Don’t let the snow on the ground fool you- baseball season is close enough to touch! We are officially just 30 days away from the Sea of Gold Home Opener on May 28. Plenty of time to dig through your closet, find your brightest gold (or yellow!) outfit, and get ready to bring the noise back to Gulls Field!
Can’t wait until the 28th? We can’t either!
Get your first baseball fix of the year at our exhibition game against the Red Deer Riggers on May 26. It’s the perfect chance to shake your feathers off of the winter blues and get a sneak peek of what is coming to the ballpark in the WCBL season. More details on this game and more in this month’s From the Nest brought to you by the Sylvan Lake News.
Spring might be taking its sweet time, but the Gulls are ready to fly!
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Baseball returns to Pogadl Park a couple days early with our annual Media Day and Exhibition Game on Tuesday, May 26! The media interviews begin in the afternoon, giving local reporters and journalists the chance to spend some one-on-one time with the Gulls as they prepare for the season ahead.
At 5:30 PM, the gates will open for fans as the Gulls take on the Red Deer Riggers in a 7-inning exhibition game, with first pitch at 7:05 pm. Tickets are just $10, and fans can expect the full game-day experience: promotions, announcements, music, and everything else that makes a night at the ballpark special. It’s the perfect way to get geared up for the season before the Sea of Gold Home Opener on Thursday!
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The Gulls Merch Store reopens for the season on Monday, May 19, and we can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on!
Swing by the park between 12:00 PM and 6:00 PM to browse our 2026 lineup. We’ve got everything from fresh hat drops and new tee designs to those classic fan favourites that are essential for the Sea of Gold. Remember, the early bird gets the best sizes!
Store Hours
> Monday, May 19: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
> Game Days: 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Store reopens at 5:30 PM for game time
Season Ticket Holders: Starting May 19, you can also stop in to pick up your 2026 season lanyards. Grab yours early so you’re all set for a smooth, quick entry for the start of the season!
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As the Gulls have started to announce a number of players returning to Sylvan Lake this summer, I thought I’d take this opportunity to look into some of the new people we’ll be watching this summer. My wife Kim and I have the opportunity to spend a few months a year in Arizona, and we watch a lot of ball down here. This year, when Andrew Parks was announced as a new member of the Gulls coaching staff, we were quite excited to hear that he was coaching at Arizona Western in Yuma, AZ. We thought we might be able to find a game somewhere near us in Scottsdale so that we could see him in action and hopefully get a chance to talk to him. We discovered that they would be playing a doubleheader against Arizona Central in Coolidge, which is only about an hour from us. We drove down, found him, and he graciously agreed to talk to me.
Andrew spent four years attending Medaille College in Buffalo, NY, which is part of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. Over his time there he made 30 appearances as a pitcher. In his final year he also made appearances in the outfield in 20 games. After playing his college ball he settled into working in training facilities and spent time doing this in Pennsylvania and in Florida. For the 2025 baseball season he was hired by the Minnesota Twins to be a coach with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (I love some of the minor league team names), a Low “A” team, working with batters and pitchers. This season he accepted a position at Arizona Western with the Matadors, where he again is helping with their pitchers and batters. He also acts as their third base coach.
I asked him whether he had been to Canada before, and he said that playing in Buffalo he had been to Canada, but never to Western Canada, and he was very excited for the opportunity. He told me that he had met Jason Chatwood a few times over the years but had only talked to the other coaches, Matt Hape and Wyatt McKnight, on the phone. He is also looking forward to meeting the ownership and management teams once he arrives in Canada. The Matadors’ regular season wraps up May 2, and depending how they do in their playoffs will determine when he actually arrives in Sylvan. Anyone who caught him when he was interviewed on the Gulls Hot Stove will probably agree that Andrew should be a great fit with the Gulls. I asked him about what his duties would be here and he said that any time you have a small coaching staff, like the Gulls do, he will be helping out with everything.
Along with a number of returning Gulls players we will also be seeing a number of new players wearing Gulls jerseys this summer. We are starting to see some of them announced. We have heard that there will be a number of players joining us from the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, KY. The Gulls have announced Ethan Coronel, a right-handed pitcher, will be coming. He is from The Woodlands, TX, and coming out of high school was rated as #106 of all RHPs in Texas. He has spent the past two summers pitching for the Kelowna Falcons of the WCL, a rival summer league.
