Swift Current's Ethan Murdoch is bringing his talented bat back to Saskatchewan for the summer.
The 21-year-old will join the Saskatoon Berries in the Western Canadian Baseball League, where he'll suit up for former Swift Current 57's head coach, Joe Carnahan.
According to Murdoch, the relationship between the two played a significant factor in his decision to play summer ball.
"Worked with coach Joe Carnahan forever at home," he said. "Been hitting with him since I was seven or eight years old. I was a bat boy with the teams he coached when I was growing up, when I was eight or nine. Then I caught bullpens for him when I was in high school. It's a relationship I've had for a long time... It I wanted to do was play for him."
The right-handed hitter found out earlier this year he's been granted one more year of eligibility at the NCAA level. Murdoch had to shift gears on his baseball plans for the summer quickly, due to the change coming after most summer leagues have begun filling out their rosters.
"If I wanted to go back to the place I played last year or a different league around here, it was late in the year to find somewhere to play," he said.
"It was a combination of both those things, me wanting to play for Joe for a long time, and finding a spot where I knew what I was going to get in terms of opportunities to get better."
Last season, he played 28 games for the Harrisonburg Turks in the Valley Baseball League with a .179 batting average, one home run, and eight RBI.
Murdoch has made big improvements in his second year with the Marshall Thundering Herd, sporting a .256 batting average, with nine home runs, and 34 RBIs in 48 games this season. In 2024, he hit .164, with three home runs, and nine RBI in 25 games.
"When I was at my previous school (McCook Community College) and high school, you think you can just hit whatever is in the zone," he said. "That sounds simple enough, but when you get to facing guys that were really good and can throw three pitches and can land their ball wherever they want, it's not that easy. I think, for me, it's been trying to simplify it."
Aside from having to make significant adjustments in his game, he's also battled a hand injury he incurred while playing with the Swift Current 57s in 2023. He attempted to rehab it and played through it in 2024 with Marshall and Harrisonburg.
"This year in fall, I hurt it one more time, a little bit worse, then I got it cleaned up in the fall with surgery," he said. "I think that really, mentally as much as anything, freed me up and that's a big part of it."
Murdoch will play for the Thundering Herd in 2026, but first, he'll enjoy a summer back closer to his family and his hometown as a member of the Berries.