Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast: Recent Episodes
Alberta Dugout Stories
And then there were four. The Western Canadian Baseball League's Division Series all wrapped up with the Okotoks Dawgs, Sylvan Lake Gulls, Moose Jaw Miller Express and Saskatoon Berries emerging victorious. We take a look back at each of their first-round matchups and look ahead to the Division Championship Series, which are set to begin on Tuesday. Joe and Ian had this conversation as part of the latest "WCBL Report" recorded on Monday.
The field of 12 teams is now down to eight, and in just a few days, we’ll be down to four, and then two will be looking to claim the Harry Hallis Trophy as WCBL champions.
Over the next couple of weeks, Joe McFarland and Ian Wilson will look ahead to each postseason round, then will bring you full coverage of the championship series, which is set for August 15-17.
But it all starts here with the Division Series. In the East, the #1 Moose Jaw Miller Express will battle the #4 Medicine Hat Mavericks and the #2 Saskatoon Berries face the #3 Regina Red Sox. In the West, the #1 Okotoks Dawgs take on the #4 Energy City Cactus Rats while the #2 Sylvan Lake Gulls and #3 Lethbridge Bulls will lock horns.
We put the wraps on another busy week of baseball (including the MLB Trade Deadline, a couple of promotions in the minors and the start of the Women's Pro Baseball League season). Then we hear from the Baseball Canada 19U Women's Nationals Hitter of the Tournament and bronze medalist Braidy Birdsall (Saskatoon), Morneau Cup champion and Washington State commit Jack Bello (Richmond/Dawgs Academy) and Morneau Cup silver medalist and USC-Lancaster commit Lucas Gensler (Edmonton/ATHX Academy).
5:54 - Braidy Birdsall
18:23 - Jack Bello
27:13 - Lucas Gensler
We're back with another edition of the show after a few extra days off following a wild stretch of daily shows during The Road to Okotoks and the WCBL All-Star Game. We get you all caught up with the news, then hear from Swift Current 57s record-breaker Jake Hiromoto, Parkland Twins extra-innings hero Garet Ostapchuk and Baseball Sask's Greg Brons as we revisit Carter Beck getting drafted by the Atlanta Braves.
7:47 - Jake Hiromoto
14:24 - Garet Ostapchuk
27:23 - Greg Brons
Saskatoon: you did good. Real good. The Western Canadian Baseball League made its maiden All-Star Weekend voyage to the home of the Berries, where they put on a show. It was the first time the league wasn’t in Okotoks since the pandemic. We talk to the players, organizers and check in with Ian Wilson to discuss the weekend and what's to come in 2027.
1:14 - Gael Salinas - Saskatoon - Bunt Competition Champion
3:55 - David Simmons - Energy City - HR Derby Champion
8:32 - Thomas Soto - Moose Jaw - Chasing Stolen Base Records
14:04 - Dallen Rude - Saskatoon - The Muenster Connection
18:49 - Carter Roth - Medicine Hat - All-Star Game MVP
21:08 - Steve Hildebrand - Saskatoon - The Host with the Most
24:47 - Aqil Samuel - Sylvan Lake - Next Year's Host
29:45 - Ian Wilson - Dugout Stories Chief Correspondent
The Morneau Cup came to Okotoks and that’s where it will be staying. Dawgs Academy defended home turf in style with an 11-5 win over Gulls Prep in the finale of the inaugural Road to Okotoks 19U academy national championship Sunday afternoon. We take a look back at all the action from the day and hear from the champs, go through the tournament all-stars and award winners, then check back in with the namesake of the new tournament, Justin Morneau.
2:17 - Jeff Duda
7:08 - Taye Thierman
9:03 - Cam Gerla
10:54 - Kadyn Armitage
12:29 - L.C. Larouche
15:56 - Rhys Whiteford
19:17 - Justin Morneau
It's down to the Final Four at the Morneau Cup. A busy Saturday with the play-in round and quarterfinals, so we take a look at some of the big performances from the day, plus get you set for the semifinals, which will feature three Alberta teams: Vauxhall Academy faces Gulls Prep while Dawgs Black battles the Mississauga Tigers. We also sit down with Baseball Canada architect Greg Hamilton to see how he's feeling after seeing a ton of baseball, and we chat with Jaxson Smith Peterson from Prep Baseball Canada about what he's noticed during the course of the inaugural tournament.
3:05 - Greg Hamilton
9:08 - Jaxson Smith Peterson
And then there were 12. The Road to Okotoks has come to an end for four teams as the Morneau Cup round-robin is now complete following Friday's action. We take a look at the storylines from each match-up, who is getting the bye to the quarters, who is involved in the play-ins, and who is going home. We also recap the first Home Run Derby, which was won by Dawgs Academy slugger L.C. Larouche after he hit 10 bombs in the final round.
4:07 - L.C. Larouche - Dawgs Academy
8:01 - Tanner Morris - Vauxhall Academy
10:48 - Trentin Kooy - Team Sask
It was another scorcher of a day with some outstanding contests throughout on Day #3 of Baseball Canada's inaugural Morneau Cup round-robin. We take a look at the storylines from each of the games, then have eight different guests join us to talk about their thoughts and mindsets during this national championship.
3:41 - Pryor Dyck - Team Sask
6:39 - Cade Britz - Team Sask
9:15 - Calum Andersen - Vauxhall Academy
13:49 - Matthew Getz - Vauxhall Academy
16:44 - Cam Gerla - Dawgs Black
21:47 - Gabe Fink - AHP Academy
24:12 - Dayne Liske - Gulls Prep
27:32 - Tyler McWillie - Gulls Prep coach
Another fantastic day for baseball in Okotoks for day #2 of The Road to Okotoks and the Morneau Cup. We take a look at the standings, the game-by-game analysis, and welcome SEVEN guests to the show to talk about their experiences and expectations at the inaugural tournament.
3:43 - Aiden Kilshaw - Baseball Sask
6:49 - Braxton Bussing - Gulls Prep
9:17 - Sam Davis - AHP Academy
13:31 - Tyson Dyck - Webber Academy (drafted by UBC Thunder)
15:47 - Will Zielinski - Vauxhall Academy
19:55 - Jeff Duda - Dawgs Academy
21:05 - Conner Morro - Blue Jays Academy/Brooks Bombers alumni
What a beautiful day in Okotoks as The Road to Okotoks officially began with a full slate of games. We give you a quick rundown of the action with some highlights from each game, before chatting with a quintet of players.
3:21 - L.C. Larouche - Dawgs Academy
5:47 - Easton Kitura - Vauxhall Academy
10:54 - Jayden Kane - AHP Academy
14:16 - Ethan Chenard - Medicine Hat Junior Mavericks (drafted by Etobicoke Rangers)
17:45 - Beck Button - Webber Academy (drafted by Abbotsford Cardinals)
Welcome to the first of daily episodes shining a light on The Road to Okotoks. The inaugural event is finally here and it all got started on Monday with practices and a media day, giving us an opportunity to chat with players, coaches and dignitaries. We spent most of the day at Seaman Stadium and Tourmaline Field catching up with tons of people. To get us rolling, we hear Baseball Canada's Jason Dickson, Okotoks Mayor Tanya Thorn, Dawgs coach Matt Stairs and we get a surprise visit from Dawgs alum and current San Francisco Giants prospect Matt "Tugboat" Wilkinson.
2:52 - Jason Dickson
11:55 - Mayor Tanya Thorn
16:18 - Matt Stairs
25:07 - Matt "Tugboat" Wilkinson
Welcome to the silly season for baseball in our neck of the woods. National championships are getting underway, The Road to Okotoks is nearing, and the Western Canadian Baseball League All-Star Game is set for next weekend. To get you all set up, we hear from Baseball Sask rising star Beth Sarauer (Clavet) about her excitement to play for three provincial teams, Kaleb Bozek (Castor) of Vauxhall Academy and the Brooks Bombers on all the things he's up to this summer, and our Ian Wilson stops by for a mid-season(ish) check in on the WCBL and his excitement for the All-Star Weekend in Saskatoon.
7:26 - Beth Sarauer
17:20 - Kaleb Bozek
27:59 - Ian Wilson
Plenty of news around the baseball world as we enter the month of July. Then we get to know a trio of guests with ATHX Academy product Caleb Mercer (Fort McMurray), Baseball Alberta rising star Avery Mullin (Leduc) and we catch up with Saskatoon Berries hurler Adam Korte (Muenster).
5:50 - Caleb Mercer
19:46 - Avery Mullin
33:54 - Adam Korte
We get you caught up on yet another busy week in the baseball news business before a trio of fantastic conversations. Baseball Alberta unveiled its 14U, 16U and 19U women's national events coming up later this summer and one familiar face is Airdrie's Natalie Kerr, who joins us to talk about her journey in the game. Then we head to the Western Canadian Baseball League to hear from one of the leading hitters in Swift Current 57's star Jake Hiromoto and one of the circuit's top pitchers in Okotoks Dawgs hurler Wyatt Sadleir.
7:39 - Natalie Kerr
21:33 - Jake Hiromoto
37:38 - Wyatt Sadleir
It has been a crazy week with one major story dominating the headlines. We take a deep dive into all that has transpired as the Western Canadian Baseball League has granted approval to the Energy City Cactus Rats hosting home games for the rest of the season. We provide a lot of context and some lengthy clips from league president Kevin Kvame's news conference on Wednesday. After that, we hear from Regina Red Sox veterans Justin Simard and Colton Bank, Medicine Hat Mavericks infielder Johnny Vulcano, and we catch up with Cochrane's Simon Baker after his award-winning college season.
11:54 - Justin Simard
15:53 - Colton Bank
19:08 - Johnny Vulcano
27:37 - Simon Baker
More guests and more news! We have a jam-packed episode of the show as we get to know Dawgs Academy hurler AJ Rogers as he gets ready for a busy summer. He’s pitching in the MLB Draft League right now and is also getting ready for The Road to Okotoks. Then Ian Wilson kickstarts our season of “In The Dugout” with a quartet of guests: Thomas Soto and William Edwards of the Moose Jaw Miller Express and Rydell and Kyrell Adair of the Swift Current 57’s. We also have a bit of a mailbag segment to round out the show.
6:40 – AJ Rogers
20:03 – Thomas Soto
28:35 – William Edwards
33:06 – Rydell Adair
37:10 – Kyrell Adair
40:15 – Mailbag Questions
Slowly but surely we're getting ourselves back into a regular cadence. And that includes putting the wraps on another busy week of news in the baseball world. Then we dive into The Road to Okotoks and last weekend's Prairie Qualifiers, which were rained out on the final Sunday. In the end, Baseball Canada opted to allow all four semi-final teams to get to the main event in July. We get to know a player from each of the teams on the latest edition of the show. Read "Next Stop: Okotoks" for more on the Prairie Qualifiers.
7:08 - Hudson Nikkel - Vauxhall Academy
19:10 - Cale Harsch - AHP Academy
30:34 - Rhett Anderson - Baseball Sask
44:23 - Owen Coumont - Gulls Prep
What a Friday it was in Carnduff as the Western Canadian Baseball League came to the community and put on a show for the second-annual Rural Roots Baseball Classic. A massive tip of the cap to everyone involved in organizing yet another memorable day in celebrating the past, present and future of baseball in Carnduff and southeastern Saskatchewan. Last year’s inaugural event in Oyen was fantastic and this season’s was another spectacle with a packed house coming to see the Saskatoon Berries and Weyburn Beavers do battle. Check out the photo gallery here.
1:10 - Ian Wilson
13:05 - Ethan Murdoch
20:23 - Jackson Fox
23:30 - Garnet Hansen
27:14 - Blair Beck
We put the wraps on a very busy week for baseball across the prairies by taking a look at the female game with some pretty exciting news over the last couple of weeks. We have a quartet of guests joining us to get through it all, including a new league in Calgary, a new academy in Saskatoon, an update from the Women's National Team, and a long-time national team member who made a special appearance in Lethbridge over the past week.
