When it came time for my son to move on to college, with hopes of combining baseball and education, I soon learned that getting a Canadian into the American education system was a long, involved processed. We were so out of the loop as far as knowing what steps to take to get to where we wanted to be. After hours of research, hundreds of telephone calls and numerous emails, I was successful in achieving our goal.

I have developed College Baseball Connect to ease the way for ball players who aspire to combine the wonderful game of baseball with the road to a higher education.

Highlights include:

Don Charrette received honourable mention in Bob Elliott’s CBN annual list of the top 100 most influential Canadians in Baseball

General Manager of the Ottawa Rapids, an Independent Professional Baseball Team playing in the Can-Am League.

Ottawa Lynx Baseball Club, Triple ‘A’ affiliate of the Montreal Expos and the Baltimore Orioles

A lifelong passion for the game of baseball

Bio coming soon

Professional Baseball Instructor for Home Run Baseball Academy and Head Coach of the Ontario Prospects

1990 Ontario National Team - Gold medalists at the Canadian championships
1990 Signed professional contract with the Toronto Blue Jays September 23rd
1991 Rookie Ball, Port Charlotte Blue Jays, Gulf Coast League
1992 A Ball Myrtle Beach Hurricanes, 1992 South Atlantic League Champs.
1993 A Ball Dunedin Blue Jays, AA Knoville Smokies
1994 1995 AAA Syracuse Chiefs, AA Knoxville Smokies
1996 Australian League MVP Sydney Blues
1997 AAA Syracuse Sky Chiefs, MLB Toronto Blue Jays
1998 Drafted 5th in Expansion Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
1998 MLB Tampa Bay Devil Rays, AAA Durham Bulls
1999 AAA Durham Bulls, MLB Tampa Bay Devil Rays
2000 Signed with the Seattle Mariners
2000 AAA Tacoma Rainiers
2000 Signed with the Texas Rangers
2000 AAA Oklahoma (Texas affiliate)
2001 Canadian National Team World Cup Taiwan
2001 Toronto Maple Leafs Intercounty
2002 Intercounty League Champs with the Toronto Maple Leafs
2003 Niagara Stars of the Canadian Baseball League. Hit first home run in Niagara history
2003 Canadian National Team World Cup Cuba
2009 Hitting & Outfielding Coach for the Canadian Youth Baseball Team
2009 Became a Professional Evaluator for College Baseball Connect

1993 Florida State League All Star, Voted most exciting player of year by Baseball America
1997 Hit the first home run in PC stadium history off Brian Bohanon, Syracuse, April 3rd, 1997
1997 First Major League hit was off Ken Hill, Sept 9th, 1997
1997 1st player in 80 years to lead a pro team in every single hitting category.
1997 Third player in Syracuse Sky Chiefs history to hit 24 home runs and steal 20 bases.
1998 Hit first MLB home run off Scott Eyre, April 1st, 1998
1998 Hit 2nd home run in Tampa Bay Devil Rays history
2005 Toronto Maple Leafs Intercounty. MVP with 2nd highest average in league history (.481)

Professional Baseball Instructor for Home Run Baseball Academy and Head Coach of the Ontario Prospects

Career Highlights:
1988 National Youth Team, Australia
1988 Seoul Olympian
1990 Signed with the Toronto Blue Jays
1991 A New York Penn League MVP batting .338
1992 A Florida State League Batting Title and lead all of professional baseball batting .360
1993 AAA Syracuse Chiefs, .333 batting average
1993 MLB Toronto Blue Jay World Series Champion - first Canadian to play in World Series
1994 MLB Toronto Blue Jay
1995 - 1997 MLB Philadelphia Phillies, AAA Scranton Red Barons
1998 AAA New Orleans, Houston Astros
1998 AAA Pacific Coast League and AAA World Series Champion
1999 MLB Toronto Blue Jay
2001 Toronto Maple Leafs, Intercounty League - highest batting average in history batting .488
2003 Team Canada, World Cup
2009 Hitting & Outfielding Coach for the Canadian Youth Baseball Team
2009 Became a Professional Evaluator for College Baseball Connect

1991 Hit safely in 63 of 71 games and was league player of the month twice.
1992 Had 140 hits in 90 games, 4 time FSL player of the month and had a 38 game hit streak .

