It hasn’t taken long for the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks to build themselves into a force in the Canadian College Baseball Conference.
After an inaugural season record of 8-16 in 2019, the Hawks improved to 11-19 in 2022 then finished third in the league with a 17-15 mark in 2023.
Heading into this spring, expectations were high with the return of several key veterans including reigning West Coast League Pitcher of the Year Halen Knoll.
He leads a starting rotation full of talent with Riley Barrett, Matthew Ridsdale and Reece Devlin, a local product heading into his third season with the Hawks.
The St. Francis Xavier product is coming off a year where he went 2-3 with a 3.02 ERA in eight games, striking out 34 batters in 41-plus innings.
The right-handed hurler – who was a part of a combined no-hitter in the Fort McMurray Giants 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Prospects on July 19, 2022 – believes it’s time for the Hawks to make a serious run at a CCBC championship in 2024.
Devlin joined us for a recent episode of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast, which helped us create our latest installment of “1 Thru 9.”
1. Put on your scout’s hat for a second and what are you seeing out of your team?
Talent. This is the most talented group that this team has had in this very short tenure, to be fair. We have a lot of talent at a lot of positions. It’s going to be a question mark every time someone is writing the lineup card about who it could be because there’s so many guys that are that strong in that position.
2. Talk about that growth and maturation over the last few years because it’s a young program but it turned heads last year and garnered some accolades heading into this season. There seems to be some expectations around this team this year.
Yeah, and honestly, the expectations come from ourselves. We don’t see ourselves as a fourth place team. The thing is we have to go out and prove that we aren’t. We have to go out and earn better spots. We have to go out and prove we are who we say we are, which is a top team in the league.
3. Looking back at last year, what was it that led to the success you did have?
Our success last year came from guys stepping up in big spots. We had a few injuries and guys came in and immediately hit the ground running. Everyone had each other’s backs. It was a huge team environment everywhere we went. We had guys picking each other up, making sure everything was good in and outside baseball, which is just as important. The team aspect really made our success last year.
4. This is your third year with the Hawks. Did you have any goals or aspirations of yourself heading into the season?
I’m just hoping to build off of the year I had last year. I walked a few more guys than I hoped, but I still had good numbers on paper. Ultimately, it comes down to winning baseball games and winning a championship. Whatever my role is this year, whether it’s a reliever, a starter or anything in between, just coming in and giving our team support to win a game is the biggest thing I’m looking for.
5. Growing up in Edmonton, how different was it stepping onto the RE/MAX Field mound for the first time, likely a place you grew up watching games in?
Yeah, that was a little bit weird. I used to watch Prospects games and Capitals games at RE/MAX sitting in the crowd. I must have been 10 years old or something. Now running out on the field, you can almost picture yourself being that kid watching the guy on the mound and now you’re that example for everyone else.
6. Is it surreal to a certain extent being the guy that kids are looking to for autographs?
Oh it’s absolutely a surreal feeling because I remember being that kid who would go down and ask for an autograph from a player. And now talking with fans young and old, you never expect that to be what you do in the community and being around it is one of my favourite things about the game.
7. A couple of fun ones for you: what’s your entrance song coming out of the bullpen?
The song that I’ve been using over the last two years is a song called “Chip” from The Real McKenzies. They’re a Canadian Celtic punk band and I just ended up finding it randomly trying to find myself an entrance song.
8. What’s your go-to food when you’re at the ballpark as a fan?
The best thing I can get to eat at a ballpark has to just be the classic hot dog. It’s nearly impossible to go wrong with that. I get it with ketchup, relish, onion and always banana peppers.
9. Lastly, when you get kids coming up to you asking for advice on how to follow in your footsteps one day, what are you saying to them?
The biggest thing that I say is baseball is still a game. It doesn’t matter where you play it or at what level, you see professionals, you see our guys, you see them all smiling and laughing and just enjoying the game for what it is. You’re outside in 20- or 30-degree weather, just hitting a rock with a stick. It’s the most fun you could have as a kid, as an adult or anything. I always tell them to enjoy the game you’re playing.
2 thoughts on “1 Thru 9: Reece Devlin”