2:02 - Sydney Barry
10:55 - Addie Ziebart
19:27 - Julianna Scott
27:08 - Nicole Luchanski (via the Bullhorn in Lethbridge)
We’ve chatted with players and now it’s time to provide a little insight into how we see things shaping up around the Western Canadian Baseball League this summer. Joe and Ian are the special guests for the WCBL Report’s Season Preview Show, hosted by Clark Monroe. Thanks to the league and IKS Media for sharing the audio so that we can bring all our thoughts to you. Enjoy!
Check out our one-stop-shop for all our written WCBL season preview stories here.
Welcome to part two of our WCBL Season Preview Extravaganza! After spending the last episode in the East Division, it's time to take a look at the West Division with a guest from each of the six teams and their expectations heading into the summer.
1:19 - Sylvan Lake Gulls - Kai Rempel
7:22 - Okotoks Dawgs - Brody Forno
12:39 - Lethbridge Bulls - Cardel Dick
19:32 - Brooks Bombers - Deri Steiert-Couture
25:01 - Fort McMurray Giants - Jordan Breen
30:13 - Energy City Cactus Rats - Hudson Kozicki
The Western Canadian Baseball League season is upon us! As has become a new tradition here on the show, we've lined up quick check-ins from one player with each team to look ahead to the summer and what they're expecting out of their respective teams. Today, we focus on the East Division, while the West Division comes tomorrow.
1:09 - Regina Red Sox - Brady Bye
6:34 - Saskatoon Berries - Aidan Marien
12:34 - Medicine Hat Mavericks - Evan Morrison
18:13 - Moose Jaw Miller Express - Nathan Pisio
25:24 - Weyburn Beavers - Brayden Mayencourt
30:40 - Swift Current 57s - Hudson Unger
For the first time since 2017, the Canadian College Baseball Conference championship belongs to Prairie Baseball Academy. After the last few years of hosting the CCBC World Series but not making it to the big game, head coach Todd Hubka and company claimed first place in the regular season and made it count this past weekend, finishing it up with a 12-7 win over the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks. During this episode, you'll hear from Hubka and several PBA players as well as EC head coach Jake Lanferman following an outstanding season.
2:18 - Todd Hubka
5:28 - Aiden Beck
8:13 - Will Paterson
10:28 - Declan O'Kane
12:51 - Logan Heaney
15:11 - Nate Garth
17:49 - Tetsu Nishida
19:49 - Jake Lanferman
An MLB debut, a first MLB homer, college awards season, the CCBC championship is underway and ... oh yeah ... an Alberta coaching legend. This is a jam-packed edition of the show as we go through all the news from the past week before we catch up with someone we've always wanted to have on the show. Dave Robb checks in to talk about his journey in the game, how he ended up in Alberta in the first place, his coaching philosophies and much more!
Growing up on the farm, it can sometimes be tough to find enough time in the day to play baseball in the summer. You have animals or crops to take care of, farmyards to maintain, and there’s never an end to the oddball jobs you can find. But when you love it, you find the time. Such was the case with Skyler Stromsmoe. Born and raised on the family farm just outside Etzikom in southeast Alberta, he was willing to do anything to play the game he loved. We sit down for a great conversation about his days in the San Francisco Giants organization, representing Canada on the international stage, and what he's up to today back on the farm.
We put the wraps on another really busy week of baseball news before a trio of excellent conversations. Hear from Okanagan College catcher Nick Sauve (Calgary) as he's putting together a great CCBC season, University of Mary senior Kalem Haney (Lethbridge) discusses setting records down south, and Geoff Seto stops by to talk about the upcoming Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase tryout camps that are set for Sylvan Lake (May 19) and Saskatoon (May 20) ahead of their big event in September.
8:21 - Nick Sauve
17:08 - Kalem Haney
30:38 - Geoff Seto
With the baseball season really starting to ramp up, we have a few more bonus episodes of the show coming your way in the coming weeks and this is one of the first. With Baseball Canada's Junior National Team heading off to the Dominican Republic, we thought we'd check in with head coach and men's team director Greg Hamilton to talk about what he's seeing with this year's edition of the team, the World Baseball Classic, look ahead to the inaugural Road to Okotoks and the growth of baseball that's he's seeing from coast-to-coast-to-coast.
Yet another busy week of baseball news to put the wraps on so we get you covered before a trio of great conversations. Hear from Edmonton Collegiate Hawks slugger Caedyn Colford (Lacombe/Drayton Valley) after he set the CCBC single-season record for home runs, University of Calgary Dinos utilityman Mason Bristow (Calgary) talks about repping his hometown team, and Miles Community College rising star Chance Descalchuk (Regina) looks back at his unbelievable freshman season.
9:36 - Caedyn Colford
22:00 - Mason Bristow
36:22 - Chance Descalchuk
We put the wrap on another busy week of news (including some breaking news about a promotion for a Border City product) then have a couple of great guests join us in Wyatt McKeen (Calgary) of the University of Fraser Valley Cascades and Kaden Prosofsky (Saskatoon) of the College of the Desert Roadrunners. Then Joe McFarland talks about families making their summer plans and the opportunity that many sports and teams should be seizing as we continue to navigate this wild and wacky world we seem to be living in.
9:28 - Wyatt McKeen
24:30 - Kaden Prosofsky
35:40 - Joe talks baseball's opportunity this summer
What a wild week it was for Alberta baseball products in Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, the college ranks and even the national teams. We bring you all the news and notes from the last seven days, then we bring you three great conversations. Hear from Edmonton Collegiate Hawks utilityman and record-holder Brayden Morris, Aqil Samuel of the Sylvan Lake Gulls, and former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar as he gets ready to visit Lethbridge at the end of May.
11:17 - Brayden Morris
21:57 - Aqil Samuel
30:07 - Kevin Pillar
We have another jam-packed show with tons of news and a trio of great guests. Hear from Prairie Baseball Academy slugger Declan O'Kane (Ontario) as he's putting up an amazing season in the CCBC. Then we catch up with Ryan Kucy (Edmonton/AHP Academy) as he's now into his senior season at St. Bonaventure University, where he's taken on a new position on the field. And we wrap things up by welcoming long-time supporter and friend of the show Shari Reiniger (Edmonton) as she shares her experiences from the World Baseball Classic.
7:56 - Declan O'Kane
22:01 - Ryan Kucy
35:39 - Shari Reiniger
It was a jam-packed week with plenty of news from around MLB, MiLB, the college ranks, high school, the Junior National Team, and the grassroots. So we recap it all in the news before a trio of fantastic guests. Hear from University of Calgary Dinos utilityman Colin Baxter as they head towards their home opener this weekend, Berries Academy grad and Hutchinson Community College standout freshman Aidan Marien, and Sylvan Lake Gulls general manager Jason Chatwood.
9:38 - Colin Baxter
26:49 - Aidan Marien
43:22 - Jason Chatwood
What a wild week of news with Michael Soroka's debut with Arizona, Erik Sabrowski's dominance in Cleveland and Tristan Peters getting his first big league hit. We catch up on all the news of the past week before we hear from Prairie Baseball Academy alum Carter Claerhout as his monster season at Bellevue University continues. Then we get to know Carson Friesen of the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks after his unbelievable weekend. And we wrap things up with another monologue based off Joe's recent editorial about now being a pivotal time for women's baseball in our provinces.
7:08 - Carter Claerhout
17:31 - Carson Friesen
33:22 - Important time in women's baseball
Week one of the Canadian College Baseball Conference season is in the books so we head there for a pair of guests this week. Hear from Prairie Baseball Academy pitcher Sean Bavis (Banff/Canmore) about his journey in the game and his first career CCBC start and we catch up with Devery Van De Keere (Barrhead) as he's taken the reigns at the new University Baseball Club based at UBC. Then, for something a little different, Joe shares a few thoughts following his latest editorial on bringing back "Baseball Day in Canada."
4:57 - Sean Bavis
15:53 - Devery Van De Keere
37:05 - Resurrecting "Baseball Day in Canada"
After the tremendous success of the inaugural Rural Roots Baseball Classic in Oyen last summer, the Western Canadian Baseball League is making it an annual tradition. The circuit announced on Monday that Carnduff, Saskatchewan will play host to the event on May 29th with the Weyburn Beavers at home to the Saskatoon Berries. The league held a news conference to make the announcement and to allow reporters to speak to all the parties, so we have a few of the highlights with league president Kevin Kvame, John Prette of the Weyburn Beavers, Steve Hildebrand of the Saskatoon Berries, and Carnduff Recreation Director Jodie Wall. We also have a one-on-one conversation with community baseball coach, teacher and local event organizer Blair Beck about the importance of the day and how Carnduff plans to put on a show.
READ MORE: Laying Down Roots in Carnduff
It's finally here! The Canadian College Baseball Conference season gets going this weekend with a full slate of games. As always, we have you covered with our annual CCBC Season Preview Extravaganza. Hear from The Battery Media's Logan Wedgewood as he breaks down his predictions for the season, then we get to know Tetsu Nishida (Calgary) of Prairie Baseball Academy and Jace Daku (Martensville) of the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks, and we wrap things up with friend of the show and University of Calgary Dinos hurler Ethan Webster (White Rock).
4:51 - Logan Wedgewood
29:44 - Tetsu Nishida
38:59 - Jace Daku
51:26 - Ethan Webster
For the first time in World Baseball Classic history, Canada advanced to the quarterfinal and nearly upset the United States to move even further. In fact, had Japan beaten Venezuela, Canada would have earned a berth in the 2028 Olympics. Is this a sign of things to come from our country in baseball? Joe McFarland and Ian Wilson share a few of their thoughts on a special edition of the show.
Read more: "Oh Canada, Indeed"
What a wild week it's been in the baseball world, highlighted by Canada getting into the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic for the first time ever. We look at all the news and notes from around the baseball world before three great conversations. Dawgs Academy alum Logan Rumberg talks about throwing six innings of a combined no-hitter at George Mason University, Webber Academy grad Lucas Laukkanen gives us the inside scoop on the #3 nationally ranked Cloud County Community College, and Les McTavish joins us to talk about 20 years of Vauxhall Academy baseball.
5:16 - Logan Rumberg
23:46 - Lucas Laukkanen
36:14 - Les McTavish
We take a bit of a detour this week as we have an entire guest list filled with umpires. Hear from Tyler Malaka as he gets ready to head to the Little League World Series, Rob Allan on some of the work going on behind-the-scenes in the WCBL, and Brandon Strocki looks ahead to how busy the 2026 season is going to be. We also get into each of their individual journeys in the game and more!
6:16 - Tyler Malaka
27:44 - Rob Allan
49:07 - Brandon Strocki
What a crazy week it’s been with plenty of action in MLB Spring Training with ties to our provinces, as well as several player of the week nods in college baseball and new commitments state-side. We have the full rundown in the news, then visit with a trio of newcomers to the show plying their trades south of the border. Hear from Dawgs Academy alum Jacob Gillis (Fergus, Ontario) as he’s off to a great start at Ball State University, then we visit with Martin Academy product Nathan Yunick (Estevan, Saskatchewan) as he’s into his sophomore season at Trinidad State College. And we wrap things up with AHP Academy grad Seamus Lehman (Edmonton, Alberta) as he’s into his first full season as a redshirt sophomore at Fort Scott College.
5:24 – Jacob Gillis
14:06 – Nathan Yunick
26:12 – Seamus Lehman
A pair of Australian Baseball League award winners and Sydney Blue Sox teammates join us on the show this week. Lethbridge Bulls alum Landen Bourassa picked up the top pitcher honours while former Brooks Bombers all-star Eric Rataczak was named the Helms Award recipient as the circuit's most valuable player.
