Regina Red Sox 2024 Season Preview

By IAN WILSON

The Regina Red Sox are looking to put together a bounce-back season this summer.

After claiming top spot in the East Division of the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) in 2022, the Red Sox suffered a first-round playoff loss to the Medicine Hat Mavericks. That postseason exit was followed by a 23-33 record in the 2023 regular season and another opening-round playoff loss to the Mavs.

Regina will set their sights on top spot in the division yet again in 2024, before the club looks to embark on a deep postseason run.

IN THE DUGOUT

Long-time director of recruiting and baseball operations Rye Pothakos takes over the head coaching duties this year. Now in his ninth season with the Red Sox, Pothakos has been tracking down talented ball players for the club while also serving as an associate scout for the Kansas City Royals. He has also done coaching and scouting work for the Greek national team.

Joining Pothakos in the home dugout at Currie Field are Mitch MacDonald, who returns as an assistant coach, and Steven Butts, who is back for a second year as the pitching coach. MacDonald – the only Triple Crown winner in WCBL history – has been with the Red Sox as a player or a coach for a decade and he will add the role of general manager to his responsibilities in 2024. Butts lives in Phoenix, Arizona, where he is the head coach at North Valley Christian Academy.

University of Regina student Braydon Cobb, a Team Saskatchewan Little League star in 2015-16, rounds out the coaching staff for the Regina Red Sox. Meanwhile, Todd Stewart will serve as the squad’s massage therapist.

ON THE MOUND

Several veteran pitchers will return to the Queen City this summer, including Zane Pollon, Zander Oudie-Senger, Daniel Crabtree and Zachary Dobson.

Pollon – a southpaw from Wilcox, Saskatchewan – was excellent for the Red Sox in 2023, leading the team in strikeouts with 57 Ks through 58-plus innings of work. The senior from Mount Mary University, who also played for the Red Sox in 2022, posted a 2.45 earned run average (ERA) in his 16 games for Regina last year.

Oudie-Senger has pitched in 27 games for the Red Sox since 2022. In that time, the 6-foot-3 Regina righthander has registered a 4-2 record, 40 strikeouts and a 3.75 ERA in 62.1 innings.

The workhorse of the Red Sox pitching staff in 2023 was Crabtree, a Point University senior from Marietta, Georgia. The righty logged 68.2 innings over 12 outings, including four complete games. Crabtree went 4-3 with a 3.14 ERA.

Dobson, who calls Regina home, worked out of the bullpen last year, going 0-2 with a 5.31 ERA and 17 Ks in 20-plus innings on the bump.

Ben Klein also pitched briefly for the Red Sox in 2022. That year the local righty worked six relief innings over five games, racking up four strikeouts along the way.

Joining the pitching staff in 2024 will be a number of right-handed hurlers, including Bryce Nicolay, Brandon Rice, Nicolas Yard, Garrett Klein, Brandon Gutierrez, Matthew Fox, Oliver Barkal and Vittorio Iacobucci.

A couple of lefty arms – Colton Anderson and Holden Hungerford – are also new to the team. Gutierrez and Hungerford both play for the Cal State L.A. Golden Eagles, while Yard and Klein pitch for the Cameron University Aggies. Both schools are NCAA Division II programs.

BEHIND THE PLATE

The Red Sox will have a handful of pitch-framing options to choose from, with five players on the roster listed as catchers.

Texan Jackson Alaniz looks to pick up where he left off at Currie Field. The Ottawa University junior has suited up in 77 games for the Red Sox over the last two summers, putting together a .262 batting average while scoring 43 runs.

Homegrown talent Brady Bye – who scored five runs and hit .360 in seven games in 2022 – is ready to rejoin the lineup, as is Diego Aragon, the 2022 WCBL Rookie of the Year. Aragon batted .450 with eight doubles, 13 runs and 16 RBI in 16 games with Regina that year. The LSU Shreveport senior also slots in at first base.

Other catching options include Garrett Strenger, a junior at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Kyle Micklus, a junior from West Texas A&M University.

AROUND THE HORN

The Regina infield gets a makeover this summer and will feature numerous fresh faces.

Kody Hanna will set up shop at first base. The 6-foot-4 lefty slugger has played in 164 games for the Coker University Cobras over four seasons. Through 553 at bats, the South Carolina senior has a .416 on-base percentage, a .324 batting average, 124 RBI, 36 doubles, 17 homers and 32 stolen bases.

Middle infielder Alex Mendes joins the Red Sox as a freshman from Macomb Community College, where he’s batting .247 with 26 runs and 16 RBI in 27 games in 2023-24.

University of Northern Colorado senior Jackson Romero has collected 19 runs and 16 RBI through 41 contests in 2023-24. He can fill in at a number of infield positions.

Texan Dylan Garcia will man the hot corner. As a member of the Ottawa University Braves, Garcia is batting .299 with 20 RBI in 39 games this year.

Shortstop Danny Gonzalez, a native of Havana, Cuba, will travel to Saskatchewan after completing his junior season at Point University, where he has stolen 13 bases and scored 18 runs over 33 games.

Jalen Meyers, a junior from West Texas A&M, will also patrol the infield, while freshman Ayden Cline (University of Missouri-St. Louis) is rostered as a utility player.

Justin Carinci joins Regina out of Eastern Kentucky University. The senior from Ajax, Ontario posted a .300 batting average, 28 runs and 18 RBI through 35 games this year.

British Columbia’s Angelo Franco – a Canadian Futures Showcase prospect – has signed on with the Red Sox for infield duty, as well.

IN THE OUTFIELD

Jackson Martin, another player from Saskatchewan, will return to the outfield for Regina. The lefty batter appeared in a half-dozen games for the Red Sox in 2023.

Martin will be joined by Michael Pavelchak, LJ Randle, Silas Butler, Glenn Noronha and Jackson Syring.

Syring is a slugger from Southwestern Oklahoma State University. In 68 games with the Bulldogs in 2023-24, the junior has a .318 batting average, 82 runs, 15 steals, 20 doubles, eight homers and 55 RBI.

With the Point University Skyhawks, Butler has a .444 on-base percentage, 16 stolen bases and 29 runs through 37 games and 103 at bats in 2023-24.

Pavelchak is a senior from Nyack, New York who is majoring in emergency management and homeland security at Post University in Connecticut. The lefty hitter has suited up in 134 games for the Eagles since 2022. During that stretch, Pavelchak has a .339 batting average, 120 runs, 80 RBI and 31 swiped bags.

Hailing from Mississauga, Ontario, Noronha is a junior at West Texas A&M University. During his 59 games for the Buffaloes since 2022, the outfielder has a .304 batting average, .400 on-base percentage, 33 runs, 26 RBI and 10 steals.

Randle rounds out the Red Sox outfield. The freshman from Kansas City, Missouri attends the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Home Ballpark: Currie Field

Home Opener: 7:05 p.m., Saturday, May 25th vs. Saskatoon Berries

2023 Regular Season Results: 3rd place in East Division with 23 wins & 33 losses

2023 Playoff Results: First-round loss to Medicine Hat Mavericks

View 2024 Regina Red Sox Roster

WCBL Championships: 2011 & 2012

Mascot: Slyder