*This article was originally published on Saskatchewan Dugout Stories on August 10, 2026. You can read it here.

August 11, 2026

By Joe McFarland

Saskatchewan Dugout Stories

For 19 years, the Saskatoon Diamondbacks have been snakebitten.

They have had good seasons in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League, including making it to the final in 2024, but haven’t been able to capture the circuit’s biggest prize.

After finishing with the best regular season record in 2025 and falling short in the postseason, the Diamondbacks went back to work with a solid core of veterans looking for retribution.

Knowing they had a lot of good pieces, they replicated their 25-7 regular season record from a season earlier before going on a run to their first-ever provincial championship.

“Losing in that final two years ago was heartbreaking so to be the one to come out on top this time was super-special,” utilityman Casey Rauckman told Saskatchewan Dugout Stories.

“This being the first-ever championship for the team made it even more special because we finally broke ‘the curse.’”

The Diamondbacks are now ready to represent Saskatchewan at the Baseball Canada 18U National Championships in Fort McMurray August 13-16.

FINDING WAYS TO WIN

They might not have known it at the time, but head coach Logan Clewes says he actually thought the Diamondbacks were a championship-calibre team after their 2024 loss.

He says the talent was evident from the first day they were together, but what seemed to set themselves apart was their work ethic and drive to get better every day.

After losing their first game of the season, the D-Backs won nine-straight games and had two separate stretches of seven wins in a row over the course of the spring and early summer.

“Throughout the season, this team found ways to win in different fashions and there was just this constant belief that never wavered,” Clewes said. “The other coaches and I were just amazed by them and how much they wanted it.”

Even the players could feel something was different with this particular group, as the newcomers even blended in nicely.

“I knew we had a chance to win the championship when, after only a month of practice in the offseason, our team went from total strangers to brothers in a family,” said pitcher/outfielder and Garden City Community College commit Dylan Pura.

“Our entire team contributed in every single game … the rookies brought so much skill to the team, the second years were building off a great season last year, and all seven of us third-year players, who brought it all together having played for so many years together even before the Diamondbacks.”

They earned the top seed in the circuit with a 25-7 record.

KEEP ON ROLLIN’

As everyone knows, the postseason can be a different beast, so the Diamondbacks thought their depth and determination would be put to the test.

However, they picked up right where they left off in the round-robin with an 8-2 win over the Regina White Sox – or so they thought.

Clewes says a pitch count violation led to a forfeit by the D-backs, pushing them to 0-1 in the tournament and a feeling like their backs were against the wall again.

They picked themselves up with a 12-3 triumph over the Saskatoon Giants, which came thanks to an eight-run third inning and a three-RBI game from Gavin Sasko.

The next big sign of adversity came in a nail-biting 9-8 win over the Sask 5 Marlins, where Karson Dziadyk went 2-for-3 with two RBI. They also benefited from another big inning – a six-run fifth – to capture the victory.

The Diamondbacks wrapped up the round-robin portion of the tournament with another close contest. Rauckman was the key, going 5 1/3 innings, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out two in a 3-1 win over the Saskatoon Giants.

The Southwestern Illinois College commit then did it with his bat in the semifinal, collecting three hits and three RBIs in a 13-6 win over the White Butte Broncos and cementing a date with the East Central Red Sox in the final.

FINISHING THE JOB

As if his last couple of games weren’t enough, Rauckman managed to make an immediate impact in the championship contest.

After blanking the Red Sox in the first inning, the starting shortstop led off with a solo home run for the Diamondbacks to take a 1-0 lead.

The two teams traded leads over the next few innings before the Diamondbacks manufactured another one of their patented big innings in the fifth.

Emerson Park hit a bases-loaded single, Sasko clubbed a two-run one-bagger, Dziadyk plated another and Pura made it 10-6 with another two-run single.

The pitching of Kasper Politowski did the rest with a 1-2-3 sixth and stranded a couple of East Central baserunners in the seventh, which ended with Sasko tossing a groundball to Rauckman to finish the game.

“From day one, I knew we had what it was going to take to win it all and that it was going to take everyone to do it,” said the shortstop. “It was a big shock but also such a relief when we got that final out.”

Pura, who also started the game and went four innings, adds, “Being a part of the first provincial championship team is something I will never forget and I know for a fact this team and this story of overcoming adversity will be talked about for years to come.”

Clewes credits the leadership group for showing the younger players the support they needed and the belief they had to have in one another.

“When it came time for the younger guys to come up in a big spot, they didn’t feel pressure as they knew everyone believed they would do the job,” the head coach said. “It really allowed our whole team to flourish and grow throughout the season.

He adds a true love of the game, which showed with players spending so much time around the ballpark, made it fun for everyone to go to work and it became contagious.

HEADING WEST

And now it’s time for the Diamondbacks to hit the road for Fort McMurray and the Baseball Canada 18U National Championships.

They are looking to become the first team from their province since 2016 to get onto the podium, while teams from Saskatchewan finished fourth at the tournament in 2022 and 2023, fifth in 2024 and seventh in 2025.

Getting the opportunity to put themselves on the national stage is something the team isn’t taking for granted.

“For the Diamondbacks to rep Sask at Nationals means so much to me and everyone that has ever played in this organization as it’s the first time ever,” Rauckman said. “We have been to the western championships in the past but to go to nationals is just a whole different experience and feeling.”

Clewes hopes the team’s closeness, along with the sheer talent, will allow them to do some damage at the tournament.

“For me, I just love this group so much and I’m just so excited for the guys,” he said. “It really just gives me a lot of joy to be able to see our guys competing on the national stage, which is something they’ve earned so much.”

McFarland: Saskatoon Diamondbacks win provincial championship, headed to 18U National Championships