4:30 - Landen Bourassa
26:30 - Eric Rataczak
We put the wrap on what's been a busy couple of weeks on the show with a special episode to unofficially kick off the 2026 college baseball season. We welcome three brand new voices to the program who had massive 2025 campaigns. Turner Zdunich (High River/Dawgs Academy) is into his sophomore season at Colby Community College while Hudson Hoy (Spruce Grove/Parkland Twins) is doing the same at Northeastern Junior College. The veteran is Kleysen Gabruch (Martensville/Going Yard Academy), as he gets ready for his first season at Campbellsville University after two successful years at Williston State University.
5:22 - Turner Zdunich
15:16 - Hudson Hoy
28:28 - Kleysen Gabruck
We now know who will represent Canada at the World Baseball Classic. All rosters were unveiled during a special broadcast last Thursday night. Led by manager Ernie Whitt, 21 of the 30 players are either current or former MLB players, with a quartet of pitchers having roots here in Alberta: Michael Soroka, Rob Zastryzny, Adam Macko and Matt Wilkinson. We catch up with Baseball Canada architect Greg Hamilton to talk about the process of building the roster, bullpen catcher and Dawgs alum Jordan Procyshen on going to his second WBC, and the two youngsters - Macko and Wilkinson - talk about their excitement to represent Canada on the international stage.
1:58 - Greg Hamilton
16:47 - Jordan Procyshen
26:33 - Adam Macko
39:39 - Matt Wilkinson
The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has unveiled its Class of 2026 and it’s an excellent group to be celebrated on June 20th in St. Mary’s, Ontario. Jim Baba, Stubby Clapp, Kate Psota, Paul Runge, Bill Stoneman and Devon White make up this year’s class.
With a busy couple of weeks coming up, we're getting this episode out a couple of days early. Hear from Tyler Hollick of the Okotoks Dawgs as they have plenty of construction, roadtrips and "The Road to Okotoks" coming up this season. Then we hear from Baseball Alberta's 15U 'AAA' Player of the Year, Riley Wolbeck, about his journey with Black Gold 47s and much more. And we wrap things up this week with Innisfail native/Red Deer Minor Baseball alum/Sylvan Lake Gulls alum Nathan Flewelling following his first year of pro baseball in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.
4:02 - Tyler Hollick
24:49 - Riley Wolbeck
34:20 - Nathan Flewelling
We head to the minor leagues for a pair of fantastic conversations this week. Hear from Wetaskiwin's Matt Coutney as he continues to make a name for himself in the Los Angeles Angels system. Then we get to know Regina's Thomas Ireland as he had a breakout season in the Texas Rangers organization. Both are looking forward to the new season and an opportunity to get closer to the big leagues.
4:48 - Matt Coutney
23:44 - Thomas Ireland
It's good to be back! The 2026 season of ADS: The Podcast gets underway in a big way with a trio of fantastic guests. We hear from Steve Hildebrand of the Saskatoon Berries as the team has unveiled plans for an addition to NexGen Patch at Cairns Field. Then Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs alum Eric Hartman stops by to chat about his first full season of pro baseball in the Atlanta Braves system. And we wrap things up with Toronto Blue Jays catcher Tyler Heineman as he gets ready to head west for fundraiser event stops in Weyburn and Swift Current.
5:16 - Steve Hildebrand
14:33 - Eric Hartman
30:17 - Tyler Heineman
If you thought 2025 was a busy year for baseball in our provinces with all kinds of highlights, we have no doubt that 2026 will be even better. With a wide array of storylines to follow, from the grassroots to the big leagues, we are excited to announce that our coverage on the show will begin with the 2026 season premiere on January 22. So make sure to hit subscribe or like the show on your app so you don't miss a moment of the action. And, as always, a tip of the cap to all of our official supporters for helping tell the game's stories in Alberta and Saskatchewan. We can't wait to see you around the diamond soon!
It's finally here! Thank you for your patience as Joe battled through a sickness recently, which led to a delay in the final episode of the 2025 season. He catches us up on all the news from the past couple of weeks (including some personal news courtesy of Baseball Canada) then Ian Wilson stops by for a recap of the recent WCBL annual general meeting. We also hear from league president Kevin Kvame before we get into our highlights of 2025 and a short look-ahead to 2026.
He’s a man who really needs no introduction. Justin Morneau is a former MLB MVP, All-Star, Silver Slugger, Batting Champ and more. The New Westminster, B.C. native had an 18-year pro career, which included a stop with the Edmonton Trappers in 2002. Most recently, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame legend was made the namesake of the new Morneau Cup, the academy national championship through Baseball Canada, which is playing out in “THE ROAD TO OKOTOKS” which comes to a head in July 2026. Always gracious with his time, Morneau stopped by for a chat about his journey, the power of giving back and what excites him the most about seeing the best face the best in Okotoks next summer.
It was a packed house at the Wyndham Edmonton Hotel and Conference Centre, as the best of the year were celebrated. From players and coaches to volunteers and organizations, it was great to hear of all the successes of 2025 and look ahead to what 2026 had in store. We have a full rundown of the festivities and list of award winners here. On the show this week, you will hear from Women's Player of the Year Julianna Scott (Calgary), Baseball Alberta Elite League Player of the Year Carter Moffat (St. Albert), 18U 'AAA' Player of the Year Aubrey Stender (Calgary), and Baseball Alberta president Jon Oko.
1:56 - Julianna Scott
10:56 - Carter Moffat
14:21 - Aubrey Stender
18:55 - Jon Oko
It was an historic week as the Women's Pro Baseball League held its first-ever draft to start putting rosters together for its inaugural season. A total of 120 players were selected including some of the biggest names in the game like Kelsie Whitmore and Ayami Soto. 20 Canadians had their names called, including Edmonton's Madison Willan, Fort McMurray's Sydney Barry, and Saskatoon's Braidy Birdsall and Addie Ziebart. In this special edition of the show, we hear from all four about their draft-day experience and what they look forward to the most as they look towards starting their professional baseball careers.
2:02 - Madison Willan
9:30 - Sydney Barry
18:14 - Braidy Birdsall
32:23 - Addie Ziebart
What a year it’s been for all three of our guests this week. Dawgs Academy hurler Josh Mills (Leduc) played for Alberta at the Canada Summer Games, the Canadian Futures Showcase and most recently suited up with the Baseball Canada Junior National Team. Baseball Sask Female Player of the Year Taylor Schueller (Saskatoon) also went to the Canada Games as well as repped Saskatchewan at the 19U Women’s Nationals and the Women’s Nationals before joining the Baseball Canada Women’s National Team. And Dawgs Academy alum Dane Tofteland (Grande Prairie) thought his baseball career was finished after a great year with the Rocky Mountain Vibes, only to get a message to try out for Banana Ball, which landed him a draft selection by the Loco Beach Coconuts.
4:12 - Josh Mills
18:59 - Taylor Schueller
31:30 - Dane Tofteland
After unfortunately missing this year's special Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025 Induction Ceremony, we circled back to bring you some conversations with the baseball people recognized. Last week, we chatted with executive director Tracey Kinsella and the families of inductees Reno Lizzi and Mel Kowalchuk. This week, we sit down with inductees Orv Franchuk and Dr. Randy Gregg to talk about their journeys in baseball and what it meant to be recognized with this year's class.
4:20 - Orv Franchuk
30:12 - Randy Gregg
After unfortunately missing this year's special Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025 Induction Ceremony, we circled back to bring you some conversations with the baseball people recognized. We start this episode by chatting with the Hall's executive director, Tracey Kinsella, before we hear from Reno Lizzi's daughter, Brenda, and Mel Kowalchuk's son, Darin. This is the first of a two-part series as we will chat with fellow inductees Orv Franchuk and Dr. Randy Gregg on next week's program.
6:11 - Tracey Kinsella
15:19 - Brenda Lizzi
28:12 - Darin Kowalchuk
Baseball Sask celebrated the best of 2025 with its annual awards banquet on Oct. 18 and we bring you a trio of the winners on this week's show. Hear from Male Player of the Year Kane Kaufmann (Regina), Junior Female Player of the Year Rylee Lenius (Saskatoon) and Builder of the Year Justin Eiswirth (Regina). Check out our new story about the Baseball Sask Awards here.
3:40 - Kane Kaufmann
14:47 - Rylee Lenius
24:59 - Justin Eiswirth
it’s admittedly been a while since we last caught up with Oyen’s Gavin Logan. After being selected in the ninth round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, it’s been a rollercoaster couple of years as he’s tried to make a name for himself. The Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs alum had a breakthrough of sorts this year, starting the season with the High-A Hillsboro Hops before getting an unexpected call to the Triple-A Reno Aces. He made the most of the week-long promotion, went back to Hillsboro, then back to Reno where he hit three homers in three games and was a steady presence behind the plate. The 25-year-old then spent the rest of the year with the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles. All told, he hit .233 with eight homers and 31 RBI in 64 games. It was a productive season that Logan hopes will help cement himself as an option for the Diamondbacks heading into 2026.
Garrett Hawkins may have had one of the more unforgettable 2025 seasons of anyone out there. Fresh off Tommy John surgery, which sidelined him for most of 2023 and all of 2024, we weren’t sure how he would bounce back. The Biggar, Saskatchewan native and Vauxhall Academy grad was out-of-this-world good, starting the year with San Diego’s High-A team in Fort Wayne, going 8-1 with eight saves and a 1.43 ERA in 32 relief appearances. That earned him a promotion to Double-A with San Antonio, where he continued to shred opposition bats, going 1-0 with two saves and a 1.69 ERA in 13 appearances. All told, the former Lethbridge Bull and Swift Current 57 had 80 strikeouts in 60 innings of work. Hawkins’ return earned him the Padres’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year, something he’s proud of, but wants even more heading into 2026, now that he’s defined his new role as a high-leverage reliever and source of inspiration for Western Canadian ball players. Could a big-league debut be in the cards for next summer?
We're back after a week hiatus to bring you all the news and notes from the baseball world in Alberta as the season winds down. Then we take a look at the Western Canadian Baseball League awards, which have been unveiled through a series of announcements. Our Ian Wilson stops by for a recap plus a look back on the year that was before we hear from Most Outstanding Pitcher Levi Abbott of the Lethbridge Bulls, Most Outstanding Canadian Connor Crowson of the Okotoks Dawgs and Most Valuable Player Ethan Menard of the Saskatoon Berries.
5:34 - Ian Wilson
23:15 - Levi Abbott
32:54 - Connor Crowson
40:18 - Ethan Menard
The baseball season might be winding down, but still plenty to talk about. We start with Wednesday’s big news from Baseball Canada that the inaugural Morneau Cup will be hosted by the Okotoks Dawgs, bringing together 16 of the best academy programs in Canada. We hear from Tyler Hollick of the Dawgs about how we got here and what’s to come over the next few months. Then we recap the Canadian Futures Showcase with Home Run Derby champion Daril Rodriguez (Red Deer/St. Joe’s Academy), Jayden Kane (Fort McMurray/AHP Academy) and Jaxson Smith Peterson of Prep Baseball Canada.
5:46 - Tyler Hollick
17:14 - Daril Rodriguez
33:24 - Jayden Kane
50:24 - Jaxson Smith Peterson
It's been a while since we've done a one-guest episode, but when a former Toronto Blue Jays prospect comes calling, especially when the current team is almost clinching the AL East pennant, you take advantage of the situation. Shane Dawson, Jr. was a 17th-round pick of the Jays in 2012, spending six years in the organization before handing it up after the 2019 season. He came back home to do some coaching, where he is now a head coach and technical director with Parkland Minor Ball. Dawson was a guest way back on Episode #12 of the show, so it was great to catch up to talk about his journey, what he's been up to recently, and his thoughts on playing for a young up-and-coming coach in the Blue Jays system by the name of John Schneider.
