Jeremy Horgan loves baseball so much his family decided to make a huge sacrifice.

Parents Rosemary and John Horgan have gone to bat for their son and basically uprooted themselves from their normal valley routine while Jeremy attends Notre Dame Preparatory School in Scottsdale, Arizona in order to pursue his baseball dreams and play virtually year-round.

Having just turned 14 on July 26, Jeremy needed the support and guidance of his parents to make the big move at such a young age. Mom Rosemary is currently with him, but there will be some back and forth movement between her and John during the rest of the school year to ensure he’s accompanied by one parent at all times.

“I don’t think I’d be able to hold up if I didn’t have any parents here,’’ said Jeremy Monday in a telephone interview.

Jeremy and Rosemary, who’s been the president of the Duncan Junior Baseball Association for the last four years, are residing in a small apartment. Rosemary returns home in November and will be back again at Christmas.

“It’s not been an easy thing to do,’’ she said. “When you don’t know anyone, it’s hard and when you’re used to knowing everyone in ball and used to running it.

“You’re going with the flow and trying to figure things out.’’

Rosemary said Jeremy is thriving at baseball, school and adapting to life in a completely different place.

“Everything to this point has been really good for him,’’ she said. “You have to keep reminding yourself of that.’’

She added it’ll be fine if the experience doesn’t lead to a future in baseball for Jeremy.

“He’s learnt so much about ball, himself, the world. That was the plan.

“This was the year we were going to give it a go. It’s for the adventure.’’

Rosemary has been through some of this before with her older son Jonathan, who’s now 21, but not quite to the same degree. Jonathan was also a competitive ball player, but blew out his knee playing rugby at Brentwood College.

“Baseball for most kids in Duncan is a secondary sport,’’ reasoned Rosemary. “Jeremy has always been baseball.’’

Jeremy’s passion for baseball started by watching Jonathan and then following in his footsteps at an early age. With it came a certain amount of frustration during Jeremy’s early years in Duncan baseball.

“One thing I remember during the games, I always knew what was going on,’’ he said. “The other people on my team didn’t know what was going on.

“My brother was really into it. I kind of grew up with it.’’

Jeremy has attended camps in Arizona twice a year during March and at Christmastime since the age of 10. He caught the attention of Tim Haubursin during the March camp last year and he planted the seed about developing Jeremy more as a player while attending school in Arizona.

“It was right in the middle of a game,’’ recalled Jeremy. “I had to talk to my parents to see what he was talking about if he was serious or not.’’

Indeed, he was serious. Before too long, Jeremy found himself playing with an Under 13 United States Select team in Las Vegas last October.

He wrote his entrance exam for Notre Dame Prep during the 2008 Christmas break and received acceptance to the school in February.

The summer brought a couple of memorable experiences, beginning with a trip to Omaha, Nebraska with USA Select Baseball for an Under 15 tournament during the College World Series.

In July, Jeremy went to the Domincan Republic with a USA Select team of 16 players between the ages of 13 and 20.

They placed Academy teams and ran a baseball clinic in a remote village.

“They didn’t know what they were doing,’’ Jeremy laughed. “They put their own twist on what you were telling them to do.’’

The players were encouraged to take equipment with them to donate since it’s in such short supply in that region. Being a pitcher, Jeremy rounded up all the catcher’s equipment he was no longer needing and donated it.

The players were very excited to receive the donation of Jeremy’s fancy red gear. The Dominican players swarmed him and it was humbling for Jeremy to see the happiness his donation brought.

Grade 9 classes at Notre Dame Prep began Aug. 10 for Jeremy.

“The first day it was really weird,’’ he said. “There was as many freshmen as there was students in my whole school back in Canada.

“It didn’t take too long to get used to it.’’

He quickly became known as Canada and many of the school’s 320 freshmen still don’t know his name.

“My teachers were probably more shocked than some of the students were,’’ Jeremy said once his residency became known.

Jeremy has jumped right into seven-on-seven baseball for batting practice and defence. He’s working on his own to make pitching adjustments.

“My mechanics haven’t been so bad,’’ Jeremy said. “It’s more using my pitches and where I want to go.

“I’m just working on my junk pitches now. The fastball is pretty much on target.’’

In October, Jeremy will be playing for the Twins’ B.C. Scout team in Peoria, Illinois in preparation for Notre Dame freshman team tryouts in February.

“It’s going to be tough to make the team,’’ he said.

But Jeremy’s ready for the challenge.

“For the next four years I want to be at Notre Dame,’’ he said. “After high school finishes, if I can play baseball for a team that’s pretty much anywhere, I’ll definitely be taking it.’’