Parker Spence and Kye Thom are in just their first full year of senior baseball, but they’re already giving back to the game that they love.
Read more: Hockey players, others embrace Pursuit education
Both high school graduates from the class of 2025, they faced each other in early June at the Legion Ball Park in Lloydminster as Spence pitched the youthful Oil City Ducks to a 3-1 victory over Thom’s Mervin Flyers in the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League (NSRBL).
Just as Spence was effective on the mound for the home team, Thom made his presence felt at the plate and manning shortstop for the visitors.
But those contributions with their respective senior clubs are just half the story for the likes of Spence and Thom.
John MacNeil – Meridian Source
Both also dedicate much of their summer to coaching minor ball teams in their home communities — Spence with the 15U AA Lloydminster Twins in the Baseball Alberta Provincial League and Edam’s Thom with the 15U AA SaskWest Sasquatch of the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League.
In similar fashion, Thom wanted to help his younger brother Jay’s team, the Sasquatch, so he became part of the four-man coaching staff.
“I’m the third-base coach,” he said. “The other three coaches are dads of other boys on the team.”
Both Thom brothers were provincial silver-medallists last summer in Saskatchewan — Kye with the 18U AA North Battleford Beavers and Jay with the 13U AA Edam Blue Sox.
The nucleus of that 13U team now forms the 15U AA SaskWest team, which sported a .500 record through June 16 action this season.
The kids with the Sasquatch enjoy having a young face and successful baseball player on their coaching staff.
“Oh yeah, they pick on me,” Thom said with a laugh.
In actuality, the SaskWest players are learning lessons from an up-and-coming senior player who grew up playing leadership roles with his respective minor baseball and hockey teams.
“Yeah, I try my best,” Thom understated.
“It’s competitive ball. We’re a young team and we have some developing to do. But, overall, it’s been a pretty good year.”
North Saskatchewan River Baseball League. John MacNeil – Meridian Source
Last spring, Thom graduated from H. Hardcastle School in Edam, while Spence completed his studies at Lloydminster Comprehensive High School.
Spence played alongside his younger brother Jake last summer as members of the 18U AAA Zone 7 Sun Devils in the Saskatchewan premier league. He took his considerable talents to Prairie Baseball Academy (PBA) for a winter of training and development. That experience of everyday baseball only enhanced his coaching ambitions.
Spence now plans to put his kinesiology studies on the backburner and focus on becoming a youth baseball coach for both the outdoor and indoor seasons.
“It was super fun (at PBA),” he said. “I had a great time. (But) I’m focusing on coaching now. That’s what I want to do.
“I’m going to stay here (in Lloyd) and I’m going to coach all winter. Then, I want to go out and recruit kids from smaller towns and bring them into Lloyd and eventually bring back the AAA program (to the Border City).”
This is the second summer in a row that AAA baseball teams aren’t operating out of Lloydminster. The Prairie Pirates moniker is still attached to Border City clubs, but not at the AAA level.
Notably, the 15U AA Pirates are also coached by university students and Lloydminster Twins senior ball players in Gage Haygarth, Brenden Pollard and Ellis King, all contributing to the growth of elite baseball in Lloyd and area.
Likewise, the new coach of the 18U AA Pirates is Masen Anderson, a former U.S. college player from Maidstone now multi-tasking while also playing in the North Saskatchewan River senior league with the Standard Hill Lakers.
Last summer, Anderson coached the 15U AA Twins, the same team that Spence now coaches.
John MacNeil – Meridian Source
Spence’s progression in coaching includes his work with Dingers Batting Cages in Lloydminster, where he offers baseball tips to young players in another setting.
“Hopefully, in the long run, that’s what I want to do,” he said about coaching in general.
On the field, Spence lasted until the sixth inning in pitching Oil City’s two-run win over Mervin.
“I actually threw BP (batting practice) to my (Twins) kids yesterday, so I probably threw about 100 pitches yesterday and again today,” Spence said with a smile. “I felt good.”
One of the few Flyers who was able to muster any offence against Spence was Thom, who picked up two hits and a walk on the night.
“He’s a good pitcher,” Thom said about Spence. “He’s got some good stuff, and we just couldn’t cash in some runs when we needed to.”
Thom, 18, is a student at Saskatchewan Polytechnic in Saskatoon, where he’s switching to the electrician program this fall after studying business this past school year.
“It just seemed like a decent job,” he said about working as an electrician. “It’s decent paying and good work, so I figured why not give it a try.
“I start working in September and my school starts in January.”
In winter and summer, Thom enjoys playing with senior teams close to his hometown of Edam, including hockey with the Turtleford Tigers of the Sask Prairie league last winter and now baseball with Mervin this summer.
“It’s a good time,” he said. “It’s fun and it’s competitive, so there’s not much more you can ask for. Overall, it’s usually pretty good.
“It’s just close to home. I know lots of the guys that play there and it’s fun. We’ve got quite a few young guys.”
Thom was still in high school last year when he was called up to one of the NSRBL’s flagship teams, the North Battleford Beavers.
Now suiting up with Mervin in the same senior league, Thom is a jack of all trades, rotating between pitching and shortstop and occasional stints at second base “whenever I am needed there.”
Almost six-foot-two and about 185 pounds, he’s in fine form for the baseball season.
“Definitely a little bit bigger and stronger than I was last year,” said Thom, working outdoors for the municipality this summer maintaining properties with lawn-mowing, painting and roadwork.
Fortunately for busy people like Thom and Spence, most of the senior league games are scheduled for weekdays, while virtually all the minor ball games are played on weekends.
Thom said he had to miss one senior game on a Sunday because it conflicted with his coaching schedule with the 15U AA Sasquatch.
Mervin and most of their contemporaries in the senior league are armed with young players still of junior age.
“Yeah, it seems like a younger league,” Thom agreed. “The league is getting younger and younger every year.”
That reality is certainly evident with Oil City, mostly an under-20 lineup.
“I played with all these guys growing up, so it made it easy,” said Spence, 19. “It’s fun. No stress or anything. Last year, I played with the Sun Devils and I just affiliated with (the Ducks) for extra reps and stuff like that. But now, it’s just these guys, and then coaching.”
Spence’s prolific pitching performance in early June came in front of his father and grandparents. His mother was with Parker’s brother Jake in North Battleford for a Sun Devils game that same night.
It’s also a family affair for the Thoms most nights at the ball field. Thom’s mother Andrea is the manager of the 15U AA Sasquatch, with Jay on the roster and Kye on the coaching staff.
Both of Thom’s teams were playing this Monday night when he opted to play with Mervin, which edged the Lloyd Twins 6-5 as the Flyers posted their third straight victory. Along with his steady play at shortstop, Thom delivered a two-run, game-tying double. Beckett Rogers and Riley Macnab handled Mervin’s pitching.
A week earlier, Thom stepped onto the mound in the third inning and pitched the rest of the seven-inning game as the Flyers defeated Standard Hill 9-8.
“I felt great,” he said. “My stuff was working great, getting weak contact, along with some strikeouts. The team as a whole played great — some solid defensive plays and timely hits. It was a great team walk-off win.”
Read more: LCHS athletes commit to post-secondary programs
