Deans’ quest for gold in his final season

By: Julia Vellucci
Humber Athletics Communications

Entering his senior season, Humber Baseball ace Brandon Deans wants to win gold.

"I'd say that the only goal that I have yet to reach is to win gold. That's the main reason why I wanted to come back - playing for our coach, Troy," Deans said.

"Being under the admin of Ray, I wanted to leave on a high note by trying to help him win gold. The only thing that's not on my track record right now is a championship medal," he said.

"During my last year here, I wanted to end on a high and with a win, and again, that would really complete my time here at Humber," Deans added.

He said that over the past two years, the team has had the right mindset. They made it to the championship game in his first year and were that good that year because they played loose and fun.

"I think now, with guys who have been here for a few years, we've been in the championship game in consecutive seasons. I think those guys kind of now know what to expect. They know what has to be done now," Deans continued.

As a child, his parents tossed him into a bunch of sports, and baseball and hockey became the two sports he has been playing his entire life.

"I reached an age back in high school and I was like this is what I want to do. I was getting looks around from pro scouts and NCAA colleges, so I kind of knew that that was like the route, and I kind of let that happen, and I guess it was kind of meant to be for me," Deans said.

"I wanted to see what sport would take me the furthest and again make me the happiest. With baseball, it built a lot of strong, core memories back in my life," he said.

"I've played my whole life, and each year, I learned to love the game that much more. It was one of those things where it was right from when I was a kid and I kind of rolled with it," he said.

Deans has accomplished a lot with the Humber Hawks, like being the all-time strikeout king or throwing a perfect game against Lambton, but he wouldn't be where he is today if it wasn't for setting goals. 

"Back in my third year in the States, I got injured, and I had to have Tommy John surgery, which is a full replacement of my elbow. At that point, I was a bit scared. I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I thought that I was going to come back and not be as good," he said.

"I'm a firm believer that hard work, you know, is the key thing. My mindset changed a lot. I just came back after working hard and I ended up improving after that," Deans said.

"I kind of learned to use that feeling into making me the best that I can be post-surgery," he said.

"I came back from being in the States after three years playing at Oakland University, so I obviously wanted to prove something and honestly, the main thing was to help this team win," Deans said.

"Obviously, being at Humber, they have that recognition and excellence about being the best college out there in Canada, so I wanted to help do my part in terms of helping that happen and, honestly, for each game, my main focus was to help the team win, and it turned out to be that," he said.

In the off months of Humber baseball, Deans has been playing in the Intercountry Baseball League (IBL) for the Guelph Royals for the last three years and plans to continue to play for them after college. He also plans to join the police force, as that is what he studied.

"I still want to play ball, even if that's not college or pro, but playing for this team now still keeps me around the game. I'm playing around guys who have been in pro ball and around the major leagues. I've definitely been having lots of fun with that," he said.

"Hard work pays off. The truth is that you know you have to put in the work because nothing is going to come easy for you. With all these records I broke, it all came with hard work. Build those friends and contacts and again, have fun with it," Deans said.