Telegraph photo by TOM KING Nashua Defenders catcher-DH Will Brooks is enjoying his time at the University of Toronto.

NASHUA – A movie came out in the early 1970s titled, “A Man Without a Country.”

Well, Nashua NHCBL catcher/designated hitter Will Brooks is a man with two countries.

Brooks also is a Canadian citizen, and for the last two years, the Nashua North alum has played his college baseball at the University of Toronto.

Because the Canadian college season is in the fall, Brooks had gone a while without playing until this summer.

“It’s been amazing,” he said. “Obviously playing in the fall is a huge change. I’ve had a real great experience there. The team and everything is great. We’ve got a great team up there. It’s great to be able to do what I like to do.”

Staff file photo by TOM KING Will Brooks was an outstanding catcher during his time at Nashua North.

Why Tornoto? As a Canadian citizen, Brooks gets the domestic tuition rate, which he says is “unbelievably cheap” compared to here.

“I’d always planned on going up to Canada (for school),” he said. “With Toronto, I’d been in contact with the coach, and I was fortunate enough that he was willing to give me a shot.”

Brooks had also been talking to the University of Kingston, but Tornto was showing the most interest.

“I reached out to them,” Brooks said. “When I realized what schools I was going to apply to, I sent the coach an e-mail, a message that said ‘Here I am.'”

And he followed that up with some video. So after a couple of months two years ago he went up for a visit and was a signed and sealed recruit. Brooks started majoring in human biology, and switched to kiniesiology, wanting to go into physical therapy.

How did Brooks become a Canadian citizen? His mother Melanie is Canadian, born in Moncton, New Brunswick. And, as Brooks said, “You’re just kind of grandfathered in. Now that I have it, I have a Canadian passport as well.”

He’s one of three locals who are in the Canadian collegiate baseball ranks. Nashua’s Zach Finkelstein has played the last two years for McGill University in Montreal, and Hollis Brookline alum Henri Boudreau is set to join him as a freshman at the school this year.

Brooks, meanwhile, did not expect to be playing this summer for the Nashua Defenders, who were slated to wrap up their NHCBL regular season and hope for a tourney berth next week.

“Not at all,” Brooks said. “I’d been kind of working out with Zach Finkelstein a bit, we’d been kind of throwing to stay in shape through the quarantine.

“He told me that Tim was throwing the league together, they were expanding the age range a little bit. Tim shot me a text and said ‘We’ve got a spot for you.'”

“He’s a solid backstop,he’s a smart kid, he calls pitches well, he blocks well,” Lunn said. “He throws pretty accurately. And he has a good rapport with all his pitches.”

Finkelstein and Brooks have yet to face each other on the diamond, as they’re not in the same conference. But the two schools usually do a big exhibition series before the start of the season. However, Brooks never got in the box hitting against his current Nashua teammate who would have been on the McGill mound.

But what’s the baseball like? He compares it to Division II or upper Division III. There are no athletic scholarships, he said, “so everyone is just kind of playing because they love to play.”

He said the college game has grown in Canada and the talent pool is improving greatly, as he got a good amount of playing time last fall.

“It’s kind of neat to watch the league grow right in front of you while you’re a part of it,” he said.

Brooks loves Toronto. “Gorgeous city, just living there has been a great experience,” he said. He’s fought the good fight with Toronto fans vs. Boston.

Brooks’ father, Chris, is a former longtime Souhegan High School JV coach. He even thought about going to Souhegan, but wanted to play with his friends at North.

Why catcher? When Brooks was 3-years old, he simply wanted to wear all the equipment.

“I just wanted to wear the equipment and it stuck,” he said. “I’ve found that for the most part you’re able to see the field at all times. I think it’s really important to just try to have a good attitude, be as level headed as possible. Set a great example and set the tone.”

Handling pitchers, controlling the game, and blocking pitches have been his consistent traits.

Brooks has always been a leader. He was that way at North, and he is with the Nashua Defenders. And, in Toronto, he’ll be a junior whenever baseball resumes there, although it won’t be this fall as Canada has for the most part cancelled college fall sports.

Brooks, Lunn said, is hard on himself.

“He’s tough on himself like every kid is, he’s a competitor,” Lunn said. “But he’s one of the best kids we’ve had come through here, in terms of attitude and baseball IQ. He has a lot of those really good tools.”

And Lunn always wants Brooks at the plate in clutch situations.

“He’s a really good hitter, he has a clue of what he can do,” he said. “He knows what his strengths are and stays within himself.”

Meanwhile, Brooks isn’t too hard on his pitchers.

“I try and do my best and focus on the positive with everything,” Brooks said. “A lot of times, when pitchers get stressed out, they just need a second to refocus and get things back together.

“I just try to keep everything positive, keep them focused on what they’re doing well as opposed to what they’re not doing well. I feel like that helps, overall just try to stay positive.”

Had there been no pandemic, Brooks was going to stay in Canada to play over the summer, or was going to reach out to the North Shore League in Massachusetts, or any league similar to that.

“I came back here, and just being able to play anywhere, I feel pretty lucky right now,” he said, adding he’d like to perhaps take a crack at a college wooden bat league like the Futures League at some point.

“This summer I didn’t know if I could have been able to totally commit to it,” he said. “But it’s definitely something I’d think about.”

Brooks is jealous of his friend Finkelstein, who won a Canadian national championship his freshman year at McGill.

“Oh, man,” he said. “Lucky guy. We came in second in our conference our first year, it was a heartbreaker. But it’s been funny to watch. Me and him have played against each other since we were nine-years-old.

“It’s funny, in the spring we’ve always been playing apart,” Brooks said. “But I think every summer we’ve been on the same team, whether it be All-Stars or Legion, or teams like that. It’s really funny just to watch how it kind of played out.”

Brooks has been a clutch hitter throughout his career, as Nashua North and Nashua Legion fans will attest. He’s been hitting in the middle of the order with the Defenders this summer. He worked out with weights a lot during the quarantine.

“What I tried to focus on this off-season, I worked a lot at trying to stay consistent,” he said. “I know I can get hot at times, but I can also get cold at times. Again, just to be as consistent as possible, just stay within myself as opposed to do too much.”

Brooks worked out all winter in Toronto, and the football field is in a dome so there can be winter practices. But then in mid-March he had to leave campus to return to Nashua.

He’s thrilled to play locally one more time.

“I’ve been playing since I was five-years-old, T-ball, etc.,” Brooks said. “It’s great to wear the Nashua (logo) on the chest again.”

Would he want to live in Canada after graduation?

“It’s definitely something to think about,” he said. “But it would be a tough decision, I’ve loved living in New England my whole life.

“I guess it’s going to come down to where the jobs are, right?”

There should be a lot for a man with two countries.

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