Only Canadian player ever to play with the National Youth Team and Olympic team in same year.
Only Canadian player to appear in the World Series, the Olympics and AAA World Series.

Minor league stats: 586 games, 2182 AB, 346 R, 671 H, 105 2B, 34 3B, 23 HR, 254 RBI, 75 SB .308

Major league stats: 109 games, 218AB, 32R, 53 H,13 2B, 21 R, .242 AVE

Education:
Shorter College '08
Bachelor of Business Administration

Playing Experience:
Member of Ottawa White Sox - Ottawa, Ontario ('02-'03)
Member of Bytown Colonels - Ottawa, Ontario ('04)
Member of Shorter College Hawks - Rome, Georgia ('04-'08)
SSAC All Freshman Team as a member of the Shorter College Hawks ('04)
Signed Ottawa Rapids:
Independent Professional Baseball Team playing in the Can-Am League ('08)
Signed Quebec City Capitales:
Independent Professional Baseball Team playing in the Can-Am League ('09)

University: University of Prince Edward Island
Bachelor of Art - History (1998)
Bachelor of Education - (2000)
Currently teach Grade 5/6 at Morell Consolidated School, PEI

Playing Experience:
PEI Provincial Youth Select ('93-'95)
PEI Provincial Canada Games ('93-'97)
Baseball PEI Junior Athlete of the Year ('94)
3 time all-star in New Brunswick Senior Baseball League ('98-'00)
Player/coach with Morell Chevies, PEI Intermediate Baseball League ('01-present)

Coaching Experience:
Player/coach of PEI entries in New Brunswick Senior Baseball League('99, '00)
Head coach of Stratford Bantam AAA ('05, Provincial champions, '06)
Ass't coach with Youth Select Program (2006-07)
Ass't coach with Canada Games Program (2007-present)
Current Technical Director of Baseball PEI.

Coach Corey Eckstein began his coaching career at the age of 19 after having career ending arm surgery. Since then, he has now coached in the BC Premier Baseball League for the past 6 years and has assisted with Baseball BC Select Programs and alongside Baseball Canada.

Corey's playing career began in the BCPBL with the Abbotsford Cardinals in 2001 and played through the 2003 season. In 2003, Corey was named to the Canadian Junior National Team as a pitcher and competed at the Pan-Am Games in Venezuela. He was also a member of the 2002 BC Select team that claimed gold at the Canada Cup. He has attended four National Championships over his short career, claiming gold three times. He attended Vernon College in Texas before having career ending arm surgery.

Corey now operates his own instructional school and has just recently opened up a new high school baseball academy at Yale Secondary in Abbotsford, BC. Prior to his new buisness, he was an instructor at Powerzone Academy in Abbotsford for four years giving private instruction to up and coming players.

He was a guest coach in Oliver for the U17 Select Team in 2007, and assisted Coach Cav Whitely with the U16 Selects at the Western Canada Games and Pacific Northwest Championships. Corey was an invited guest coach of Baseball Canada at the Mizuno Elite Camp held at Toronto's Roger Center in 2008 and this year will be an assistant coach with the U19 Ball Club at the Canada Games in P.E.I. In the spring of 2009, Eckstein was a guest coach with the Canadian Junior National team at their extended Spring Training Camp in April of 09 and the fall of 09 as well. He currently holds Level 3 Coaching Certification through NCCP and helps instruct at the Big League Experience Camps under Marty Lehn each year. He was also elected into the Abbotsfords Sports wall of fame in 2005 and is in charge of Coaching Development for Abbotsford Minor Baseball.

