By IAN WILSON

Baseball can be the cruelest sport.

Even after a highly successful season, it can leave you rattled and in doubt.

Case in point: the 2025 edition of the Sylvan Lake Gulls.

This was a team that had entered the summer having never beaten their top rival, the Okotoks Dawgs, in the playoffs. Nor had the Gulls ever won a WCBL championship, or even been to a league final series in their five-year history.

Sylvan Lake checked off some pretty big boxes last year. The Gulls defeated the Dawgs convincingly in the West Division championship series by sweeping the best-of-three matchup to punch their ticket to the big dance.

The Gulls rolled into the WCBL final and, following an extra-inning victory in the opening game in Regina, they were poised to sweep at home and register an undefeated playoff run.

With two outs in the ninth inning of Game 2 and Regina runners on second base and third base, Sylvan Lake closer Mickey McClaskey had Red Sox third baseman Justin Simard down 0-2 in the count. Regina was trailing 6-4 and one more strike or an out from a ball in play ends it. After taking a ball, the right-handed hitting Simard smacked a ball sharply to the opposite side of the field where second baseman Jaden Flores dove to knock it down. Unable to track down the ball in time to throw out the hustling Simard at first and with pinch runner Sam Baker already in to score, Flores made the only play he could, which was a throw home to get the tying runner. The throw came in to catcher Tripp Ray, who swung around to tag Jory Graves but the Red Sox pinch runner slid in under Ray’s catcher’s mitt and tied the score 6-6. From there, the ninth inning unraveled for the Gulls. The game ended 10-7 in the Red Sox favour and Sylvan Lake never recovered, dropping Game 3 by a 5-4 score and losing the final series two games to one. The at bat for Simard turned the series on its head and helped swing the championship for the Red Sox, while haunting the Gulls and their fans.

For Sylvan Lake boosters, the ending of the 2025 campaign displayed the baseball gods at their cruelest.

And yet, it was the most successful season in franchise history for the Gulls.

So, what’s in store for this summer?

Good luck, figuring that out.

The roster tells a story but at the end of the day, the team has to execute and maybe get a couple of bounces along the way.

Here’s a closer look at the players coming to Gulls Field in 2026.

BATTING

One of the major returning players was not along for the playoff ride last summer, but he’s a big-name batter. Outfielder Cooper Ciesielski, a Southeastern University student from Colorado, went on a tear during his 2024 season with Sylvan Lake. In 47 regular-season contests that year, Ciesielski had a .382 batting average with 53 runs batted in (RBI) and 43 runs scored. The righty hitter finished tied for the league lead in home runs (13) and doubles (21), and stood alone in leading the WCBL in slugging percentage (.758), OPS (1.253), secondary average (.533) and isolated power (.376). His lethal bat helped Ciesielski win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, as selected by coaches from across the WCBL.

Joining Ciesielski in the outfield is Michael Quick, who was a steady presence in the lineup in 2025. After joining the Gulls in July and batting .294 in 15 regular season contests, the Oshawa, Ontario product took his game to another level in the playoffs. He hit .455 with four runs, three RBI and a stolen base in seven postseason games.

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Another big bat to watch for is that of outfielder Daril Rodriguez, an affiliate player on the roster out of St. Josephy Academy. The 18-year-old from Red Deer won the 2025 Canadian Futures Showcase Home Run Derby.

The infield will include some familiar faces. Brooks Bachman, a lefty batter from Colorado Mesa University, had a .276 batting average, 22 runs and 14 RBI with the Gulls last year. Indiana native Bryce Turner is also back. Turner had three homers, 17 RBI, 20 runs and three stolen bases in 37 regular season games with the Gulls in 2025 before appearing in three playoff matchups.

Dayne Liske, a left-handed hitting infielder from Drayton Valley, Alberta, got into two games with the Gulls last summer. The affiliate from St. Joseph Academy, who has committed to Southwest Tennessee Community College, will look for more playing time in the WCBL this year.

Turner’s teammate at the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky, John Rittenhouse, has signed on with the Gulls and is listed as a utility player. The 6-foot-3 slugger has played in both the outfield and the infield, and through 100 games with the Patriots in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), he posted a .378 batting average, 26 home runs, 123 RBI and 110 runs.

A number of other new infielders will be tasked with helping the Gulls get back to the WCBL final, including Tylan Graves and Joey Marino.

Graves has primarily played at third base and second base, but he’s capable of fielding grounders at first base and shortstop as well. The right-handed hitter has played in 102 games at Southwest Tennessee Community College over the last two years and has a .307 batting average and a .413 on-base percentage. Graves has also collected 24 homers, 109 RBI, 101 runs and 25 stolen bases in 355 at bats.

Marino joins the Gulls out of Surrey, British Columbia. He’s logged 100 games with Cloud County Community College and registered 98 RBI, 87 runs, 30 doubles, 16 long balls and a .362 batting average. Marino has taken the field at first, second and third base.

A pair of other new infielders – Noah Solano and Nathan Hopkins – will also be in the mix for at bats and groundball duty. Solano hails from Chula Vista, California and attends Colorado Mesa University, while Hopkins is a shortstop from Parker, Colorado who has batted .323 with 41 runs, 29 RBI and 15 stolen bases through 42 games with Southeastern University in Florida.

