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Carter Beck was standing in his family’s backyard in Carnduff, Sask., when he found out about the news.
Atlanta selected the outfielder 26th overall in the 2026 MLB Draft on Saturday — the highest any Saskatchewan-born player has ever been picked, according to Baseball Sask.
“It was unbelievable,” Carter said in an interview Saturday.
“I didn’t even really know how to act, I’m going to be honest. My hands were just on my head and I was like, holy smokes.”
His dad Blair Beck said their phones have been blowing up.
“I made a joke that I wanted to get a map of Saskatchewan and put pins in all the different people that have contacted us,” he said. “It’s been one of the real rewarding things of this whole process — just the support he’s received from the whole province.”
Carnduff is located about 250 kilometres southeast of Regina, near the U.S. and Manitoba borders.
Blair said the celebration is going from their backyard to Carnduff’s ball diamond — the same diamond where Beck grew up playing from the time he could barely hold a bat.
“We’re going to have a great big party,” Blair said.
“I think we’ll have a big gathering at the baseball diamonds tonight, for all the people in the town of Carnduff who want to come out and visit and celebrate this achievement,” said Carter, who recently celebrated his 21st birthday.
Carter Beck goes 26th overall in the 2026 MLB Draft to the Atlanta Braves!
Carter makes history as he is now the highest drafted Saskatchewan born player.
Congratulations Carter! 👏 pic.twitter.com/wnY6LSulIj
Growing up in small town Saskatchewan, Blair said the family drove an hour each way quite often so that Carter could keep playing at the level he needed to.
“We never considered those a negative,” his dad said. “It was the price of letting our kids do things at the highest level they could do. We never complain about it.”
His message for the kids is that “it doesn’t matter where you’re from, what way you go, your path or whatnot. You just keep working, keep your head down, and don’t worry about the outside factors too much,” he said.
“They’ll find you eventually. They’ll know your worth at some point. It might not feel like it — but they’ll find it.”
Carter spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons playing summer ball for the Saskatoon Berries. He’s expected to report to the Atlanta organization as early as next Saturday, then it’s time for camp before getting back onto the field.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take for it to totally sink in. But it’s pretty cool,” Carter said.
