And, they’re off!
The Sylvan Lake Gulls’ 2026 WCBL season has begun. It may not have gotten off the way the team had hoped, but it is under way.
They kicked things off last Tuesday with an exhibition game against the Red Deer Riggers. It was an early chance for Gulls fans to see what this year’s team might look like. We were introduced to a number of the new players that will be wearing Gulls colours this summer. Although the Gulls were unable to pull off a victory, you could feel the excitement and anticipation in the crowd after last summer’s run that saw them fall just short of their ultimate goal, a league championship for Central Alberta.
Two nights after their exhibition game, the Gulls’ regular season kicked off with their Season Opener against the Okotoks Dawgs. A nice crowd of over 1,600 fans was on hand for the season kick-off. After the team’s introductions and the Opening Ceremonies, the two teams settled in and provided us with a great evening of ball. Unfortunately, the Gulls came up a bit short and lost their season opener by a score of 8-4.
The next night the Gulls headed up Highway 2 to Okotoks to play the Dawgs again. On this night, the Gulls built up a 7-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning, but saw the Dawgs battle back and, with three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, managed to steal away the win, 8-7, to put the Gulls at 0-2 to start the year.
The Gulls returned home for a game against the Brooks Bombers on Saturday. Although the weather wasn’t ideal (okay, it was freezing cold), they did manage to get the game in and recorded their first win of the year, and new coach Matt Hape’s first win as the new skipper. The final score was 5-4, although it didn’t seem like the game was that close. Regardless, the Gulls are in the win column, and there will be plenty more of those.
On Sunday those two teams were scheduled to have a rematch, but the weatherman didn’t co-operate and the game will be played at a later date. There are three more games scheduled for this week, all against Energy City, and we’ll have our fingers crossed that they will be able to play those. Stay tuned.
There is no doubt that the Sylvan Lake Gulls have been embraced by ball fans in Central Alberta. The product, on and off the field, is first rate, and the team is beginning to be recognized beyond the Alberta-Saskatchewan borders.
While Kim and I were on vacation in Arizona recently, we took in a college game in Coolidge, AZ. We had gone to this game because we had heard that the Gulls’ new Bench Coach, Andrew Parks, was part of the coaching staff for Arizona Western, who were playing Central Arizona in Coolidge. We thought it would be cool to get to meet the new coach and see if we could have a chat.
We met Andrew, chatted with him, and feel that he is going to be a great fit with the Gulls!
One thing that we found really interesting was that there were a couple of MLB scouts also taking in the game. I was wearing some Gulls swag, and the scout for the Chicago White Sox asked me if that was the Sylvan Lake Gulls. This is an MLB scout for the Chicago White Sox, based out of Toronto. And he recognized the Gulls gear and knew who they were.
So, the Gulls are impressing people well beyond Central Alberta. And with players like Nathan Flewelling and Ty Boudreau starting to draw notice from MLB scouting staffs, it is going to open more eyes to the WCBL. I think that’s pretty exciting, and hopefully we will be getting more high-profile sports people, like Jamie Campbell, frequenting our ballpark.
Go, Gulls, Go!!!
