“When Julianna Scott heard that Baseball Canada had named its Women’s National Team Selection Camp roster, her first thought was to find the post on Instagram and look for her friends and teammates.
She didn’t expect to see her name near the bottom of the first column on the official announcement post.
The Spruce Grove, Alta., product couldn’t believe her eyes.”
Read More“What do you do when a former Major League Baseball player tells you to check out a young high school prospect?
Moose Jaw Miller Express coach Eric Marriott did what any sensible human would do: listen.
In this case, it was Marriott’s pitching coach and former Detroit Tigers hurler Dustin Molleken who was singing the praises of Nathan Houston.
The Melville teenager signed on with the Miller Express as an affiliate player in 2023, and Marriott says he fit right in.”
Read More“Zander Oudie-Senger will never say “no” to signing an autograph for a young fan around Currie Field.
After all, it wasn’t that long ago that the Regina Red Sox pitcher was a kid with a Sharpie and a baseball in hand, hoping to get his favourite players to do the same.
Not only was he a regular to games with his Nana, but Oudie-Senger’s family also billeted several players over the years.
“Each player that came into our house felt like an older brother,” he told Saskatchewan Dugout Stories. “All of those guys have shed light into our family and I couldn’t be more grateful for each of them.”
Now entering his third season with the hometown team, the 21-year-old will be a veteran presence on a team looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2023.”
Read MoreJoe McFarland, of Alberta Dugout Stories, recently spoke with Okotoks Dawgs pitching coach Joe Sergent about Dawgs alum and Carolina League Pitcher of the Month Matt Wilkinson (Ladner, B.C.). Sergent told McFarland that he knew there was something special about Wilkinson the first time he played catch with the young lefty.
Read More“He’s had a rookie season to remember in college, but Jacob Wrubleski is happy to be coming home – if for nothing else but the cooking.
On the field, the Chandler-Gilbert Community College catcher hit .416 with eight home runs, 47 runs batted in and 38 runs scored in 42 games.
His performance has already begun garnering accolades as Wrubleski has been named an Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) First Team All-Region and First Team All-ACCAC, thanks to having the third-best batting average and fifth-best on-base percentage (.489).”
Read More“There aren’t many baseball players who have won a championship in the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC), Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
Regina’s Gavin Wuschke would love to add his name to that list as his Bellevue University Bruins enter the Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) playoffs.
The freshman is coming off a regular season where he went 5-2 with a 5.46 earned-run average in 13 appearances, including nine starts.”
Read MorePiper Wiklund (Edmonton, Alta.) became the first female position player in the history of the Thompson Rivers University baseball program earlier this season. She had a single and an RBI in her first at bat. Joe McFarland, of Alberta Baseball Stories, recently spoke with Wiklund about her trailblazing baseball journey.
Read More“He put the “battle” in North Battleford.
Following a playing career full of twists and turns that showed off his resilience, Andrew Albers has returned to his home province of Saskatchewan and he’s ready for the next chapter of his baseball life.
It’s been a full-circle time for Albers, who grew up watching Toronto Blue Jays broadcasts on television and tagging along at his father’s senior men’s baseball games.”
Read MoreTeam Red completed a sweep with a 6-2 win over Team Grey in an intrasquad Junior National Team doubleheader in Dunedin, Fla., on Saturday.
Read More“Representing his home country will never get old for Tim Piasentin.
Already having done it once at the Little League World Series and then again with the Baseball Canada Junior National Team at their Dominican Fall League trip in 2023, the Dawgs Academy product is hoping to do it more in the years to come.
He took another step in the right direction by being named one of the 35 athletes invited to the team’s Extended Spring Training Camp, which is set for April 17-27, 2024 in Florida.”
Read More“With a month left in his college baseball season, Payton McHarg’s name is already in the Washburn University record books for home runs in a season.
The question becomes: how many more can he hit?
Through 32 games, the Saskatoon product has clubbed 17 home runs, putting him in sole possession of fifth place in school’s top single-season performances.”
Read More“All Jaxon Zanolli wants to do is win.
Heading into his sophomore season at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, the product of Olds wanted to get that first victory of his collegiate career.
After being snake-bitten coming out of the bullpen for most of his freshman season, he had to wait until his fourth start to get it done.”
Read More“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 11th, 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.”
Read More“Before every one of his starts, you will see Reece Hemmerling grab a pendant around his neck, look up at the sky and say four words.
“I love you, Dad.”
It’s a new pre-game ritual for the Beaumont, Alberta product, after his father passed away in November.
The pendant matches a tattoo that Hemmerling had etched on his arm, featuring an anchor that represents how his dad, Troy, was the anchor of the family, and a grey ribbon representing Glioblastoma Cancer awareness.”
Read More“She filled up two passport pages in 2023, and if Zoe Hicks has anything to say about it, she wouldn’t mind doing it all again in 2024.
Representing both Softball Canada and Baseball Canada during the year, she often found herself flying from one event to the next with little rest in between.
Hicks wouldn’t have it any other way though, as her passion and energy around the diamond is evident when we sit down for a Zoom chat in December.
She had just received the news that she was named the Baseball Canada Women’s National Team Most Valuable Player in just her second season with the team.”
Read More“Baseball’s offseason always feels far too long for Amy Johnson, but it’s felt even longer heading into the 2024 season.
The Saskatoon product has been champing at the bit to get back onto the field and get ready for the possibility of representing Canada at the Women’s Baseball World Cup in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Even though the 21-year-old has been on Baseball Canada’s Women’s National Team roster for the last two seasons, Johnson isn’t assuming anything yet.
“Playing in the World Cup would be a dream come true,” she told Saskatchewan Dugout Stories. “It’s the highest level in the sport I love and it would be such a great opportunity that I would remember forever.”
Read More“Looking back on his baseball journey, Jason Serafinchon believes he wouldn’t be where he is now had it not been for the decision to lose weight – a lot of weight.
A self-admitted “little fat kid” growing up, the Spruce Grove product remembers hitting whiffle balls off his mom and watching his dad play slo-pitch.
But it wasn’t until he decided to go to AHP Academy in nearby St. Albert to help his pursuit of collegiate baseball that he knew something would have to change.
Serafinchon dedicated all of his spare time to the gym and eating right, getting stronger and losing 80 pounds in the process.”
Read More“Justin Breen isn’t taking a moment on the baseball field for granted.
It would have been easy for the Fort McMurray native to pack it all in after a trio of knee surgeries before he turned 18.
Instead, he used it as motivation to take his game to the next level with collegiate stops at Bossier Parish Community College and Arkansas Tech University before landing at Southwestern Oklahoma State University for the 2023-2024 season.”
Read MoreOutfielder Nolan Sparks recently made some Western Canadian Baseball League history when he became the first player to sign with his hometown Saskatoon Berries. Joe McFarland, of Saskatchewan Dugout Stories, recently spoke with Sparks.
Read MoreFormer Calgary Cannons infielder Pat Casey became a College World Series-winning coach with Oregon State University. He was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame on February 15. Ian Wilson, of Alberta Dugout Stories, recently spoke with Casey.
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