LAS VEGAS — For local baseball players Tyler Soderstrom and Cole Carrigg, this weekend played out better than anybody in the entertainment capital of the world could have scripted.
Just four days removed from his highly-anticipated MLB debut on Tuesday in Denver, Carrigg and the Rockies took the short flight to Las Vegas for a three-game series from Friday to Sunday with the Athletics. Stationed in left field for the A’s at Las Vegas Ballpark, where the team played six games to promote a planned relocation in 2028, was one Tyler Soderstrom.
Soderstrom and Carrigg, both 24, met in seventh grade in their hometown of Turlock and played alongside each other at Turlock High School between 2018 and 2020. They each described their relationship as a brotherhood, and it’s why when Carrigg learned of his major league promotion last Sunday, Soderstrom was one of the first people he called.
“Tyler was pretty quick picking up the line,” Carrigg told the Journal on Friday. “To be with him in the bigs now, and the fact that we’re playing each other this weekend, it’s super special. We dreamed of this for so long. I haven't been on the same field with him since high school. I wouldn't wish it any other way. It has just been crazy and surreal to be here, living out these moments that I’ve worked so hard for for such a long time.”
The two shared the diamond in each of the three games this weekend in Las Vegas. Following Friday’s game, the two shared a private moment near home plate. They embraced and engaged in conversation, updating each other on the week that was for Carrigg, about the game, about their families, and reminiscing on their journeys as professional baseball players that culminated in them being together again on baseball’s biggest stage.
“For him to be called up to Colorado and for them to be playing against us right now just a couple days after, it’s unreal timing,” Soderstrom said. “I don’t think I have a whole grasp on it right now. Living in this moment is super special. We had this dream of playing in the big leagues, and I think we just willed it, manifested it and made it happen together. Now it’s paying off here where we’re sharing these moments this weekend together. To take a step back and realize what is happening after all the work we put in makes me super proud. I think we’re both super proud of each other.”
The two exchanged jerseys and posed for a photo before being joined by family and friends on the field. Of those in attendance were their parents, Mike and Lisa Carrigg and Steve and Tami Soderstrom, Carrigg’s brother, Matt, and Soderstrom’s wife, Bailey.
“When I got the call on Sunday, I immediately facetimed my dad and we got pretty choked up,” Carrigg said. “I called my mom and my brother and it was the same. It was just super fun. To have them all here and to have their support over all these years means a lot… I would say I’m a lot more emotional than people would expect. All the emotions kind of come out in a moment like that.”
The results on the field for each of the former Bulldogs made the weekend even more special.
In Friday’s opener, Carrigg blasted his second career home run in dramatic fashion. With the Rockies down 2-1 in the sixth inning with two outs and two runners on, the switch-hitting Carrigg, batting from the left side against A’s righty reliever Justin Sterner, crushed a 90 mph cutter 450 feet to right center field, nearly out of the stadium. The Athletics came back to win by a 6-4 score, and followed it up with a fourth straight victory on Saturday, 7-5, a game in which Soderstrom came off the bench and delivered a go-ahead RBI double to make it a 6-5 ballgame.
In Sunday’s finale, Soderstrom hit his 19th double of the season in the first inning to drive in the first run for the A’s and extend his on-base streak to 23 games. In the seventh inning, he blasted his 12th home run of the season, a 462-foot, 108 mph missile. But it was the Rockies that stole the final show in Sin City, winning 23-9 in what was a new franchise record for runs scored in a single game. Carrigg had his fingerprints all over the historic day, collecting two singles, drawing a walk and scoring three times. It marked the most times he has reached base and has scored in a single game thus far in his young MLB career.
It was another feather in the cap in a week of firsts for Carrigg, Colorado’s No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline. After hitting a triple for his first career hit in his major league debut June 9, Carrigg showed off his power to the Coors Field faithful two days later he blasted his first career home run, a 418-foot shot over the bullpen in right field off Cubs starter Edward Cabrera. The first hit and first home run balls were authenticated, encased and given to him. They sat in his locker in the visitors clubhouse at Las Vegas Ballpark.
“I’m not surprised at all,” Soderstrom said of Carrigg’s early success. “It was something that I’ve expected from him, honestly. We hang out and put in a lot of work together in the offseason. He’s such a ‘toolsy’ guy. Me and my wife were reading articles after his debut, and saw (Rockies President of Baseball Operations Paul DePodesta) called him a wild stallion. His manager (Warren Schaeffer) called him a young colt. It’s awesome.”
Carrigg had spent the entirety of the 2026 season with Albuquerque, slashing .338/.414/.529/.943 with 76 hits (six home runs, five triple and 15 double) with 27 RBI and 30 stolen bases. Defensively, the speedster has split time between the outfield and shortstop this year.
“He’s a switch-hitter, so he’s always going to have a good matchup up there at the plate,” Soderstrom continued. “His speed is unreal. He’s a great defender that can play anywhere. He has the ability to do it all. I’ve seen him do it since we were kids.”
A pair of 2020 Turlock High graduates who had their senior season cut short after just five games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the star baseball players took different routes following graduation. For Soderstrom, he was named Gatorade California Baseball Player of the Year in 2020 and was selected 26th overall by the Athletics in that year’s draft. He made his MLB debut in 2023. Carrigg ended up going to college, spending three seasons at San Diego State before being taken by Colorado with the 65th pick in the 2023 draft.
“Everyone has different paths, and his was a bit longer,” Soderstrom said. “We’re the same age, have known each since we were kids and everything like that, but I gave him that fatherly encouragement and that advice that his time would come.”
In the offseason, the two spend time training at Soderstrom’s father’s baseball facility in west Turlock, Backyard Sports Academy. They also spend some time with local strength and conditioning trainer, Kyle Livak, of The Hangar in rural Hilmar. When the season gets going is when the late night video games like Rocket League and PGA Tour get fired up.
“We aren't able to be around each other during the season, obviously, so our main communication line has been late night video games,” Soderstrom said with a laugh. “Hopping online and playing video games was our time to hash things out. I knew he wanted this really bad, and I’d be in there talking him off the ledge some nights, telling him to stay positive and that it's all about timing. I just had to remind him to take it day by day through the minor leagues, and that he’d look back at those times and cherish those moments.”
Indeed, Carrigg is grateful for the experience, and is excited to continue implementing his large arsenal of skills in the big leagues to try to help the Rockies (27-45) get back to winning.
“Getting my first hit and first home run out of the way early makes it a bit easier to focus on just playing and winning,” Carrigg said. “Those moments, yeah they are about me, but at the end of the day, those are hits and runs that I’m getting for a better reason, and that’s to win ballgames. I’ve always played with the mentality of ‘Why play if you’re not going to play to win?’”
Soderstrom’s advice of trusting the process is also something that Carrigg would like to share with another friend from Turlock, Kade Morris. Morris was an ace at Pitman High School and graduated the same year as Carrigg and Soderstrom before attending the University of Nevada and becoming the 101st overall pick in the 2023 draft, He was optioned back to Triple-A following his own MLB debut with the A’s on June 6 as the club searched for bullpen resources for the week in Las Vegas.
“I’m super happy for Kade, too,” said Carrigg. “To make my debut three days after him is kind of nuts. He has worked his tail off and had a great college career and had a great run in the minors. I’m not too worried about him. There’s timing and place for everything. The A’s needed him at that moment, needed some changes for their pitching, but he’ll be back. There’s so much business and roster construction that goes into those decisions that you can’t control.”
“It was just a big week for Turlock,” added Soderstrom. “It would have been cool to have him here with us, but we’ll see him again. It’s still special. It’s a proud time for a lot of us.”