Corey is motivated by the success of each individual player and plans to promote and develop the game of baseball in the BC area for players looking to further there game at the college level.

Mike Irving has always had a passion for baseball. He played NCAA Division I baseball for Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ. and for the last 10 years has been operating Batter Up Baseball School in the Greater Toronto Area.

Mike is currently a scout for MLB's "Inside-Edge" and is pleased to be a new member of the College Baseball Connect Evaluator's Team. He looks forward to assisting as many ball player's as he can in reaching their dream of playing at the college level and beyond.

Professional Baseball Instructor and Coach of the Ontario Prospects

Career Highlights:

2001 Team Ontario
2001 Team Canada Junior National Team
2001 Santa Fe Community College, Gainesville
2001 Drafted 34th round by New York Yankees
2002 Team Ontario
2002 Signed with New York Yankees
2002 Rookie Ball, Gulf Coast League Tampa Bay Yankees
2003 A Ball - Tampa Yankees, Florida State League
2004 A Ball - Battle Creek Yankees, Midwest League
2004 Traded to Arizona Diamondbacks
2004 A Ball - Yakima Bears, Northwest League All Star Game
2005 A Ball - Yakima Bears, Northwest League
2005 1st Ever Community Service Award with Yakima Bears
2006 Edmonton Cracker Cats, Northern League
2007 Golden Grove Dodgers - Gold Coast, Australia
2007 Edmonton Cracker Cats, Northern League
2009 Became a scout for Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau
2009 Became a professional evaluator for College Baseball Connect

Jim and his family moved to Calgary from Vancouver B.C. in 1999 to begin his instructional baseball career in a central location that has a tremendous amount of untapped talent.

Jim’s adult playing career started in 1985 where his Richmond Auto body Jr. Team played their way from Provincial and Western Canadian Champions to bronze medalists at the Nationals. From there his career continued to exceed his expectations by playing for Team Canada (1986) the National Baseball Institute (1986-87) and B.C.’s Junior Men’s All-Star Team (1987).

In 1988 Jim took his career to a new level heading to a NAIA ranked school; Huntington College in Indiana. There he was an integral part of his team, taking the Area Championship title only to lose in Regional Finals.

The Major League Draft occurred shortly after his school’s successful year, where Jim’s dreams were about to come true. He was drafted as a right handed pitcher in the 10th round by the Oakland A’s. Jim’s professional career lasted 3 years which included joining the “AA” Huntsville Stars, Southern League.

Shortly thereafter in 1990 Jim returned to British Columbia and continued to play and coach. He coached and played for the Richmond Senior Men’s team where he led them to back to back provincial titles (1997/98). Since moving to Calgary he has kept his playing career active but began his new focus of coaching and instructing young players. Jim is the founder of the Calgary Redbirds Senior Men’s Team. The Redbirds are a team made up of ex professional, national team and college players. This team gives players a chance to play at a very high level while still maintaining a job or college career. They have represented Alberta at two recent National championships (2004/2007). Jim still actively plays with the Redbirds.

One of Jim’s highlights as an Amateur player came in 2002. The St. Albert Tigers earned its berth into the 2002 Baseball Canada Senior Championships and Jim was the first person they called to join their quest for the National title. Jim pitched in 3 games going 2 wins, 0 losses, and 1 save, and was named All-Star Right Handed Pitcher and Most Valuable Pitcher of the tournament. Jim’s outstanding showing at the Nationals proved to be invaluable helping the team bring home the 2002 National Championship Title.

Since the 2002 National Championships Jim has been focusing his time and efforts on developing Pro Baseball Force INC. and in addition to PBF Jim became the head baseball coach at the National Sport Academy in 2006. This program is based out of Central Memorial High School in Calgary and offers players with a passion for the game to improve their skill level so that hopefully after high school they can reach their goal of playing baseball at the college/university level.

The PBF travel team is something Jim is very proud of and he hopes all players who participate on the team will look back and say that PBF had in some way helped develop them into the ballplayer they are.