The season might be winding down but there's still plenty to talk about and several athletes we want to introduce you to before the year is up. We get through the week that was in news, then we hear from Abby Szilagyi (Okotoks) after she helped Team Alberta claim silver at the Canada Summer Games. Then we head to the Canadian Futures Showcase, which starts next week, to get to know Zach MacDonald (Central Alberta) of Webber Academy and Mitchell Rauckman (Saskatoon) of Going Yard Academy.
7:07 - Abby Szilagyi
17:17 - Zach MacDonald
35:36 - Mitchell Rauckman
We take a look back at a busy week of news before hearing from another trio of great guests. We get to know Dawgs Academy utilityman Ethan Renaud (Okotoks) and Vauxhall Academy outfielder Rogan Rivard (Bonnyville) as they get ready for the upcoming Canadian Futures Showcase in Toronto. Then we check back in with Reece Hemmerling (Beaumont) after he was named an All-West Coast League Honorable Mention for his outstanding season with the Edmonton Riverhawks.
7:13 - Ethan Renaud
17:49 - Rogan Rivard
31:50 - Reece Hemmerling
We take a look back at another busy week of baseball as we look at some of the big pro storylines as well as the national championship season wrapping up. Then we go a little more in-depth with the Canada Summer Games, which was historic for having Women's Baseball finally added to the docket. To make things even better, Alberta captured the silver medal in the event. We hear from first base player Sydney Klebanosky (Spruce Grove), who was a major contributor for the team. Then we head to the Men's event, where Dawgs Academy hurler Tyson Kajmowicz (Calgary) checks in to talk about their fifth-place finish and his invite to the Canadian Future Showcase. And we wrap things up by heading back to the Baseball Canada 18U National Championships in Fort McMurray, where the host Oil Giants claimed bronze. We check in with utilityman Ethian Mayuk to talk about what it was like winning a medal on home turf.
6:59 - Sydney Klebanosky
19:00 - Tyson Kajmowicz
31:09 - Ethian Mayuk
The summer college season has wrapped up and national champions are coming to a close, but that doesn't mean we don't have plenty to talk about around the baseball world in Alberta and Saskatchewan. We sit down for a conversation with Western Canadian Baseball League president Kevin Kvame to recap the season and look ahead to what might be big topics for the offseason. Then we get to know Drayton Valley's Dayne Liske after he represented Alberta at the Canada Summer Games and has been named to the Canadian Futures Showcase roster. We wrap things up with Regina Trappers head coach Nolan Dezotell as the team gets ready to host the Baseball Canada Men's National Championship this weekend.
5:49 - Kevin Kvame
28:38 - Dayne Liske
38:25 - Nolan Dezotell
The 2025 Western Canadian Baseball League championship was a baseball lover's dream as it had a little bit of everything from start to finish including lead changes, momentum swings, contentious calls, a steal of home in extra innings and much more. In the end, it was the Regina Red Sox coming away with their first championship since 2012, after what was an emotional year. We take a look back at the series before sitting down with players, coaches and management.
For the first time in franchise history, the Sylvan Lake Gulls are heading to the Western Canadian Baseball League championship. After three years of heartbreak against the Okotoks Dawgs in the West Final, the team exorcised some demons by beating the Dawgs in a two-game sweep this time around. Ian and Joe were there for the series finale and chatted with several Gulls players as well as one long-time Dawg who played his last game. Then we head east to check in with the Regina Red Sox as they upset the Saskatoon Berries in their division final in three games. This will be the first time Regina is in the final since 2019. Check out our championship preview here.
4:21 – Jason Chatwood
11:16 – Josh Tucker
18:31 – Matty Fung
23:14 – Leeroy Tavarez
28:12 – Antony Gilbert
32:38 – Simon Baker
35:38 – Jaden Flores
37:33 – Logan Grant
39:46 – Rye Pothakos
45:39 – Brady Bye
50:14 – Matt Fox
54:47 – Ayden Page
And then there were four. The Western Canadian Baseball League first round is now complete and the division finals are set. For a fourth year in a row, the West will feature the Okotoks Dawgs and Sylvan Lake Gulls, while the East will see the Regina Red Sox face the Saskatoon Berries. We take a look back at the first round and ahead to those series with a quartet of guests in a special edition of the show.
1:19 – Leo Cote – Okotoks Dawgs
9:12 – Ayden Makarus – Sylvan Lake Gulls
15:36 – Rhett Hodgins – Regina Red Sox
21:07 – Carter Beck – Saskatoon Berries
Welcome to the Championship Season for baseball in Western Canada! We get through a dugout full of news before we chat with Ian Wilson to preview the first round of the Western Canadian Baseball League playoffs. Then we get to know utilityman Jace Richardson after he helped the St. Albert Cardinals claim the Baseball Alberta Elite League championship. And we wrap things up with Saskatoon’s Addie Ziebart, who was a big piece of Baseball Sask claiming bronze at the recent Baseball Canada 19U Women’s National Championships at Webber Academy.
5:54 – Ian Wilson
31:51 – Jace Richardson
45:48 – Addie Ziebart
We do the best we can in getting all caught up on the news from the past couple of weeks, including a couple of late-breaking MLB trades involving Calgary's Michael Soroka and former Okotoks Dawgs hurler Andrew Kittredge. Then we welcome a trio of guests to the show with AHP Academy rising star Gabe Fink, who was among the first players selected for the upcoming Canadian Futures Showcase, as well as Regina Red Sox hometown hero Brady Bye and Okotoks Dawgs co-manager Mitch Schmidt as we discuss his return after two years away.
8:29 - Gabe Fink
19:40 - Brady Bye
31:17 - Mitch Schmidt
As host of the broadcast during the Western Canadian Baseball League's mid-summer classic, it gave Joe McFarland the opportunity to chat with the movers and shakers of the league during the pre-Home Run Derby and pre-All-Star Game shows. As we've done over the last few years, we do the same on this episode as we hear from some of the newsmakers, including the Saskatoon Berries as they're hosting the 2026 All-Star Weekend, league president Kevin Kvame on his "state of the league," Dawgs' managing director John Ircandia, Regina Red Sox governor Al Simpson, new WCBL Legacy Builder Award winner Blair Kubicek, and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame legend Matt Stairs.
We take a look back at the 2025 WCBL All-Star Game at Seaman Stadium in Okotoks. Hear from new Home Run Derby champion Matt Rhoades of the Fort McMurray Giants, new All-Star Game MVP Ethan Menard of the Saskatoon Berries, and a handful of other players who took part in the 10-3 East Division win over the West.
1:56 - Matt Rhoades (Fort McMurray Giants)
5:41 - Ethan Menard (Saskatoon Berries)
8:40 - Levi Abbott (Lethbridge Bulls)
15:20 - Ian Heck (Weyburn Beavers)
19:57 - Brody Forno (Okotoks Dawgs)
23:20 - Nick Sauve (Fort McMurray Giants)
27:48 - Heath Hachkowski (Brooks Bombers)
We get back into our regular routine with plenty of news and notes off the top of the show. Then we go "In The Dugout" as Ian Wilson chats with WCBL All-Stars Zane Skansi of the Okotoks Dawgs and Ethan Menard of the Saskatoon Berries. We wrap things up with a pair of Baseball Alberta athletes heading to the Canada Summer Games in Brooke Forslund and Stone Foster.
7:31 - Zane Skansi
11:50 - Ethan Menard
17:03 - Brooke Forslund
26:20 - Stone Foster
Joe's on vacation in B.C. this week, so we don't have the regular news and notes off the top of the show, but we still have five outstanding guests from Ian and Joe's recent trips around the province. Hear from Micah Dvorak (Medicine Hat Mavericks), Blake Johnson (Regina Red Sox), Carter Claerhout (Lethbridge Bulls) and Ryan Dauphinee (Weyburn Beavers), before we visit with Dawgs Academy rising star Rhys Whiteford (Duncan, BC) as he has a busy summer of baseball ahead.
1:55 - Micah Dvorak
6:41 - Blake Johnson
12:34 - Carter Claerhout
18:21 - Ryan Dauphinee
25:29 - Rhys Whiteford
It has been a very busy couple of weeks in Alberta’s baseball world. We get through some of the big storylines before sitting down with a handful of guests. Ian went to see the Medicine Hat Mavericks host the Regina Red Sox, while Joe visited Lethbridge as the Bulls welcomed the Weyburn Beavers. Hear from Carter Roth (Stratford, Ontario), Kai Langford (Houston, Texas), Brett Getz (Medicine Hat) and Ethan Webster (White Rock, B.C.), then we visit with Vauxhall Academy rising star Calum Andersen (Calgary) after he was named to Team Alberta for the Canada Summer Games.
9:22 – Carter Roth
15:35 – Kai Langford
20:51 – Brett Getz
26:37 – Ethan Webster
32:37 – Calum Andersen
This is a special edition of the show as we are dedicating it entirely to Baseball Canada’s National Girls in Baseball Week. This is such a great opportunity to put a spotlight on the female game in our country as it continues to grow and we are proud to have always been an ally for elevating those stories as well. We go through some of the big events coming up this summer, highlighted by the inclusion of female baseball in the Canada Summer Games for the first time ever, then visit with five guests who are making an impact on the game.
2:27 - Tracy McEachern - Director, Beaumont Minor Baseball
13:29 - Kimberley Jordan - Centennial Little League & Girls With Game YYC
25:53 - Ara Siemens - Headed to Canada Summer Games with Team Alberta
31:35 - Victoria Bateman - Headed to Canada Summer Games with Team Saskatchewan
39:30 - Lauren Owens - Player-turned-Coach with Baseball Sask
It was another week for baseball on the prairies, highlighted by a major announcement by the Regina Red Sox. We take a listen to what was said during last Friday's news conference and offer a few thoughts. Then we catch up with a trio of guests: Simon Baker (Cochrane/Webber Academy) of the Sylvan Lake Gulls, Brandon Paez (Montreal/Dawgs Academy) of the Okotoks Dawgs, and Easton Kitura (Spruce Grove/Vauxhall Academy) of the Energy City Cactus Rats and Baseball Canada Junior National Team.
5:00 - Regina Red Sox announcement and analysis
18:32 - Simon Baker
22:28 - Brandon Paez
30:33 - Easton Kitura
It was a fantastic weekend to celebrate the past, showcase the present and inspire the future of baseball in Oyen. The WCBL's first Rural Roots Baseball Classic took to the field at Doug Lehman Field between the Lethbridge Bulls and Sylvan Lake Gulls. It was held to mark the 30th anniversary of the Oyen Pronghorns claiming their first Saskatchewan Major Baseball League title, the first for an Alberta-based team in what is now the WCBL. It was an emotional day as well with mayor and long-time baseball architect and booster Doug Jones being honoured with the re-naming of the park where the game was held. Hear from Jones, some former Pronghorns, Badlands Academy alum Max Benton and Joe finishes up the show giving his thoughts on the future of the Rural Roots Classic.
8:27 - Doug Jones
13:24 - Todd Hubka
23:22 - Graham Schetzle
26:48 - Aqil Samuel
31:13 - Max Benton
33:15 - Joe's Thoughts
Time to get back into our Thursday routine after a crazy few weeks with the CCBC World Series and our WCBL Season Preview Extravaganza(s). We get you all caught up on some of the big news from the past week before introducing you to a quartet of guests, including a pair for a new segment we're calling "In The Dugout." Hear from Medicine Hat Mavericks slugger Evan Morrison, Sylvan Lake Gulls hurler Hunter Jones, Okotoks Dawgs catcher Lou Anderson and Airdrie's Evan Wilde, who has put the finishing touches on an outstanding collegiate career at Niagara University in a way he wasn't expecting.
