“Time sure flies when you’re having fun.
Elemer Jerkovits has found a home behind the plate and all around the diamond as an umpire in Saskatchewan for 50 years.
As he suited up to be a field umpire in the Regina Red Sox home opener against the Swift Current 57’s on May 29, the Regina native was overcome with the feeling of gratitude.”
Read More“Cole Huebner wanted to leave an impression in his final year of junior college baseball.
The Edmonton product and Indian Hills Community College hurler had a solid freshman campaign, but had bigger dreams in mind.
He did it in a big way this spring, marching to a 6-5 record with a 3.98 earned-run average and 81 strikeouts in just over 63 innings of work.
Huebner was rewarded for his efforts by becoming the first Warriors pitcher in program history to be named Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Pitcher of the Year, an honour he is sharing with Iowa Western Community College’s Noah Scott.”
Read More“He’s quickly becoming a big story for fans and watchers of the Baltimore Orioles.
It’s hard to believe that just one year ago, Cohen Achen was putting the wraps on an exceptional collegiate career at Lindsey Wilson College and was getting ready to play summer baseball with the Intercounty Baseball League’s London Majors.
Instead, Baltimore selected the Calgary native in the 14th round of the Major League Baseball Draft, and he has since propelled up the organizational depth chart.”
Read More“When opposition batters head to the plate to face Reece Helland, they are entering the danger zone.
Not only are they facing MidAmerica Nazarene’s top bullpen gun, who is an intense presence on the bump, but he also enters the game with a formidable tune.
You guessed it: the Kenny Loggins classic “Danger Zone” from the movie Top Gun.
Over his four years with the Pioneers, Helland has accumulated a 13-6 record and a 4.47 earned-run average in 84 games, with one start, and 16 saves.”
Read MoreThe Western Canadian Baseball League is getting Hall-of-Fame recognition for two of its best and brightest people.
Read More“Ayden Makarus thought he was done with baseball.
More than two years after quitting the game to get on with his post-baseball life, the Dawgs Academy alum has returned with a vengeance at Bellevue University.
He was named the North Star Athletic Association Player of the Week on April 14, when he hit .429 with four home runs, 10 runs batted in and eight runs scored in four games.
The utilityman did it again two weeks later, posting a line of .375 with four more roundtrippers while driving in seven and scoring seven en route to also being named the Canadian Baseball Network’s College Player of the Week.”
Read More“It almost didn’t feel real to Logan Grant.
Up to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning against Dickinson State University on April 6, the Bellevue University utilityman got a hold of a Patrick Dietz offering.
He thought he had driven it to the gap to potentially tie the game 5-5.
However, the ball kept on sailing and, when it landed over the fence, Grant’s 14th home run of the season set the Bruins’ career mark at 45.
“There was a rush of emotions that hit me,” he told Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast.”
Read More“It was all about winning and Stubby Clapp didn’t want it any other way.
The versatile infielder and outfielder from Windsor, Ontario had played at the NCAA Division 1 level. He had rode the buses in the minor leagues. Clapp even made it to The Show in 2001, when he suited up for the St. Louis Cardinals for 23 games.
He also earned a reputation as a gutsy ball player during his performances for Canada internationally.”
Read More“Leo Griffin was undoubtedly going to play baseball.
With a family heavily involved in the game, the challenge was actually in deciding where on the field he wanted to play.
Playing the utility role throughout his youth baseball career, the Boucherville, Quebec native moved with his family to Okotoks after his older brother joined the Dawgs Academy program.
Even then, the younger Griffin was torn on his position on the field, until deciding that his most dangerous skill, his speed, needed to be exploited.
His career took off with a move to the outfield and is now enjoying a breakout freshman campaign at Hutchinson Community College.”
Read MoreFormer All-American Girls Professional Baseball League infielder and Saskatchewan softball legend Arleene Noga (Ogema, Sask.) has been elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Joe McFarland, of Saskatchewan Dugout Stories, writes about the durable infielder’s trailblazing baseball odyssey.
Read MoreJoe McFarland, of Alberta Dugout Stories, offers five candidates who have had a significant impact on baseball in the prairie provinces that he believes are worthy of Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction.
Read More“A promotion to the big leagues is so close, Adam Macko can almost touch it.
And if everything goes according to plan, the young left-hander would like to do it sometime in 2025.
The highly touted Toronto Blue Jays prospect is coming off a year which saw him play at three different levels, with his final start coming for the triple-A Buffalo Bisons.”
Read More“Unlike a ball diamond’s basepaths, a journey in professional baseball is never a straight line.
No one knows that more than Matt Lloyd, who has endured more than his fair share of detours over the past few years as he looks to fulfill the dream of making it to the big leagues.
He’s been released, played independent ball, represented his country, suited up internationally, almost quit the game, signed a new professional contract, and is now coming off a solid season with the double-A Springfield Cardinals.
The dream is still very much alive.”
Read More“Hockey has one. So does basketball. Soccer as well. And now, it’s baseball’s turn.
The Women’s Pro Baseball League is set to take to the field in 2026 with six teams in the northeastern United States.
The circuit was founded by the first female coach employed by a Major League Baseball team and Baseball for All founder Justine Siegal, along with Keith Stein, a Canadian businessman and owner of the Intercounty Baseball League’s Toronto Maple Leafs.”
Read MoreIan Wilson, of Alberta Dugout Stories, shares the story of when Bob Uecker came to Lethbridge, Alta., as a guest speaker at the local Kinsmen Club’s annual Sportsman’s Dinner in 1972.
Read More“It was one of the most impressive performances the province of Saskatchewan has ever seen on a baseball field.
A team based out of Wapella, with a population of just 400, nearly ran the table for the entire summer of 1924, winning 16 of 20 tournaments they played in.
They won 51 times, were defeated on five occasions, and took home a total of $2,600.”
Read MoreCalgary Redbirds and Junior National Team alum Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) has chosen to bet on himself with his recent one-year, $9-million deal with the Washington Nationals, writes Joe McFarland, of Alberta Dugout Stories.
Read More“Tristan Peters is used to taking the plunge.
The outfielder made a name for himself with the Triple-A Durham Bulls by making spectacular diving catches in the International League.
He’s also been known to jump at the opportunities he’s been presented with during his baseball career.
It’s that mindset that has him hopping on a plane for South America to take part in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League this winter.”
Read More“When Aidan Marien isn’t collecting hits on the diamond, he is delivering them on the gridiron.
During the summer months, the Saskatoon product has been found in a variety of ballparks plying his trade as a catcher and pitcher.
Once the fall arrives, he’s on the football field as an outside linebacker for the St. Joseph High School Guardians.
Marien is coming off a banner year in both sports, representing his province at the Baseball Canada Cup and heading to Toronto for the Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase before helping the Guardians claim the 6A provincial football championship.”
Read More“As the concrete walls and steel beams rise out of the dirt in Spruce Grove, a new ballpark is finally starting to take shape.
The forging of a new identity for a Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) franchise that will celebrate its 20th year of existence in 2025 is also underway.
With a moving in date set for June of next year, the multi-million dollar stadium project has moved well beyond photorealistic renderings and that much closer to becoming a reality.
It’s been a painstakingly long process from when the stadium was initially conceived in 2020 by Pat Cassidy – owner of the WCBL’s Edmonton Prospects – to get to this stage, which now includes the horizon-altering vertical construction of the baseball venue.”
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