(Photo by Colton McKee, coltonmckeephotography.com)
TRUMAN BARTMAN | themavericks.ca
The odds of pitching a perfect game are roughly 1 in 9,000; you could say it’s highly improbable. Putting a team of strangers together and having them click over 3 months may take just as much luck. The Medicine Hat Mavericks are hoping that in 2026, the mix that they have been piecing together throughout the offseason will defy the odds come summertime.
Ryan Reed knows how hard it is to win in the WCBL, serving as the Mavs’ assistant coach in 2025. Coming off of an impressive year working as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Mid-America Christian University, Reed will look to transfer his success in the NAIA to the WCBL as he makes his debut as head coach of the Mavericks.
Accompanying Reed in the dugout will be former Mavericks outfielder David Dell, who was a part of the Mavs in 2022. Andrew Bench will be tasked with keeping the Mavs pitching staff in shape as the Fonthill, Ontario, native returns to Canada from Tennessee, hoping to make his 1st WCBL season a successful one.
For a group that spans far and wide, the distance for Josh Stark and Evan Morrison isn’t more than a short drive away. The two Medicine Hat products will return to the diamond for another go-around in front of their hometown fans.
Morrison has become an unforgiving force at the plate over his 2 seasons with the Mavs, leading them in home runs with 9 in 2024. As for Stark, his last name has been synonymous with Mavericks baseball for years, playing alongside his brothers Nate and Zach in 2022. In 2026, Stark will rejoin the team after a 3-year hiatus.
Another name that Mavericks fans have become accustomed to seeing is that of the Vulcano brothers. Both Adam and Johnny will rejoin the team for the 4th consecutive season after their collegiate season at Doane University concludes.
Making the trip back up north from Doane is 2025 Mavericks All-Star infielder Carter Roth. After an exceptional first season in the WCBL, where the Stratford, Ontario native hit .381, Roth projects to be one of the league’s top players again in 2026.
Sharing the middle of the infield with Roth will once again be Riverton, Wyoming, native Blake Dale. Known for his stout defence, the college senior looks poised for a big season in his final WCBL ride.
Parked behind Dale in the outfield will be 5’11″ righty Thomas Schnabel and Calgary native Carson Chan, who’s coming off of an impressive sophomore season, hitting .314 at the University of the Fraser Valley.
Behind the dish, the Mavs will have two recognizable names in Jamel Chabot and Nate King suiting up as backstoppers once again. Entering the fold with them will be Mid-America Christian product Jahzeel Groetelaers, who hails from Curacao.
Groetelaers won’t be the sole MACU man on the defensive side of the ball, as Frankie Giacalone will be an option for the Mavs in the infield.
Beginning his WCBL tenure and rounding out the Mavs is Eric Calder. Primarily a first baseman, Calder enters the summer fresh off a season with the Tabor Blue Jays, a program that supplied Medicine Hat with WCBL All-Stars Xander Roberts, Micah Dvorak, and Garrick Levesque last season.
Headlining a long list of Mavericks pitchers is Diego Centella, who is back with the Mavericks after breaking out as a primary shutdown reliever a year ago. Right-handed pitcher David Heinen will also be back with Centella in the Mavs’ pen after he was a late addition to the lineup a season ago.
In the case of JJ Harnett, he pitched more innings than most in Medicine Hat, being the lone pitcher to call the Gas City home. Harnett saw plenty of action down the road in Lethbridge, starring at their Prairie Baseball Academy, a place that has produced numerous WCBL all-stars.
New to Medicine Hat but not to the WCBL is Trevor Syer, who pitched for the Fort McMurray Giants in 2024. The sophomore appeared in 10 games for Kankakee College in 2025–26, carrying a 4.09 ERA over his 11 innings of work.
A pair of islanders round out the Canadian portion of the Mavs staff as Nova Scotia natives Jax Graham and Miguel deJesus are expected to add to Medicine Hat’s right-hand depth.
Graham will be familiar with his surroundings, as he spent his high school days playing for Badlands Academy in Olds, Alberta, just over 3 hours away. As for deJesus, he spent last summer playing across the country, closer to his hometown of Saulnierville.
Far away from both Medicine Hat and Nova Scotia sits Reno, Nevada, the birthplace of two-way player Takeo Cervantez and redshirt transfer Tanner Hail, who recently closed out his first year at Feather River College.
Kayden Shivers and Davin Hinote spent their 2025-26 collegiate years playing as a tandem at Kansas Wesleyan in Salina, KS. Shivers etched a 4.40 ERA over his 14.1 innings pitched, helping the Coyotes claim a KCAC regular-season title. Hinote’s contributions were also evident as he put together a no-hitter against York, earning him NAIA pitcher of the week honours.
Similar to Hinote, Levi Tibbetts is used to receiving high praise throughout his baseball career. Before transferring to Rollins College, the 6’6″ flamethrower brought home the YSCC Pitcher of the Year award while attending Central Maine Community College. Even before his collegiate baseball days, Tibbetts was picking up hardware on the hardwood, winning conference player of the year as a basketball star at Lisbon High.
Derek Archer was also a two-sport athlete in his upbringing, showcasing his talents on the ice as a hockey player. Those at Westminster College have become more accustomed to seeing Archer dominate on the mound as one of their top workhorses. In his 16 appearances, the senior struck out 69 batters while only walking 37, numbers that could fare well in the WCBL.
The last of the arms and the lone lefty on the Mavs roster is Texas native Cody Myers. A stalwart of the strike zone in 2026, Myers was phenomenal in limiting walks, giving out only 21 free passes over his 223 batters faced. The workload could be hefty for Myers, given that his role is unique amongst his Maverick peers.
It doesn’t have to be perfect, and odds are it’s going to take a combination of timely bounces, hot stretches, and a sprinkle of luck for the Mavericks to secure their 4th WCBL title, but the groundwork has been planted in hopes of doing so. Oddly enough, the Mavs’ first test of 2026 will be against the defending champion Regina Red Sox, a team that turned the odds in their favour last year, winning their first title in 13 years.