Also coming from the University of the Cumberlands is another RHP, Brayden Stewart. He is a 6’3″ junior from Warsaw, KY. This past season he was 4–0 in 13 appearances. He also had 1 save. Another player joining the Gulls this summer from the University of the Cumberlands is Johnboy Rittenhouse. Johnboy is 6’3″ and is a utility player. Over his college career he has batted .378, hit 26 HRs, and drove in 123 runs, so it looks like he’ll bring a bit of pop to the Gulls roster.
Another RHP joining the Gulls this summer will be Ottawa native George Hobbins. He’s another big kid, standing 6’2″. He will be coming to us from Butler Community College in El Dorado, KS. Last summer he spent some time in the WCL with the Kamloops Northpaws. Aleks Koppel will be another RHP this season. Aleks is from Kiili, Estonia. He will be joining us from Mayville State University in Mayville, ND. Infielder Tylan Graves will also be coming north for the summer, a 20-year-old with some size at 6’3″ and some pop at the plate. This past season, playing at Southwest Tennessee, he recorded a .304 BA, 11 HRs, and 53 RBIs. Another infielder coming for this season is Joey Marino from Surrey, BC. Joey is just wrapping up his second season at Cloud Community College in Junction City, KS. Over his two years there he has hit .361 with 16 home runs and 97 RBIs. Last summer he also played with the Kamloops Northpaws.
It looks like we’ve got some exciting new talent heading our way this summer, and I can’t wait for the season to get underway.
Go, Gulls, Go!!!
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On the first two Sundays of July, the Gulls and the Cactus Rats will face off in a high-stakes “Home and Home” marathon. We’re playing two games in two different cities, all within 12 hours. It’s a true test for the players and a unique chance for the fans to catch the action at both ends of the QE2!
Sunday, July 5
Game One: 12:05 PM @ Gulls Field (Sylvan Lake)
Game Two: 7:05 PM @ Energy City Metro Ballpark (Spruce Grove)
Sunday, July 12
Game One: 12:05 PM @ Energy City Metro Ballpark
Game Two: 7:05 PM @ Gulls Field
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Registration is now open for the fourth annual Gulls Give Foundation Birdie Bash!
Join us on Monday, July 20 at Alberta Springs Golf Resort for a day of sport and community. This annual event is a key fundraiser for the Gulls Give Foundation, helping us support vital mental health initiatives across Central Alberta.
Your entry includes 18 holes of golf with a power cart, a breakfast sandwich to kick things off, a welcome gift bag, and much more! Our incredible hole sponsors will be stationed throughout the course with food and drink stops to keep you fuelled, and we’ll wrap the day up with a banquet dinner and prize ceremony. It’s a great way to spend a summer day with friends and fellow fans while making a real impact in our community.
Click the link below to register your spot or a full foursome!
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Back in the old days (like when I played baseball) we all had the chore of breaking in our new baseball glove. It was a rite of passage for the player, but more so for the glove.
The simplest method was taking a ball and firing it into the pocket of the glove about a thousand times each day, which drove our parents crazy with the sound.
Then each night we had the ball placed into the pocket and tied it shut with rope so it would maintain its new form. All this was very necessary as new gloves came out of the box with the flexibility of a fence board.
The times have changed as gloves can be purchased from the store not really needing that TLC we gave them, but they still need something to achieve the consistency the player likes them to be.
So how do MLB players break in their gloves? In Arizona, for example, where the climate is a bit on the dry side, some players use a steamer for their gloves and even their new cleats. They claim the steam keeps the leather soft.
Other methods include hot water, freezing it, and then there is the violent method of beating it with a wooden mallet. There are those who will use the dryer to get it to the feel they are looking for.
One player used the clubhouse microwave, putting his mitt in there for two minutes. Not sure if that was on the high setting or some lower level.
Another player adopted the old-school method of using an oil on it, then putting a ball in the pocket and keeping that form by using a belt.
Another player claimed he used something called a hydrocollator, which is a machine used in athletic training rooms. It’s basically a unit which heats up gel pads, providing athletes with relief from sore muscles, stiffness, and it increases circulation. It seems to also work for baseball glove softening. No word on whether it allows the owner of the glove the ability to never mishandle a ball. We will still see a player make an error and after the play is done, they look at their glove and wonder why it let them down.
Maybe they had it in the microwave on the wrong setting?
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