Colby Snider pitches for the Lethbridge Bulls of the Western Canadian Baseball League in the summer of 2023 before taking a scholarship for baseball at Mayville State University in North Dakota. Submitted photo.
Nicholas L. M. Allen
Sept 13, 2023
Colby Snider was originally offered scholarships from two schools in North Dakota, picking Mayville over Jamestown University.
A local baseball player is now playing baseball at the Mayville State University in North Dakota. Colby Snider was originally offered scholarships from two schools in North Dakota, picking Mayville over Jamestown University. Snider is taking physical education while he plays for the Mayville State University Comets.
“I like more of what Mayville offered and most of my school transferred, so I picked Mayville,” explained Snider.
Mayville has a population of 1,854 according to the 2020 census, which makes Mayville the largest community in Traill County, North Dakota.
“It’s a small town... It’s similar to Crowsnest Pass,” said Snider, “Their athletic program is awesome, it’s everything that I want to do and so far, it’s been great.”
After starting high school baseball in Grade Eight, he played two summers for the Fort Macleod Jr. Royals under Baseball Alberta. After that, he moved on to play with the senior team for three years before COVID hit.
He then spent the winter going to Prairie Baseball Academy (PBA) camps and was later recruited by them as a pitcher. The past three years he played in the PBA for varsity teams with one year being Jr Varsity.
“I made the team my second year and then my third year I had the job of closer where I had a good season and ended up winning a couple of awards,” added Snider, “I won first team reliever and then I ended up also winning reliever of the year in our league.”
According to Snider, he also holds the record for the Prairie Baseball Academy for number of appearances as a pitcher, of which he had 40.
“It’s been a program that’s been going on for a long time and it was a fun experience, I learned tons and I’m glad to move on and get a scholarship,” said Snider.
He credits his family for being supportive of his goals and everything he has done since he moved out.
“I’ve been playing baseball now for four years collegiately, with them supporting me with everything that they possibly can. They’ve been my biggest fans,” said Snider.
Moving forward, he said being a part of American sports culture will be a “pretty cool” experience.
“Everything’s a little bit different down here. They take their sports very serious and I’m excited for that competitiveness,” said Snider.
Snider talked about how he received help from a lot of people on this journey and wanted to give them his thanks.
“I’m very grateful for what they did for me. It has just been awesome and I’m very thankful for everything,” said Snider.
To follow Snider’s team, The Comets, visit msucomets.com/sports/baseball.