McFarland: Merk making his mark in Moose Jaw and at Doane University
Moose Jaw Miller Express right-hander Ethan Merk (Regina, Sask.), right, walks to the dugout with catcher Bryan Reyes (left) prior to a WCBL championship series game in August 2022. Photo: Ian Wilson, Saskatchewan Dugout Stories
*This article was originally published on Saskatchewan Dugout Stories on March 18. You can read it here.
March 22, 2024
By Joe McFarland
Saskatchewan Dugout Stories
When Ethan Merk stepped foot on a Western Canadian Baseball League mound for the first time, it was a full-circle moment.
The Regina product had essentially grown up at Currie Field watching the Red Sox, including the two championship years of 2011 and 2012.
Merk admits he followed the team religiously, idolizing them, and only ever dreaming of playing for the Red Sox.
However, on July 11, 2022, he looked down to see he was wearing the black and yellow of the rival Moose Jaw Miller Express.
This was business, and he gave up just one hit in his scoreless seventh inning of action in what turned out to be a 4-0 victory for the Red Sox.
“Moose Jaw giving me the chance to be in that league was so special and it felt surreal to open my WCBL career on the Currie mound, in the same place I was a fan for so long,” Merk told Saskatchewan Dugout Stories.
“It made me feel extremely accomplished when I was on the other side of the backstop all those years.”
It wouldn’t be the first time he was able to suit up against his former favourite team as he continues to make a name for himself in the game he loves.
EXPRESS LANE
A Regina product through and through with stops including the Regina Athletics of the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League, Merk has been driven to take his game to new heights at every turn.
As a 17-year-old, he joined the Titans Baseball Club of the Canadian Premier Baseball League and logged nearly 10,000 kilometres over land and air to find a college baseball home.
“Getting to see what college life was like with the Titans really led me to decide that I wanted to pursue college baseball 100 per cent,” Merk said in a 2022 interview.
Still attending high school at Michael A. Riffel Catholic in Regina, the Miller Express came calling, hoping he could provide some depth out of the bullpen, especially for the final few weeks of the season and heading into playoffs.
Merk finished his rookie season with a 1-0 record and a 2.89 earned-run average in five appearances, striking out seven in nine-plus innings.
He became a starter in the post-season, going 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA in three appearances as the Miller Express fell to the Okotoks Dawgs in the WCBL final.
More than anything else, Merk’s performance cemented his belief that he could play high-level collegiate baseball.
A 2023 TO REMEMBER
All of Merk’s hard work paid off as he committed to the Victoria Golden Tide of the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference (CCBC) for the 2023 spring season.
Merk came in highly touted, named as a preseason pitcher to watch by the league.
And he didn’t disappoint, going 2-1 with a 3.00 earned-run average in nine appearances including eight starts. He also struck out 61 batters in just 51 innings of work and threw the first complete game in franchise history in a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks on April 15.
The Golden Tide then advanced to the CCBC championships in Lethbridge, Alta., that May, thanks in part to Merk’s lone appearance of the weekend.
He went six innings, striking out 11 batters in an 8-1 victory over Edmonton.
After the Golden Tide lost the final to the University of Calgary Dinos, Merk headed back home to Saskatchewan for the summer, where he dominated with the Miller Express again.
The hard-throwing righthander led the league with eight wins to go along with a 3.17 ERA in 14 games, striking out 53 batters in 62-plus innings.
That included an Opening Day 7-1 win over the Red Sox at Currie Field, where he allowed just one hit and struck out six in eight innings, carrying a perfect game into his final inning before allowing allowing a single to fellow Saskatchewan product Dylan Edmands.
“I was playing with a chip on my shoulder,” Merk laughed. “There are no hard feelings though because I’m happy with the situation I’m in.”
That situation includes a move up the college baseball ranks.
TIGER TALES
With an eye towards getting to the next level, Merk made the jump to the Doane University Tigers of the Great Plains Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
The team features several other Canadians including B.C.’s Aaron Vulcano and Haldon Craig, Alberta’s Kelan Polard and Ontario’s Dionysius Chialtas.
Several Miller Express players are also on the roster, including Craig, Nate Mensik, Kellan Voggesser and Cristian Yanez.
“It has been a very smooth transition as the culture and structure of Doane made me feel a part of the squad from day one,” Merk said.
“I had played summer ball with a bunch of the guys here, too, so it wasn’t an overly unfamiliar feeling coming here.”
He says it’s a small school as well, which allowed him to get to know people quickly and gave him the feeling that it was the place he was supposed to be.
On the field, Merk has also adapted well, going 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA in five relief appearances, striking out nine in 11 innings so far.
The freshman hurler says the coaching he’s received in Moose Jaw and at Doane have set him up for success.
“Putting my head down and trusting that all the work I do will pay off has been my biggest key,” he said. “From there, it’s just a matter of going out and competing with everything I’ve got.”
THE FUTURE IS OPEN
Merk says it’s been a dream come true getting to chase his baseball dreams across North America.
Always open to the idea of traveling to places unknown, he says the door is open to any options heading into this summer and beyond, including coming back to the WCBL.
“Moose Jaw has meant the world to me,” Merk said.
“Coach Eric (Marriott) taking a chance on me as a high school kid reignited my love for baseball and getting the chance to face high-level competition with that team taught me so many things about pitching and myself – I can’t thank them enough.”
The engineering student says he’s been lucky to stay healthy throughout his career, so he may need a rest in the summer, adding the mental grind has also taken its toll at times.
“The game is so up and down and is so relentless,” Merk said. “There were times in high school where I felt like quitting baseball forever because of the way things were going, but I kept reminding myself about how much I love the game and how I am who I am because of baseball.”
He says he’s learned to not take a moment for granted, whether it’s a game, practice, bus trip, hotel stay or team meal, as it doesn’t last forever.
Merk hopes that sharing the story about his baseball journey, which continues each day, will help inspire young athletes to keep going, just as he has.