Dawgs advance to WCBL finals with win over Gulls

Photo: Okotoks Dawgs

August 13, 2022

Official Okotoks Dawgs News Release

The Okotoks Dawgs punched their ticket to the WCBL Finals on Saturday by defeating the Sylvan Lake Gulls 4-3.

The win gave the Dawgs a two-game sweep of the semi-final series and a perfect 4-0 record in the postseason.

The Dawgs trailed early, but emerged with the victory thanks to a two-run ninth and another shutdown inning from closer Matt Wilkinson (Okotoks, Alta.).

In the low-scoring contest on Saturday, the Dawgs were led by McCoy Pearce (Kamloops, B.C.), Brendan Luther (Mississauga, Ont.), Jacob Morrow and Alex Stufft, who each had multi-hit games. Pearce and Stufft each scored a run and Morrow was credited with an RBI.

The Dawgs’ ninth inning rally was sparked by Ruben Cedillo who went 2-for-3 and scored the game-tying run. Alejandro Cazorla (Okotoks, Alta.) then scored what would prove to be the game winning run to give the Dawgs a 4-3 lead.

On the mound, Brady Baltus started and tossed five innings. Relief efforts from Julian Tymochko (Etobicoke, Ont.), Cade Herrmann, Seth Thompson (Calgary, Alta.) and Branden LeBlanc (Okotoks, Alta.) kept the Dawgs in the game before Wilkinson ended the game with two strikeouts to earn the playoff victory.

The Dawgs will await the winner of the East Finals and prepare to host Game 1 which will be played at 7:05 p.m, on Tuesday.