Dawgs win sixth straight to start season
Photo: Okotoks Dawgs/Twitter
June 4, 2019
By Dan Khavkin
Okotoks Dawgs
Okotoks, AB- The bats came alive early for the Okotoks Dawgs (6-0) who gunned down the Brooks Bombers (1-5) in an opening day rematch 18-7 Tuesday night.
“I got here five minutes before the game. Knowing what we have, picking the right guys who came out, my first impression is that these guys like playing,” Dawgs bench boss Mitch Schmidt comments after the game while pointing up to the scoreboard.
The Dawgs put up 18 runs on a whopping 21 hits tonight.
Schmidt drove up to Okotoks from Bellevue college in Washington state at 12:30 p.m. to make this game. After getting stuck at the border, he says he’s pleased to see that he inherited a safe situation and believes that the work is still only just beginning.
“It’s very pleasing, the transition was seamless. I can tell they are a ‘grindy’ group of players, so the fans are going to love them.”
Virginia Tech product Nick Vickers took the mound for his second start of the season, also against these same Bombers whom he saw on opening day.
The Dawgs Academy alumni and third-year collegiate team veteran pitched four innings, surrendering seven hits and four runs on route to his first win of the season.
The story of the game however, was the explosion the Dawgs had on offence, despite being down on the board first.
Okotoks batted around the order and saw 12 batters step up to the plate in the first inning. A combined seven runs on six hits jump-started a hot offence that never looked back after routing Bomber pitcher Vaughn Wiggins who only saw an inning and a third.
The bombardment of Brooks carried into the second inning where a six-spot was put up.
Brooks attempted to claw back into the game but at 15-4, the Dawgs tallied another three-run inning during the bottom of the fifth.
The Bombers mustered up a few more runs but the game was already decided
Dawgs centre fielder and Okanagan college product Davis Todosichuk, had himself his best display on offence thus far, going 4-for-5 with six RBIs, including a three-run home run that cleared the left-field fence during the bottom of the second.
Right fielder Tristan Peters continues to improve his consistency, holding a .519 batting average after going 3-for-5 with three RBIs under his name while Texas State first-baseman Will Hollis, had his home run streak at Seaman Stadium snapped at three games but still drove in an RBI.
Dawgs Academy prospects Mike Clapperton and Richardo Sanchez combined to go 4-for-9 at the plate with four RBIs.
The Dawgs will enjoy an off-day on Wednesday before opening a home-and-home series with the Lethbridge Bulls on the road Thursday with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m.