The Okotoks Dawgs are staring down history on the eve of the postseason.
On the strength of a seven-game winning streak Okotoks (40-12) has locked up first place in the Western Canadian Baseball League and home field advantage in the rapidly approaching playoffs with four games left to set a franchise wins record.
“That’s been our expectation all year (to clinch),” said Dawgs outfielder Tucker Zdunich. “All we want to do is win, win, win.
“We just build off each other. We have really great chemistry as a team, a really good ball club and we have a lot of fun out here.”
Okotoks rose to the occasion on a big day on the Dawgs calendar with a double-header versus the Lethbridge Bulls on July 31.
The front-end of the set served as Okotoks’ Wear Pink to the Park Breast Cancer Awareness Game.
Sporting their pink jerseys, the Dawgs lit up the sky with a home run filled Sunday.
Zdunich hit his first two big flies of the season and drove in five runs, slugger McCoy Pearce added his team leading eighth home run, catcher Jacob Morrow went deep as Okotoks earned a 12-3 victory.
Southpaw Graham Brunner picked up the win with another stellar start, throwing 6.1 scoreless innings to improve his record to 7-0.
“We knew it was going to be a big day with a big crowd on a nice, warm Sunday so we were all juiced up and ready to go,” Zdunich said. “The juices were just flowing today.
“It felt good, I’ve been working really hard lately so it was nice for it to payoff a little bit, to stick with it, build off it and keep rolling into the playoffs.”
The back-end of the doubleheader saw the Dawgs continue to swing a big stick with three more big flies in a 9-4 triumph.
Catcher Caleb Lumbard hit two dingers with four RBI while Okotokian Connor Crowson homered and drove in a pair.
“Today it felt like a playoff environment,” Zdunich said. “It was good to see that we could compete and I know we could really turn it on in the playoffs.
“I’m really excited for the playoffs to come around.”
This week, the Dawgs are home to Sylvan Lake on Aug. 2, Lethbridge on Aug. 3, Brooks on Aug. 5 before their regular season finale on the road versus the Bombers on Aug. 6. The first round of the playoffs are expected to get underway on Aug. 8.
The Dawgs will be looking to surpass their 40-game win mark from the 2019 season, their most recent championship year.
“This boosts our confidence,” said Dawgs infielder Ricardo Sanchez. “We’ve got to be ready for playoffs and we want to take it all.
“We’re super close and that’s what makes us successful.”
Baseball with heart
The annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game once again proved to be a hit.
Over $42,000 was raised for the Canadian Cancer Society from a live pink jersey auction of the Dawgs as well as a silent auction during the July 31 matinee versus Lethbridge.
Sanchez earned the top bid at $8,300 with Pete the Plumber taking home the fan favourite’s jersey.
“I was expecting like three grand, Mitch (Schmidt) said that and then it just kept going higher and higher,” Sanchez said with a laugh. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is insane.’
“It’s for a good cause so I’m very happy with it.”
For more information go to dawgsbaseball.ca.
