McFarland: Alberta’s Kerr seeks better result at 19U Women’s National Championship
“Things didn’t go the way the Team Alberta Bighorns 19U Women’s Team hoped on home turf in 2025.
Hosting the national championships at Webber Academy just outside Calgary, the team went winless on their way to finishing eighth out of eight teams.
Despite not tasting victory, the team thought of it as a learning experience for what was considered a young core, including three 16-year-olds and six 17-year-olds.
Among them was Airdrie’s Natalie Kerr, who went 1-for-6 in the tournament with six walks, four runs scored and a run batted in over the five games.
She’s among several returning players who believe the 2026 edition of the team will be much better with that experience behind them.”
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McFarland: Home sweet home for Sarauer at 19U Women’s National Championships
“Representing her home province is going to look a little different this time for Beth Sarauer.
The Clavet native will undoubtedly have a few familiar faces in the stands when she and her Team Saskatchewan teammates take to the field at the Baseball Canada 19U Women’s National Championships in Saskatoon.
Fresh off playing at the Women’s Open Nationals in Winnipeg earlier this month, the 16-year-old is a rising star for Baseball Sask, as she is also still eligible to play at the 16U Nationals in Moncton later this summer.”
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Wilson: WCBL's new home run Hiro
“There’s a new homer hero in the Western Canadian Baseball League.
Jake Hiromoto, third baseman with the Swift Current 57’s, has set a new single-season record for long balls in the WCBL.
The 6-foot-2 slugger from Honolulu, Hawaii tied the record – which was set by catcher Riley MacDonald of the Brooks Bombers in 2018 when he blasted 20 round trippers in 33 games – during a doubleheader against the Moose Jaw Miller Express at Mitchell Field on Saturday, July 25th. Hiromoto launched three bombs in front of the home crowd in Swift Current that day to pull even with MacDonald. His pair of homers in the first game of the doubleheader helped give the 57’s a 13-9 win that snapped a14-game winning streak for the Miller Express.”
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McFarland: Road to Okotoks has been everything Hamilton hoped for heading into championship Sunday
“He has seen a lot of baseball over the last five days and, judging by the smile on his face, he couldn’t ask for anything more.
Baseball Canada Men’s National Teams head coach and director Greg Hamilton has tried to take in as many games as possible during The Road to Okotoks, sometimes running between Seaman Stadium and Tourmaline Field to catch parts of two games going on at the same time.
He admits his expectations were high going into the inaugural event and they have been met or exceeded in every way.”
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McFarland: Resilient Davis helps AHP Renegades advance to Road to Okotoks play-in round
“When you give up five runs in the first inning of a baseball game, it would be easy to just admit it isn’t your day.
But when your team evens it up by the time you go back out for the second inning, those feelings go away pretty quickly.
Such was the case for AHP Renegades hurler Sam Davis as he took to the bump on Thursday against the Etobicoke Rangers at The Road to Okotoks.”
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McFarland: Dyck tosses shutout to lead Team Saskatchewan to first win at Road to Okotoks
“It’s not the way he drew it up, but Pryor Dyck will take the first win for Team Saskatchewan at the Morneau Cup.
The Watrous native admits the nerves were quick prevalent heading into the bottom of the seventh and were amped up even more when his old friend, Cade Britz, came up with bases loaded and none out in the seventh.
The leftfielder battled and earned a walk, driving in Casey Rauckman for the walk-off 1-0 victory over the UBC Thunder.”
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Wilson: Field set for WCBL All-Star Game bunt competition
The players who will participate in the bunt competition that’s part of the Western Canadian Baseball League’s All-Star Game festivities in Saskatoon, Sask., this weekend have been announced.
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McFarland: Zielinski continues dream week by helping Vauxhall to 2-0 start at Road to Okotoks
Vauxhall Academy Jets RHP/INF Will Zielinski (Victoria, B.C.) has had an outstanding week. First, he was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the MLB debut and now he is tearing it up at the plate for the Jets at the Road to Okotoks.
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McFarland: Larouche leads Dawgs Academy to win on Day 1 at Road to Okotoks
“To some, he’s Louis-Charles. To his teammates, he’s L.C. To the baseball world, he’s introducing himself as a big-time hitter.
