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Arnold, Ochoa, & Bucknam intertwined by baseball experiences

February 16, 2022
Matt Betts
Feature Writer, PBR Canada

No two baseball careers are the same. Or in this case, three.

But that doesn’t mean different paths don’t have similarities or even intersect. Baseball is a small world as they say.

Take Campbell University Fighting Camels infielder Bryce Arnold, Fieldhouse Pirates infielder and Alabama commit Nate Ochoa, and Langley Blaze right hander and LSU commit Micah Bucknam as examples.

When Arnold reflects back to his childhood he instantly remembers pulling on his Stoney Creek Blue Jays jersey and his dad guiding him from the dugout.

“I was introduced to baseball at a young age playing tee-ball,” Arnold said. “My dad introduced me to baseball and helped me along the way. My first baseball memory was playing with the Stoney Creek Jays with my dad as one of the coaches. That’s a special memory because that’s how this process started to where I am today.”

And where he is today is a key cog in a Campbell lineup that has high hopes heading into 2022. But before he ever started calling Buies Creek, North Carolina home, he was plying his trade for the Fieldhouse Pirates program and quickly asserted himself as a top player. It was through his experiences with the Pirates and at showcase events like the PBR Super 60 that Arnold learned to deal with immense expectation.

“The Super 60 is one of the best experiences I’ve had in baseball so far. The atmosphere with all the scouts and top talent around North America was special,” he said. “It helped me get to the next level by being around that top talent and having to compete against them to be the best.”

Now the sophomore infielder has his sights set on making the next jump with his Fighting Camel teammates.

“A goal going into the season is keeping our eye on Omaha and making history,” he said. “I work hard and put the time in to better my game on a daily basis. I’m a winner and hate to lose so I’ll do everything in my control to make sure we keep winning.”

Confidence with the work ethic to match, not a bad guy to look up to. 

Just ask Ochoa.

The connection between Arnold and Ochoa can be drawn in a straight line, all the way back to Burlington, Ontario. 

“I remember taking infield with Bryce while he was still with Fieldhouse,” Ochoa recalls. “We made everything a competition. We were always pushing each other to be better.”

Ochoa’s baseball career started late as a nine-year-old. He was a multi-sport athlete as a youngster but there was always something about seeing his grandfather watching the Toronto Blue Jays games on television that intrigued him. So he started out playing house league, before moving to select and eventually landing with the Pirates.

“When I started playing baseball it just stuck,” he said. “I was an average player growing up, not the best but not the worst. I was always out there having fun.”

Average and Ochoa aren’t used in the same sentence much anymore. In fact, they haven’t been for a while.

“My first year with the Pirates I was working a camp with Jim Richardson for a bunch of young players,” Ochoa remembers. “He turned to the kids and said ‘you better get this guy’s autograph because it’s going to be worth something someday’. I’ll never forget that.”

Now just a few years later the up-and-coming infield prospect can be seen donning the red and white of the Canadian Junior National Team. He’s also committed to the University of Alabama and will play in one of the best conferences in college baseball, the Southeastern Conference. It appears Richardson may have been on to something.

Like his buddy Arnold, Ochoa has also taken part in numerous Prep Baseball Report showcases that have elevated his stock, including that same Super 60 Pro Showcase. Playing in highly scouted events is only helping in his preparation for the pressure-cooker that is the SEC.

“A few PBR events I’ve walked in and seen all the scouts and thought ‘is this really happening’?”, he said. “It can definitely be nerve-wracking but it’s an opportunity to show off my skills and what I can do.”

And then there’s the connection between Ochoa and Bucknam, which can be traced back to the Junior National Team and various showcases the two top-end talents have taken part in together. 

“Nate’s a buddy of mine,” Bucknam said. “I remember first meeting him with Team Canada. He’s an incredibly hard worker and I have nothing but the best to say about him.”

It’s a sentiment Ochoa echoes, but it won’t be long until the two go from friends to on-field foes while competing in the SEC.

But let’s back up. Bucknam’s winding road of a baseball career has also been far from ordinary. Born to American parents in New Zealand while on a missionary trip, Bucknam spent the first four years of his life down under before coming back and settling in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

“My dad really wanted me to play tee-ball,” Bucknam said with a laugh. “Once I was out there I was always more intense than the other kids. I also usually played an age group up from my own.”

That intensity has served him well throughout his young baseball career as he’s come up with the Abbotsford Cardinals and now the Langley Blaze of the highly regarded British Columbia Premier Baseball League. He remembers a certain coach while playing for the Cardinals Bantam Prep program that fuelled his desire to be the best each time he stepped on the field.

“I had a coach in grade eight, Tim Blake,” Bucknam recalls. “He was really tough on us as players but the harder I worked, the more I pleased him. That was instrumental in my development.”

Bucknam, a 2021, 16th round selection by the Toronto Blue Jays, is now looking forward to taking his talents to Baton Rouge to play for head coach Jay Johnson, pitching coach Jason Kelly and the Louisiana State University Tigers.

“I’m really happy with the coaching staff at LSU,” he said. “I consider myself incredibly lucky to be able to play for a coach with the resume of Jay Johnson.”

When looking back on the moments that helped him get to this point in his career, he finds it hard not to reflect on various PBR opportunities.

“The Futures Game really helped me get my name out there,” he said. “Coming from Canada I didn't really know what to expect, but when I got there I walked around and there were so many scouts. I remember having one school interested in me before I pitched there and after I had over 20.”

Armed with a low to mid 90’s fastball that he can cut, sink, and ride, a slider and a changeup, it’s no wonder the already once drafted hurler has scouts hot on his trail.

“No matter how hard you try you can never really prepare enough for the draft and what the experience is like,” Bucknam said. “However, I’m definitely more mature this time around. I’ve tried to pitch more for myself this year and just enjoy the experience. If the scouts like me, they like me. I’m just really fortunate to be in this position.”

There’s 4,288 kilometers between Burlington and Abbotsford but the connection between Arnold, Ochoa, and Bucknam is a lot tighter than one might think.

It’s a small world indeed.