As Owen Diodati heads into an exciting senior season with the Great Lake Canadians program, looking forward to another appearance at Tournament 12 and a chance to compete with the Canadian Junior National Team in Panama this fall, he can’t help but look forward to the next step as well, after making a commitment to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

After gauging the interest of Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon, the Tide followed Diodati to the Dominican Republic to see him match up against Dominican Summer League prospects with Team Canada, and got the conversation started.

“Being with the national team gave me that exposure,” Diodati said. “Once I stepped back and took another look at things when it came to school, and I had the chance to talk to Bohannon, and he came down to watch me in the Dominican and liked what he saw, I knew it was a great opportunity and it went from there.”

Diodati got a chance to visit his future campus earlier this summer, and got a glimpse of everything playing for a powerhouse in the Southeastern Conference has to offer.

“I went down to check out the school and it was unbelievable,” the 6-foot-3, 200-pound catcher said. “It was like nothing I had seen before. It was SEC baseball. It had a huge stadium, brand new, I think they put something like $45 million into it, and all the facilities from the training room to the locker room and the lounge and everything, it was top notch.”

During his time in Tuscaloosa, Diodati had an opportunity to meet some of his future teammates, as well as the coaches he will be working most closely with, and he couldn’t have had a better time.

“There were some freshmen there for summer school, so I met a couple of them, and I actually got to meet with the catching coach,” Diodati said. “His name is Brock Bennett, and he’s a really good guy so I’ll enjoy working with him. Everyone I seemed to meet there was really great, and I loved the atmosphere, and everything they had to offer.”

Throughout the recruiting process and Diodati’s experience at the school, the native of Niagara Falls was most impressed by the Tide’s head coach and an opportunity to get playing time right away, one that he looks forward to capitalizing on.

“Coach Bohannon really impressed me,” Diodati said. “I really liked him, and where he wants to take the program and everything he had to say about it. He was very straight up with me about where he sees me playing, and he talked about how I can get a chance to play early, which is really important to me. And wherever it might be – right field, first base, designated hitter, or catcher – he’s going to give me an opportunity to get in the lineup.”

In his first year with the Great Lake program, Diodati believes the Canadians coaching staff helped him to get where he is right now, and he can’t wait to get another year under his belt in the red-and-black uniform.

“I don’t think I would be where I am now without having played here,” the left-handed hitter said. “From a hitting standpoint, the work [Adam] Stern has done with me has been huge for me. And from a catching standpoint, working with Chris [Robinson], and then the mental side and the strength side with Brock [Kjeldgaard] and [Adam] Arnold, it’s been huge for me. I’m a totally different player than I was a year ago.”

As the manager of Diodati’s 17U squad this season, Kjeldgaard got a firsthand look at everything the young backstop had to offer.

“Owen’s an offensive-first player who shows a really good approach at the plate, and he’s looking to put a good swing on a ball every time he gets up there,” Kjeldgaard said. “He really shows an advanced approach to hitting, and really, when he gets up there you know there’s a presence. He has a presence in the box, and it really shows with what he’s been able to do on the field.”

With another year remaining with Great Lake, Diodati can’t wait to see what more he can do and learn from the staff, and increase his readiness to play at the next level.

“I’m excited about taking it to that next level,” he said. “I’ve made a lot of progress in a year, and I’m excited to see what else I can do in another year, to get ready for school and to make sure I can go in there and compete for a starting position right out of the gate.”

Beyond the Canadians program, Diodati is also excited to see what the collegiate experience may bring.

“Obviously playing in the SEC is as good as it gets,” Diodati said. “So I am really excited about that, and getting the opportunity to play against the best players in college baseball, and seeing how I stack up and hopefully competing and being successful at that level. So I am really excited to get there and kind of play at the highest collegiate level I can.”

The Canadians staff is also looking forward to seeing what more Diodati can do as he continues his playing career.

“He’s a big-bodied catcher who can swing it,” Kjeldgaard said. “He’s got the chance to go to Alabama and have a big-time career there, and if he goes there and does everything that we know he can, he’s going to be one of their top producers for three years or four years, whatever it is, and it’s going to be exciting to watch.”