Lethbridge Bulls 2025 Preview

Fans had plenty of drama and storylines to follow during the 2024 Western Canadian Baseball League season.

The Okotoks Dawgs were in hot pursuit of a three-peat championship, the Sylvan Lake Gulls were putting together a regular season wins record and those two rivals were on a collision course in the postseason.

In the East Division, the Saskatoon Berries burst onto the scene with a memorable season for the expansion team and the Moose Jaw Miller Express were cooking up their own playoff magic.

Meanwhile, the Lethbridge Bulls were quietly turning in a solid campaign. The horned bovines finished 16 games above .500 in the regular season and faced off against the Dawgs in a best-of-three opening round series in the playoffs.

That hard-fought matchup pushed both teams to the limit. Okotoks drew first blood with a 7-4 win in the first game, but Lethbridge responded with a 5-4 victory as both teams held serve at their home stadiums. The winner-take-all third game was a classic that went into extra innings and featured a bullpen battle between Ashton Luera of the Dawgs and two-way star Jack Kalisky of the Bulls. Okotoks middle infielder Ricardo Sanchez delivered a squeeze play bunt that plated the winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning.

The Dawgs went on to capture their third consecutive WCBL championship, while the Bulls were left wondering about what could have been.

Lethbridge will see some key veteran players return to Spitz Stadium in 2025 to make a postseason push yet again. The Bulls will likely have to get past the Dawgs or Gulls if they hope to capture a championship. Is this the roster that can do it?

COACHING

Back for another year in the dugout is head coach is Ryan MacDonald. MacDonald was in that role in 2024 after serving three straight seasons as an assistant coach with the Bulls.

The Nova Scotian played for Lethbridge for five years and was first named a skipper with the Bulls in the fall of 2013. MacDonald led the team to its first WCBL title in 2015 and was a member of the coaching staff during its 2021 championship season. He’s also been a longtime coach with the Prairie Baseball Academy (PBA) in Lethbridge.

“We had a good core group of guys last year … we’re filling holes with guys that aren’t coming back and I think on paper right now we’re shaping up to be a little bit better than last year,” said MacDonald on The Bullhorn: The Lethbridge Bulls Baseball Report podcast.

Aiding MacDonald is pitching coach Josh Burgmann, a Nanaimo, British Columbia product who has been a part of the coaching staff of the Bulls since 2023. Burgmann was a fifth-round pick of the Chicago Cubs in the 2019 MLB Draft. The Vauxhall Academy of Baseball graduate also coaches at PBA with MacDonald.

Myles Fletcher, who was on the roster of the first Lethbridge Bulls team in 1999, is the bench coach for a second straight year, while Carlin Dick is making the move from player to assistant coach. Dick, a native of Abbotsford, British Columbia, was a lefty slugger with the club for three summers. In his 121 games with the Bulls, the Vauxhall Academy grad collected 113 hits, 72 runs, 55 RBI and 17 stolen bases.

The biggest off-season move the Bulls made was locking up mascot T-Bone for 25 years.

PITCHING

Calgarian Sheamus Ryan will be back in Lethbridge for a second WCBL season. The lefty starting pitcher will look to build on a 2024 campaign that saw him go 3-0 with 28 strikeouts and a 0.38 earned run average (ERA) over 23 regular season innings with the Bulls.

Other returning pitchers include righthanders Donovan Gamez, Jimmy Boulanger and Lucas Huynh.

Boulanger is an Abbotsford, B.C. native who made 10 appearances in 2024, six of them starts. The Eastern Arizona College student went 1-2 with 34 Ks in 36 innings for Lethbridge. Boulanger was the starting pitcher in the 13-inning marathon Game 3 against Okotoks in the playoffs.

Gamez showed that he had game with the Bulls last year. The moundsman from San Antonio, Texas made six regular season starts last summer and went 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA. He also recorded 19 strikeouts in 25 innings.

Huynh is a 6-foot-3 Vancouver product who pitched out of the bullpen last season. The University of British Columbia (UBC) pupil went 1-0 with a pair of saves and a 4.76 ERA in his 10 games and 17 innings of work in the WCBL. Huynh was also a K-per-inning pitcher.