8:02 - Evan Morrison
16:28 - Hunter Jones
26:20 - Lou Anderson
33:16 - Evan Wilde
The Western Canadian Baseball League season is almost here! 12 teams will be vying for the right to hoist the Harry Hallis Trophy this summer and we wanted to get some local talent from each team onto the show. This is part two of our two-part series heading into Opening Weekend. We finish things up in the West Division with all Alberta products joining us:
2:44 - Energy City Cactus Rats - Jack Jewell
8:42 - Fort McMurray Giants - Riley Burns
13:49 - Brooks Bombers - Aidan Maxwell
19:09 - Lethbridge Bulls - Carter Claerhout
25:47 - Sylvan Lake Gulls - Gavin Galenza
32:29 - Okotoks Dawgs - Ryan McFarland
The Western Canadian Baseball League season is almost here! 12 teams will be vying for the right to hoist the Harry Hallis Trophy this summer and we wanted to get some local talent from each team onto the show. So this is part one of a two-part series heading into Opening Weekend. We start in the East Division with all Saskatchewan products joining us:
3:00 - Swift Current 57's - Adam Korte (Swift Current)
8:34 - Weyburn Beavers - Keaton Husband (Weyburn)
16:52 - Medicine Hat Mavericks - Tyler Vanneste (Warman)
22:02 - Regina Red Sox - Zander Oudie-Senger (Regina)
28:55 - Saskatoon Berries - Ethan Murdoch (Swift Current)
36:14 - Moose Jaw Miller Express - Jackson Martin (Grand Coulee)
For the first time since 2022, the Okanagan College Coyotes are Canadian College Baseball Conference champions. After finishing second in the circuit during the regular season, they ran the table to the final where they met up with the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack, where they won a thriller 10-9 on a cloudy Sunday morning in Lethbridge. Our Ian Wilson was there to chat with players, coaches and officials after an exciting final weekend of the season. You can also read our full story about the weekend and the Coyotes' season here.
2:14 - Head coach Geoff White
6:23 - Drayson Vodarek
8:59 - Adrian Orioli
14:14 - Easton Brons
17:35 - Cory Lawson
22:00 - Simon Crossfield (TRU)
26:58 - Kevin Kvame (CCBC President)
He really needs no introduction. The native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Ray Brown was drafted in the 60th round of the 1969 MLB Draft by the Kansas City Royals. He spent four years in their organization before being released, and in 1975, came to Alberta to play for the Edmonton Tigers of the Alberta Major Baseball League. He met his future wife, who is from Lac La Biche, and ended up staying in the province. He’s coached at virtually every level ever since, including a few stints in the Western Canadian Baseball League with the Edmonton Prospects and Fort McMurray Giants. Most recently, he was with the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks and WCL's Edmonton Riverhawks as an assistant under Jake Lanferman. He’s back with the Giants this summer, so we thought it’d be a good opportunity to catch up with him and hear more about his baseball journey, coaching philosophies and much more.
It was another big week for baseball in Alberta. We give you updates on Michael Soroka, Matt Lloyd, Cohen Achen, the college ranks and much more. Then we sit down with a trio of great guests: Dawgs Academy hurler Preston Tocheniuk after he helped the team claim their second-straight Best of the West title, Southern Maine Community College outfielder Adam Rowland (Calgary Bucks) and Edmonton Collegiate Hawks pitcher Chris Menard (St. Albert).
7:44 - Preston Tocheniuk
20:52 - Adam Rowland
37:32 - Chris Menard
Plenty of news coming from MLB, MILB, CCBC, US college ranks, WCBL and Baseball Alberta this week, so we recap it all. Then we catch up with Valley City State University utilityman Jaden Babiuk (St. Albert) as he approaches the school's all-time hits record. We also sit down with Mid-America Nazarene closer Reece Helland (Moose Jaw) after he captured the school's all-time saves record. And we wrap things up with University of Fraser Valley starter Kam Sparrowhawk (Regina) as we hit the midway point of the Canadian College Baseball League season.
8:09 - Jaden Babiuk
21:31 - Reece Helland
37:42 - Kam Sparrowhawk
We take a look back at a busy week in the baseball world around Alberta including a big promotion for Calgary's Cohen Achen. Then we sit down with University of Calgary Dinos infielder Brett Potter (Cranbrook) to discuss their season so far. We also hear from AHP Academy alum Brendan Clelland (Sherwood Park) as he is putting the wraps on a great first season at Northeastern Junior College. And we wrap things up with Dawgs Academy grad Ayden Makarus, who looks back at what has been a whirlwind few years including a national championship at LSU-Eunice, one season at Bossier Parish Community College, then quitting baseball to work before an unexpected conversation led him to come back to baseball, where he's now starring at Bellevue University.
5:49 - Brett Potter
21:48 - Brendan Clelland
38:07 - Ayden Makarus
For the second-straight week, we start the show off with a record-breaker. Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs slugger Nash Crowell is now the home run king at Reinhardt University after hitting his 56th career smash last week. We talk to him about the record and look ahead to the rest of the spring. Then we get to know Calgary native and Prairie Baseball Academy infielder Nate Garth, and wrap things up with Saskatoon native and Dawgs Academy alum Adam Beamin, who is becoming a big weapon on the mound for Central Arizona College.
6:12 - Nash Crowell
15:19 - Nate Garth
30:29 - Adam Beamin
What a week it was for Dawgs Academy grad and Okotoks Dawgs standout Logan Grant (Chestermere) as he hit home run #45 of his career at Bellevue University to take over the #1 spot in team history. We catch up with him to talk about the record-setting feat. We also catch up with new Sylvan Lake Gulls 19U Prep assistant coach Ben Prediger as he makes his transition into coaching after a solid playing career. And we wrap things up by getting to know Cochrane's Solomon Searle, who is playing at the College of the Redwoods in California, with an eye on playing at Clarke University in the fall.
5:40 - Logan Grant
18:12 - Ben Prediger
32:05 - Solomon Searle
We put the wraps on a really busy week of baseball action at virtually every level, then sit down for a chat with Edmonton Collegiate Hawks hurler Matthew Ridsdale after he racked up the program’s first-ever no-hitter this past weekend against TRU as well as his journey in the game. Then we catch up with former Okotoks Dawgs hurler Alex Jensen, who has forged a career in baseball broadcasting, with his latest stop coming as a voice of the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox.
6:58 – Matthew Ridsdale
24:43 – Alex Jensen
It's here! It's finally here! MLB Opening Day is today (Thursday) so we take the opportunity to talk to some of our insiders about the Alberta products down south who are looking to be difference-makers in 2025. Our Ian Wilson stops by for an all-encompassing chat including who might be next in line, then Jeff Peach at Webber Academy takes a look at Calgary's Michael Soroka after an offseason spent training in his facility. We also hear from Taylor Burns at Absolute Human Performance after St. Albert's Erik Sabrowski did the same in their new digs. And we wrap things up with Lou Pote of the Okotoks Dawgs and Dawgs Academy, who brings a unique perspective as he had a few Opening Day memories, including one with all the goosebumps in his hometown of Chicago.
5:17 - Ian Wilson
28:36 - Jeff Peach
46:43 - Taylor Burns
59:08 - Lou Pote
It's Opening Weekend for the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC) season and it also marks the circuit's 25th anniversary. Just like last year, we have you covered with a look-ahead to what the spring will bring for the three Alberta teams. You can also read our season preview here. We'll hear from The Battery Media's Logan Wedgewood again as he dissects the upcoming year and what he sees as some of the top storylines going in. Then we hear from a player on each of the Alberta teams: Jake Roggensack (Wainwright) of the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks, Cody Graf (Lloydminster) of Prairie Baseball Academy and Ethan Webster (White Rock, B.C.) of the University of Calgary Dinos.
4:31 - Logan Wedgewood
30:49 - Jake Roggensack
48:01 - Cody Graf
58:22 - Ethan Webster
We have a trio of US college freshmen who are looking to make big first impressions. Ryan Kwasnissia of AHP Academy and Stony Plain is at Pratt Community College, Webber Academy and Calgary native Kai Rempel is with Cloud County Community College, and Dawgs Academy grad Leo Griffin is lighting it up with Hutchinson Community College. We discuss their respective journeys in the game and what they hope to accomplish this season.
4:10 - Ryan Kwasnycia
18:21 - Kai Rempel
35:29 - Leo Griffin
Our guest this week really doesn’t need an introduction. Jamie Campbell has been the host of Blue Jays Central on Sportsnet for years now. He’s also a former Alberta broadcaster, having worked in Edmonton during the 1990’s. We first chatted with him back on Episode #85 of the show, which was during the pandemic and he was making phone calls to long-time baseball fans who were yearning for a chance to watch their favourite team again. Since then, he’s made a trek back here to catch a few WCBL games, is coming to Weyburn for their 2025 Sports Dinner with John Axford on March 15th and, as it turns out, he’s turned into a life-long fan.
It's been a long time coming, but Foothills Stadium is finally being torn down. The home of the Calgary Cardinals, Expos, Cannons, Outlaws, Vipers, Bucks, Dinos and Dawgs (who later moved to Okotoks) has been the planned site for the city's new fieldhouse project for years. With a blast of warm February weather, three excavators started tearing down the stands, dugouts and guts of the former Burns Stadium. Joe McFarland and Ian Wilson discuss their thoughts on the past and future of the site as well as baseball in Calgary. Ian also shares an interview he did with former Cannons owner Russ Parker, who happened to be snapping photos of the tear-down when Ian made his first visit to the site.
We commemorate Black History Month by paying tribute to two Western Canadian teams known for their skill, style and swagger. The Indian Head Rockets and Amber Valley Baseball Team entertained thousands of fans every time they hit the field. We’ll hear from Home Runs and Dirt Roads author, and Indian Head Museum's Robyn Jensen about the Rockets’ legacy, as well as author Chris L. Butler about his love of Negro Leagues history and fascination with Amber Valley.
6:21 - Robyn Jensen
38:41 - Chris L. Butler
We make our way through a lengthy list of news items then welcome a trio of great guests to the show. We start things off with Dawgs Academy hurler and Central Arizona College commit Austin Collins. Then we head east to Going Yard Academy where pitcher Willis Simair has committed to Garden City Community College. And we wrap up the show with long-time coach Mike Steed, who is now the pitching coach with the Atlanta Braves' new Double-A affiliate in Columbus. He was through Fort McMurray in January for a coaching clinic and we thought it would be great getting to know his baseball journey.
4:37 - Austin Collins
18:49 - Willis Simair
35:14 - Mike Steed
We're proud to bring you a very special edition of the show this week as we celebrate the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame's Class of 2025. Toronto Blue Jays great Jose Bautista headlines this year's class along with former big leaguer Erik Bedard, Junior National Team head coach Greg Hamilton and former Women's National Team great Amanda Asay. The Hall's Veteran's Committee also selected Saskatchewan native and All-American Girls Professional League star Arleene Noga and former Montreal city councillor Gerry Snyder. The ceremony is set for June 7. Hear from Bautista and Hamilton as well as family members of Asay, Noga and Snyder in a conference call held on Feb. 12.
1:16 - Jose Bautista
8:04 - Greg Hamilton
12:18 - Amanda Asay's parents Loris and George
21:09 - Arleene Noga's daughter Carol Lee (Noga) Scott
24:23 - Gerry Snyder's daughter Arlene Kenrick and son Gary Snyder
It's been a busy week for baseball in Alberta, so plenty of storylines to pass your way in the news. Then we have a trio of great conversations to get you into the weekend. We have a pair of high school players who will soon be going to college in Dawgs Academy product Kingston Besuijen (College of San Mateo) and Red Deer Minor Baseball/St. Joseph Academy product Tanner Morrow (University of Pikeville). Then we wrap things up with Craik, Saskatchewan native and Vauxhall Academy alum Tanner Spencer, who is now the head coach at the University of Mary.
