Kindersley Stallions Dallas McGrath, Corson Harris, Kyle Donaldson and Joel McGrath will all be playing in national tournaments as members of Team Saskatchewan. Dallas, Harris and Donaldson are playing the 21U Men’s Championship and Joel is playing in the 17U Baseball Canada Cup.
Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
Four members of the Kindersley Stallions baseball club are travelling to eastern Canada this month to play in national tournaments for Team Saskatchewan.
Kyle Donaldson, Corson Harris and Dallas McGrath are all heading to St. Thomas, Ont., to play for Team Saskatchewan in the 21U Men’s Championship on Aug. 16-19. Joel McGrath, a younger brother to Dallas, is heading to Moncton, N.B., to play for Team Saskatchewan in the Baseball Canada Cup on Aug. 8-12.
Kindersley hosted the Baseball Canada Cup, a national 17U tournament, twice in back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010. Donaldson and Dallas also played in the Junior AAA Provincials held this past weekend in Regina.
Joel, who is entering his final year at the Badlands Baseball Academy in the fall, said his coach at the academy in Oyen had been talking to Coach Greg Brons of Team Saskatchewan, and the discussion focused on him and one of his Badgers teammates from Unity.
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He noted that he began talking with Brons near the end of 2017, and they were talking about the opportunity to play for the 17U Baseball Canada Cup team. Joel, 16, is in his final year of eligibility for the 17U team, so it was nice to find out he would wear the province’s colours in New Brunswick.
“I was pretty happy to get the call,” he said, recognizing that he received confirmation of his spot on Team Saskatchewan in a call from July 4 and he is excited for the opportunity to represent his province at the tournament.
The 16-year-old player said he has been told he will be used primarily as a starting pitcher, and he hopes to have the opportunity to start games because the pitcher’s position is his favourite position to play. He recalls attending the Baseball Canada Cup in Kindersley, and now he gets to live out a dream.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do like ever since I was a little kid,” Joel said, recognizing that he has wanted to play for his province ever since the experience of attending the tournament in Kindersley. “I’ve always wanted to put on a Team (Saskatchewan) jersey.”
He said he looks forward to getting more experience and seeing new players, but also to playing for the scouts. He added that his goal is to play his best and to do things to help the team bring home a national championship.
Harris, a valuable commodity as a southpaw on the mound, said he believes he is going to be used primarily as a pitcher in the 21U tournament, but he could be used as a pinch runner at times during the tournament. The tryout on July 21 was only for the three local players, but he believes it went well for everyone.
He noted that all three local players threw a mock bullpen session because they all pitch. He said Donaldson and Dallas took ground balls in the infield while he fielded fly balls from the coach in the outfield. Harris is at home in centre field when he is not on the mound.
According to Harris, he had not talked to the Team Saskatchewan coach before he got the call to go to Saskatoon for the tryout. He said the coach called Stallions player-manager Austin Jamieson and Jamieson recommended the three players.
It was explained that the 21U team has often been filled with players from the east side of the province, along with players from Saskatoon and Regina, so the coach wanted to expand to include more players from the west side of the province.
Harris said it will be nice to have at least two familiar faces in the locker room and it should make it easier to get comfortable as a team. He said there is still a lot of ball to be played before the tournament, so he should not be rusty when the time comes. He said it was nice to earn a spot on the team.
“I’m excited for it,” he said, recognizing that it will be the furthest east in Canada he has travelled. “I’m just looking to try and help the team win, and do the best we can because this is probably one of the best ball tournaments I’ll be a part of in my life.”
Donaldson, who won a Junior AAA Provincial championship playing with the Regina Reds on the weekend, said he is used to the idea of trying out for teams, but it was a little different because it was just the three local guys.
He noted that he plays with Harris and Dallas all season, and it is likely all three players felt more comfortable because it was just the three of them and they know each other well. The multi-sport athlete, a former member of the Iron Horse Kindersley Klippers, said he is happy for the opportunity.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Donaldson said, recognizing that he is excited about it and he knows Harris and Dallas are also excited to suit up with Team Saskatchewan. “It’ll be a good experience, and I met some of the guys this weekend at provincials in Regina.”
The coach of the Regina Reds is also the coach for the 21U team, so he is building familiarity with the coach and some of his Team Saskatchewan teammates, Donaldson said. He added that it will be extra special to play alongside his Stallions teammates in Ontario.
Dallas said he hopes to be pitching for Team Saskatchewan and he looks forward to putting on the jersey to represent his home province. He agreed that having two close teammates in the locker room is going to make it easier to adjust.
However, he said baseball players are typically good at coming together as a team and it is not too difficult. He noted that there was a larger tryout for the 21U team, but none of the Kindersley players made it there.
He said he played with the North Battleford Beavers in the Junior AAA Provincials on the weekend, so he has been busy playing as much ball as possible. He has never been outside of the airport in Toronto, so he looks forward to seeing some new scenery. It will be an unforgettable experience.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Dallas added, recognizing that he is looking forward to testing his skills as a pitcher against other talented ball players. “I never really thought I would be playing for Team (Saskatchewan), but here I am.”
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