Sept. 8, 2019

PERFECT GAME RANKS DAWGS ACADEMY 3rd IN NORTH AMERICA

OKOTOKS, AB _ The Okotoks Dawgs Academy enjoyed a banner year in 2019, and has been recognized for it across North America. The Perfect Game Scouting Service, widely regarded as the elite amateur showcase, tournament and scouting platform in youth baseball worldwide, has released its rankings of the Top 2019, 18U Travel Teams in North America.

Sitting in as No. 3 spot on the list is the Okotoks Dawgs 18U Black. The Dawgs were the only Canadian team to crack the top 10 in all of North America.

The Dawgs 18U, coached by Jeff Duda, Tyler Hollick and Val Helldobler, had a dominant 2019 season, finishing with a 60-12 record while winning four tournaments, winning the Kelowna Invitational, the New Era Mother’s Day Classic, the Langley Blaze Invitational and the Perfect Game 18U BCS National Championship in Florida.

The Dawgs were third of 112 premier youth teams at the Pastime 18U National Wood Bat Championship in Indianapolis. The Dawgs only loss was a 3-2 defeat in the semi-finals against the Midland Redskins, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is Perfect Game’s No. 2 ranked travel team.

Beyond the championships, there were plenty of individual accolades collected by the Dawgs over this past year. The Dawgs Academy had 17 players selected to participate in the prestigious Blue Jays T12 Tournament held annually at Rogers Centre in Toronto; six Dawgs were selected to play for Team Canada’s Junior National Team in 2018-19; 19 graduating Dawgs Academy players accepted scholarships to play in baseball; and three Dawgs Academy alumni signed pro contracts with Major League Baseball organizations.

OF Matt Lloyd (Calgary, Alta.) was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 15th round, C Cole MacLaren (Charlottetown, PEI) signed as a free agent by the Detroit Tigers and RHP Ben Thompson of Auckland, New Zealand was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 28th round from Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

In addition, Dawgs Academy players made a significant contribution to the Dawgs summer collegiate club as it captured the 2019 Western Canadian League championship. In particular, Academy grad, Tristan Peters won the WCBL batting title, Ricardo Sanchez delivered outstanding play at shortstop and lefty ace, Matt Wilkinson gave the collegiate Dawgs quality innings on the mound.

Looking ahead, the Dawgs Academy look to continue to raise the bar in amateur ball and provide opportunities no other program can offer. This fall, another 15 Dawgs players have been selected to participate in the Blue Jays T12 Tournament at Rogers Center.

To top it off, the Dawgs are also making a major West Coast college road trip as top Dawgs Academy players will play games against Gonzaga University, the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, San Jose State University, St. Mary’s University, Cal State-Bakersfield, UC-Santa Barbara and Oregon State University.

At Oregon State, Dawgs Academy players will be reunited with freshmen, Cesar Valero (Calgary, Alta.) and Micah McDowell (Coldbroook, NS), both former Dawwgs in year one with the NCAA Division 1 powerhouse, OSU.

The future is looking bright in Okotoks with the fall season of the Academy currently underway. The Dawgs Academy offers a professional coaching staff of 10 full time coaches and eight seasonal coaches, all with collegiate and/or pro playing or coaching experience. The Dawgs also offer its seven teams of youth players, aged 13 to 18 years, the premier playing and training facilities in the country.