Austin Upshaw felt the pressure of his full-season Minor League Baseball debut before he even stepped between the chalk lines. The nerves were not because of the team he was playing with, but because of who he played catch with to start the game.

A little over three weeks before gracing the field as a professional ballplayer, Upshaw had been selected in the 13th round of the 2017 draft out of Kennesaw State. Like most of his fellow draftees, he was assigned to the Arizona League before he made his way to his first affiliate. In his first game, he showed off the offensive prowess that drew the Cubs his way, blasting two home runs. Through his first three games, he had merely gone 5-for-14 with those two home runs and eight RBIs.

Austin Upshaw hit two home runs in his first Minor League Baseball game. (Larry Kave/Myrtle Beach Pelicans)

Upshaw’s promotion time had come. He was told he would be going to Short Season Low A Eugene of the Northwest League, the normal path for a newly-drafted player. However, there was one problem: the Northwest League is also home to the Vancouver Canadians in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

“I did not have a passport,” Upshaw said. “Their immediate response was, ‘We didn’t get you one?’ and I said, ‘No, you didn’t.’ So they said I would just stay in Arizona an extra couple of days, they would get me a passport and then they would send me to Eugene.”

It was back to the normal routine for Upshaw, but he was frustrated. After weakly grounding out in his second at-bat of the day, the disheveled Upshaw was yanked from the game. Thinking he was pulled because of his “horrible” at-bat, Upshaw sulked over to his manager, but he lit up as soon as he heard the good news.

Austin Upshaw was unable to play for Short Season Class A Eugene because he did not have a passport. (Larry Kave/Myrtle Beach Pelicans)

“My manager called me over and I started thinking, ‘I know, it was a bad at-bat,’” Upshaw said with a huge grin. “But he said, ‘Upshaw, you’re going to South Bend.’ All I could say was, ‘What? Are you serious?’ That was incredible.”

South Bend is the Low-A affiliate of the Cubs and a step higher than most players go right out of the draft. It was an honor for Upshaw just to receive that call-up, but his first game was made even more unforgettable by who was on the lineup card with him.

It was early when Upshaw boarded his plane to Chicago. His connector flight to South Bend had a slight layover and when he stepped off the plane, he saw a text from his mother that said he was listed in the starting lineup that day for South Bend.

“She tells me I’m in the same lineup as [Cubs’ rehabbing outfielder] Jason Heyward in my first game,” Upshaw said, seemingly not believing even what he was recalling. “I did not even expect to play, but there I am, dead tired, and I kept thinking how awesome it was.”

Austin Upshaw has played in 67 games for the Pelicans this season. (Larry Kave/Myrtle Beach Pelicans)

In his first professional game, the Buford, Ga. native, was playing with a former Major League All-Star and a five-time Gold Glover. Not to mention, Heyward played his first five seasons in the bigs with the Atlanta Braves, just about an hour away from Upshaw’s hometown.

Upshaw distinctly remembers following Heyward through the minors from afar. After all, Heyward went to high school just about two hours away from Buford in McDonough, Ga.

When Upshaw was just 14, he watched in awe as Heyward made his major league debut with the Braves and hit a three-run home run in his first at-bat on Opening Day in Atlanta.

Seven years later, a 20-year-old Upshaw walked into the South Bend locker room after just arriving from the airport. While talking with Logan Severson (the trainer in South Bend in 2017 and with Myrtle Beach this season), he mentioned that he was from Georgia.

“I heard a deep voice from the back of the clubhouse say, ‘Where in Georgia?’” Upshaw recalled. “I turned around and there was Jason Heyward.”

Austin Upshaw has played first base, second base and third base for the Pelicans in 2018. (Larry Kave/Myrtle Beach Pelicans)

Due to Upshaw’s late arrival, he and Heyward were the only two who had not taken the field to warm up, so Heyward asked to play catch.

“I asked how far he wanted to go,” Upshaw said sheepishly. “After he said just 90 feet, I tried my best to just hit him in the chest with every throw. He was the best teammate you could ask for.”

Despite arriving just hours before game time and having to overcome the nerves of playing next to a big-leaguer, Upshaw pounded out his first Low-A hit, a ground ball single up the middle, in a 1-for-4 day.

After hitting .290 over over 52 games with South Bend in 2017, Upshaw earned the promotion to Myrtle Beach to begin 2018.

“I felt like I would have been ready to hit in Eugene and in South Bend,” Upshaw said about his first professional year. “With my confidence level right now, I feel like I can play in the big leagues. Maybe I can’t, but that’s just my mentality; I’m ready for anything that is thrown at me.”