When Pedro Pascal won a Screen Actors Guild award in 2024, he was so shocked that he had to run quite a ways to the stage because he didn’t think he would win.
While it wasn’t the exact same scene, Mike Ramage admits he had “absolutely no idea” that Baseball Sask would be in the running for Baseball Canada’s Province of the Year Award.
After winning it for a 10th time since 1986 back in 2024, the organization’s executive director thought he might be able to save the acceptance speeches for a while.
Instead, Baseball Sask was called again as a co-winner alongside Baseball N.L. (Newfoundland and Labrador) during the country’s annual awards banquet.
“I was thrilled for them as I know that their executive director, Ryan Garland, has been a driving force locally as well as the Baseball Canada Executive Director Committee level and deserved this recognition,” Ramage said.
“Then, to my surprise, they announced there were two winners this year and that Baseball Saskatchewan was also receiving this honour. I was very much caught off guard, but elated and proud as well.”
Ramage gives all the credit to his team and everyone across the province for continuing to grow every aspect of the game over the past year, but they still want more.
NO SLOWING DOWN
Ramage says 2026 will be remembered for several reasons.
The so-called “Blue Jays Bump” was real with another 12 percent jump in athlete registrations across the province with just under 21,000 players, while a record number of teams (337) entered into the Paladin Provincial Championships.
He says the female programs, overseen by development director Tyson Black, continues to improve substantially, highlighted by Team Saskatchewan winning bronze in Saskatoon at the 19U Women’s National Championships.
Not only were the players thriving, but the number of coaches and umpires also increased.
“Obviously, this is crucial with our number of players and teams growing,” Ramage said. “Additional coaches and umpires are needed to lead the way and while these numbers have increased, we can never have too many of each and they are still going to be needed heading into 2027.”
He adds another major highlight has been the Baseball Canada Rally Cap Program, which is run through a partnership with the Toronto Blue Jays, instilling an early love of the game and encouraging players to stick with it.
ELEVENTH HEAVEN
While trying to managed sustained growth can trip some organizations up, Ramage says the key to winning eleven Province of the Year awards has been the hardworking staff at Baseball Sask.
He says having people like Black, Greg Brons and Nolan Bracken over the last few years has brought some consistency to what they do every day.
“Each person has their areas of expertise and this has provided experience in delivering programming,” Ramage said.
“We also have a board of governors that allow us to do our jobs and provide support when needed, which is key as the relationship is very positive and shows with employee retention as we all feel valued.”
He adds the different committees for coaches, umpires and others collectively set the bar high every year, allowing them to be in contention for major awards like Province of the Year.
JUST THE BEGINNING
Don’t expect the Baseball Sask office to take the foot off the gas heading into 2027 either.
The past year created several new highlights as well, including the Saskatoon Berries winning their first Western Canadian Baseball League championship and Carnduff’s Carter Beck having success professionally after being drafted in the first round by the Atlanta Braves.
New highlights means new excitement and interest in the sport and Ramage is ready.
“I don’t believe you can ever be satisfied with the status quo,” he said. “We want to continue enhancing all of our programs.”
Ramage wants to see more kids signing up to play baseball, more podium finishes at Western and National Championships, and more high-performance athletes get offers to play collegiate or professional baseball.
In his eyes, success breeds success.
“The future continues to be bright,” said Ramage. “We all look forward to seeing what the next chapter of the story has in store.”
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