Saturday, November 9, 2024

Going Yard’s Dean aims to make a difference as a coach

Instructor enjoys working with all ages at baseball academy

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Marshall Dean is a popular instructor with Going Yard.
“He cares.”

That is the biggest message Marshall Dean hopes all the baseball players he instructs take with them.

“I like to think my players know I care,” said Dean. “It is not just my job.

“I care about them both on the field and in other aspects of life. I want to teach them how to be men from an early age, not just go through the motions, but work with a purpose. Every day is an opportunity.

“I hope they grow up to just be strong, hard-nosed baseball players. That is what I want is competitive kids that do things the right way and approach the game the right way.”

Having grown up playing minor baseball in Saskatoon and moving on to play at the post-secondary level as a pitcher, Dean reflected that he had a great experience playing baseball. When his playing career wrapped up, Dean wanted to give back to the game by becoming a coach. He aimed to help young players playing the sport in Saskatoon to have similar positive experiences with the game like he had.

After coming on to be an instructor with the Going Yard Baseball Academy in 2016, Dean has developed a reputation for bringing a great joy to training sessions working with players in a wide range of age groups. Some coaches find they work better with either younger players or older players at the post-secondary and professional levels.

As for Dean, the 33-year-old finds he is at his best when he working with players from all different age groups on a weekly basis. He has fun helping players get better, and you would be hard pressed to not see a big smile running across his face during daily practice sessions at the Indoor Training Centre at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

“It helps you as a coach,” said Dean, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighed 190 pounds in his playing days. “It helps you learn different aspects of the game and how to approach different players.

“It has been really fun to coach kids at a young age, set that standard and expectation early and watch them grow into the players that they are now. I’d say that is what I’m most proud of as a coach is the guys that I’ve coached from the time they were 10-years-old and now they’re 16 and 17-years-old men ready to go to college.”

Marshall Dean instructs a group of young pitchers.
No matter how different the ages of the players he works with are, Dean said his approach to working with those athletes is pretty consistent.

“It is a lot different, but it is a lot the same,” said Dean. “It is the same standard you set as far as what the expectation is at practice and the right way to approach the game and your work every day.

“Obviously, it is gentler at the younger age groups, but it is really the same. You practice the right way, you play the right way and you approach every day the right way.”

Of course, Dean only envisioned himself being a player, when he started in the sport. When he discovered the game, his motivation to be in the sport was to be like his two older brothers.

“I’m the youngest of three boys from an athletic family,” said Dean. “My brothers played baseball.

“I fell in love with it early going to their games hanging out in foul territory playing around and just stuck with it. I figured I had a pretty good arm, and it’d be a good option for me.”

He took to being a pitcher early on when he began playing the game. A lot of Dean’s love for the game of baseball comes from the competition of pitcher versus batter.

“It is a thinking man’s game,” said Dean. “It is not just straightforward.

“You have to use your mind a little bit. I always enjoyed that. I enjoy the battle inside the game pitcher versus hitter, pitch to pitch.

“I enjoy the thinking part of it.”

Marshall Dean gives a pointer during a fielding drill.
In Saskatoon’s minor baseball ranks, Dean played out of the Blue Jays zone before joining the Saskatoon Cubs 18U AAA team. With the Blue Jays and the Cubs, Dean had Todd Plaxton as a coach through most of those years in the sport.

Dean said Plaxton was his mentor playing the game, while growing up. The hurler credited a lot of his success to his long time minor baseball coach from his Saskatoon playing days.

“He (Plaxton) coached us the right way really early,” said Dean. “He taught you to respect the game, play hard and work hard.

“I think that is a big part of why I do this today is trying to bring some of that back to these boys and making sure they’re viewing the game the right way, practising and playing the right way.”

While suiting up for the Cubs, Dean got his first experience of playing baseball with adults. From 2006 to 2008, Dean played for the now defunct Saskatoon Yellow Jackets in what is now known as the Western Canadian Baseball League.

These days the WCBL is strictly a summer wood bat league for players from the post-secondary ranks. Back in 2006 to 2008, the WCBL was a summer league in an era where teams could use players from all sorts of age groups, if they were good enough to be on the team. Dean did face players in their late 20s and early 30s with the Yellow Jackets.

“It was pretty wild being a teenager in that league,” said Dean. “Todd (Plaxton) always used to say you’re going to grow some whiskers, and I definitely did.

“I mean playing against grown men you learn a lot really quick good things and bad things.”

