A decade after a senseless tragedy shook southern Alberta, those that knew the victims say Dec. 15 doesn’t get any easier.
Wednesday marks 10 years since the triple-murder that took the lives of baseball players Mitch MacLean and Tanner Craswell, as well as their friend Tabitha Stepple.
“You think of them every day, so even though today is an anniversary date, it’s something you think about every day — so it’s not a whole lot different,” Mitch’s mother Dianne MacLean told Global News.
Her son and his best friend Craswell hailed from Prince Edward Island and were in southern Alberta to chase their baseball dreams.
MacLean said even thousands of kilometres away, her family has never felt alone in their grief.
“When Mitch first went out there, he loved it, and we thought, ‘Well, it’s got to be a pretty special place if he’s content to be there and not be home.’ But when this tragedy happened, it was amazing how the country — but especially Lethbridge — came to our support, and they felt our pain every bit as we felt it,” she said.
On Wednesday, the Prairie Baseball Academy and Lethbridge Bulls honoured MacLean and Craswell on social media, including a tribute video of their former teammates.
Each year since 2011 the Bulls have played the TCMM Memorial Game against the Vauxhall Jets in honour of the pair, and the PBA has continued a scholarship fund in the victims’ names.
“It’s amazing that these kids — and they were kids when this all happened — that they still want to honour these boys,” MacLean said. “And some of these kids now, it’s 10 years later, and some of these kids didn’t even know these boys.”
PBA head coach Todd Hubka said the impact that MacLean and Craswell made in their time in southern Alberta was immense, and the best friends embodied what the baseball community in Lethbridge is most proud of.
“Prairie Baseball Academy was built on blue-collar mentality and work ethic, and you know, dirt-bag type players,” Hubka said. “Mitch and Tanner were that. They played the game the right way.”
Hubka said each year at this time he thinks of the pair, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever stop.
“(This time of year) spells the end to the PBA fall season, kids are going home for Christmas, and you know that’s where they were going when this happened.”