August 12, 2024

By Oakley Matthewson

Okotoks Dawgs

Okotoks, Alta. - The Okotoks Dawgs defeated the Sylvan Lake Gulls 3-2 in front of 5,048 fans at Seaman Stadium in Game 2 of their WCBL West Division Finals series on Monday to force a third-and-deciding game.

The two teams will now play in Sylvan Lake on Tuesday to decide who will represent the West Division in the finals.

Offensively, Ricky Sanchez (Lamar University) had a hard-hit triple in the seventh for the Dawgs, and finished 1-for-2 with an RBI.

Brendan Luther (Mississauga, Ont.) also went 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI, while Alejandro Cazorla (Okotoks, Alta.) contributed an RBI sacrifice fly in the second.

On the mound, Dawgs veteran Graham Brunner (Sherwood Park, Alta.) started and allowed two runs on five hits in four innings, while striking out three.

Garrett Maloney (Campbellsville University), Gavin Wuschke (Regina, Sask.), and Cade Herrmann (Bellevue University) then combined to throw four scoreless innings before closer Ashton Luera (Oklahoma Wesleyan University) registered two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 ninth to record the save.