‘Full circle’: Mt. Spokane star Stu Flesland’s baseball journey brings him back to Spokane with the Indians

Stu Flesland had been to Avista Stadium many times, of course.

Throughout his youth growing up in the area, he would often venture to the ballpark to take in a Spokane Indians game with his family. He even had occasion to play there when he starred for Mt. Spokane in high school.

Now a professional ballplayer as part of the Colorado Rockies’ farm system, when Flesland arrived with his Indians teammates last week the walk onto the newly refurbished playing surface at the stadium hit different for him.

“It kind of all set in when I first showed up to the stadium for practice our first day,” he said after batting practice on April 9. “It was kind of crazy, because I remember taking pictures and stuff one year in high school before the season started out here on the outfield. So it’s kind of a crazy full-circle thing. Honestly, it’s a such a blessing to be here.”

He is taking a little bit of teasing from teammates about being the “local kid.”

“They like to make jokes about it every once in a while,” he said. “But it’s all good-hearted.”

Flesland, 24, has had a long, sometimes bumpy ride on his road to reach High-A with the Indians and the Rockies’ organization. But his experience getting here has only added to his satisfaction of getting to pull on the Indians uniform in front of family and friends.

“There’s a picture in my family’s living room with me and my dad coming to an Indians game,” he said. “I’ve been coming here all my life and watching the Indians play. It’s awesome to be out here.”

Flesland was a two-way star for Mt. Spokane and coach Alex Schuerman in high school, but it was on the mound where the lanky 6-foot-5 Flesland really shined. In his senior season in 2019, Flesland posted a 0.19 earned-run average and earned first-team All-Greater Spokane League honors, leading the Wildcats to a State 3A quarterfinal appearance. He was named second-team all-state.

That led to a scholarship at Boise State, where the school was restarting a program that has been dormant for 40 years. Flesland’s freshman year with the Broncos in 2020 was short – he appeared in just four games due to the pandemic – but it was sweet, as he went 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA with 15 strikeouts over 10⅔ innings.

But in July that year, the school announced it was eliminating the nascent baseball program, along with women’s swimming and diving, in a cost-cutting measure.

“It was tough, for sure, to have the Boise State program fold,” Flesland said. “It was such a good program and run by such good coaches like (former Gonzaga player and assistant coach) Gary Van Tol and guys like that. It was tough to have that program go away.”

But when one door closes, others open.

Flesland signed on at University of Washington and flourished in the Pac-12. He played three seasons with the Huskies, earning All-Pac-12 honors as a junior when he ranked second in the conference in starts (16) and innings pitched (89⅔), going 7-2 with a 4.12 ERA – sixth lowest in the league – with 81 strikeouts and a 1.29 WHIP.

As a result of his stellar season, Flesland was selected in the 11th round of the MLB draft in 2023 by the Rockies.

“Washington was a bit of a different feel, I would say. But I got used to it and really enjoyed my time there,” Flesland said. “Getting drafted was probably one of the best feelings I’ve had ever in my life. It was just such a dream come true.”

After the initial shock of hearing his name called, Flesland quickly realized that the Indians were affiliated with the MLB team that just drafted him and that he might one day suit up for the team he used to watch as a kid.

“That was the first thing I looked up, was where the affiliates were,” he said. “It just made another goal for me to get to here and then to keep going on forward.”

Flesland got into three games with the Rockies’ complex league team his draft year, then spent last summer with Low-A Fresno. He went 3-3 in 32 games (seven starts) with a 3.91 ERA and 1.346 WHIP with 70 strikeouts over 71⅓ innings.

The left-hander throws from a three-quarters arm slot and features a sinker, slider and sweeper.

“My first year of pro ball was great,” he said. “Just enjoying the grind of playing all the time.”

This season, Flesland has been a “piggyback” reliever – entering the game after a designed short appearance from a starter still building arm strength or coming back from injury. On Sunday against Vancouver, he tossed 3⅔ innings of shutout relief before tiring in his fourth inning of work. Overall, he 0-1 in two appearances with a 9.45 ERA over 6⅔ innings with six strikeouts.

“The bullpen is a little bit more laid back, because you’ve got to stay loose during the game. You’re sitting there ready to go, and then maybe that night you don’t go at all,” he said.

“But honestly, I’m willing to do whatever they ask me to do. If they need to start here or there, sometime during the season, I’ll be ready for it.”

Flesland’s goals this season are pretty simple.

“Just do my job, get outs and pitch,” he said. “To be able to pitch in front of my family and just have them enjoy watching me.”

Oh, and repeating as Northwest League champions would be nice, too.

“I was able to come watch them in the championship against Vancouver last year at Gonzaga,” he said. “Just watching them win, it was really cool. I’d like to be a part of something like that.”