August 17, 2023

Whenever the Montreal Expos escaped a Nervy Ninth, Hall of Fame broadcaster Dave Van Horne would say “Never in doubt” as the third out nestled into someone’s glove.

The Okotoks Dawgs defeated the Medicine Hat Mavericks 13-5 to win the franchise’s seventh title in front of 5,888 happy fans at Seaman Stadium in the third and the deciding game of the Western Canada League championship series.

While the final score may give the impression the outcome was never in doubt, plenty of doubt existed in the sixth inning at Seaman Stadium, managing director John Ircandia’s jewel of the prairies, which was recently named Ballpark Digest’s best summer college league stadium.

The Dawgs led 5-0 heading into the sixth ... 12 outs to go from the title ... never in doubt?

Well, Medicine Hat had something to say about that.

Zach Stark (Medicine Hat, Alta.) led off with a single to right, and after a walk and an out, Brady Bean singled in a run. Next came an error, two walks, a hit batter and another error.

That was a five-spot off starter Brock Townsend (one earned run in 5 1/3 innings with five strikeouts), relievers Cade Hermann and Gavin Wuschke (Regina, Sask.) as the Mavs sent 10-men to the plate.

The Dawgs’ lead-off man in the bottom of the sixth reached on an error and Eric Hartman (St. Albert, Alta.) doubled and one-out later Logan Grant (Calgary, Alta.) tripled into the left field corner. It took only four hitters for Okotoks to get rid of the tie.

The Dawgs were not done: Trent Lenihan (White Rock, BC) had a run-scoring single to centre and Alejandro Cazorla (Okotoks, Alta.) singled as well. With two out Eric Machej (Okotoks, Alta.) was hit by pitch to load the bases. Caleb Lumbard (Regina, Sask.) hit a drive to centre clearing the bases.

The Dawgs had replied to the Mavs’ five-run top of the sixth, with a six-run bottom half for an 11-5 lead. The 10th man of the inning was batting when Lumbard was thrown out attempting to steal.

Back-to-back WCBL playoff MVP honours went to Brendan Luther (Mississauga, Ont.) who hit .344 in August with 11 hits, 10 RBIs and three home runs in seven playoff games. Luther, whose brother is a better pitcher for the Mississauga Majors -- but not a better hitter -- had a single and knocked in a run with a ground out in the title game.

Grant, who attends Bellevue, drove in two runs and was 3-for-6, including a double and a triple, while UBC’s Lenihan had three hits, including a triple and plated a pair. Lumbard, who attends Okanagan College, had four RBIs and Dayton’s Cazorla was 2-for-4.

Interim skipper Lou Pote, the former Anaheim Upper Case Angel and the current Okotoks lower-case angel, went to his bullpen after the Townsend departure. Hermann, Wuschke -- who recorded the win -- and Seth Thompson (Calgary, Alta.) combined to pitch 3 2/3 innings allowing zero earned runs and one hit.