The University of Mary Marauders, led by head coach Tanner Spencer (Craik, Sask.) has 17 Canadians on their roster. (Photo: Brian Larson, UMary.)

March 6, 2023

By Trevor Fitzpatrick

Canadian Baseball Network

With neighbors like Saskatchewan and Manitoba, it was only natural that Canadian players would find their way into North Dakota and the University of Mary campus.

Over a third of the University of Mary Marauders roster this season is Canadian. Seventeen of their 49 players made the trip across the border to play for the program.

Being led by a Canadian head coach certainly helps draw in players. Tanner Spencer (Craik, Sask.) is the only Canadian baseball head coach in the Northern Sun Conference. His assistant coach is Canuck Tyrus Barclay (Wyoming, Ont.).

“I think it gives us an advantage. I think we can speak a little more specifically to the student athletes’ journey,” said Spencer. “We have a little bit more sympathy and empathy [to Canadians] than normal coaching staffs.”

Compared to the 2022 season, there are almost double the Canadians on the roster for 2023, going from nine to 17 in one off-season. Of those 17, eight are from Alberta, four are from British Columbia, three are from Ontario, and two are from Saskatchewan.

Having a pipeline of connections up north has been key to accomplishing that, Spencer shared,

“In this business, it’s really hard to find people you trust deeply. For me, a lot of those people are in Canada. So, I think that’s where it started from.”

Those bonds have been strong for Spencer. There haven’t been any hard feelings from any teams that he has recruited from over the years.

“Every kid leaves high school wanting to put on Twitter that they’re going to Vanderbilt, but the process usually tells you where you fit,” said Spencer. “We try to accurately evaluate and find the athletes that would fit in best at our place.”

It’s not just the connections to Canada that draw athletes to the university though. The cost of tuition is the same for international students as it is for in-state students at the private catholic school.

Under Spencer, the Marauders’ have a specific player development program that lends itself well to Canadian players.

“If you think about the average Canadian that leaves high school, you usually get someone a little bit under physical and who’s a little bit behind the development curve,” said Spencer, “We’re really objective with our player development. We try to assess, we try to measure, we try to take a lot of the guesswork out of it, and I think that’s spoken to our Canadians.”

Under Spencer’s leadership and development model, the Marauders have flourished. In his first two full seasons as head coach, the Marauders broke their school record for most wins in an NCAA Division II season in both 2021 and 2022.

They also qualified for their first two NSIC conference tournaments in program history.

Early this season, the team’s Canadians have already stepped up. When asked to highlight a couple that have really caught his eye, Spencer was quick to mention RF Daniel Martin (Langley, BC).

“He’s one of our keystone offensive players and leaders,” Spencer shared. “He’s as good of a human as you can ask for, represents the team’s values at a really high level.”

Martin played for the Langley Blaze in high school before playing a year at Yavapai Community College, followed by a year at the University of New Mexico.

Now a junior, Martin has shown strong play since moving to the University of Mary, batting .354 through 65 at-bats with a .425 on-base percentage and a 1.010 OPS. Martin was 3-for-4 in the opener of a Saturday doubleheader over Truman State, a 21-2 win. He added a trio of hits in the second game and then three more in the finale of the four-game series.

Spencer was also keen to mention CF Josh Walker (Victoria, BC.), saying, “I tried to recruit him out of high school (Lambrick Park Secondary), he went another way to Sacramento State, then ended up coming here.”

This season, Walker has been terrorizing pitchers. Through 36 at-bats, he has hit .306 with a .673 slugging percentage and a 1.055 OPS. Walker went 2-for-5 with a homer and six RBIs in a 21-2 win over Truman State in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday and was 2-for-3 in his next game on Sunday.

“(Walker) is thriving here, we’re allowing him to be himself,” said Spencer, “We’ve been allowing his skill set to play freely, and he’s been really good.”

In Saturday’s opener, 2B Kalem Haney (Lethbridge, Alta.) went 4-for-5, while DH Noah Hull (Scarborough, Ont.) singled and OF Kendall Keller (Pilot Butte, Sask.) drove in a run. Faisal Al Ajeel (Markham, Ont.) retired the final three outs for Truman, allowing six runs -- one earned -- on five hits while striking out one.

And in the Saturday nitecap, Hull hit a solo homer to break a scoreless tie.

In the opener of the Sunday doubleheader, an 11-8 Marauders win, Mary benefitted from LHP Joseph Sinclair (Vancouver, BC), who picked up the win. Sinclair evened his record at 1-1, pitching 4 1/3 innings allowing four runs on seven hits and four walks, while striking out three. Hull went 3-for-4 with a home run, knocking in a pair of runs, while Walker was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

C Ben Prediger (Calgary, Alta.) helped make it a four-game sweep, going 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs in an 11-7 win. RHP Halen Knoll (Edmonton, Alta.) pitched two innings of relief, when the Marauders had a 10-4 lead. He allowed one hit in his two scoreless frames. Keller and Haney each doubled.

Of the 17 Canadians on the roster, four are freshmen, five are sophomores, and eight are juniors.

“We have a bunch of young guys that I think have a chance to be pretty stinking good when it’s all said and done,” said Spencer. “It’s understanding you need to be patient with the development curve because it’s usually a little deeper compared to an American kid, I’m usually asking a 165-pound body to be 205 before they play a college game.”

The development curve in question has shown itself early this season. Through their first 11 games, the Marauders won only three times, but the weekend sweep has their record at 7-8. Pitching has been an issue; the team’s earned run average is currently a very high 10.29.

“We didn’t throw the ball well (to start the season), but we have good arms and you gotta feel confident that it’s going turn around. One uniting factor of everybody here is the deep belief that culture wins in the long run,” said Spencer.

On offence though, the team has been playing very well. A team batting average of .335 and 127 RBIs through the 15 games means the team is competing with the best in the conference on offence.

The other Canucks on the roster are: OF Ethan Baptie (Woodstock, Ont.), RHP Shaye McTavish (Lethbridge, Alta.), RHP Jared Arnold (Red Deer, Alta.), RHP Parker Wakelyn (Abbostford, BC), RHP Joel McGrath (Kindersley, Sask.), LHP Thomas Little (Lethbridge, Alta.), LHP Jaxon Zanolli (Olds, Alta.), LHP David Stewart (Lethbridge, Alta.) and LHP Callum Noonan (London, Ont.).

“Our coaches don’t work 120 hours a week and our players don’t work the way that they do to be a team that’s not going to consistently compete for regionals,” said Spencer. “Continuing to take steps forward has been an awful fun challenge.”