“He’s been a number one starter. Every time he goes out you know you’re going to get a stud performance… You get a lot of confidence out of it as a team.”
After a slow start to their season, the expansion Saskatoon Berries clinched a Western Canadian Baseball League playoff spot last week.
The Berries could finish anywhere from fourth to second in the East Division playoff race with seven games remaining in their regular season, including Tuesday’s game in Weyburn.
A big part of the Berries’ success has been starting pitcher Wyatt Wiatrek, who came to the Saskatoon squad from Sinton, Texas. Wiatrek attends the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley — nearly as far south you can go in the Lone Star State — close to the U.S.-Mexican border. During his first time ever in Canada, Wiatrek, a 6-foot-3 right-hander, has a 4-1 record after nine starts and is second in the league with a 2.49 earned-run average. He, along with four other Berries teammates, were named to the WCBL East Division all-star team.
“Wyatt has been huge,” said Berries outfielder and fellow all-star teammate Carter Beck.
“He’s been a No. 1 starter. Every time he goes out you know you’re going to get a stud performance. It’s just really nice when you have someone that can lock it down and you can guarantee five innings, and maybe one or two runs allowed at the most. You get a lot of confidence out of it as a team.”
Life in Canada has been an adjustment for the far-southern Texan, who had no idea where Saskatoon — and many of the other Saskatchewan and Alberta cities he’s now played in — were located.
“The only Canadian cities I knew of were Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver,” said Wiatrek, who like many who live in his area, is fluent in Spanish.
“It’s definitely been a culture shock to say the least. Where I live, we’re basically in Mexico. We are so close. The food is a lot different, and different people. It’s not a bad thing. It’s just a different culture. But I definitely do miss the food back home. It’s been awesome here though.”
Wiatrek won’t likely see snow — something he has rarely seen in his life — during his time during the summer in Canada,
“I think we had snow one time that I can remember,” said Wiatrek who played in 10 games with a 7.36 ERA for UTRGV last year. “It probably lasted for maybe two or three hours before it melted. Where I go to school right now, it doesn’t snow there at all. It just won’t snow. Us Texans, we got to travel north to go and see snow.”
Wiatrek was planning to play this summer in the Northwoods League in Wisconsin, but, when those plans fell through, some quick discussions with Berries head coach Joe Carnahan led to three plane connections to get to Minot, North Dakota. Once he got to Canada from there, he joined the Berries five games after their season had started.
Carnduff (population 1,100) was where his welcome to Canada experience began.
“I didn’t know Carter Beck at the time,” said 20-year-old Wiatrek. “But his grandma and his little brother came and picked me up. We drove into (their hometown of) Carnduff. I took a tour of Carnduff, Saskatchewan. I thought, where is everything at? Where are we at?”
From there, they drove to Weyburn, where Wiatrek joined the Berries in town on a road trip. After an 0-5 start to its season, the team had its first win that day against the Beavers. Then, after a quick trip and arrival in Saskatoon at 3 a.m., Wiatrek was making his first start for the Berries that day. It would be their very first win at home.
Wiatrek was 12-0 his senior year of high school in Sinton two years ago and his team won the state championship. In the bus following the win, Wiatrek led his celebratory teammates while singing in Spanish. It ended up being a viral Tik Tok, Facebook and Twitter video of a song by Ramon Ayala, a popular Mexican singer.
The Berries’ next home game is Wednesday at 7 p.m. against the Moose Jaw Miller Express at NexGen Patch at Cairns Field.
Extra Innings: Pitcher Nick Nolan, infielder Ethan Menard and outfielder McGwire Turner were the other Berries named to the Eastern all-star team.
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