Going Yard instructor helps coach
Regina to WCBL title
By Darren
Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex
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| Brody Boyenko holds the WCBL championship trophy on Aug. 16. |
When Going Yard Baseball Academy instructor Brody Boyenko joined the Regina Red Sox as an assistant coach this past May, he was looking forward to a second opportunity to coach in the WCBL. To coach with a program that has existed since 1913 playing in various leagues in its history was another bonus. He ended up getting more than he imagined during the spring and summer league baseball season.
Right at the start of the season in late May, the Red Sox
were sent reeling by the tragic death of returning right-handed pitcher and
Regina product Jesse Lubiniecki. The 22-year-old passed away in a single
vehicle rollover in Rosebud County, Montana, on May 29.
Lubiniecki was driving home to rejoin the Red Sox after
completing his season with the Taft College Cougars in Taft, California. He
became a member of the Red Sox part way through the 2024 campaign.
From that unthinkable beginning, the Red Sox completed the
2025 campaign on August 16 taking a series deciding Game 3 of the WCBL
Championship Series 5-4 against the host Sylvan Lake Gulls in Gulls Stadium
before 1,895 spectators.
While Boyenko was obviously proud of what the Red Sox
accomplished, it is still burned into his mind all the emotions the team went
through when news of Lubiniecki’s unthinkable passing broke.
“That was my first experience of any athlete that I have coached or was going to coach pass away,” said Boyenko. “That whole week, it really kind of shook our team a little bit.
“The day we found out, we were actually playing a game, so even that game was tough to get through. That whole week, I just remember it was a very long and somber week. I feel like once we got through that week Jesse (Lubiniecki) was a big motivating factor behind our season after that point.”
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| Brody Boyenko works the first base line for the Red Sox at Cairns Field. |
On the road
in the WCBL, the Red Sox encounter a number of dressing rooms that don’t have
stalls in the visitor’s room. Instead of bringing Lubiniecki’s dressing room setup
on the road, the Red Sox would say an “Our Father” prayer at every road park
they played in to honour Lubiniecki. The Red Sox also wore a #33 patch on their jerseys to remember the late pitcher.
“Each coach, we didn’t approach players, but when we knew
guys were going through it a little bit, we weren’t coaches anymore,” said Boyenko.
“It was more or less person-to-person interaction, a human interaction, rather
than a coach-to-player.
“It was more so trying to comfort the person in front of you
rather than trying to coach them through it. It was very similar to when your
friend loses a family member. You don’t coach them through how to grieve.
“You allow them to grieve, and when they finally show signs
that their grieving process is slowly coming to an end or they’re slowly
getting over the situation, that is when you start introducing some of the
coaching back into it.”
On the field, the Red Sox found themselves floating around the .500 mark for much of the season. Things started to round together as they posted a 7-3 over their final 10 games of the regular season to place third in the East Division with a 29-27 mark. Boyenko said the confidence of the team was high going into the post-season.
“I felt throughout the season it was not like that roles weren’t established, but guys were trying to find where they could make an impact in the game,” said Boyenko, who turned 30 right before the playoffs started. “I feel like come playoff time guys weren’t trying to find that anymore.
“They were more so picking each other up. They knew they
could do it. Whether they did it in that particular situation or not, it didn’t
matter, because they knew the next guy would succeed in that situation.”
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| Brody Boyenko is one of the original instructors with Going Yard. |
The Red Sox
squeaked out an 8-7 victory in Game 1 at Cairns Field, but the Berries evened
the series 1-1 with a sound 8-4 victory in Game 2 at Currie Field. In a series
deciding Game 3, the Red Sox used a three-run seventh inning to pull away for a
6-2 victory at Cairns Field.
In the deciding
win in Saskatoon, Boyenko had a large number of family and friends in
attendance. He said it was special to have them all at the park to see the victory
that sent the Red Sox to the league final.
“To be honest, it is always nice when your family is
watching, especially in your hometown,” said Boyenko. “When you have to live
somewhere else for the summer and they come watch you and your team wins, it is
a good feeling.
“It was nice that they got to experience that with me. When
you live two-and-a-half hours away from home for the summer, it is not like
they can just make every other game. For them to see our team win against the
top team in the league and beat them out in playoffs, I thought that was pretty
special.”
In the
best-of-three WCBL Championship Series, the Red Sox fell 3-2 in 11 innings in
Game 1 to the Gulls played at Currie Field. Due to the distance of about 809
kilometres between Regina and Sylvan Lake, it was decided the Gulls, who had
homefield advantage for the series, would host Games 2 and 3 of the set.
In Game 2,
the Red Sox were down 6-4 going into the ninth inning. They scored six runs in
the top of the ninth to ultimately prevail 10-7.
In the
series-deciding Game 3, the Red Sox trailed 4-3 after six innings. They scored
two in the top of the seventh to go ahead 5-4, and their pitching and defence
ensured that score was the game’s final outcome. That victory gave the Red Sox
their first WCBL title since winning back-to-back league crowns in 2011 and
2012.
Boyenko
said the team’s coaches were proud of the Red Sox players but added there were
nervous moments in Game 3. He said the Red Sox got a key hit that squeaked
through to the outfield from a hitter in the eighth spot in their lineup during
the ninth inning rally in Game 2 that won that contest. Boyenko was aware a
similar play could go against the Red Sox once they got in front in Game 3.
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| Brody Boyenko said his Red Sox experience helps his Going Yard work. |
“When it came around to the eighth and ninth, those were
probably some of the longest innings of the entire season. You are so confident
in yourself, but just last game, a simple ground ball won it for us and lost it
for them. Going into that last inning when we had to get those three outs, that
is all I could think of is it is not over until we get that last out.
“Once we finally got it, it literally felt like the weight
of the world was off of our shoulders and mission accomplished. It felt very
good.”
These days,
Boyenko is back in his regular surroundings at the Indoor Training Centre on
the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds coaching players as an instructor with
Going Yard. He guides players in weight training sessions and works with them
in the pitching and batting lanes along with drills on the indoor field turf
field. He said his experience with the Red Sox helps coming back to Going Yard.
“It is really nice to return,” said Boyenko, who was the
pitching coach with the WCBL’s Swift Current 57s in 2023. “I wasn’t too far
away from home, but it is nice to come back to my familiar roots and what I do
day to day.
“It is nice to bring back some of the things I even learned
as a coach from some of the players. In the summertime, you get players from
all over the States, so you never know what coach talks about what and what you
can bring back. I’ve been able to learn from some of the players some of the
nuances that their coaches teach.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to bring it back and teach it to
some of our kids as well.”
Boyenko
said the championship win with the Red Sox was the first time in his life he
was on a team that won a league title. With how the Red Sox rallied around
Lubiniecki’s tragic passing, Boyenko said that the 2025 WCBL season with the
Red Sox is something he will take with him forever.
“I would definitely say that was the most memorable just
because of the whole Jesse (Lubiniecki) situation,” said Boyenko. “My time in
the WCBL, I haven’t won as much as I did with Regina, so obviously, winning is
a lot of fun.
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| Brody Boyenko and the Red Sox pose for WCBL title winning picture. |
For more information on the Going Yard Baseball Academy, feel free to check out their website at www.gyba.ca. All but the second photo in this piece come courtesy Brody Boyenko.