Local righty Levi Abbott is returning for a second tour of duty with the Bulls. The Vauxhall Academy grad, who studies at Canisius University, was outstanding for Lethbridge back in 2021. That season he finished second in the WCBL with strikeouts with 66 Ks and went 4-2 with a 2.89 ERA over 43.2 innings.

Max Benton is also back with the club after not pitching for Lethbridge last summer. The Prince Edward Island product and PBA alum appeared in 34 games with the Bulls between 2021 and 2023 and picked up nine wins and 99 Ks in 146-plus innings of mound work.

Calgarian Aidan Newton, a 6-foot-3 righthander, returns to Spitz Stadium, as well. The PBA grad pitched with the Bulls in 2022 and 2023 and worked 74-plus innings as both a starter and a reliever.

Southpaw Brett Getz is moving up the highway from Medicine Hat, where he pitched last summer with the Mavericks. The Eastern Arizona College student had 20 strikeouts in 19.1 innings with the Mavs.

Other lefty options available to the team are Jacob Hageman, a Coquitlam, B.C. hurler attending Castal Bend Community College, and reliever Hayden Hable of Southwest Baptist University.

New arms on the roster include righthanders Colin Whited (Southwest Baptist University); reliever Gavin Allen (William Woods University); Julian Robertson (Ohio University); ; Logan McNamara (Three Rivers College); Samuel Herrera (Dominican University); Tyler Pauly (Our Lady of the Lake University); and Scotty Langley (UBC).

Jason Berglund, Keller Lindeman and Patrick MacInnis are all hill toppers at Midland College who will suit up for the Bulls this year.

The Bulls will miss ace southpaw Javier De Alejandro, an All-Star who had been with the club since 2022 and tossed a no-hitter in 2023. He is not returning this summer.

BATTING

Lethbridge is getting back a two-for-one player in Jack Kalisky. The double threat is a beast in the batter’s box and a menace on the mound. The 6-foot-5 righty is entering his third season with the Bulls out of Our Lady of the Lake University. As a pitcher, Kalisky has worked as a reliever in 40 regular season and playoff games. In that time, he’s 2-3 with 10 saves, a 2.26 ERA and 63 strikeouts over 51-plus innings. At the plate, the Texan has a .281 batting average, 64 RBI, 61 runs, 10 homers and 11 steals in his 360 WCBL at bats.

Red Deer’s Carter Claerhout will handle first base duties. The Southern Arkansas University student was not a part of the 2024 team but he did suit up with the Bulls in 2022 and 2023. In his 91 games with Lethbridge, the lefty batter has 88 hits, 43 RBI, 41 runs and 19 stolen bases.

Infielders at the coaching staff’s disposal include JC Spinosa (Canisius University), Luke Wheatley (Midland College), and Axel Puls (Everett Community College).

Noah McNeil is back from the nation’s capital to work behind the plate. The 6-foot-2 catcher out of Prairie Baseball Academy appeared in 26 games with Lethbridge in 2024 and posted a .321 batting average while scoring 22 runs.

Eastern Arizona College product Drew Bufford is available for dish duty, and Dalen Blanchard out of Arkansas can also catch and play numerous positions, including third base and the corner outfield spots.

Adonis Bernal signed up for another WCBL season in L.A., as well. The Panama product is listed as both a catcher and outfielder. In 47 regular season and playoff games last summer, Bernal had 39 runs, 31 RBI, six homers and a .287 batting average.

Other outfield options include Texan Jalen Ryan (Eastern Arizona College) and Hawaiian Lee Matsuzaki (Southern Arkansas University).

Brennan McTavish, Stevyn Andrachick and switch hitter Bernie Socarras are expected to find playing time in both the infield and the outfield in 2025.

Socarras joins the team out of Friends University. In his 13 games with the Bulls last year, the New Mexico native batted .429 with 19 runs and nine RBI. He also belted a pair of long balls and swiped three bags.

McTavish is a local product who studies at Midland College. He got into a pair of games in 2024 and will seek more playing time this season.

Andrachick plays with McTavish at Midland College. The Montana native was a member of the Brooks Bombers in 2023.