Dawgs win 35th of season to tie franchise record

Mesa Thunderbirds right-hander Nolan Ruff tossed seven scoreless innings for the Okotoks Dawgs on Friday to run his season record to 7-0. Photo: Perfect Game (file photo)

July 26, 2019

By Dan Khavkin

Okotoks Dawgs

Okotoks, Alta. - A dominating 8-0 win by the Okotoks Dawgs over rival Edmonton Prospects on Friday tied the franchise record for wins during the regular season.

The Dawgs need to go 8-3 down the stretch to break the club's record for best win percentage.

Dawgs ace Nolan Ruff, who carried a 6-0 record into the game, picked up his seventh win by tossing seven scoreless innings in which he surrendered just four hits and struck out eight batters.

The Dawgs racked up three runs in the first inning. Bellevue University first baseman Riley Baasch had an RBI sacrifice fly before the University of Nebraska freshman Shay Scanaman drilled a two-out, two-run RBI triple to cap off the scoring in the frame.

Chandler-Gilbert product Tristan Peters followed with a two-run home run, his ninth of the season, that landed on the main road outside of Seaman Stadium in the second inning. Later that frame, Oregon State commit Jacob Melton added an RBI single to make the score 6-0.

The Dawgs didn’t score again until the seventh inning when they tallied a run on a wild pitch and on an RBI single from Melton.

Galen Manhard (Academy of Art) and Tanner Simpson (Lewis-Clark State) each worked a scoreless inning in relief to help the Dawgs to their second shutout win of the season.

The Dawgs will now welcome provincial rival Lethbridge Bulls to Seaman Stadium on Saturday with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m.