Betts: BMOC - Makarus keeps on mashin’ for Bellevue Bruins

Okotoks Dawgs Academy alum Ayden Makarus (Okotoks, Alta.) is off to an excellent start with the Bellevue Bruins this season. Photo: Bellevue University Athletics

March 20, 2026

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network

When Ayden Makarus would step up to the plate for the Okotoks Dawgs Academy in high school, people knew.

Not from what they saw, but what they heard.

“We swung wood bats when I was playing for the Dawgs Academy, this is where I started to notice the ball sounded different coming off my bat than everyone else’s,” Makarus (Okotoks, Alta.) said.

“People would tell me that it sounded like a shotgun going off when I hit the ball. This was the first time I truly realized that at any time, I was a power threat.”

And a power threat he continues to be.

After his time in Alberta, he was off to LSU Eunice where he’d swat 12 home runs and post a 1.081 OPS to help the Bengals to the NJCAA Division I national championship.

In 2022, he would hit six home runs in 45 games for Bossier Parish Community College.

It was at that point he decided to step away from the game for personal reasons. But as it turned out, not forever.

Fast forward to the 2025 season and his power was back on full display, this time with the NAIA Bellevue Bruins. He’d end the '25 season with a .324 average, 17 home runs and a 1.172 OPS.

This season has been more of the same, as Makarus has eight home runs in 18 games for the 18-3 Bruins.

“My dad always told me ‘if you can hit, they’ll find a spot for you in the lineup,’” he said.

As well as he was playing to start the year, he wasn’t satisfied and knew he needed to cut down on his strikeouts.

So, he took a less is more approach.

“Swinging at 70 per cent and thinking: ‘stay in that right-centre gap,’” Makarus said of his mindset.

“I don’t need to try and kill the ball every time. When I focus on getting my barrel to the ball, it still jumps off my bat. I’ve learned to trust how quick my hands are. This has allowed me more time at the plate to; recognize the pitch, location and make a decision to swing or not.”

He also credits his pre- and post-game preparation, which focuses on diet, hydration, strength training and mobility. The 6-foot-2, 219-pounder is a big believer in in-season lifting.

Mentally, it’s been all about imagery and taking mental reps well before any pitch is ever thrown.

“I go to sleep every night thinking and dreaming about baseball and how I want to perform,” he said.

“This translates into confidence on the field because I’ve practiced this thousands of times before.”

As for his team, the Bruins remind Makarus a lot of that 2021 national championship Bengals squad.

“What separates us from everyone else is the way we think,” he said.

“Every single person on this team hates to lose more than they love to win. When you have 40 guys all sharing the same mindset, who refuse to fail, who bring the juice day in and day out, even when their body is telling them different, you become extremely hard to beat.”