Canisius sophomore Brett Siddall had a strong freshman season but what he had to overcome before his freshman season was outstanding. Siddall’s youngest brother Kevin was fighting with non-Hodgkins lymphoma which he eventually would lose his battle with six months after being diagnosed. Siddall was able to make the trip on the weekends to see his brother even through he was preparing for his freshmen season.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Siddall said. “Obviously, when I first signed here I didn’t know anything like that was going to happen in the future, everything was so unpredictable. I could have easily ended up at a school where the seniors and the guys weren’t supportive or didn’t talk to me that much.
“But I can honestly say there’s not one guy on this team that I’m not pretty close with. We’re all a family here. That really showed with this situation and with Jimmy’s mom also sick. It’s good to see that she’s doing well. Everybody comes together and helps each other out during these times.”
As the school year got underway, Brett was travelling back and forth from Buffalo to hospitals in Toronto and London each weekend to see Kevin, the youngest of four Siddall children. The biology major is still very grateful that head coach Mike McRae and the rest of his team were so understanding the entire time.
“It was definitely tough to go back every weekend, but it was really worth it to spend time with the family,” Siddall said. “It was a tough fall, just staying on top of school and baseball. Coach McRae and the rest of the coaching staff were really supportive of me missing practices and just getting back when I could, and the team was really supportive.
Siddall has continued from his strong freshman campaign and is currently hitting .347 with three homers and 29 RBI.
You can check out a full feature on Siddall from the Canadian Baseball Network by clicking here.
Photo courtesy of Tom Wolf Imaging
