Big news at the ballpark: The Gulls ‘From the Nest’ newsletter is now officially sponsored by the Sylvan Lake News! A huge thank you to their team for supporting Gulls baseball and the Sylvan Lake community.
The countdown to summer continues to drop and we are now just 58 days out from May 28 and the first pitch of the 2026 season! To get you back into the groove of baseball, the annual Hot Stove event is next week and we have an invitation for you! Also in this edition, a reminder of the Flex Plan purchase deadline, an early look at the 2026 season with a roster reveal, new columns from Jim Claggett and Jeff Falls, a closer look at the Summer Send-Off music festival and backyard party, and much more!
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Ever wanted to ask the Coach about the roster or the COO about stadium updates? Now is your chance. Our 4th Annual Pre-season Hot Stove Q&A is just around the corner, and we have some exciting news: for the first time ever, we are opening this event to the public!
Join us on Tuesday, April 7 at the Chalet at Westerner Park for an evening of baseball talk and community. Doors open at 6:30 PM, with the main program running from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
This is your chance to get the inside scoop directly from the Gulls Leadership team, including GM of Baseball Ops Jason Chatwood, President & COO Aqil Samuel, and other special guests including new Head Coach Matt Hape and new assistant coach Andrew Parks (joining virtually). We’ll have a cash bar and light snacks available. Come pull up a chair and talk Gulls baseball with us!
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Imagine! Thinking you knew something about the game of baseball, only to find out you were incorrect.
I always thought the distance between second base and first was 90 feet. The same line of thinking applied from second to third. Apparently, it has never been that number and Abner Doubleday is rolling over in his grave.
For the past 135 years that bag so many ball players try to steal has been in the wrong spot.
First and third base are snugged up against the foul line, which is their spot on the diamond. Nothing new about that, but that pesky second base has no natural corner on the field. Nope! Geometrically speaking, that ornery bag is positioned so the imaginary corner (measured from the back right and back left corners of first and third) runs right through the middle of the misplaced bag.
Now second base really had nothing to do with this math predicament. The blame lies on the corner bags which were moved in the late 19th century. They were repositioned to help umpires with fair/foul calls. Ball hits bag, it’s fair. Ball doesn’t hit bag, it’s foul. But poor little second base is minus any foul lines running through it, so they kept it where it was.
So, baseball brain trust has decided that halfway through this minor league season they will have second base pack its bag and move? (Or is that pack itself?) So, the old distance was 88 feet, 1.5 inches. The new number will read 87 feet and the feng shui of baseball will be back in balance. In addition to the move, MLB will be using bags that are now 18 inches square, replacing the 15-inch square bags.
Base stealers are rubbing their hands as now that valuable piece of equipment that just sits there waiting to be swiped will be 13.5 inches closer to their possession. I’m not sure catchers are pleased with that advantage given to the runner, or pitchers who must hold them on first.
Unbeknownst to most of us fans, this was done last year in the Triple-A West League. Stolen base success rates went from 74.8 per cent to 77.0 per cent. The number of attempts barely budged.
So, balance has been restored to the geometry of the diamond, second base now has a new home, and you won’t even notice the difference. But now you know why.
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The dugout is starting to take shape! Over the past few weeks, we’ve been slowly pulling back the curtain on our 2026 roster. We’ve already announced a strong core of returning veterans who are ready to finish what they started, alongside a crop of exciting new talent from across the college circuits. If you haven’t been following along, you’ve missed some big names, but there are plenty more to come!
Don’t miss a single signing: We’ll be announcing more players every week leading up to Spring Training. Head over to our Facebook and Instagram pages to see who will be swinging for the fences at Gulls Field this summer!
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Today is the FINAL DAY to purchase a 2026 Gulls Flex Plan! If you’re looking for flexibility and early access to the most popular games on the schedule, this is your last chance to secure one before the deadline.
One of the biggest perks of being a Flex Plan holder is early access to seat and game selection. Starting April 1 (TOMORROW!), Flex Plan members can begin choosing their games two weeks before tickets open to the general public on April 15. Fan-favourite games like the Hawaiian Luau on July 26 and the Fan Appreciation Fireworks night on August 5th sell out quickly, so that early window makes all the difference!
If you’re hoping to plan your summer at Gulls Field with the best selection of games available, be sure to grab your Flex Plan before the end of the day!
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Most fans of the Sylvan Lake Gulls have an idea about their history and how they got to where they are, but I’m sure there are a lot of fans that don’t know how the WCBL got to where it is today. This league can be traced back 95 years, as far as 1930, when it started out as the Southern Saskatchewan Baseball League. In 1959, the Northern Saskatchewan Baseball League came into existence, and in 1974 three teams from each of these leagues merged and became the Saskatchewan Major Baseball League.
The six teams that formed this merge were the Eston Ramblers, the Saskatoon Royals, and the Unity Cardinals from the Northern League, and the Moose Jaw Devons, the Regina Red Sox, and the Swift Current Indians from the Southern League. Four of these locations still have teams in the current league, although some are using new names or may be new organizations. Over the years a number of teams joined the SMBL, and a number of them didn’t survive. Teams like the Eston Ramblers, Hazlet Elks, Kindersley Royals, Melville Millionaires, Unity Cardinals, Yorkton Cardinals, and three different teams based in Saskatoon: the Liners, the Nationals, and the Yellow Jackets.
In 2000 the league again changed its name and became the Western Baseball League when it expanded into Alberta, and the possibility of including teams from BC. In 2018 it became the Western Canadian Baseball League. Alberta teams began to join the league. The Lethbridge Bulls were the first Alberta team to join in 1999, with the Okotoks Dawgs and the Medicine Hat Mavericks beginning in 2003, the Edmonton Prospects in 2005, the Brooks Bombers in 2015, the Fort McMurray Giants in 2016, and finally the Sylvan Lake Gulls in 2021. The Saskatoon Berries were the most recent team to join the league, and there are now 12 teams, with 5 in Saskatchewan and 7 in Alberta. To make for even divisions, Medicine Hat plays in the Eastern Conference with the 5 teams from Saskatchewan.
In 2011 a franchise was granted to Cranbrook, BC, conditional on a suitable stadium being built, but their plans fell through, so they never joined the league. BC remains an option for the future.
Since 2001, when the league expanded to include Alberta teams, the most successful organization has been Okotoks, who have won the league championship 8 times, followed by Swift Current, who have won it 6 times. Sylvan came very close to winning the league championship last year after finally dethroning the Dawgs and representing the Western Division in the chase for the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy. They fell 2 games to 1 to the Regina Red Sox in the final series.
In the Gulls’ short history they have left a mark on the league. In just 5 years since joining the WCBL they have twice had the league MVP, Cooper Ciesielski and Jonah Weisner, twice had the Most Outstanding Pitcher, Ty Boudreau and Josh Tucker, and Coach Jason Chatwood was recognized as the Top Coach in the league. In addition, Mickey McClaskey was honored as the Top Relief Pitcher last season, and Josh Tucker became the first pitcher in WCBL history to record 300 strikeouts.
So now, with the beginning of the 2026 season just over 2 months away, we wait to see what this year’s team will look like. The Gulls expect about half of the roster from last year to return, with some commitments being announced already. The balance of the roster will be announced between now and the end of May. We know we’ll have a new bench boss, with Jason Chatwood stepping away and Matt Hape taking over those duties. We also know that Wyatt McKnight will be back as a coach and Andrew Parks has been added to the staff.
The Gulls have had a very successful first 5 seasons, and the hope is that the team will continue to build on those successes. It’ll be an interesting couple of months as the roster is filled out.
Go, Gulls, Go!!!
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