Whether Spruce Grove’s collegiate summer league baseball team plays next year hinges on meeting several conditions within the next month. The Western Canada Baseball League (WCBL) told CTV News Edmonton on Monday that it has asked the Energy City Cactus Rats to reach eight milestones “by no later than Nov. 15 in order to participate in the 2027 WCBL season.” The league said it will not reveal the conditions “publicly at this time.” CTV News Edmonton has contacted the Cactus Rats for comment. The team, formerly known as the Edmonton Prospects, moved to Spruce Grove after failing to secure a lease at Edmonton’s Re/Max Field, where it played from 2012-19. Owner Pat Cassidy subsequently unveiled plans for a new stadium, Energy City Metro Ballpark, on the eastern edge of the bedroom community, with plans to have it ready in 2022. Spruce Grove, population 44,575, is 10 kilometres west of Edmonton. The $50-million complex is slated to hold up to 3,470 spectators and include an outdoor amphitheatre, microbrewery, 80-unit condo complex and storage facility. Construction began in 2023, but the facility on Pioneer Road north of Highway 16A remains unfinished. The team, which rebranded as the Cactus Rats last year, played a few games at the ballpark last season with no fans in attendance. The league’s governors toured the facility over the weekend as part of WCBL board meetings in Edmonton. The 12-team WCBL, which plays from late May through mid-August, features top college and university baseball players from across Canada and the U.S. It has seven teams in Alberta and five in Saskatchewan. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nicole Lampa
