Nickeas was born in Vancouver, while his father played for the Vancouver Whitecaps of the NASL. His father, Mark, is from England, and his mother is American. He grew up in California and graduated from Westlake High School in Westlake Village, California. Nickeas led his high school team to the Mamonte League Championship in 2000 and 2001 and was the MVP his senior year of high school in 2001.\n', '

Nickeas played three years for the Georgia Tech baseball team. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 5th round of the 2004 draft. He played for the USA youth team, junior national team and the USA National team, becoming only the second player in USA baseball history to play on 3 teams.[citation needed] In 2007, he switched his allegiance to Great Britain and played for the team in the 2007 European Baseball Championship. He was voted to the tournament\'s all-star team as the British team finished as silver medalists.\n', '

Nickeas started his pro career with the Spokane Indians of the Northwest League. He batted .288 with 10 HRs and 55 RBIs for Spokane. In 2005, he played for the Rangers\' Double-A affiliate, Frisco RoughRiders. He batted for a .202 average with five home runs and 24 runs-batted-in in 68 games, but Baseball America named Nickeas the best defensive catcher in the Rangers minor league system.\n', '

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