Adam Hall’s father isn’t far from his mind as he continues his quest to establish himself with the Baltimore Orioles in Major League Baseball.

Hall, who was born on island in 1999 to a Bermudian mother, the former Helen Outerbridge and Canadian father, Tyler, who were both schoolteachers, spoke of his dad’s influence on his baseball career during an interview with CTV News of London, Ontario.

Sadly, Tyler Hall died last spring of multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood plasma. He had battled the illness since 2013 and was just 53 when he passed.

Adam spoke of the influence of his father, his biggest fan, on his career, which started in the YAO programme at Southside. He carried on with baseball after his parents sent him to Canada in 2011 at the age of twelve to aid with his development and then joined him soon after.

The death of his father has robbed Adam of his biggest fan.

“It's tough, I won’t lie. He was always a big part of my baseball career,” he said. “We talked about the big league thing and that's been a goal since I started playing. I feel like I’m getting close, so hopefully next year or two years, we'll see what happens."

Mum Helen says she hopes that influence remains as Adam continues to pursue his baseball dreams.

"I hoping he's out there somewhere and when Adam hits the ball, he's carrying it bit further or just away from the outfielders,” she said. “Tyler would have loved it, it was his dream.

“While we miss Tyler and it's bittersweet he is not here. But it's nice to know Adam hasn't been sidetracked from his goal."

Mrs Hall spoke of her pride when he was drafted by the Orioles in 2017.

“We’re extremely proud of him, he has worked hard and has pretty much dreamt of this since he first stepped on to the baseball diamond. I’m very proud of him,” she said.

Adam’s parents were supportive from the start, all the way back to when he was first introduced to baseball at the YAO programme at Southside under coach Phil Ray and then the late Tom MacNeil.

The decision to send him to Canada in 2011 was a big one for his parents.

“We sent him up here at age 12 and he lived with one of his coaches for two years,” his mother previously said. “He knew that if he wanted to play baseball that this was what he was going to have to do.

“The hardest part was me leaving Bermuda. The first winter was pretty harsh!”

More than a decade later the 21-year-old shortstop continues to make progress with the Baltimore Orioles, with an invitation extended to him this week to join 71 others in Sarasota, Florida at the Orioles’ big league camp.

“I wasn't expecting it, but I'm pretty fired up about it," Hall added.

Drafted out of AB Lucas Secondary School in the second round of the MLB draft in 2017, Hall spent his first three seasons in the low-level minor leagues.

There is now an opportunity for the young prospects like Hall to play some training games at the Ed Smith Stadium ahead of the big league players.

“Any game I get into will be special," he admitted. “I've looked up to those guys my whole life and to play with them is my end goal.

“The Orioles just signed Félix Hernández, it'll be great to be around a guy like that who has a lot of success in the game."

Hall appreciates his introduction to baseball in Bermuda more than a decade ago, and also credits Canada for taking him to the next level.

“If I had stayed in Bermuda, I wouldn’t even be playing baseball because they didn’t have any age groups for me,” he added.

“Canadian baseball has changed my life a lot.”