By TERRY PUGH
Saskatchewan’s men’s baseball team won a bronze medal at the 2025 Canada Games in St. John’s earlier this month.
And for Josh Gutek of Martensville, an outfielder with Team Saskatchewan who played a pivotal role throughout the round-robin and playoff series at the games, the award is much more than nice piece of hardware.
It’s a symbol of provincial and community pride.
Gutek, along with Sask Five U18AAA Marlins teammates Kash Berg and Rhett Anderson, earned spots on Team Sask earlier this year. The final team roster proved that Saskatchewan doesn’t take a back seat to any other province when it comes to baseball talent.
“It was an unbelievable experience,” said Gutek, noting it was like being at the Olympics. “Being able to represent Saskatchewan, Martensville and Corman Park was pretty special. I’m just super-grateful to have had the opportunity.
“And to be successful and come home with a medal, it’s just fantastic. I’m just so happy to represent the province and my community.”
This bronze medal marks the third consecutive Canada Games in which Saskatchewan has reached the podium. In 2017, Team Sask won its first-ever gold medal; in 2022, Saskatchewan won bronze.
In this year’s Summer Games, Team Saskatchewan was in a round-robin pool with BC, Quebec, Alberta and Ontario.
But, despite the tough competition, Saskatchewan beat the odds.
“We were seen as underdogs heading into the competition,” said Gutek. “Nobody expected us to do as well as we did.”
Team Sask won its first two round robin games against Alberta and Quebec, and then lost its next two to Ontario and BC. From there, Saskatchewan had to play Quebec to determine which team went to the semi-final and which team went to the quarter-final.
“We upset Quebec in that game, which punched our ticket to the semi-final,” said Gutek. “Quebec went to the quarter-final, and they won that game; so that meant we had another re-match with Quebec in the semi-final.
“Unfortunately, we lost that semi-final to Quebec, which then put us into the bronze medal final against Prince Edward Island. We beat PEI 4-2 to win the medal. BC beat Quebec in the gold medal game.”
Gutek said playing for Team Sask was a special experience.
“The really cool thing was the sense of brotherhood among the players,” he said. “Everybody was playing not for themselves, but for the guy next to you. It was special to see and experience. We played baseball as team, where you do your job and you pass the baton to the next guy. That’s the way you win games. We just dug deep and we beat some really good teams to get to the finals.
“We showed the country that Saskatchewan was there to play.”
Gutek, a multi-sport athlete who’s also a standout football player, is now gearing up for his final high school season with the gridiron team at Bishop James Mahoney high school in Saskatoon. He said he’s equally committed to both baseball and football.
“I’d like to be successful in both sports, and compete at a high level,” he said. “My goal is to go to university and play college sports. I’m very grateful to my parents for their support and the experience at the Canada Games will be something I’ll always remember.”