Jaden Babiuk gets ready to receive pitch against Giants (Colton McKee, coltonmckeephotography.com)
BY TRUMAN BARTMAN ON JUNE 19TH, 2024. THE MAVERICKS.CA
Meet Jaden Babiuk, the Mavericks upbeat, do-it-all catcher who is poised to help the Mavs challenge for a championship this summer!
Babiuk grew up in St. Albert and says he started playing baseball when he was just 7 years old. “I thought baseball looked fun and asked my parents to sign up. I don’t know the exact moment when I knew I wanted to try; it just happened.”.
Little did 7-year-old Jaden know that he would find himself one day playing baseball at Valley City State University. Babiuk didn’t just play there; he excelled, being named 2nd Team All-Conference as both a shortstop during his junior year and a catcher during his sophomore season. He also started in all of VCSU’s games in 2023–24, batting.286 with 12 doubles on the year.
But balancing both school and baseball can be difficult, and Babiuk credits his ability to find a strong routine for helping do so.
“I just try to take care of the school side before the baseball side; just don’t worry about it after personal life, like you know, whatever fits in, usually we’re done here by at least practices done by a decent time, so I go home to watch hockey, watch baseball, and whatnot. I mean, it kind of takes care of itself once I figure out the routine, and I’ve been doing it for three years at school, so I’ve kind of gotten it down to a science.”.
When Babiuk arrives for a game, he says his nerves aren’t an issue and he likes to keep things loose. “I just want to go out there and play the game. I tend to stay relaxed. Sometimes we play hacky sack at my school. It’s just fun. I just relax, have a good time, and get my work in with catching for the pitchers on game days. From there, I just play hard, have fun, and just let it go.”.
Babiuk is usually more nervous when watching his beloved Edmonton Oilers play than when he is playing himself. With the Oilers going all the way to the Stanley Cup finals this year and many Mavericks games conflicting with the games, Babiuk can be heard in the dugout asking for game updates or anxiously waiting to watch the game front to back after he’s done playing.
Babiuk sees the Oilers as a good example of what a team can become, even if they have gaps or weaknesses.
“Some guys pick up other guys, like not everyone’s going to have it on any given day. So it’s kind of like that; you know, if there’s something I saw going on one day and all the pitching is down, you know the hitters will pick it up. Same thing: if the hitters aren’t doing what they need to do, the pitchers will pick them up. So even if you don’t have everyone on a given day, you can still win because some guys, you know, have clutch performances, and it can help rally everyone together.”.
Babiuk feels as though he has nothing to lose when he steps out of the dugout, and he likes to take everything in and have a great time. When it comes to what he feels he provides to this Mavericks squad, Babiuk shares, “I just want to create a fun atmosphere. Like I said, I love playing ball. I’m getting close to the end of my career, so why not have fun? Why not? Relax? Why not go play?”
“I hear Med Hat gets up for this team, and I’m excited to be part of a community that values a baseball team, and yeah, it’s good. It’s going to be a fun summer, I’m just going to bring that energy every game and have fun, and you know, play ball. Win some baseball games.”.
If Jaden Babiuk’s view can teach us anything about how we should view the game of baseball, it’s that enjoying its greatness is so much more than winning. Of course, winning is great, and that is the goal that all players have, but finding the fun in each game and in the process is what’s important.