Niagara Baseball Academy - Greater Niagara Baseball Association


	JOHN GILL
	John Gill was born and raised in Niagara Falls. He played baseball from age 6 to 18 in the GNBA leagues. In 1977 John's Bantam team won the All-Ontario Championship. During those years, John gained the reputation across Canada as being one of the countries best pichers and certainly its hardest thrower. So impressive was John as a pitcher that he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1979. John played with Tony Fernandez, Lloyd Moseby and many other future Jays. John's professional career as a pitcher fell victim to shoulder troubles. But demonstrating his well-rounded baseball talents, John continued to play baseball as a fielder. In 5 years of inter-county ball John hit 41 home runs and had 178 rbi's in just 643 at bats while carrying a career .338 batting average. He was also the Skipper for the Niagara Falls Mariners in that Intercounty League. John also became a Toronto Blue Jay scout and travelling coach and was with the team for their 1992 World Series title.

	DARRELL KEMP
	Darrell Kemp was born and raised in Niagara Falls. He played baseball from age 6 to 18 in the GNBA leagues. In 1977 Darrell's Bantam team won the All- Ontario Championship. In 1981 Darrell was the captain of Team Ontario which competed at the Summer Games which won the gold medal. After leaving the GNBA Darrell spent two years playing ball for L.A. College and two years playing for Niagara University. While in L.A., he set the state record for batting average with a fantastic .428 season. In 1984 he signed to play with the California Angels organization. Upon his return home Darrell played 5 years of Intercounty Baseball. He still holds the single season record of 57 rbi's in just 32 games. Darrell then took all that he learned to Niagara University where he coached the Purple Eagles for 11 years. He served for 7 years as a scout for the Toronto Blue Jays and was part of both World Series wins by the Jays. Also with the Jays, Darrell did 2 years of Jays clinics in Canada, Austria and Italy.

	MIKE MCRAE
	Mike McRae begins his fourth season as the head coach of the Canisius College baseball program. He led the Golden Griffins to a breakout season in 2007 as Canisius made its first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Playoff appearance since 1994 and the second in school history. Under McRae’s guidance, Canisius’ team batting average and ERA has improved each season. The Griffs have made three-straight appearances in the Big 4 Baseball Classic championship game and won the tournament the last two years. The 2003 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year came to Canisius from Niagara University, where he led the Purple Eagles to back-to-back MAAC playoff appearances. He compiled a 65-86 overall record (.430 winning percentage) and a 41-36 (.532) MAAC mark with the Purple Eagles. McRae set a school record for wins with 26 in 2003 and topped the mark with 27 in 2004. His 2004 squad finished second in the league, while his 2003 team was third. He coached Josh McCurdy, the 2003 MAAC Player of the Year, and recruited James Avery, the 2003 MAAC Rookie of the Year. Both players went on to be selected in the MLB Draft. McRae added another MAAC Rookie of the Year to his resume in 2007 as Ian Choy became the first Canisius player to earn the honor. McRae began his career by becoming the first head coach at Brock University. From there, the Niagara Falls, Ontario, native joined Niagara’s staff as a hitting instructor in 1996-97 before moving to Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., from 1997-98. From 1998-2001, McRae served as an assistant coach at Maine, where he was responsible for the 12-man pitching staff. He also served as an assistant coach for the Canadian National Youth Team, which competed in the World Championships in 1996 and 1997 and as a guest coach for the Toronto Blue Jays during their 1997 spring training.