TILLSONBURG BAT MAKER HEADED TO THE MAJORS

Trevor Oakes trying out his new baseball bat lathe.

TILLSONBURG, ONT. -- When Trevor Oakes quit his factory job at Toyota to focus on making baseball bats full time, he had a five-year plan to make it to ‘the show.’ He expedited that process, accomplishing his dream in three years.

Trevor's company, ABO Baseball was recently approved as an Major League Baseball bat supplier. "We received a letter via email last Tuesday from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred's office and it congratulated us on making the cut," Oakes explained.

After speaking with CTV News Tuesday, he was jumping in his truck and heading to Madison, Wis. He needed to be there Wednesday for mandatory MLB wood training.

Already selling his bats worldwide, he thinks getting approval for big league players to use his bats in games is a difference maker. "It will scale us to be a top bat maker in Canada and in North America," adds Oakes. "This will help gain exposure, and then people will know who we are."

He gained local notoriety last year, when Intercounty London Majors' slugger Cleveland Brownlee had a few custom bats made for charity. One of them was a bat painted like Spiderman which was sold and the proceeds donated to the Children's Health Foundation.

This week, a brand new lathe arrived at his shop. It will help him produce his maple and birch bats in six to eight minutes, and the robot will be able to mass produce, replicating a large number of bats

"Instead of making 10-20 bats in a day, we can do that 10-20 in a couple hours. Our goal is to punch out 50-100 in a day."

Oakes started ABO Baseball in a shop at his house and he named the company after the initials of his kids.

He's since opened a facility in Tillsonburg housing his shop, batting cages, and an indoor MLB simulator. He says he's the only one west of Kitchener who offers this program.

In just three weeks, he'll pack his bats and head to Florida and Arizona for Major League spring training camps. He'll set up tables at the stadiums and give the players a chance to feel and swing his products, maybe even give them a test in batting cages.

He's dreaming big with the ultimate goal of making his Tillsonburg workshop a tourist destination. "The goal is to be a mini-factory and a bat producer which will put our name on the map."

"People can come hit and see the MLB bats that are made right here in this little factory."

There's more than one way for a Canadian to make the Major Leagues and there's every reason for all Canucks to be proud of Keven Oakes' entrepreneurial achievment.

Birch wood waits to be carved into baseball bats at ABO Baseball in Tillsonburg, ON.