4:12 - Kingston Besuijen
14:13 - Tanner Morrow
29:19 - Tanner Spencer
This is a special edition of the show that we are dropping on this Tuesday as, over the weekend, Prairie Baseball Academy held its annual banquet and celebration of baseball. It was also a night to honour a Southern Alberta baseball legend. Todd Hubka has been with the program going on 28 years now and is now entering the 15th season as head coach. He helped guide them to seven-straight CCBC championships and has a career .580 winning percentage. For all that, he was this year’s lone induction to the PBA Hall of Fame.
1:28 - Les McTavish
13:10 - Ryan MacDonald
25:50 - Todd Hubka
He is a Canadian baseball legend and the first base coach of the St. Louis Cardinals. We are, of course, talking about Stubby Clapp. A true “Mr. Hustle” for Canada for years, he made it to the MLB with a 23-game stint in 2001 with the Cards. The 11-year pro’s final two years came here in Alberta with the Edmonton Cracker-Cats in 2005-2006 (including the infamous brawl against the Calgary Vipers) before he went into coaching. He’s been on the Canadian Olympic Team, two World Baseball Classics, and was a key piece of that amazing 2015 Gold Medal performance at the Pan Am Games. For all his accomplishments, Clapp was inducted to the Baseball Canada Wall of Excellence on January 11. The Windsor, Ontario native spent some time with us recently to discuss his journey, his memories of Edmonton and what it meant to be recognized by Baseball Canada.
Welcome to the start of the 2025 podcast season! As always, we start off with some of the big news items from the past few weeks, then we head to the minor leagues for a trio of guests. Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs alum Matt Lloyd checks in after a great first season with the Double-A Springfield Cardinals, Vauxhall Academy product Adam Macko looks back at a year that started with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats and ended with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, and St. Francis Xavier Academy grad Matt Coutney reflects on a 2024 split between the High-A Tri-City Dust Devils and the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas.
4:21 - Matt Lloyd
19:23 - Adam Macko
43:12 - Matt Coutney
We are excited to announce the first official episode of the 2025 baseball season will be hitting the airwaves on January 23! 2024 was an outstanding year and we can't wait to make this year even better with more stories, more roadtrips, more collaborations and more great guests on the show. Make sure to subscribe now wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.
It's hard to believe that we are putting the wraps on yet another season of #ADSPodcast. Thank YOU for checking us out, whether it was one episode or all 50+ this season. Our Ian Wilson stops by for a recap of the recent Western Canadian Baseball League Annual General Meeting, then we hear from Saskatoon Berries president Steve Hildebrand and new Swift Current 57s president Jamie LeBlanc. Then Ian returns as we look back at our favourite stories of 2024 and what's exciting us heading into 2025.
3:38 - Ian Wilson on WCBL AGM
18:04 - Steve Hildebrand
26:02 - Jamie LeBlanc
32:27 - Ian Wilson on 2024 highlights and 2025 look-ahead
It's a big day with a new show and brand new stories on both of our websites to celebrate the unveiling of the fifth annual ADS All-College Team and the first annual SDS All-College Team. After the news headlines, we look quickly at each of the rosters, then are joined by Connor Crowson (Okotoks) of the University of Montevallo, Tom Poole (Calgary) of Dallas Baptist University and Payton McHarg (Saskatoon) of Washburn University.
3:28 - Connor Crowson
16:20 - Tom Poole
30:11 - Payton McHarg
Awards season in baseball around Alberta rolled into high gear recently with a pair of major galas last weekend. We looked back at the Little League Alberta event earlier this week, and now we head to the Baseball Alberta festivities in Edmonton. We start things off with executive director Danielle Moffat, who says it was another banner year for baseball in the province. Then we get to know Baseball Alberta Elite League Player of the Year Luke Schmitt and catch up with Women's Open Player of the Year Kaitlyn Ross.
3:17 - Danielle Moffat
17:13 - Luke Schmitt
32:15 - Kaitlyn Ross
It's awards season in Alberta's baseball world with two major events held this past weekend by Baseball Alberta and Little League Alberta. We will wrap-up the Baseball Alberta awards later this week, but we open things up with the Little League Alberta awards. Our Joe McFarland hosted a session on traditional and social media before serving as emcee for the banquet. After it was all over, he sat down for a "state of the union" with president Kevin Kvame then continued his fireside chat with former Little League World Series competitor and current Vancouver Canadians athletic therapist Katie Reyes.
1:27 - Kevin Kvame
12:15 - Katie Reyes
We open up the show with a look at the news headlines, including Joe's pick for the new Edmonton Prospects name, which you can enter their contest here. Then he chats with a pair of Tampa Bay Rays prospects: Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs alum Tristan Peters and Grande Prairie Minor Baseball and St. Albert Minor Baseball alum Tyler Herron.
5:06 - Tristan Peters
22:21 - Tyler Herron
Erik Sabrowski really needs no introduction. The Edmonton native's journey to the majors has been well-documented, and we’ve been lucky enough to follow him for quite some time. This year, it went to another level as he got the call-up to the big leagues, became a big piece of the Cleveland Guardians bullpen during their run to the playoffs, and made some impressive appearances in the ALDS and ALCS. The St. Albert Minor Baseball, Absolute Human Performance and Edmonton Prospects alum is back home now and received a hero’s welcome in Edmonton, including getting to see his beloved Oilers play a few games and even being part of Wednesday’s Sportsnet broadcast with Gene Principe. It’s been a big year and it’ll get even bigger for the 27-year-old as he’s set to get married in just a few days. We talked about it all in this fantastic conversation.
News from the baseball world is slowing down a bit, but we still have a few things to pass along. Then we go a little deeper into last week's unveiling of the 2025 Western Canadian Baseball League schedule. Joe explains why he loves the idea of the WCBL Rural Roots Game, then sits down with Pat Cassidy of the Edmonton Prospects to talk about the latest on the new Myshak Metro Ballpark in Spruce Grove and an upcoming name change.
Happy Halloween! Big congrats to the Los Angeles Dodgers on winning the World Series (take a look back at the Dodgers' history in Alberta with the Pioneer League's Lethbridge Dodgers here). After we get through the rest of the news from a busy week, we sit down with Vauxhall Academy's Hudson Kozicki (Sherwood Park) and Badlands Academy's Braxton Bussing (Coronation) to talk about their respective college commitments. Then we catch up with Dawgs Academy alum Jack Lines about getting drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 12th round of this past summer's MLB Draft.
3:42 - Hudson Kozicki
19:26 - Braxton Bussing
28:52 - Jack Lines
When we’re able to get in touch with a Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Houston Astros Hall of Fame member, among others, we roll out the red carpet. Such is the case with Terry Puhl, whose career kind of speaks for itself. A 15-year Major Leaguer and 18-year pro, with all but 15 games in the bigs coming with the Astros. He was an MLB All-Star in 1978 and was outstanding, particularly in the field and on the base paths. Puhl helped the Astros win their first ever NL West Division crown and postseason berth in 1980. He now lives in Texas, and we were fortunate to sit down with him to talk about his career this past week. Special thanks to Scott Crawford at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame for helping us connect with Terry to line up this conversation!
We catch up with a trio of young men who have been jetsetting around North America in recent weeks chasing their baseball dreams. Seth Suer (Morinville) is coming off an appearance at the Prep Baseball West Coast Games, Ethan Pittman (Fort McMurray) traveled to the Arizona Fall Classic with the Brewers Scout Team, and Taye Thierman (Calgary) isn't done yet as he'll be joining the Baseball Canada Junior National Team at the Dominican Fall Instructional League Camp.
4:02 - Seth Suer
19:54 - Ethan Pittman
32:06 - Taye Thierman
They are an integral part of the game and sometimes umpires don't get the love they deserve. So when the Western Canadian Baseball League announced Kris Hartley was being named the Mitch Ball Memorial Award winner as Umpire of the Year, we knew we had to get him on the show. One thing most umpires have is stories to tell, and Hartley certainly has a few to share. We chat about his season and career highlights, what it meant to win the award, some of the trials and tribulations of being a sports official, and what the most gratifying part of the job is.
Talk about a hard-hitting edition of the podcast! We catch up with a trio of players who had 2024 seasons to remember, starting with Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs alum Matt Wilkinson, who had an incredible first professional year split between Single-A and High-A in the Cleveland Guardians system. Then we catch up with Western Canadian Baseball League Rookie of the Year and Top Canadian Carter Beck of the Saskatoon Berries. And we wrap things up with Dawgs Academy product and Canadian Futures Showcase Home Run Derby champion Tim Piasentin.
3:24 - Matt Wilkinson
16:08 - Carter Beck
29:54 - Tim Piasentin
First off, THANK YOU for all your support as we mark our 300th episode of the show! Whether it's your first or your 300th listen, we truly appreciate you taking the time each week since Oct. 2018. As always, we check in on the big news of the past week then we're joined by a trio of guests from the Canadian Futures Showcase. We'll hear from Dawgs Academy speedster Quincy Jenkins, Webber Academy slugger Cohen Miller and Saskatoon Berries Academy hurler Merek Yeager about their respective journeys in the game of baseball.
7:58 - Quincy Jenkins
20:59 - Cohen Miller
36:23 - Merek Yeager
What a few weeks it's been for Edmonton's Erik Sabrowski. The Absolute Human Performance alum continues to be a big piece of the Cleveland Guardians bullpen after getting called up at the end of August. We catch up with AHP founder Taylor Burns to talk about Sabrowski's journey and how Guardians games are now "can't miss TV" at their headquarters. We then catch up with Dawgs Academy alum Clayton Keyes, who has had a challenging couple of years after helping Southwestern win the NAIA championship in 2022. He made his pro debut this summer after a lengthy wait for a work visa. Then we head to the Canadian Futures Showcase to chat with Dawgs product and Junior National Team pitcher Max Poirier to talk about his journey from Saskatchewan to BC to Alberta.
5:58 - Taylor Burns
23:06 - Clayton Keyes
38:50 - Max Poirier
As the baseball season winds down this fall, we take a look at some of the big highlights of a busy week, then look ahead to the upcoming Canadian Futures Showcase in Toronto with four athletes who will be looking to make an impression. Hear from Dawgs Academy product Landon Kauffman (Vancouver), Vauxhall Academy outfielder Langdyn Cummins (Taber), Going Yard Goats outfielder Trentin Kooy (Saskatoon) and AHP Academy shortstop Miguel Tetreault (Fort McMurray).
4:53 - Landon Kauffman
23:44 - Langdyn Cummins
27:51 - Trentin Kooy
33:47 - Miguel Tetreault
We start off the episode by recapping the MLB debut of St. Albert's own Erik Sabrowski, who went 1+ inning of shutout baseball in relief for the Cleveland Guardians in a 4-1 loss to Kansas City. We then take a look at some of the other major storylines, before we catch up with former MLB slugger and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame member Matt Stairs, who was recently named a hitting coordinator with Dawgs Academy in Okotoks.
It was another crazy week for baseball in Alberta, highlighted by Erik Sabrowski being called up by the Cleveland Guardians. We recap the week in news, then are joined by Baseball Canada 18U National champion Jake Brooks of the Red Deer CarStar Braves, 16U Girls National silver medalist Claire Hingley and Edmonton Riverhawks veteran Tylor Jans to talk about their summers and more.
4:56 - Jake Brooks
21:08 - Claire Hingley
33:59 - Tylor Jans
We have seen some outstanding performances from Alberta teams in recent weeks, so we thought it'd be a good time to catch up with a few of them. This week, you'll hear from Medicine Hat Major Mavs coaches Steve Russell and Aaron Lybbert as they look back at the team's outstanding performance at the Canadian Little League Championships, where they finished one win away from going to Williamsport. We also sit down with Baseball Alberta 14U Girls coach Geoff Hall after that team won Western Regional gold for a third year in a row. And we get to know AHP Academy product Dom Morgan (St. Albert) as he just came back from a trip with the Baseball Canada Junior National Team and will soon be heading to the Canadian Futures Showcase.
