*This article was originally published on Alberta Dugout Stories on July 12, 2024. You can read it here.

July 14, 2024

By Joe McFarland

Alberta Dugout Stories

Being the parent of an athlete, you come to expect that you will occasionally have a few visitors to the house.

So when Tyler Vanneste asked his parents, Joey and Patty, if he could have his Medicine Hat Mavericks’ teammates stop by his hometown of Warman, Sask., during a roadtrip, they rolled out the red carpet.

With a full spread of pulled pork, fruits and veggies, and some Nestea iced tea waiting for them, the team bus pulled in on June 13 for a pre-game meal and plenty of memories.

Believe it or not, the visitors didn’t eat the family out of house and home.

“There were lots of leftovers,” Vanneste told Alberta Dugout Stories. “They cooked up a LOT of pork.”

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Listen to Alberta Dugout Stories interview Tyler Vanneste here.

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With full stomachs and beaming smiles, the Mavericks boarded the bus for the 15-minute trek back to Saskatoon, where they would defeat the Berries 6-4 that night.

It was a memorable homecoming for Vanneste and a learning experience for a Mavericks team looking to come together for another long playoff run this summer.

“LITTLE WARMAN, SASKATCHEWAN”

A graduate of Warman High School in 2020 and a two-time Saskatchewan provincials champion, Vanneste has been waiting for the opportunity to bring the team back to his old stomping grounds.

His Western Canadian Baseball League career began with the Edmonton Prospects in 2022 before he moved south to join the Mavericks in 2023.

However, Saskatoon didn’t have a team in the league since 2014, something that changed this summer with the addition of the expansion Berries.

Vanneste wasn’t just excited about the chance to head back home, but saw it as a positive for the league as it adds new talent and an extra level of competition.

“I think adding more teams reaches new faces and you can impact more people and more fans,” he said. “It’s good to travel around and see different places.”

It was that mindset which led Vanneste’s family to talk about the potential of hosting the team and getting to know a little more about his roots.

“Even before the season started, we kind of talked about it,” he admitted. “It was fun to be back there and have everyone over to see little Warman, Saskatchewan.”

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Vanneste’s homecoming comes after a busy journey the last few years in the U.S. college ranks.

He spent his first two collegiate years with Taft Community College, where he hit a combined .338 with five home runs, 41 runs batted in and 10 stolen bases in 72 games.

That performance earned him a spot with the California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) Coyotes, where he his .245 with three homers and 24 RBIs in 33 games this spring.

Coming back to the WCBL this summer, Vanneste felt like it was an opportunity to sharpen up his game heading into his fourth collegiate season.

“For me in the summer, it’s about coming out here and having fun, meeting some new guys and keeping in shape, really,” he said.

The Mavericks were also the East Division representative in the WCBL Final in 2023, falling to the Okotoks Dawgs in three games.

Vanneste admits the team feels there is some unfinished business to take care of.

“You want to get to that final series and obviously come out on top,” he said. “We fell just short last year. There’s a little bit left there and that’s what we want to do here, for sure.”

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound infielder is doing his part so far, hitting .382 with seven doubles, a triple, two homers and 18 RBIs in 27 games as he’s been named to the WCBL All-Star Game July 20 in Okotoks.

FULL CIRCLE MOMENT

The experience of summer collegiate baseball is described by some as a “melting pot” with athletes coming from all kinds of backgrounds, upbringings, levels of college and more.

In many cases around the WCBL, it’s a first opportunity for American-born players to get to know their northern neighbours.

Mavericks head coach Kevin Mitchell says even he benefits from roadtrips like the one to Saskatchewan, as he gets to know players like Vanneste on a deeper level.

“For a lot of guys that we have, we’re not playing in Texas or North Carolina or California, so you don’t get that but to have some Canadian guys that are in places where we go, is a really unique opportunity,” the skipper told the Medicine Hat News.

“It helps our team as a whole for these guys to kind of humanize one another and not that they would treat them any differently otherwise, but when you get that peek behind the curtain about what a guy is all about where it comes from, you understand them differently.”

While the miles pile on this summer, Vanneste says the trip home was one that will be a favourite memory for a long time.

It was a perfect way to bring his baseball journey full circle.

“Baseball has given me a lot, obviously,” he said. “It’s taken me from Saskatchewan to the States – I’ve been to a lot of really cool places and met a lot of new people and I have baseball to thank for that.”

And the Medicine Hat Mavericks have the Vanneste family to thank for an unforgettable trip to Warman.