” Filmon said. “It will help me stay fresh mentally and physically.”

Filmon, 23, says it hasn’t taken long to feel at home with his new teammates — in a new city and a new league. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

With five outfielders for three spots, there are no guarantees for playing time. Chanderdat will roll with the bats that are hot – especially in a shortened season. But Filmon is bringing the right attitude to the table.

“I’m just looking to work hard every day and improve,” he said. “The rest will take care of itself.”

A self-described gap-to-gap hitter, he’s also confident in his abilities – both at the plate and in the field.

“I put a lot of balls in play and don’t strike out often,” said Filmon, who walked more than he struck out in college. “On the defensive side, I’m very steady and try to catch everything I can get to. I think I bring consistency and a high compete level to a team.”

And about the grind of a shortened summer season?

“I try not to get too high or low,” he said. “I bring the same approach and energy to the field every day.”

That will serve the Majors well in 2021, as they return to playing real baseball games after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the entire 2020 season.

And though he has ambitions of moving on and playing professionally overseas in the future, Filmon’s focus right now is on doing his part to help the London Majors win ballgames this summer and make a run at an IBL championship (the team hasn’t won it all in 45 years). Filmon wants to help.

“I want to be a good teammate, compete hard, and help the team win any way I can.”

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CIRCLING THE BASES

The Majors announced the signing of four more players for the 2021 season in recent days, including pitchers Jacob Startek and Bo Buckley, outfielder Austin Wilkie, and utilityman Arturo Guzman … The Majors announced on Tuesday that tickets to their Home Opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs (Friday, July 9, 7:35pm) had sold out … Fans unable to attend in-person on Opening Night can catch the game via a livestream broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAxe1X9b6Hk&list=PLmP4KuMUc5AgaFtseg6dJsktpMREco60p (all Majors home games will be live-streamed this season) … Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the maximum number of fans allowed at any game this year (at least during the current stage of the province’s reopening) is 1,100 … Following Opening Night at Labatt Park and a Saturday road contest against the Welland Jackfish, the Majors will return home Sunday to play the six-time defending IBL champion Barrie Baycats on Sunday, July 11 at 7:35pm … Of the Majors’ 15 home games during the 2021 regular season, nine of them will be on Friday nights with opening pitch scheduled for 7:35pm.