It sure didn’t take Aiden Kilshaw long to knock a few items off his bucket list in 2026.
Suit up for the Baseball Canada Junior National Team? Check.
Play for Baseball Sask at The Road to Okotoks and Morneau Cup? Check.
Help the Saskatoon Berries clinch their first Western Canadian Baseball League championship? Check.
Start college? Also check.
The Swift Current native was actually in the midst of another day as a freshman at Blinn Community College when his parents called to tell him that all of those major accomplishments had culminated with one more major recognition: Baseball Sask Male Player of the Year.
It was the cherry on top of what’s been a year to remember for the rising star.
“I was pretty honoured to hear that I was getting the award,” Kilshaw told Saskatchewan Dugout Stories. “It’s what you work all year towards, so it was really cool and special to hear.”
The highly touted catching prospect turned heads at every corner of his 2026 campaign, but he’s now laser-focused on making sure he has an even bigger year to come.
ROLLIN’ WITH THE MOMENTUM
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Kilshaw had as big of a year as he did.
His 2025 was just as impressive, as he helped the Saskatoon Cubs capture the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League title, taking them to the Baseball Canada 18U Nationals in Fort McMurray.
However, Kilshaw didn’t make that trek as he had been tabbed to represent Saskatchewan at the Canada Summer Games, where he was a major presence in their journey to a bronze medal.
He then went to Toronto for the Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase and ended the year with a call to the Junior National Team for their fall trip to the Dominican Republic.
The Berries Academy product impressed the staff enough during that stretch to continue getting the call early in 2026, including for Baseball Canada’s first sojourn into the Major League Baseball Draft League, where he hit .167 with a home run and four runs batted in over three games.
“To rep my country, it was definitely my biggest, most special moment in my baseball career getting that call from Coach Greg Hamilton,” Kilshaw said. “It was just an unreal moment and something you can’t ever take for granted.”
He adds it was a big confidence booster as well to know that he’s ranked among the best young players in Canada, feeling it was important to represent the maple leaf with pride everywhere he went as he knew it might not happen again.
ONE MORE ROAD TRIP
The next big-ticket item on Kilshaw’s “Tour de Force” was the inaugural Road to Okotoks and the Morneau Cup.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound catcher continued to impact every facet of the game, particularly at the plate, where he had hits in eight of the 10 games split between the Regional Qualifiers and the main event in Okotoks in July.
While Team Sask couldn’t make it into the knockout round thanks to the tiebreakers, Kilshaw says it was one more opportunity to play for a team that had been together since the 15U Ray Carter Cup a few seasons earlier and the 2025 Canada Games.
“It was still awesome to go through that experience with that group of guys,” Kilshaw said. “It was all real special and we all loved every minute of it.”
All told, he hit .378 with six doubles, a triple, four RBI, 10 runs scored and three stolen bases during his time in the green, yellow and white.
BERRY EXCITING SUMMER
Kilshaw quickly traded those colours in for the purple, baby blue, white and sometimes black of the Saskatoon Berries as they marched towards a third-straight postseason appearance.
Bent on winning it all this time around, the club was able to lean on their young protégé as he hit .308 with a home run and 14 RBI in 16 regular season games.
Kilshaw saved his best for last though, as he bumped his average up to .333 to go along with two roundtrippers and 10 RBI in just seven postseason games to help the Berries raise the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy.
“Behind the plate, I was just trying to slow the game down for our pitchers,” he said. “Hitting-wise, I just wanted to do my job in the five-hole: when guys got on, I just wanted to get them over or drive them in … whatever we needed.”
While closer Wesley Shackelford was ultimately named WCBL Postseason MVP, Kilshaw’s performace earned him more than a few votes.
It also gave the 18-year-old even more confidence knowing he could play with and against some veteran college talent while he was getting himself ready to pack his bags.
BIGGER, STRONGER AND FASTER
Expectations are high for Blinn heading into the 2027 season.
Fresh off being the runnerup at the Junior College (JUCO) World Series last spring and having won it all in 2024, the Buccaneers will likely be looking to the big-game experience of Kilshaw to help them.
The Saskatchewan product says he’s acclimating to his new surroundings in Brenham and the team is already hard at work getting ready for the upcoming college campaign.
The throwing and hitting programs are underway, and he’s hitting the gym hard to get bigger, faster and stronger before the real action starts.
“I don’t really have any expectations going in,” Kilshaw said. “My goal is just to do my job when I can, call a good game, and just try to help the guys to another World Series.”
Just another item for a bucket list that is quickly adding checkmarks.
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