Wilson treats mosquito Reds

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

Wherever Jayse Wilson ends up in his baseball career, he will always remember the program that gave him a start.
That’s why he reached out to the Strathmore Reds Mosquito team and helped out a couple days last week in Edmonton.
Hailing from Strathmore, Wilson is in his second season playing for the Yorkton Cardinals of the Western Major Baseball League. As the furthest-east team in the league made up of Alberta and Saskatchewan teams, the league operates with a rotating schedule that sees half the Alberta teams visit half the Saskatchewan teams one year, and reverses it the following season to cut down on travel costs.
Last year with the Cardinals, Wilson missed out on the chance to play in Okotoks, Edmonton and Fort McMurray, but got to do so this past week during the biennial trip to that half of Alberta for the Cardinals.
The Reds were also in the Edmonton area for the weekend and wanted to take in a ball game before their games started the following morning.
“We went to the game for a team bonding exercise. We didn’t know who was playing until we got there and saw it was Yorkton and saw on the roster that Jayse was on the team,” said Reds Head Coach Jeff Stender.
A couple of the Reds got up to Edmonton before game time and got to watch the Cardinals take batting practice and their pregame infield routine.
“We were hanging out and I was speaking with (Jeff) during batting practice and we thought it would be a cool idea to bring the kids down to the locker room before the game to meet some of the players,” said Wilson. “They absolutely loved it. They got a bunch of autographs, took a bunch of photos and had a great time. They all had huge smiles on their faces.”
The Cardinals might not be the big leagues, but they play in Canada’s elite summer collegiate baseball league, played in a former minor league ballpark and in front of a few thousand fans with music, walkup songs and bright lights.
“We might only be college kids, but they probably thought that was pretty cool. I remember being their age and driving out to Okotoks with my parents to watch the Dawgs play. So I’m sure this was a pretty cool experience for the kids,” said Wilson.
After the meet-and-greet, the Prospects even invited them on the field for first pitch and the anthem.
The Reds enjoyed the first four innings, saw Wilson make a couple plays from shortstop and reach base once before the rain cancelled the game at RE/MAX Field.
Rubbing shoulders and meeting some National Collegiate Athletic Association division 1 players seemed to help the Reds in their final round of the Baseball Alberta tiering schedule, as the Reds went 2-1 in Spruce Grove in the two days after taking in the game.
The Reds knocked off the Fort Saskatchewan Red Sox 11-6 and the Morinville Miners 12-11 July 14, but lost to the Beaumont Bo Sox 9-6 on July 15.
“The kids were definitely more excited for ball after seeing Jayse play. We are playing some pretty good baseball right now at the right time, seeing as provincials start July 28,” said Stender.
The Reds aren’t the only ones playing good ball these days.
While the Cardinals dropped the remaining two games of their Alberta swing in Okotoks to put them on a five-game losing streak, Wilson is seeing the ball well again. He might only be hitting .138, but he leads the Cardinals with 20 walks and has an on-base percentage of .307.
“I feel more confident in the league this year. I was able to play a little bit in the fall and train over the winter, and that made it easier to get going in the league this year. I feel like I belong now,” said Wilson.
Playing the very same position that current shortstop for the Los Angeles Angels Andrelton Simmons did back in 2009, the 20-year-old Wilson is making all the routine plays on defence and doing anything he can offensively to help the team out.
Last year when he joined the Cardinals, he was coming off a few injuries that kept him off the diamond for a year and a half. After his performance last summer, he signed up for the inaugural season with the University of Alberta baseball team, but it eventually fell through after the fall season.
Now, Wilson believes he has made a couple of connections and turned enough heads to continue his animal sciences study at a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics school in Nebraska.
“I’m just going out every day, having fun and playing hard. Hopefully something works out in the next few weeks and I’ll be able to play some pretty good baseball down south,” said Wilson.