Verge: From the soccer pitch to pitcher, Gillespie ready to begin pro career with Yankees

Ontario Nationals and Charlotte 49ers alum Blake Gillespie (Arva, Ont.) has signed with the New York Yankees after being selected in the ninth round by them in the 2025 MLB draft. Photo: Charlotte Athletics

July 23, 2035

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

The MLB draft wasn’t even on a 13-year-old Blake Gillespie’s radar.

Why would it be?

Baseball wasn’t part of his repertoire.

The young teen was busy dribbling a soccer ball around cones at the field, not coming set on the mound about to throw a zinger to the catcher.

But it was, unbeknownst to Gillespie, part of his future. The now 21-year-old, who didn’t pick up baseball until he was 14, was drafted in the ninth round by the New York Yankees on July 14.

Even though he was anticipating it, it still felt surreal to the pitcher, who was with his parents, two brothers and sister when he heard his name called.

“It’s a moment you dream of when you start playing baseball,” Gillespie said, a dual citizen who was born in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Gillespie attended Medway High School in Arva, Ont. He then moved on to play for the Ontario Nationals, before suiting up for the Georgia Bulldogs for two seasons, and then the University of North Carolina Charlotte ‘49ers. The 6-foot-2 right hander struck out 12 batters in 19 innings with the Bulldogs.

A young Blake Gillespie showing off a soccer trophy. Photo supplied.

Although he was no longer playing soccer, the skills he learned on that field helped him excel on the baseball diamond.

The endurance, athleticism and competitiveness carried over to baseball.

“The transition to baseball, it was pretty smooth because I was athletic,” he said.

He wasn’t always a pitcher, though. When he picked up the sport at 14, his dad, Shawn Gillespie, who played D1 and independent ball as well as coached , and had seen many injuries in young players, took care to make sure his arm was protected before he was fully developed. That meant moving around to different positions, particularly shortstop. It wasn’t until he was 16 or 17-years-old that he started throwing more off the mound, and in college where it became full time.

It was a position he was a natural in, said his dad, who works as the program director at Canes Baseball, a premier travel ball organization.

“I had never seen many guys that could hop on the mound and start throwing off speeds for strikes, he was good with the command and the feel of pitching right away,” he said.

It was in 2019 during COVID where everything was shut down that he really was able to flourish. In September 2019, he was hitting 78 mph with his fastball, and by 2020, it was up to 90 mph. The game changer was him being able to focus solely on the training aspect, his dad said, which allowed him to really excel and add that velocity to his pitches.

It’s brought him to where he is today, in his next chapter with the sport, with the New York Yankees organization.

He’s very much focused on continuing to be the best baseball player he can be.

“[I’m going to] try to get one percent better every day,” he Gillespie.

“Hopefully that progresses into bigger goals, like making the Majors.”