Louis-Charles Larouche made his mark on the inaugural Road to Okotoks on opening day, going 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs batted in and one run scored as the hometown Dawgs Academy knocked off Atlantic Frontier 11-1.”
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Wilson: Flewelling flexes at MLB Futures Game
Tampa Bay Rays catching prospect and Junior National Team alum Nathan Flewelling (Innisfail, Alta.) launched a two-run home run in the MLB Futures Game on Sunday. For his efforts, he was named MVP of the contest.
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McFarland: Beck becomes highest drafted Saskatchewan player
Outfielder Carter Beck (Carnduff, Sask.) became the highest drafted Saskatchewan player ever when he was selected 26th overall by the Atlanta Braves in the MLB draft on Saturday.
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McFarland: Team Saskatchewan proud to represent their province at Road to Okotoks
Team Saskatchewan will be proudly representing their province at Baseball Canada’s Road to Okotoks national championship tournament next week.
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McFarland: Vauxhall strong contenders at Road to Okotoks
They were the only team to punch their ticket to The Road to Okotoks straight out of the Prairie Qualifiers.
With a semi-final win over Team Saskatchewan, the Vauxhall Academy Jets put themselves into the final and, with the top three teams qualifying for the main event, it guaranteed their spot.
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McFarland: Stromsmoe attributes successful playing career to “more will than skill”
“He calls it “stick-to-it-iveness.”
While it might not be a common term, it’s the perfect way of summing up the career of Skyler Stromsmoe.
The farm boy from just outside Etzikom saw himself as under-skilled, undersized and, at times, disrespected as he tried to forge a career in baseball.”
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McFarland: Baseball Canada announces qualifying Prairies squads for Road to Okotoks
They may have preferred to settle their differences on the field, but the final four teams remaining in the Prairie Qualifiers for The Road to Okotoks got what they came for.
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McFarland: Beck's draft stock on the rise
“The extra buzz around Carter Beck doesn’t seem to be affecting him at all.
The Carnduff native has rocketed up this summer’s Major League Baseball Draft rankings over his two seasons at Indiana State University.
Recognized as the No. 81 outfielder across NCAA Division I schools, according to D1Baseball, he’s also moved up to No. 7 on the Canadian Baseball Network’s list of draft-eligible Canadians.”
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McFarland: Friesen’s success inspired by late high school friend
“Remember why.”
You will find those two words scrawled into the inside of Carson Friesen’s hat as he takes to the field for the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks.
More noticeably, the outfielder will take a moment an at-bat to etch an “E” into the dirt beside the batter’s box.
They are a couple of ways that Friesen honours one of his boyhood friends, Ethan Symtaniuk, after losing him to suicide in 2019.
The pair were in grade nine in Saskatoon when it happened. Seven years later, his old pal is always on his mind.”
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McFarland: Prosofsky hoping for D1 chance after excellent season with College of the Desert
“There is no quit in Kaden Prosofsky.
It would have been really easy for the Saskatoon native to mope around not being a starter as he began his freshman season at College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California.
Instead, he kept working hard and waiting patiently for his opportunity to shine.
When the opportunity presented itself, Prosofsky jumped all over it like a meaty fastball over the heart of the plate.”
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Wilson: 10 years later, remembering how the Fort McMurray Giants became a team forged by fire
“Baseball lends itself to dramatic comeback stories.
When Dutche Iannetti spearheaded the creation of the Fort McMurray Giants in 2015, he no doubt dreamt of those captivating tales that would await his ball club. The ninth-inning rally, the unlikely walk-off win, the playoff upset, a home-run robbing catch at the wall, the grand slam after battling back from an 0-2 count. That’s the good stuff.”
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McFarland: Brotherly advice has helped Zdunich excel at Colby
“They’re competitive, but Turner Zdunich says there is no sibling rivalry between he and his three brothers.
That being said, he may still be reveling in the fact that he has eclipsed his older brother, Tucker, in a couple of career milestones at Colby Community College.
Over the course of three seasons (one shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic), the elder Zdunich hit .317 with 20 home runs and 86 runs batted in over 119 games with the Trojans.
With two weeks left in his second spring at Colby, Turner now has a career batting average of .386 to go along with 22 round trippers and 103 RBIs in 97 games.”
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