(Submitted photo/Marek Yeager)

By Ben Tompkins

Fall Instructional League

Muenster ballplayer competing in Dominican Republic as member of Junior National Team

Oct 17, 2023 | 5:00 PM

A northeast baseball player is getting his first chance ever to compete as a member of Team Canada.

Marek Yeager, a 16-year-old pitcher from Muenster, has been selected to the Junior National Team to go play in a Fall Instructional League in the Dominican Republic.

“To have this opportunity, especially a kid from Saskatchewan, to just play with Team Canada for a week is super exciting. I get to represent our province,” he told northeastNOW. “‘I’ve been to Florida, but I don’t think I’ve been anywhere compared to the Dominican playing with the national team.”

Yeager is the only player from Saskatchewan to be named to the roster, while Dustin Molleken from Regina has been selected as a coach.

Team Canada is slated to play roughly 12 games in 11 days, against a handful of Major League Baseball, minor-league affiliates.

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Prospects for organizations such as the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis Cardinals, and New York Yankees all have academies in the area, which will be among Canada’s competition.

“In the past, Team Canada has fit right up there with those teams. There’s maybe a few games where they get beat decently, but there are a few games where they beat other teams pretty decently as well,” Yeager added. “For me personally, I think I’ll be just fine, there’s a reason why I was chosen to be here and I just gotta do what I do.”

The fall instructional league roster features 31 players, made up of 17 position players and 14 pitchers.

For Team Canada, the week-to-two development camp provides them with the opportunity to slim down their roster for future competitions.

One of those will be in Palm Beach next year, as part of a spring training, which Yeager is hoping to make.

This past weekend, he pitched two innings in relief, giving up just a single run against the Chicago Cubs affiliate team.

Next year, Yeager is looking at another season with the Saskatchewan team (likely competing in the Canada Cup in Fort McMurray), before going through a similar process with Team Canada, in hopes of making their official roster for Worlds.

As for this past season, he was a member of Team Saskatchewan for the Canada Cup in Regina, as well as being invited to the Toronto Blue Jays Futures Showcase.

Yeager is hopeful that one day he will play in college, high-level minor league baseball, and maybe even the majors.

“I want it to go as far as I can make it and if it doesn’t work out, I will always have school. I’m gonna try to go as far as I can, go to college, and then hopefully get drafted,” he explained. “My real goal is probably to make it as high as possible, which is probably the MLB, because I started to realize now that I think it’s in my reach, I really do think so.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8