After graduating from high school, Dean played for Colby Community College Trojans in Colby, Kansas, from 2009 to 2011. He moved on to throw for the University of Central Missouri Mules in Warrensburg, Missouri. With the U of Central Missouri, Dean completed his bachelor’s degree in physical education and coaching.

Marshall Dean set to the ball during a fielding drill.
In the summer months, Dean returned to Canada to play in the WCBL for the Moose Jaw Miller Express. During those post-secondary playing days, Dean started thinking seriously about becoming a coach in the sport.

“I realized I wasn’t going to be a professional baseball player,” said Dean. “Around the time I was about 20 or 21, I realized that the dream wasn’t necessarily going to come true.

“I just wanted to help guys from Saskatchewan reach their goals. If you have a goal to play college ball or whatever that goal is in baseball, I just wanted to help out back home.”

Upon returning to Saskatoon, Dean started working as an education assistant as a substitute and later full time at Caroline Robins Community School and Dr. John G. Egnatoff School.

He originally wanted to find a coaching spot with the Cubs, but he joined the staff of the Saskatoon Diamondbacks 18U AAA team after getting a call from Matt Kosteniuk. Kosteniuk brought Dean to Going Yard.

Dean has loved every bit of his time with Going Yard starting with the old training warehouse the academy was originally located at on Alberta Avenue before moving to the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds on March 1, 2019.

“It is really cool to work with your buddies that you grew up with,” said Dean. “Obviously, it is really cool to coach with a guy like (MLB alumnus) Andrew (Albers) who you looked up to growing up, and now, he is just your co-worker.

“That has been fantastic. Some of the younger guys that we have coming up that have spent time in professional baseball or very high-level baseball, it is really fun to watch them come back and again just be your co-workers.”

Dean has enjoyed seeing Going Yard grow over the years that included developing the Goats travel team program. Looking to the future, he believes his passion for coaching will always be there.

Marshall Dean gives post-practice talk with a group of players.
“I’ll do this as long as I can,” said Dean. “It is awesome to go to work with your friends every day.

“It is awesome to do what you love. I think a lot of people would look at this job and be jealous of what we get to do every day. We get to have fun with the boys.

“We get to help them grow and watch them grow. I’ll do this for absolutely as long as I can.”

For more information on the Going Yard Baseball Academy, feel free to check out their website at www.gyba.ca.

All-time classic contest featured in photo roundup

By Gordie Howe Sports Complex staff
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Aulain Penner (#26) and Samuel LaFreniere (#22) shake hands.
Saskatoon Minor Football Field might have seen one of its greatest “Friday Night Lights” games ever.

When people remember the 2024 high school football season in Saskatoon, the Saskatoon Secondary Schools Athletic Directorate’s 6A City Championship game will go down as the most memorable moment of the campaign. That contest was played on the night of Friday, November 1.

It featured the St. Joseph High School Guardians taking on the Holy Cross High School Crusaders. The squads featured the two most exciting high school players in the city in running back Samuel LaFreniere of the Guardians and tailback Aulain Penner of the Crusaders.

The two sides engaged in two regular season meetings with Holy Cross taking both those encounters. The Crusaders claimed a 29-28 victory on October 4 and 48-35 triumph on October 17.

Aulain Penner cuts into an open lane for the Crusaders.
In the November 1 clash for the city title, LaFreniere scored the winning touchdown with 3:54 remaining in the fourth quarter to ultimately give the Guardians a 38-34 victory. The Crusaders mounted one last long final drive to go back ahead, but they ultimately turned the ball over on downs with less than 40 seconds to play.

LaFreniere and Penner were heroic in the city final. LaFreniere ran the ball 25 times for 305 yards and four touchdowns. Penner carried the ball 29 times for 305 yards and three major scores to go with one pass reception for eight yards.

Our lead photo of this photo roundup shows the two warriors shaking hands and having a quick visit following the city title contest. Penner is in the centre left and LaFreniere is centre right.

The second photo sees Penner breaking downfield for one of his long gains on that November 1 night. The third photo shows LaFreniere taking off on one of his long jaunts from that game.

Samuel LaFreniere jets downfield for the Guardians.
Along with photos from the championship encounter between the Guardians and Crusaders, we have more pictures from high school football and photos from the CJFL’s PFC final between the Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder. 

We also have baseball and softball training session pics from the Indoor Training Centre.

The pictures in this photo roundup capture some of the memories that are made on our grounds. 

In this photo roundup, all of these pictures were taken by our Communications Coordinator in Darren Steinke.

Without further ado, here is a selection of 15 shots we hope you enjoy.

