HEIDELBERG, Ontario - COVID-19 has certainly had an effect on Calvin Ziegler.

The reduction to a five-round MLB Draft limited the opportunity to be selected in the 2020 event and it also brought on a commitment change.

“Covid screwed over the scholarship I had,” the top-rated senior in Ontario explained. “It got cut in half because of it. Then this year’s draft didn’t work out with just five rounds.”

It gave Ziegler a different outlook on his future.

“I thought another year to develop would be good to see how much better I can get,” Ziegler noted.

That meant reclassifying from 2020 to 2021 and de-committing from Connecticut.

“After that, Auburn started talking to me and we got serious to see where it would go,” the hard-throwing right-hander said. “I talked to their scouting guy and then called up Butch Thompson, the head coach. Then talked to the pitching coach, Tim Hudson. Pete Orr, a Brewers scout who played with Hudson, knows me and I had a call with all three and I got an offer.”

That was more than a month ago. A week later, the 103rd-ranked 2021 right-handed pitcher in North America made the decision to call Auburn home.

“It’s a good school so that’s exciting,” Ziegler said of the commitment. “Tim Hudson is the new pitching coach and he played 17 years in the majors. I like how they develop players, I’m excited about that part.

“Auburn is also rivals with Bama and I know two Canadians (Owen Diodati and Antoine Jean) on the Junior National Canada team at Bama so that can make it a cool rivalry.”

Auburn is happy to be getting a pitcher that can throw heat.

“They like my pitching style,” the 6-0 190-pounder pointed out. “I’m more advanced for my age as far as velocity.”

It is something that has continued to increase for Ziegler, who just turned 18 earlier this month.

“My velo jumped a little bit again,” Ziegler noted about his improvement this year. “The year before I was 90-93 and touched 94, but this year I’m mid-90s and topped out at 97 a couple of times.

“But the main thing is I’ve got a lot more command of the fastball and throw it with more ease in the zone. Now I trust all three pitches, the four-seam, knuckle-curve and changeup.”

Cam Black-Araujo, PBR Ontario Scout, had good things to say about Ziegler.

“Ziegler has always had the stuff but with some command there now he has turned himself into a very intriguing prospect heading into 2021,” the PBR scout said after Ziegler closed out a summer as a standout with the Junior National Team at the East Coast Pro and Area Code Game. “He continues to trend upwards.”

Additional work will take place prior to arriving at Auburn.

“I need to be more consistent with my curve,” Ziegler explained. “My main goal is to develop my off-speed. I want to be able to throw the off-speed earlier in the count or when I’m down in counts.”

The idea of playing college baseball entered Ziegler’s mind only a few years back.

“I didn’t know the talent I had until I went to a UConn camp and talked to them,” Ziegler reflected. “I was 15 then and that was exciting to hear. Getting an offer from a D-I school was pretty exciting and I committed in February of 2018.”

The decision to de-commit just after this year’s MLB Draft was admittedly difficult.

“It was definitely tough, I really like the coaching staff,” Ziegler said. “But realistically, it wasn’t the greatest scholarship so it didn’t make sense to me.”

Not being taken in the draft also bothered Ziegler.

“I was a little disappointed,” the 314th-rated 2021 in the U.S. and Canada related. “But looking back, it’s a better idea to have another year to develop. There are a lot more opportunities now to meet a lot of baseball players.”

Ziegler, who will start school again at St. Marys in November, looks forward to what lies ahead playing at Auburn in the Southeastern Conference.

“I can bring them a solid starter that can go deep in games,” Zielger said. “I offer maturity and can help as a closer or starter.

“From what I’ve heard, being around teammates for three years in college you can become best friends with them so I’m looking forward to really getting to know them,” added Ziegler. “It’s going to be exciting to make new friendships and then go try and win the College World Series with them.”