Behind the plate, Tripp Ray is back for another WCBL campaign. The 6-foot-4 right-handed batter took the field in 30 games with the Gulls in 2025, including six playoff contests. In his 91 at bats, the Memphis, Tennessee native produced 10 runs, four long balls, 21 RBI, three stolen bases and a pair of triples while batting .264.

Rece Schuerman, a 20-year-old backstop at Gonzaga University will also frame pitches for the Gulls. The Spokane, Washington product has five homers and 22 RBI in 54 games with the Zags over the last two years.

PITCHING

Sylvan Lake will undoubtedly miss the heroics of inning eaters Ty Boudreau and Joshua Tucker. Boudreau is now taking the mound at the Single-A level in the New York Yankees system, while Tucker – the WCBL’s all-time strikeout leader – has signed on with the Boise Hawks of the Pioneer Baseball League.

Despite their departures, the Gulls have a number of dependable arms returning this year.

Nova Scotian Matthew Mackenzie led the pitching staff in innings pitched during the 2025 regular season before making two postseason starts for Sylvan Lake. The 6-foot-2 righty went 2-3 with a 3.24 earned run average (ERA) and 50 strikeouts in 13 games and 50 total innings last summer. He’ll be counted on again in big moments this season.

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Mason Little is also back after going 2-0 with a 3.70 ERA and 29 Ks in 12 games and 34 innings – mostly out of the bullpen – with the Gulls last year. Little is a 6-foot-2 hill topper from Memphis, Tennessee.

Calgary’s Kai Rempel split time as a starter and as a reliever in Sylvan Lake in 2025. Four of his 12 games were starts and he went 1-0 with a 4.68 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 25 innings. The 6-foot-3 righthander attends Cloud County Community College.

Noah Bourgeois was a teammate of Rempel’s at Cloud County before joining forces again in central Alberta. In 20-plus innings, the righty from Surrey, B.C. went 2-1 with 16 strikeouts and a 3.91 ERA over six games.

A pair of pitchers from Panama City, Panama are also back on the roster. Ramses Guerra and Olmedo Quezada are both righthanders who attend Faulkner University. Guerra was primarily used as a starting pitcher by the Gulls during the 2024 season and he went 3-2 with 27 strikeouts and a 5.40 ERA over 10 games and 28-plus innings. Quezada appeared in 17 games with Sylvan Lake in 2024, picking up a win and a save, along with 24 Ks and a 5.23 ERA in his 20.2 innings in the WCBL that season.

Two southpaws from the 2025 team will also be back on the bump at Gulls Field.

Reece Usselman is a 6-foot-3 lefty from Langley, B.C. who posted a 2.03 ERA and 20 strikeouts over eight games – two of them starts – and 17.2 innings with the Gulls.

Fellow British Columbian Dylan Myttenar, a Vancouver native, will look to improve on his 0-4 record and 7.57 ERA over 27.1 innings with the Gulls last year. The UBC Thunderbird appeared in 11 games and made six starts for Sylvan Lake.

New righthanders on the club from the University of Cumberlands include Brayden Stewart and Ethan Coronel. Other right-handed pitchers who are joining the Gulls for the first time are Ottawa, Ontario’s George Hobbins (Butler Community College) and Estonian Aleks Koppel (Mayville State University).

Bryson Leach is a 6-foot-1 righty who will join Sylvan Lake following his freshman campaign at Gonzaga University.

COACHING

The biggest managerial shakeup in the West Division took place in central Alberta, where Jason Chatwood has moved on from his role as head coach of the Sylvan Lake Gulls.

Coach “Chatty” was named the franchise’s first head coach in March of 2020 and guided the club through their inaugural 2021 season during a COVID-19 shortened campaign. He has been at the helm since that time and added the responsibility of general manager to his workload in 2022. During the regular season, Chatwood compiled a record of 179 victories and 85 losses over five years. In the postseason, he had a 12-10 record that included a run to the league championship final in 2025. The Innisfail product was named the WCBL Coach of the Year in 2024 when he led the Gulls to a 44-12 record.

“Jason is the main reason that the Gulls have been competitive right from that first season,” said Aqil Samuel, the president and chief operating officer of the Gulls in a press release.

“We appreciate everything he has done in the early years of our franchise, not only winning baseball games on the field, but helping build our culture, representing us in our community, and developing the young men that come through Sylvan Lake the last five years.”

While Chatwood will remain with the team as the general manager of baseball operations, the man he recommended as his successor, Matt Hape, will enter the 2026 season as the head coach. The Bozeman, Montana native has served as the pitching coach for the Gulls over the last four years.

“We have witnessed Matt grow as a coach in his time in Sylvan Lake and feel he is ready for the next step in our organization. His dedication to winning, recruiting, developing players, and being part of this community make him a perfect fit as the second ever head coach of the Gulls,” said Samuel.

Wyatt McKnight will also return for a fifth season as an assistant coach with the Gulls.

“His commitment to excellence and familiarity with our organization make him a valuable asset,” said Samuel.

The Gulls fill out their coaching staff by adding Andrew Parks, a coach from Arizona Western College who has also worked with the Minnesota Twins as a hitting coordinator.

Home Ballpark: Gulls Field

Home Opener: 7:05 p.m., Thursday, May 28th vs. Okotoks Dawgs

2025 Regular Season Results: 2nd place in West Division with 36 wins & 20 losses

2025 Playoff Results: Lost in WCBL Championship series to Regina Red Sox; 5-2 postseason record