Running Wild

By JOE McFARLAND

There is no quit in Kaden Prosofsky.

It would have been really easy for the Saskatoon native to mope around not being a starter as he began his freshman season at College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California.

Instead, he kept working hard and waiting patiently for his opportunity to shine.

When the opportunity presented itself, Prosofsky jumped all over it like a meaty fastball over the heart of the plate.

He finished the spring with a .393 batting average, four home runs, 38 runs batted in and eight stolen bases in 34 games, earning himself an Inland Empire Athletic Conference First-Team All-Conference nod.

“I came in here obviously wanting to make an impact and that’s what I told the coaches,” Prosofsky told Saskatchewan Dugout Stories. “I just waited for my chance and, when I got it, I just never looked back.”

While he’s proud of his accomplishments, the outfielder knows it’s just the beginning of what he hopes will be an even bigger year and career in the game.

CHOICE TO BE MADE

The son of former Western Hockey League and professional hockey player Garrett Prosofsky, Kaden says he never felt any pressure to follow in the footsteps.

While he did lace up skates in the winter, he found he liked being out in the sun more and soaked in those moments on the diamond.

By the time he was 15, Prosofsky started dedicating all his time to baseball, earning his first invite to a Baseball Sask team for the 15U Ray Carter Cup in 2022, helping the team capture the bronze with a 7-2 win over Manitoba.

“That was super meaningful (to represent Saskatchewan) because it was something I wanted to do growing up,” he said. “Winning bronze with all my super-close buddies just meant so much.”

Prosofsky donned the green and gold of his home province again at the 2024 Baseball Canada Cup in Fort McMurray, where the team finished in fourth place.

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PECKING AWAY

Fine-tuning his talents with the Saskatoon Diamondbacks of the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League and with Berries Academy, Prosofsky set his sights on earning a college call.

He received it in early 2025, when College of the Desert made an offer he couldn’t refuse.

What made the move even easier was that the Roadrunners had become a familiar spot for Saskatchewan players, with five (Jackson Martin, Garrett Houston, Evan Deringer, Ty Thomson and Colin Plain) on the roster for the 2024-2025 school year.

While he was the only one to step foot on campus in the fall with the others moving on and up the collegiate baseball world, Prosofsky quickly went to work trying to earn a spot in the starting lineup.

Facing a strong contingent of sophomores, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound prospect says he wanted to be aggressive at the plate whenever his name was called.

And Prosofsky delivered by going 2-for-3 with three RBI in his Roadrunners debut, a 23-3 win over Compton on January 31.

Three days later, he drove in another run, and quickly became a trusted pinch-hitting bat with hits in almost every game he appeared in.

DOING SOME DAMAGE

For the better part of February, Prosofsky kept grinding out hits and giving head coach Sam DiMatteo reasons to insert him into the lineup.

In a February 24 romp over Cerra Coso College, the left-hitting freshman once again came in and hit his first collegiate home run on the first pitch he saw in a ninth inning at-bat.

“I always just try to be aggressive,” he said. “I’m a guy that swings in early counts and tries to damage early.”

That seemed to change the game for Prosofsky, as he was a starter two nights later and went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

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In his words, he never looked back as he stayed in the lineup for the rest of the year, which included a 20-game hitting streak between February 17 and April 9.

The Roadrunners, meantime, entered the history books with the most wins in program history with a 32-8 record, including 21-3 in conference play.

Unfortunately, their hopes for a long playoff run came to an abrupt end with a 7-2 loss to Saddleback Community College in the Southern California Regionals.

BEING A SPONGE

It was a college season that Prosofsky won’t soon forget, not just for the memories made but for the lessons learned along the way.

The business administration student is looking forward to his sophomore season and hopes to garner the attention of a few NCAA Division I schools.

He also plans to further his game by spending the summer north of the border again with the Kelowna Falcons of the West Coast League under head coach and former MLB catcher Gregg Zaun.

“Kelowna’s going to be super-fun with lots of great D1 guys on our team,” Prosofsky said. “It’ll be cool to pick everyone’s brain.”

He’s hopeful his journey in the game, especially his college season, show players back home that success isn’t a straight line, and that you have to work for every minute of playing time.

“Don’t get too down on yourself because it is a game of failure,” Prosofsky stated. “It’s also a kid’s game and it’s meant to be fun playing it.”

The Falcons open up the 2026 WCL season at home on May 29 against the Bellingham Bells.