2024: A Pivotal Year for Scottish Baseball as New Talent Shines and Teams Battle for Glory
The 2024 season could prove a turning point for Scottish baseball. New talent made a difference throughout the season—a trend set to continue in 2025—and a new project is looking to make baseball in Scotland truly international.
At the Scottish National Baseball League awards evening in November, players and managers from clubs in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Tayport gathered at the Aberdeen Station Hotel to celebrate the year’s top performers.
The 2024 AAA season was a slow burn that ramped up down the stretch as teams climbed their way to the playoffs. After a scorching start and winning their first four games by a total of 70-13, the 2023 regular season champs and Cup runners-up Edinburgh Cannons stumbled in a week 5 loss to the Glasgow Galaxy 3-2. It was the Cannons’ first regular season loss since September 2022, and opened the door for a potential scrap over league honours.
But team manager Ruari Dunn, who had clutch hits throughout the year to give the Cannons multiple late wins, quickly righted the ship and the team saw out the rest of the year undefeated. They finished in first place at 15-1, five games ahead of the Galaxy in second (10-4), with the Tayport Breakers (9-7), Glasgow Comets (6-9), Edinburgh Diamond Devils (6-10) and Granite City Oilers (0-15) rounding out the table.
Although the Cannons’ regular season domination was not a new trend, the season overall was defined by new players around the league. Breakers rookie Aven Fletcher put himself on every pitcher’s list from opening day, going 2-3 with 2 HR and 4RBI.
Despite a shaky start to the year, losing their first three, Fletcher’s hot streak kept the Breakers firmly in contention, especially once he switched to the mound (4-1, 4.41 ERA and 111 Ks).
Fletcher ended the season with the SNBL AAA League MVP Award and the home run crown, with a total of 10 on the year.
2024 AAA MVP - SP/OF Aven Fletcher
Further north, rookie Ethan Dyck established himself as an irreplaceable talent on the mound, in the field, behind the plate and at bat. Despite the Oilers’ record, Dyck’s power took some of the league’s biggest hitters out of games and left teams worrying that, with just one or two additional pieces, the Oilers could prove tricky in 2025.
At the start of the AAA Caledonia Classic, the postseason tournament open to the league’s top four, played out the way many would have expected in the first round. The Breakers and Cannons eased past the Galaxy and Comets, and clashed in Edinburgh for the title.
The Cannons came out on top in an extra-innings classic. Fletcher threw 160 pitches over all 8 innings, while Peter Rowe went a strong 4 innings and Garrett Stell came to help seal the Cannons’ comeback win.
Edinburgh and Glasgow split the honours in Single A, with the Comets A topping the regular season table with a record of (8-3), followed by the Edinburgh Knights (7-3), Tayport Breakers A (5-6), Galaxy A (4-7) and Edinburgh Angels (3-8).
The Knights took home the Single A Caledonia Classic, pipping the Galaxy A to the title with a runaway 18-8 victory in the final.
Caitlin McCaffrey of the Knights won Single A MVP and the Breakers’ Ethan Johnson took home Pitcher of the year.
With 2024 now in the rearview, the SNBL has turned to the future and set an ambitious course.
After all of the accolades were dished out in Aberdeen, SNBL stalwart Paul Convoy announced the creation of a new Scottish national team, the Werewolves, pooling together the top players from around the SNBL.
Although a national team has been brought together most years for a mid-season tournament south of the border, Convoy explained that the new-look Werewolves represents a change in focus.
“We’ll be making this team the elite team of players from all over the league that plays in tournaments each season. The idea behind the team is to have the best of the best showcase the league to the rest of the UK and Europe.”
Tournaments are in the works in Scotland, England and abroad, and work is underway establishing a core Werewolves roster.
Since the announcement, Scotland has already hosted a Team GB open tryout in Tayport, with multiple SNBL players receiving invitations to a second workout later in the year.
Headed by the Breakers’ Aven Fletcher, Hsinyen Lai and others, Convoy said the Werewolves will look to take Scottish baseball international, hopefully building both reputation and revenue that can grow the game at home.
“Long-term, we want to give young players an opportunity to play at an elite level without relying on the GB Baseball system.”
