To say the past summer has been an all-out, pedal to the medal experience for right-handed pitcher Marek Yeager would be the understatement of the local sports year. At the end of it all, it’s culminated with Yeager signing on with Hutchinson Community College, an NJCAA – Division I school.
Yeager has also signed on to the Saskatoon Berries Academy in Saskatoon. The newly named facility and program, in conjunction with the fledgling WCBL Saskatoon based squad, provides for training and developmental skills to allow players like Yeager to reach their full potential.
In April and May, Yeager ventured away from the diamond with the 18UAAA East Central Red Sox heading out to join the Junior National Team where he took the mound against the best in North American competition.
Then it was down east once again for the Canadian Futures Showcase at Rogers Centre in Toronto. He pitched a pair of innings and performed well enough to be named to team Jose Bautista, iconic bat-flipping Jay, matched up against Team Edwin Encarnacion in a head-to-head baseball dream. It wasn’t Yeager’s first time on the mound in Rogers Stadium.
“It was a good week,” he confirmed. “I liked it even better than last year. It was well organized and a great time. Lots of the new kids were a little worried about it, and I remember when I was like that the first time in Ottawa.”
With a bit more of the veteran’s stance, Yeager says he was better able to take it all in and make the most of his time spent in the environment.
His summer also involved hooking up with Team Sask for the Canada Cup in Fort MacMurray where, despite the team’s placing fourth, Yeager put in some stellar performances against Teams Quebec and Ontario in the quarter and semi-final rounds.
In the later stages of the season, Yeager saw some time with the collegiate based Saskatoon Berries ball club in their first Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) appearance.
“It’s awesome especially since it’s their first year. I pulled in toward the end of the season, so they had everything waiting – like this is your number. It’s like being a big leaguer but not in a big league way.”
Yeager says the turnouts for the Berries games were also impressive, even beyond the stand-filling home games with the Red Sox in his hometown of Muenster. He says he’ll be even more prepared to hit the field full-time with the Berries in the coming summer.
Yeager has worked hard over the years with the hometown club and their coaches, with the resources of the development program in Baseball Sask, and the support of longtime baseball mainstay, pitcher Logan Hofmann. Hofmann and Yeager are just a few years apart, and there’s no denying the influence and developmental fostering that Hofmann has brought to the protege’s experience. The relationship continues now that Hofmann works with the Berries on pitching development.
“I’ve been working a lot with him with the Berries. He said the other day, I’ve been teaching him how to throw a baseball since he was 12. And it’s true. In the 2020 season during Covid, we were able to spend a lot of time together. He knows me inside and out.”
The road continues for Yeager, ultimately leading to Hutchinson, Kansas and the Blue Dragons Program in the fall of 2024 after he’s completed his grade 12 through the Berries Academy and the Estey School FLEX program. The College is the first link on the road to the majors.
Following in the footsteps of hometown pioneer Logan Hofmann, drafted 5th round by the Pittsburg Pirates, Yeager’s got the drive and the backing to launch another shining career from the East Central Baseball rosters.