From Student To Teacher

It was a long road from the initial concept of the Edmonton Collegiate Trappers to actually becoming a franchise in the Canadian College Baseball Conference.

From folding to being a probationary team to finally taking part in real games in 2019, Ty Wagar was there every step of the way.

The senior reflected on his time with the Trappers in Episode #29 of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast and here is that Q&A.

Alberta’s AL Dugout Connections

Major League Baseball (MLB) may feel like it is far removed from the ball diamonds of Alberta, but if you play a quick game of six dugouts of separation you’ll discover there are plenty of coaching connections between the majors and our province.

In our first of a two-part series exploring those connections, we look at the American League squads who have former Alberta players on the payroll.

Wall-to-Wall Coverage

In an effort to track how some of his son’s friends were doing in college baseball state-side, Kevin Wall created the CB Players website.

It’s now turned into a place many fans, coaches and players turn to for information about Canadians (and Albertans) doing great things in the United States.

1 Thru 9: St. Francis Xavier

If you’re around baseball long enough in the Edmonton area, you will eventually hear about St. FX, or just FX.

That’s the abbreviated form of St. Francis Xavier Baseball Academy, a program that guides student athletes as they pursue their academic and sporting dreams.

Brad Wolansky, the director of the academy, brought his extensive baseball experience to Alberta’s capital with the aim of coaching aspiring major leaguers. He made time for us and our latest installment of “1 Thru 9,” which examines the baseball academies in Alberta.

Going To Wark

St. Albert’s Jackson Wark has always dreamed about playing college baseball.

And while he may be one of the top-ranked draft-eligible players from Canada, right now he’s focused on bringing success to his Saint Louis University Billikens.

We chatted with him for a recent episode of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast and here’s that exchange.

Aussies in Alberta

Baseball’s popularity across the world is rising. With players from all over the world getting an opportunity to play in the MLB, it comes as no surprise that some of that talent is finding its way to the Western Major Baseball League.

In particular, two Australians called Alberta their home for the summer. Edmonton’s Michael Gahan and Lethbridge’s Lachlan Mayo made names for themselves in different ways over the past couple of years in our province.

Scouting Alberta

Just about a year into its existence, the Alberta bureau of Prep Baseball Report is making strides in building up a “robust profile” on some of the province’s young baseball talent.

Former Lethbridge Bulls pitcher Andrew Maclean sat down with us to talk about what he’s looking for, what he’s seeing and what we should be seeing out of the baseball scene in Alberta over the next few years.

Repping Alberta on the World Series stage

A pair of Alberta baseball products will be competing for one of the biggest prizes in US junior college. Spruce Grove’s Kobe Hyland and Lethbridge’s Shawn Grandmont are suiting up in the JUCO World Series.

Oulton Hears a Hoo

Alberta baseball fans may recognize left-handed pitcher Taran Oulton from his work on the mound for the Edmonton Prospects of the Western Major Baseball League (WMBL), but the 21-year-old has been a stabilizing force for the William Woods University (WWU) Owls this season.

The Owls – who play out of Fulton, Missouri in the American Midwest Conference – have an overall record of 21-11 on the year, including a 10-3 showing in the conference, good for second place.

For his part, Oulton has collected five wins over eight starts. The 6-foot tall junior has not pitched less than six innings during any one outing, and he has yet to yield more than two earned runs on game days. Over 55 innings, Oulton has struck out 50 batters while walking 15 hitters. He has also surrendered 56 hits, but just one of them for a home run

Lucky Charms

You could call it the luck of the Irish that Adam Macko ended up in Alberta.

The left-handed pitching prospect did indeed play baseball in Ireland in 2012 and 2013, winning a Little League championship that first year and finishing second the next.

And if it’s true that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, than you can certainly call Adam lucky. But that seems rather dismissive of all the hard work that he put it in before arriving in Canada … and since he got here.