4:56 - Steve Russel and Aaron Lybbert
23:06 - Geoff Hall
35:34 - Dom Morgan
For the eighth time in team history and the third-straight season, the Okotoks Dawgs are Western Canadian Baseball League champions. After outlasting the Lethbridge Bulls and Sylvan Lake Gulls in the first round of the playoffs, they battled through a classic best-of-three series with the Moose Jaw Miller Express, winning game three 6-5 thanks to a walk-off solo home run from local product Connor Crowson. We take a look back at the series, then feature a series of interviews heard in Seaman Stadium and on the HomeTeam Live broadcast, including players and coaches for both teams as well as league president Kevin Kvame.
We have several guests lined up for this week's episode as we take a look back at the first two rounds of the Western Canadian Baseball League playoffs and look ahead to the best-of-three championship between the Okotoks Dawgs and Moose Jaw Miller Express. You'll hear from:
Okotoks Dawgs - head coach Lou Pote as well as players Brendan Luther, Tucker Zdunich, Brock Townsend (and his father Bill), Graham Brunner, Logan Grant and Ashton Luera
Sylvan Lake Gulls - head coach Jason Chatwood and player Elijha Hammill
Moose Jaw Miller Express - head coach Eric Marriott and player Nate Mensik
We are getting into a busy part of the baseball season with championship weekends at a number of levels. We get through a ton of news before we catch up with Baseball Canada Women's National Team member Cassie Matlock after winning bronze at the Women's Baseball World Cup. Then we sit down with Red Deer Braves coach Josh Zanolli after they claimed the Baseball Alberta Elite League title. And we wrap things up with Vauxhall Academy product and Team Alberta infielder Easton Kitura as he's been named to the upcoming Canadian Futures Showcase.
4:15 - Cassie Matlock
20:53 - Josh Zanolli
32:13 - Easton Kitura
Time to get back into some sense of normalcy! After having a couple of episodes each week for the last couple of weeks, we are going back to our weekly episodes (for now anyways). This week, we try to put the wraps on the news side of things in what's been a busy little while. Then we sit down with Baseball Alberta product and Women's National Team invitee Ava Greiner (Stettler) to talk about the World Cup roster tryout, we sit down with Dawgs Academy pitcher and Canadian Futures Showcase invitee Zac Foden (Edmonton) and we put the wraps on Ian's family trip to Saskatchewan with visits from Austin Gurney (Moose Jaw Miller Express), Brody Alexandre (Swift Current 57s), Oakland Flodell (Saskatoon Berries) and Mike Singleton (Saskatoon Berries).
5:07 - Ava Greiner
17:01 - Zac Foden
30:01 - Austin Gurney
36:02 - Brody Alexandre
40:20 - Oakland Flodell
46:24 - Mike Singleton
The 2024 MLB Draft might be one for the record books in Alberta. For the first time since 2015, an Albertan was taken in the first three rounds of the draft (Nathan Flewelling) while a total of five Albertans were taken in the 20 rounds, something that hasn't happened since 2011. We break down the numbers, then chat with three Albertans, a Canadian who trained here and an American whose career was resurrected by coming to our province.
2:42 - Nathan Flewelling
9:20 - Cohen Achen
17:05 - Owen Pote
26:58 - Micah McDowell
34:06 - Eric Rataczak
After spending last episode focusing on the players involved in the 2024 Western Canadian Baseball League Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, this episode focuses on the state of the league through the various conversations had during the broadcast for the game. Thanks to HomeTeam Live for allowing us to use the audio from those interviews, which include:
1:36 - WCBL President Kevin Kvame
12:20 - Okotoks Dawgs GM Tyler Hollick
18:33 - Regina Red Sox VP Al Simpson
24:47 - Canadian Baseball Network editor Kevin Glew
29:26 - Saskatoon Berries President Steve Hildebrand
35:32 - WCBL Managing Director of Corporate Sponsorships & Marketing Mark Stiles
45:16 - Canadian baseball legend Matt Stairs
Have yourself a day, Carter Beck! The Saskatoon Berries slugger was the star of the 2024 WCBL Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, finished second in the Derby to Fort McMurray's Peyton McDowall before going 3-for-3 with two RBI to help the East Division to the 13-6 win over the West Division. Beck, who is from Carnduff, Saskatchewan, was named the Game MVP. In the first of a trio of new podcast episodes this week, we chatted with several players representing their teams at the All-Star Game festivities at Seaman Stadium in Okotoks.
1:45 - Carter Beck - Saskatoon Berries
4:50 - Peyton McDowall - Fort McMurray Giants
7:19 - Cooper Ciesielski - Sylvan Lake Gulls
10:45 - Jackson Syring - Regina Red Sox
15:44 - Colton Anderson - Regina Red Sox
20:58 - Ian Heck - Weyburn Beavers
26:36 - Nathan Houston - Moose Jaw Miller Express
29:26 - Antony Gilbert - Brooks Bombers
32:06 - Tucker Zdunich - Okotoks Dawgs
It's an action-packed episode of the podcast as we have five guests joining us this week as well as a new sponsor announcement and a contest to win a Michael Soroka autographed baseball. Joe sits down with long-time Okotoks Dawgs infielder Aidan Rose while Ian takes us along for his family trip through Saskatchewan to chat with Cory Wouters of the Saskatoon Berries, Takao Cookson of the Moose Jaw Miller Express and Marcus Graham of the Swift Current 57s. We wrap up the episode back in Medicine Hat where Ian caught up with Sportsnet broadcaster Jamie Campbell.
4:39 - Aidan Rose
21:05 - Cory Wouters
27:30 - Takao Cookson
33:59 - Marcus Graham
41:11 - Jamie Campbell
Both Joe and Ian found themselves on the road for Canada Day to take in games in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, respectively. Joe chatted with Bulls head coach Myles Fletcher (Lethbridge, AB) about being an original member of the LA Bulls and marking the team's 25th anniversary, utilityman Carlin Dick (Abbotsford, BC) about his season so far, and Sylvan Lake Gulls hurler Hunter Jones (Edmonton, AB) about his outstanding start. Then Ian stops by for conversations with Medicine Hat Mavericks stars Nick Thibodeau (Burlington, ON) and Tyler Vanneste (Warman SK) about their respective baseball journeys.
5:40 - Myles Fletcher
10:50 - Carlin Dick
16:16 - Hunter Jones
24:13 - Nick Thibodeau
33:16 - Tyler Vanneste
We've been meaning to chat with Richie Borysewicz for a while now following this spring's Jays Care "Field of Dreams" funding announcement for Bow Ridge Little League to upgrade the Tuscany Diamonds in Calgary. We finally had that conversation this week about the plans and what's to come. We also sat down with Okotoks Dawgs slugger Nash Crowell about the brutal pitch to the face he took with Reinhardt University and his return to the WCBL, and we meet Australian Lachie Smith, who is getting his first taste of collegiate baseball with the Edmonton Prospects before he heads to Odessa College in the fall.
8:11 - Richie Borysewicz
20:44 - Nash Crowell
35:33 - Lachie Smith
Plenty of news to get to, including the naming of the Baseball Canada Women's National Team Selection Camp roster, which includes six Albertans. We sit down with Julianna Scott to talk about her selection and what it'd mean to represent the maple leaf. We also chat with Sylvan Lake Gulls pitcher Owen Pote about his dad, Lou, and playing with AHP Academy, while Lethbridge Bulls catcher Noah McNeil drops by to talk about that crazy 31-26 win over Brooks, playing for Prairie Baseball Academy and more.
4:34 - Julianna Scott
16:38 - Owen Pote
30:04 - Noah McNeil
It's been a fun-filled few weeks around the WCBL ball diamonds with records being set and great performances galore. We check in with a trio of veterans for their perspectives and journeys in baseball. Hear from Brooks Bombers infielder Zander Bretza, Swift Current 57s pitcher Kenny Jinks and Okotoks Dawgs southpaw Graham Brunner on this week's episode of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast.
4:13 - Zander Bretza
19:18 - Kenny Jinks
36:47 - Graham Brunner
We get through a ton of news (including a few long-awaited shout-outs to Albertans playing independent pro ball) and then get to the big story of the week: that insane 31-26 wind-driven game between the Lethbridge Bulls and Brooks Bombers. We check in on both sides of the field with Bulls veteran Josh Kabayama and Bombers catcher Will Bomersbach. Our final guest is another check in with a coach around the WCBL, with this one being Fort McMurray Giants skipper Joe Ellison.
6:17 - Josh Kabayama
27:50 - Will Bomersbach
49:08 - Joe Ellison
We have a fantastic show lined up for you with great guests and tons of news to get to. We recap the week with the headlines then catch up with Edmonton Prospects head coach Jordan Blundell about the team's return and what he expects this summer, then we're joined by a trio of prospects who hope to make an impact in the WCBL. Innisfail product and Sylvan Lake Gulls catcher Nathan Flewelling has had a whirlwind few months, while Dawgs Academy products Benito Bonilla and Eric Machej checked in with our Ian Wilson during the Okotoks Dawgs media day prior to the season.
7:40 - Jordan Blundell
26:42 - Nathan Flewelling
38:10 - Benito Bonilla
43:10 - Eric Machej
The 2024 Western Canadian Baseball League season is finally here. 12 teams will be vying for the right to hoist the Harry Hallis Trophy in the middle of August, 7 in Alberta and 5 in Saskatchewan. There are plenty of storylines to get to heading into the season, including the potential of a three-peat for the Okotoks Dawgs, the entrance of the brand new Saskatoon Berries, the return of the Edmonton Prospects, the international flavour of some of the rosters and the youth movement where plenty of local talent will be looking to leave their mark on the league. We have five conversations to kick off the 2024 summer season!
0:55 - ADS co-founder and chief writer Ian Wilson
14:53 - WCBL president Kevin Kvame on new baseballs
23:46 - Saskatoon Berries head coach Joe Carnahan
35:09 - Okotoks Dawgs utilityman Logan Grant
45:31 - Medicine Hat Mavericks veteran Brody Gardner
What a weekend it was in Lethbridge for the Canadian College Baseball Conference World Series. While the weather left something to be desired, the action on the field had a little bit of everything, especially in the final between the University of Fraser Valley Cascades and the Okanagan College Coyotes. In the end, the Cascades pulled out the 10-9 extra innings victory. We chat with head coach and former player Riley Jepson as well as CCBC Pitcher of the Year Josh Berenbaum and Albertans Max Prevost and Eli McKeen, who both played pivotal parts in a ninth inning comeback in the final.
8:43 - Riley Jepson
17:40 - Josh Berenbaum
29:21 - Max Prevost
41:02 - Eli McKeen
The US college season is wrapping up and the summer baseball season is about to begin, so we have a lot to get to both in the news and with our guests. This week, we chat with Edmonton Collegiate Hawks hurler Halen Knoll about this weekend's CCBC championships and the season so far. Then we head back south to hear the inspiring story of Spruce Grove's Gavin Fraser, who has been named Second-Team All-Conference and a Gold Glove recipient with Cerro Coso College. And we wrap things up with Dawgs Academy alum Jimmy Dionne, who had a freshman season to remember with Howard College.
7:04 - Halen Knoll
19:37 - Gavin Fraser
39:16 - Jimmy Dionne
It's been a little like drinking out of a fire hydrant lately with the amount of news to talk about each week. We do our best to get through it before we sit down with Valley City State University shortstop Jaden Babiuk (St. Albert) to chat about being named Second-Team All-Conference and heading to the Medicine Hat Mavericks this summer, Prairie Baseball Academy infielder Morgan Halliday (Edmonton) for our weekly CCBC check-in, and Dawgs Academy hurler Michael Yusypchuk (St. Albert) to recap the Best of the West tournament win, his frequent travels with the Baseball Canada Junior National Team, and suiting up with his brother for the Edmonton Riverhawks this summer.