Up and away

Evan Hardy Collegiate Souls running back Lucas Dean jumps through the arms of a couple of Bedford Road Collegiate Redhawks players on October 10 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The Souls held a 32-24 lead in the second half and closed the contest on a 19-point surge for a 51-24 victory.

Ready and waiting

The Track and Field Track that sits next to the K+S Potash Canada Multi-Sports Centre is set up with speed skating tiles placed on top of the track surface to create the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval on October 17. A big thank you goes out to Saskatoon Urban Camp for helping set up the tiles. Flooding will occur to create the Oval whenever temperatures fall enough to allow for flooding.

Fun entrance

Saskatoon Hilltops mascot Topper found a new way to take the turf at Saskatoon Minor Football Field on October 20. Topper took the field riding on the back of an ATV before the start of the PFC final between the Hilltops and Regina Thunder. The Thunder would claim the contest 24-19.

MVP set to sling

Saskatoon Hilltops quarterback Trey Reider (#3) sets to fire a pass behind the protection of left tackle Davin Johnson in the CJFL’s PFC final on October 20 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. For the 2024 CJFL season, Reider was named the most valuable player, the offensive player of the year and most outstanding quarterback for the PFC. He also claimed honours as a PFC all-star and a first team CJFL all-Canadian all-star. The Hilltops fell in the PFC final 24-19. Reider completed 23-of-41 passes for 305 yards and one touchdown, while throwing one interception for the Hilltops. He ran the ball nine times for 102 yards in his final CJFL contest.

Off and running

Running back Sadik Sadik charges downfield for the Regina Thunder during the PFC final on October 20 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. Sadik, who was playing out his final season of CJFL eligibility, played a big role in helping the Thunder post a 24-19 victory over the Saskatoon Hilltops. He carried the ball 28 times for 178 yards and two touchdowns. The Thunder piled up 321 yards rushing as a team.

Repetitions make perfect

A player makes a throw taking part in an infield drill during a Going Yard Baseball Academy training session on October 22 at the Indoor Training Centre. The instructors at Going Yard ensure players get lots of repetitions in drills so players perform skills like it is second nature during games.

Tracking down a fly ball

A player settles under a fly ball during a Going Yard Baseball Academy training session on October 22 at the Indoor Training Centre. Going Yard has been a mainstay at the Complex since March 1, 2019, and the players and instructors have enjoyed being able to do outfield drills during the winter months due to the high ceiling at the facility.

Saints reclaim SSSAD 5A title

The Bishop James Mahoney High School Saints celebrate reclaiming the Saskatoon Secondary Schools Athletic Directorate’s 5A City Football Championship on October 25 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The Saints downed Aden Bowman Collegiate Bears 42-6 in the city title game. The Saints last won the 5A championship in 2022, while Aden Bowman claimed the 5A crown in 2023.

Big catch in traffic

A Knoll Panthers receiver makes a catch against a pair of Schoenals Titans defenders during a KFL Hilltops Division semifinal contest on October 27 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The Titans would prevail in this contest and ultimately win the championship for the Hilltops Division.

Celebrating good times

A receiver with the Schoenals Titans celebrates a touchdown with his teammates rushing to meet him in the end zone on October 27 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The Titans would prevail in this KFL Hilltops Division semifinal contest and ultimately win the championship for the Hilltops Division.

Escaping to the open field

A Mercury receiver slips past a Sparks defender during Toon Squad Female Flag Football League action on October 28 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The players on circuit, which is run by Saskatoon Minor Football, play the game at a very high level and make lots of exciting and athletic plays.

Mystics take Toon Squad title

The players and coaches of the Mystics are all smiles as they pose for the customary team picture after winning the championship of the Toon Squad Female Flag Football League on October 28 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The Mystics edged out the Sparks 13-7 in the circuit’s title game.

Guardians bask in epic title win

The St. Joseph High School Guardians bask in their epic 38-34 victory over the Holy Cross High School Crusaders in the Saskatoon Secondary Schools Athletic Directorate’s 6A City Football Championship game on November 1. The Guardians had a moment under the “Friday Night Lights” of Saskatoon Minor Football Field they will remember forever.

Working for that sweet swing

A player from the Saskatoon Selects program works on her swing during a practice session at the Indoor Training Centre on November 6. The Selects players find it is never too early to work on skills in the off-season and just enjoy being in the game of fast pitch softball.

Beating the throw for the double

The Saskatoon Selects concluded their training session on November 6 at the Indoor Training Centre with a simulated game. A base runner here beats out a throw from the outfield sliding into second base for a double.