Sagamore Hills native begins long climb up minor-league ladder with Diamondbacks

by Sheldon Ocker

Even when his mother could make pitches that were tough for him to handle, Dominic Canzone knew he wanted to be a professional baseball player.

“When I was really little in Sagamore Hills, my friends would come over and we’d play with a tennis ball,” said Canzone, a graduate of Walsh Jesuit High. “My mom would pitch; it was so much fun. I thought, ‘If I could play baseball as a career, it would be a dream come true.’”

In June, Canzone realized his dream when he was chosen by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the eighth round of Major League Baseball’s amateur draft. He has been prepping at the D-Backs’ spring training complex in Phoenix before heading to Missoula, Mont., to play for Arizona’s rookie league team.

His mother, Amy Miklos, will not be allowed to pitch to him at Ogren Park, where the Osprey, of the short-season Pioneer League, play games from mid-June to Sept. 7. Minor-league baseball is light years from the bright lights, charter jets and 24-hour room service of the big leagues, but it’s where players learn their craft, and rookie-league teams are at the start of the process.

Canzone wasn’t offered millions of dollars to sign his first major-league contract, the norm for first-round draft picks. But he seems grateful for the $170,000 he received as the Diamondbacks’ eighth pick, and he is keenly aware that the goal is to make it to the major leagues, which has little to do with whether he collected a large or small signing bonus.

As a three-year outfielder for Ohio State, the left-handed hitter racked up a long list of achievements as the Buckeyes’ leadoff hitter. During the recently completed season, Canzone made first-team All-Big Ten and was named to the conference All-Academic team for the second year in row.

He was a three-time Ohio State scholar-athlete and captained the 2019 squad. He batted .345 overall and .375 in Big Ten regular season games with 16 home runs and 43 RBI. He was the consummate leadoff hitter, putting together an 18-game hitting streak and reaching base in 59 consecutive games during the 63-game season.

Draft day can be a time of high anxiety. It can also be fun. Canzone surrounded himself with 15 or so friends and family members in Hudson (where he moved after his sophomore year) on the second day of the three-day draft, not knowing what would transpire.

“I had no idea,” he said. “My adviser [agent-to-be] called me two or three picks before I got taken to say Arizona wanted me, 8-10 minutes before it happened. He asked me if I got slot money, [a predetermined bonus for his draft rank] would I sign? I thought the slot money was very generous. So it was a great day.”

While he was at the spring training complex, Canzone took batting practice against a Diamondbacks relief pitcher on a rehab assignment. It was an eye-opening experience.

“He definitely overmatched me,” Canzone said. “He didn’t throw anything straight.”

Canzone knows it will take thousands of swings to be comfortable facing major-league pitching, much as it did to master the tennis ball throws of his mom, a high school track athlete.

“It was when I started hitting the ball too hard,” he said, “and she couldn’t get out of the way.”

Featured image photo caption: New Arizona Diamondback and Ohio State star Dominic Canzone started his sports career hitting a tennis ball pitched by his mom while he grew up in Sagamore Hills. Photo courtesy OSU athletics