Abby Merchants to return in 2023

After what will be a three year hiatus, an Abbotsford summer staple will be back next year. The Abbotsford Merchants city league baseball team will be returning to the Dairyland league for the 2023 season, headed by new manager Ryan Bargender.

The Merchants have not played since the summer of 2019, as pandemic concerns during 2020 resulted in the loss of the season for the team. The world has slowly returned back to a semblance of normalcy since then, but the Merchants have remained dormant.

This break was a bit of an anomaly for the team, as according to longtime player and manager Larry Soyk, the Merchants have consistently fielded a team since the 1940s.

“It’s one of the longest standing ones around here,” Soyk said. “I’ve seen Marshfield and Wausau fold and start up again three different times in that span, where we always kept going.”

Soyk, who has been in charge of the team for roughly the last 25 years, has been an integral part of the Merchants for decades. He started with the team as a player in 1966, playing under Merchants mainstay Jim Nikolay for many years.

Nikolay was one of the main reasons that the team has managed to stay relevant for so long.

“That was pretty much because of Jim,” Soyk said of the team’s longevity. “Jim started it, and he was the one who kept it going.”

Because of that dedication, the Merchants established themselves as a part of summer time life in the city of Abbotsford.

“We had a nice following; it’s something to do at night,” Soyk said of the impact the team had on the community. “We had a lot of people come up just because they were baseball fans. And we had some good teams over the years, ones that were competitive. If you have a good team in anything, people are going to follow you.”

The team also served as a way to connect kids with the game of baseball.

“Years ago, that was the only game in town,” Soyk further elaborated. “So when you grew up, you were like ‘oh, I want to be a city team player.’” Soyk’s role with the team shifted over time, taking on managing duties while still playing to eventually taking over the team from Nikolay in his later years. And while his love for baseball remains, an increased focus on family in the summertime will now have him doing the same as Nikolay, passing the reins on to the next generation.

Ryan Bargender, district administrator for the Abbotsford school district, will be taking over the Merchants’ operations next season. Bargender has both experience in the community’s current baseball programs as well as a personal connection to the city league team.

As head coach of the Abbotsford/ Colby combined varsity teams, Bargender has led the co-op to two consecutive Marawood conference championships over the last two seasons. While the knowledge he will bring is a definite plus for the team, his connections to the local programs will hopefully help when trying to find players, which has been a diffi culty for recent teams.

“Having access to not only our high school roster but also having connections to teams within our area will help,” Bargender said about rebuilding the team. “We also have a number of recent graduates that could help. We currently have four players on our varsity roster that play for other Dairyland teams so it would be nice for them to play for the home team.”

Much like the managers that have come before him, Bargender once played for the Merchants. He was part of the 1997 squad, joining up the season after he had graduated from high school, and stated that he learned a lot about the sport during his time with the team.

“At that time the team was very veteran,” Bargender said. “I was able to gain valuable experience by playing with so many guys that had been around the game for so long.”

In addition to his own time playing with the Merchants, Bargender has some familial ties with the city league team’s early days. “My great uncles, Al, Owen, and Noel Schraufnagel all played for the city teams,” he stated. “My great-grandfather, Elmer Schraufnagel, helped build Red Arrow Field. So, personally it is important for me to help baseball in the community be successful.”

It’s that connection with the community and its youth that the new manager hopes to grow next season.

His current efforts in that department are something that Soyk has already taken notice of.

“He’s got kids wanting to play ball,” he said of Bargender. “I see them up there at the field practicing on their own. That’s your first sign. If you don’t have to be hounding kids, if you just see them up at the ballpark on their own, it tells me a lot right there.”

Bringing the team back next year will have some added significance, as 2023 is the 30th anniversary of the 1993 WBA state championship team. This team is the only one in the history of the Abbotsford city league team to have claimed first in the final tournament of the season. Bargender hopes that with some help from Soyk, the pair can set up a reunion of sorts for the team.

“It would be great to have those guys come back and share memories with current players,” Bargender said. “There is a lot of knowledge to be shared.”