Six miles-per-hour is all that separates 16-year-old KJ Moreno and the average Major League Baseball pitcher.

The Berkeley Institute student was recently accepted into the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball — an elite institution in Calgary, Alberta — and it’s not hard to see why.

The average speed of a fastball in Major League Baseball last season was a little more than 91mph.

KJ throws at an average speed of 85mph.

By attending Vauxhall, KJ said he is presented with the opportunity of crafting his raw talent into something he hopes his favourite team, the Boston Red Sox, would be willing to draft in two years time.

While that might seem like a pipe dream to some, out of the 84 Vauxhall Academy athletes currently attending college baseball programmes, 14 of them have been drafted by a MLB team.

“It’s a great opportunity for me,” said KJ, speaking to The Royal Gazette alongside his mother, Lee Ann Fox-Moreno. “I’ve always wanted to go away to play baseball, to show people that I can make it.”

It wasn’t until the age of nine that KJ discovered his talent for hurling a baseball at breakneck speed. He was an avid football player growing up — still is — but his pitching prowess would not be discovered until a friend of Mrs Fox-Moreno’s asked if KJ would like to join the Little League baseball team she would be coaching. The coaches found it hard to believe KJ had never played before.

From then on, anyone who saw KJ play and knew a thing or two about baseball, knew he had something special.

One of the first to notice his talent was parent and coach, Joel Czember, who presented KJ with the opportunity to play baseball abroad.

“I had heard about this wonderful academy located a bit more than an hour from my parent’s home and where I grew up,” said Mr Czember. “Everything I found out about the programme sounded great. Most importantly there was nothing but great reviews about the head coach Les McTavish.

“I ran the idea by another one of KJ’s coaches, Derek Anderson, who encouraged me to get in contact with KJ’s mom, Lee Ann. I went home and asked my wife what she thought about KJ joining our family on our trip home to Alberta if I can get him a tryout with Vauxhall Baseball Academy. Without hesitation she said yes. We hit the ground running from there. I got in touch with Coach McTavish. Luckily he didn’t think I was crazy and we found a time for KJ to visit the academy. KJ and I trained four or five times a week for about four weeks to prepare him for the tryout.”

Although Mr Czember never coached KJ up until this past summer, he had always known of KJ’s talent.

“Right away you could tell he was going to be a good player,” said Mr Czember. “He was very strong and athletic for his age, had good hand eye coordination and a very strong, accurate throwing arm.”

His family and friends have been pushing him hard since then to make the most of his talent, but it’s his mother, KJ said, that pushes him hardest.

Ms Fox-Moreno happily agreed.

“I’m my son’s biggest fan,” she said. “I never miss a game.”

As with any serious fan, KJ’s mother is the first to cheer for her son’s successes, but she’s also the first to let her son know he needs to pick up his game.

“If I see him on the mound, and he’s not pitching as good as he should be, I’ll go stand right behind the batter’s box and I’ll look at him. He’ll see my look, and I’m saying: ‘Come on, boy.’”

That look, said KJ, fires him up. “When she’s there, I know that means I’m doing something wrong.”

On Mother’s Day this year, KJ repaid his mother’s unwavering support the best way a baseball pitcher could: he pitched a perfect game. Out of the 27 batters he faced, not one made it out of the batter’s box. No mistakes, no hiccups, KJ was perfect.

“I really wanted to make it special for my mom,” he said.