University of Arizona junior Cameron Cannon was drafted by the Boston Red Sox with the 43rd pick of this week’s MLB draft. Photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics

This week, the Falconer baseball team is preparing for its New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C Far West Regional.

As it turns out, a past Golden Falcon has been preparing his son for the next step in his baseball journey as well.

Cameron Cannon, 21-year-old son of 1988 Falconer graduate Chris Cannon, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox with the third pick (43rd overall) of the second round of the Major League Baseball draft Monday night.

“There wasn’t anyone the Red Sox took ahead of him,” Chris said by phone Wednesday evening from Chandler, Arizona, where he now makes his home. “He was in the second round, but the team’s first pick. That was a good feeling for him. To know they had him as the player they wanted the most.”

Chris played for legendary coach Denny Meszaros at Falconer and then for Joe Mistretta before graduating from Jamestown Community College. He then played baseball and studied at Mercyhurst University before moving to Arizona to follow real estate opportunities.

A picture of Chris Cannon playing for Falconer in the late 1980s. Submitted photo

There, he started a family in the greater Phoenix area. He coached his youngest son, Cameron, through Little League, where coincidentally he was a teammate of University of Oklahoma freshman Grace Lyons, whose Sooners lost in the Women’s College World Series championship series earlier this week.

Chris’ parents, Rick and Jackie Cannon, still live in Ellington while his younger brother Corey lives in Jamestown and sister Casey lives in Fredonia.

Cameron had a successful career at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona. According to the University of Arizona website, Cameron was a three-year letterwinner for head coach Lance Billingsley and was named First-Team All-State as a senior. In 69 career games, he hit .364 with 51 RBIs, 11 doubles, eight home runs and 49 runs scored.

“Cameron physically didn’t really blossom until his junior year of high school. The recruiting starts so early, you have sophomores and freshmen committing to programs,” Chris said, noting that Cameron’s high school team had six or seven guys sign with NCAA Division I programs. “He went into junior year without a program. He hadn’t really hit the radars of the teams. That kind of carried through and he was really behind all the guys who had established a pedigree.”

As a senior, Cameron hit .353 with six home runs and was ranked No. 285 on Perfect Game’s list of Top 400 Incoming Freshmen. Cameron turned that into a 21st-round selection by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2016 MLB draft, but instead elected to attend the University of Arizona. With the Wildcats, Cameron hit .274 with four doubles, a triple, seven RBIs and 16 runs scored during his freshman year.

A picture of Chris Cannon's son, Cameron, playing for the Red Sox during Little League. Submitted photo

“If you aren’t taken in a high enough round, or get a big enough financial investment, you are really better off going to school,” Chris said.

Following his freshman season at Arizona, he played summer ball for the La Crosse (Wisc.) Loggers of the Northwoods League and hit .276 with 10 doubles, two home runs and 19 RBIs while stealing four bags.

“When he graduated high school, his first summer was spent in Victoria, British Columbia,” Chris said. “He had never been out of the country. That helped him mature as a person. He had done the baseball stuff, national showcases and travel ball. He’d been exposed to the talent, so I think that first season was more about personal development.”

He returned to school for his sophomore year and started all 56 games, earning honorable-mention All-Pac-12 honors. Cameron hit .321 while leading the Wildcats in doubles (21) and runs scored (59). He added eight home runs and two triples, totaling 50 RBIs. Following that season, Cameron had his first introduction to the New England region when he played summer ball for the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He hit .263 in 42 games, adding six doubles, two home runs and 28 RBIs en route to being selected to the All-Star game as a member of the West team.

“My dad picked us up at the Boston Airport. We stayed the first week and got him settled,” Chris said. “It was really neat seeing them playing on high school fields like you’d see in Jamestown and Falconer. It was the premier players in the country with every MLB team having scouts and representatives out there.”

This season, as a junior, Cameron had his best year to date, hitting .397 with a Division I-best 29 doubles, three triples and eight home runs while driving in 56 runs and scoring 71.

“When he got the opportunity to play in Cape Cod, he had weeks where he’d lead the league in hitting,” Chris said. “That got him noticed and from that point forward he started moving up and making a name for himself.”

Such a name that he moved all the way to the top of the world champs’ draft board.

“My brother, Corey, was really the only one that was a fan of either the Yankees or Red Sox. He was a Yankees fan all his life,” Chris said. “We texted him the night Cameron was drafted and he didn’t respond because he was putting his two little girls to bed. In the morning he responded and said ‘Sorry, I was sleeping. I woke up and thought I had a nightmare.’

“But he’s super happy and said, ‘I guess I’ll have to switch teams.'”

NOTES: Cameron is not the first member of his family to achieve success on the baseball diamond. His older stepbrother, Tanner Murphy, was drafted in the 22nd round of the 2010 MLB draft by the Baltimore Orioles. He was featured in The Post-Journal when he played in the New York-Penn League for the Aberdeen IronBirds and played in Jamestown against the Jammers.