July 6, 2021

By Tyler Milton

Okotoks Dawgs

Amidst record temperatures heating western Canada and the prairies, the Okotoks Dawgs Academy looked to continue their strong seasons across their four teams in action.

Heading into the weekend, Dawgs 15U Black and Dawgs 13U were both undefeated and looked to continue their winning ways, while Dawgs 15U Red and Dawgs 16U hit the road for a couple twin bills.

As the weekend concluded, both 15U Black and 15U Red swept their weekend opponents, 13U split with their visitors from Edmonton and 16U dropped all four against the St. Albert Cardinals in St. Albert.

Lou Pote and Aaron Ethier’s 15U Black squad headlined the Dawgs Academy weekend, as the team scored 57 runs over their four-game set against the Lethbridge Academy. Leo Cote led the charge, tallying seven hits, three of which were of the extra base variety including a round tripper.

Chase Logan and Preston Tocheniuk chipped in with six hits and five hits respectively during their offensive barrage in Lethbridge. The weekend saw the Dawgs home run trots from Cas Herold, Chase Logan and Cote. Jack Mitchell, Ty Gertner and Bodie Bazillion silenced the Lethbridge offense. Mitchell and Bazillion both threw four innings each striking out 12 over their combined eight innings of work. Gertner struck out seven over his five innings of work, while only allowing two hits.

The 15U Red, or better known as the “Red Army” led by Scott Smith and Doug McPhail traveled to Calgary to visit the Calgary Redbirds. After splitting in their first two weekends, the Dawgs came with a series sweep. Andrew Pelligrino could not be stopped this weekend, as he went a perfect 11-for-11, tallying eight runs and driving in three in his four games on the weekend. Kaden Johnson (seven), Kingston Besuijen (six) and Pryor Woollett (six) also led the Dawgs offensively on the weekend with their multi-hit efforts.

Besuijen, along with Jordan Hurst and Thomas Snyder controlled the tempo on the mound for the Dawgs. Hurst and Snyder both hurled six innings punching out a combined 17 Redbird hitters over their two starts. Besuijen threw a complete game, allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits while punching out six in his outing.

The mighty pups as some call them, saw the 13U Dawgs host the Parkland Twins and SEEBA Expos. After starting the season undefeated, the Dawgs they came away with a split on the weekend. Avery Johnson took charge for the Dawgs on the mound. In his best outing this season struck out nine in his five innings of work. Taye Thierman and Tyson Dyck helped dictate play for the Dawgs throwing four innings apiece and allowing four earned runs across eight combined innings.

Cody Schuck was the alpha of the pack, tallying eight knocks, while driving in eight as well. Giacobbe De Castro collected his first home run on the young season, while teammates Taye Thierman (nine) and Evan Matthews (five) helped lead the offence with their timely hitting collecting 14 RBIs between the two of them.

Next up is the 15U Black and Red hosting the annual Canada Day Classic. Dawgs 13U travel to Calgary to take on the Calgary Bucks and Calgary Cubs.