Regina Red Sox joining friends and enemies for WCBL all-star game in Okotoks

Anderson, Aragon, Carinci, Crabtree, Hanna and Syring representing first-place Sox

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Published Jul 19, 2024 • Last updated 10 hours ago • 3 minute read

Catcher Diego Aragon is one of six Regina Red Sox players selected for the 2024 Western Canadian Baseball League all-star game July 20 in Okotoks. Photo by Wanda Harron Photo by WANDA HA /Wanda Harron Photography

“No fighting, back there!”

Can’t you just hear the bus driver, while taking players to the Western Canadian Baseball League all-star game, yelling that during the trip to Okotoks?

“We haven’t had any … well, I mean, we cleared the benches against the (Saskatoon) Berries,” said catcher Diego Aragon, one of six Regina Red Sox players selected for the all-star game.

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“It was dumb. Hit by pitch; the ball was all slippery. We’ve had so many games since then, they probably forgot about it.”

Let’s hope so, because most of the East’s all-stars will be on that one chartered bus driving along the Trans-Canada Highway, before veering towards Okotoks, where the Red Sox will join rivals from Saskatoon, the Moose Jaw Express, Swift Current 57s, Weyburn Beavers and Medicine Hat Mavericks for the home run derby and all-star game Saturday against representatives from the six West teams.

Second baseman Justin Carinci, first baseman Kody Hanna, outfielder Jackson Syring and pitchers Colton Anderson and Daniel Crabtree are the other members of the first-place Red Sox chosen for the squad. Syring, who leads the league with a .413 batting average, is also slated to participate in the home run derby preceding the game.

Playing a regular-season game Thursday at Currie Field, Regina beat the visiting Mavericks 6-4 and improved its record to 29-13 while second-place Medicine Hat fell to 25-16.

“We want to hold the lead we’ve created throughout the whole season,” said Aragon, a product of Fort Collins, Colo., who spent the latter half of the 2022 WCBL season in Regina before returning to college at LSU-Shreveport and rejoining the Red Sox for 2024 at the invitation of manager Rye Pothakos.

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“You just go into every game trying to win and trying to do your job. And we’ve done a pretty good job of that this season.”

Since snapping a 12-game winning streak June 26, the Red Sox have gone 10-8 with Aragon handling a pitching staff led by Anderson (4-1) and Crabtree (4-2). Hanna is among the league leaders with 43 RBI while Syring leads the WCBL with 48 runs scored; Carinci has scored 43 runs and sits third with 16 stolen bases.

Against Medicine Hat on Thursday, Regina was trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning when Carinci drew a leadoff walk before scoring his team’s first run on a double by Hanna. Carinci also singled and scored in Regina’s four-run sixth inning.

Second baseman Justin Carinci is one of six Regina Red Sox players selected for the 2024 Western Canadian Baseball League all-star game July 20 in Okotoks. Photo by WANDA HARRON PHOTOGRAPHY/Regina Red Sox. Photo by Wanda Harron Photo by WANDA HA /Wanda Harron Photography

“I like to be an electricity guy on the team,” said Carinci, who is from Ajax, Ont. and attends college at Eastern Kentucky.

“I like to get all the guys fired up and everybody in good spirits. I’m a leadoff guy so I like to try to set the tone early and get the game going the right way from the start. If I can just get on, the guys hitting two, three, four are scoring me from the get-go every time.”

Carinci got convinced to join the team by friend and former schoolmate Brady Bye, a Red Sox catcher from Regina.

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“It’s been a great time since I’ve been here,” said Carinci. “I came here three or four days late and they took me in right away as if I was here from the start. It’s been super comfortable.”

The Red Sox visit Swift Current on Friday and, after busing and returning from Okotoks with their opponents, play in Moose Jaw on Sunday. Regina’s next home game is July 25 against the Okotoks Dawgs. Other than the all-star game, the Red Sox aren’t scheduled to play in Okotoks this season, where the Dawgs averaged crowds of 4,500 at Seaman Stadium in 2023.

“We’re not going there this season and I missed our trip in 2022,” said Aragon. “We’re looking forward to experiencing that stadium.”

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