4:30 - Jaden Babiuk
24:24 - Morgan Halliday
40:06 - Michael Yusypchuk
We have a full lineup of news to get to, but the big story of the week has obviously been the performances of Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs alum Matt Wilkinson. The highlight was a no-hit, six-inning gem for Cleveland's Single-A affiliate, the Lynchburg Hillcats, on April 25 and after five starts, he sports an ERA of 0.35 and 46 strikeouts in just 25+ innings. For a little insight into his arsenal and mindset, we sit down with Dawgs pitching coach Joe Sergent. Then we head to Baseball Alberta where long-time coach Chris James has been busy getting the wheels in motion for the upcoming season on the girls' and women's front. After a year which featured a gold and two bronze medals in national championships, we take a look at the talent across the province and the work being done at the grassroots and more.
7:20 - Joe Sergent
25:25 - Chris James
The University of Calgary Dinos are facing some stiff competition in their quest to repeat as CCBC champions. We sit down with veteran Aiden Szautner to get inside the clubhouse after the first weeks of the season. We also chat with Dawgs Academy alum Jacob Wrubleski about his stellar freshman season at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. And we also hear from Brady Turner of Prep Baseball Report Alberta about the level of talent we have graduating from high school this year and beyond.
5:26 - Aiden Szautner
17:24 - Jacob Wrubleski
33:30 - Brady Turner
From the outstanding performance of Matt Wilkinson to a Canadian Baseball Network College Player of the Week nod for Logan Grant, there was no shortage of storylines we followed this week. So we go through a lengthy news rundown before getting to two guests from the Canadian College Baseball Conference. We start off with Prairie Baseball Academy infielder and CCBC Player of the Week Owen Lucas to talk about his baseball journey, then we're joined by TRU Wolfpack infielder and 2023 Baseball Alberta Millie Warwick/Betty Carveth Dunn Bursary winner Piper Wiklund.
5:39 - Owen Lucas
22:21 - Piper Wiklund
The warm weather is back which is making it feel like baseball season now. We get through a ton of pro and college news headlines, then chat with Edmonton Collegiate Hawks veteran Rejean Bourget (Bonnyville/St. Francis Xavier), UBC Thunderbirds freshman Kyle Yip (Calgary/Vauxhall Academy) and Baseball Canada Junior National Team invitee Eric Hartman (St. Albert/Dawgs Academy) about their seasons so far.
4:49 - Rejean Bourget
20:48 - Kyle Yip
36:15 - Eric Hartman
Baseball season is in full swing with MLB and the minor leagues getting underway. We get caught up on the CCBC as well and chat with Calgary's Ryan Dousett, who is with Okanagan College, then sit down with AHP Academy alum and Indian Hills Community College standout Cole Huebner and Dawgs Academy prospect Tim Piasentin, who is one of many players with Alberta ties named to the Baseball Canada Junior National Team's Extended Spring Training Roster.
3:54 - Ryan Dousett
18:03 - Cole Huebner
33:20 - Tim Piasentin
Not only is it Opening Weekend in Major League Baseball, but the Canadian College Baseball Conference kicks off this weekend as well with all games happening in BC. The University of Calgary Dinos are the defending champions, but both the Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs and Edmonton Collegiate Hawks are hot on their tails. We get the inside scoop on all things CCBC with Logan Wedgewood and Sean Robbins of The Battery. Then we're joined by Ethan Webster of the Dinos, Zaden Wake of the Dawgs and Reece Devlin of the Hawks to get a look inside each of their dugouts.
5:33 - The Battery hosts
35:16 - Ethan Webster
49:39 - Zaden Wake
1:05:55 - Reece Devlin
We last chatted with Kyle Bloor on Episode 220 of the show as he was in the midst of a great season at Tennessee Wesleyan University, where he ended up going 3-0 with 7 saves in 21 appearances including one start, posting an ERA of 5.04 and 40 strikeouts in 30+ innings of work. Bloor had dreams of going pro, heading to Falmouth of the Cape Cod League hoping to capture the attention of MLB scouts. While he didn't get signed right away, he kept working away at things, and eventually got in front of scouts again over the last few weeks, signing with the Minnesota Twins. See the new story from Canadian Baseball Network's Bob Elliott here.
While the snow is flying outside here in Alberta, several Western Canadian baseball products are soaring at US college programs. We go through a few of the highlights before we're joined by St. Albert Minor Baseball and Dawgs Academy alum Max Hartman (Washington State University), Olds native and St. Joseph's Academy product Jaxon Zanolli (UMary) and we chat with the latest Canadian Baseball Network College Player of the Week and Carnduff, Saskatchewan's own Carter Beck (UMary).
4:12 - Max Hartman
17:07 - Jaxon Zanolli
30:38 - Carter Beck
In an unexpected twist, both guests this week aren't just chasing their baseball dreams, but they are also pursuing educational ventures in engineering. Dawgs Academy grad Ben Hoshizaki is into his sophomore season at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, where he is leading all Canadians in US college programs in stolen bases. We chat with him about the art of the stolen base and much more. Then we catch up with Vauxhall Academy product Cardel Dick, who is a freshman at the University of Omaha Nebraska. We discuss his inside-the-park grand slam, handling a Division I pitching rotation and his family roots.
4:15 - Ben Hoshizaki
26:53 - Cardel Dick
Andrew Albers spent 13 seasons in professional baseball, including parts of five years in the Majors with the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. The North Battleford, Saskatchewan product was also a fixture of the Baseball Canada roster, playing in several major events including the Pan Am Games, Baseball World Cup and the 2023 World Baseball Classic. His baseball journey has also come full-circle recently, as the former Saskatoon Yellow Jacket is now back in the city as the pitching coach for the new Saskatoon Berries of the Western Canadian Baseball League. Albers made the trek west to Vauxhall Academy of Baseball for their recent awards banquet where he served as the special guest speaker. Our Ian Wilson was able to track him down for what turned out to be a wonderful conversation.
We had originally planned to head south to Vauxhall Academy of Baseball for their annual banquet and awards last Saturday. Then I ended up catching yet another cold, then Mother Nature dumped a ton of snow on us, rendering us immobile to take in the celebrations. However, we have been able to catch up with a few of the honoured guests from what was, by all accounts, another smashing success. Our Ian Wilson sits down with Wall of Excellence and long-time coach Jim Kotkas for a candid chat about his baseball journey, then we reconnect with Episode #244 guest Brett Getz, who was named this year's winner of the coveted Reno Lizzi Scholarship.
5:26 - Jim Kotkas
30:53 - Brett Getz
It’s hard to believe but it’s been 25 years since the Lethbridge Bulls joined what was then the Saskatchewan Major Baseball League. That decision changed the trajection of the league, which would later become the Western Major Baseball League and is now known as the Western Canadian Baseball League. Take a trip down memory lane with coach Todd Hubka, players Les McTavish and Denny Puszkar and long-time official and now GM Kevin Kvame.
3:29 - Todd Hubka
9:47 - Les McTavish
18:04 - Denny Puszkar
31:02 - Kevin Kvame
You can read our full story on the Bulls' first season here.
The US college baseball season is well-underway and several Albertans are getting themselves into the headlines with great performances at all levels. We take a look at some of the best over the past week, then we catch up with Calgary Babe Ruth product and Lindsay Wilson College veteran Cohen Achen as well as Fort McMurray Minor Baseball and Dawgs Academy alum Justin Breen (Southwestern Oklahoma State University) and St. Albert Minor Baseball and AHP Academy product Jason Serafinchon (McCook Community College).
3:31 - Cohen Achen
19:26 - Justin Breen
34:50 - Jason Serafinchon
It's banquet and awards night season and recently, it was Prairie Baseball Academy who spent a night celebrating the year and two new members of the PBA Hall of Fame. Our Ian Wilson catches up with PBA head coach Todd Hubka as well as the two new inductees: Rob Greeno and Rob Watt.
We have an announcement to make: we are expanding and have officially launched Saskatchewan Dugout Stories. To mark the occasion, Dugout Stories co-founder Ian Wilson joins us for a bit of context behind our decision and what he's most excited for. Then we get a "state of the game" conversation with Baseball Sask's Greg Brons.
We're doing things just a little differently this week. With just two weeks left until pitchers and catchers report in MLB, we thought we'd take a look at the expectations of Canada's team, the Toronto Blue Jays, through the lens of three people with ties to Alberta. Sportsnet broadcast and former MLB catcher Buck Martinez was here recently as part of the Blue Jays Academy National Coaches Clinic, Scott Belford is an Alberta comedian who hosts the Walkoff Podcast, and TSN baseball reporter Scott Mitchell is a former Alberta sports journalist who also used to be a substitute on Joe and Ian's slo-pitch team.
Dozens of coaches spent last weekend at Webber Academy, just outside of Calgary, for the Blue Jays Academy National Coaches Clinic. They learned about how they can get the most out of their teams through drills, practices and even game-planning with several high-profile guest speakers including former Blue Jays Pat Borders, Devon White, Buck Martinez and Ernie Whitt (who we chatted with on Episode #258), as well as Baseball Canada Women’s National Team and Vancouver Canadians coach Ashley Stephenson and former MLB hurler and Webber Academy senior director of baseball operations Chris Reitsma. On this episode, we hear from Reitsma, Stephenson, White and Borders.
2:40 - Chris Reitsma
14:05 - Ashley Stephenson
24:17 - Devon White
30:03 - Pat Borders
This one isn't just for our listeners in Alberta. Baseball Canada released its 2023-2028 Strategic Plan in November, and while it might not mean a lot to some, there are a lot of interesting pieces to it, including how the organization plans to grow the sport across the country, evaluating the possibility of a 15U and 23U National Team, and the potential of an Academy National Championship. CEO Jason Dickson joins us to talk about it all, plus we chat about his playing career which included time with the Edmonton Trappers. He also has an Alberta connection for his answer to "which player made you thing 'oh no' on the mound?"
Welcome to the first episode of the 2024 season! While we've seen Old Man Winter return with a vengeance, it's easy to start dreaming about the upcoming summer baseball season. It actually starts with the preparation being done by coaches, aided this year by Blue Jays Academy bringing its annual National Coaches Clinic to Webber Academy in Calgary from January 19-21. TJ Burton from the Blue Jays joins us to set the stage for the event and what people can expect, then we get a bit of a preview of the festivities with long-time Baseball Canada head coach and former MLB catcher Ernie Whitt.
Greetings and salutations, friends! We hope 2024 is off to a great start for you and yours. It's that time of year again where we get things set up for the upcoming year, and we're excited to announce that the first episode of the 2024 season of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast will arrive on Thursday, January 11. We also have some big plans for this year after a record-setting 2023 when it comes to web visits and podcast downloads. Thank YOU so much for all of your support!
We started the year with two pros (Damiano Palmegiani and Adam Macko), so why not finish the 2023 season with two more, in the form of Wetaskiwin's Matt Coutney and Manitoba's Tristan Peters. Coutney, who attended St. FX Academy and Old Dominion University, just wrapped up his first full pro season in the Los Angeles Angels system, while Peters, who went to Dawgs Academy and Southern Illinois University, spent the year with the Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate.
1:41 - Matt Coutney
24:06 - Tristan Peters
Zoe Hicks laughs when you ask her about where she’s from. Among her answers: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Red Deer, Austria, Calgary, back to Manitoba, then off to US college and has now spent the last couple of winters back in Calgary. This last summer was a whirlwind though, as she played first base for Canada at the Women’s Softball World Cup, then third base at the Women’s Baseball World Cup, culminating with being named the Women’s National Team MVP. She’s had a fascinating journey in the game, not to mention a childhood full of dancing and recently working for the Los Angeles Dodgers. We recently sat down for a candid and amazingly energetic conversation.
It was a celebration fit for every Alberta community from Acme to Youngstown and from border to border to border to border. Baseball Alberta held its annual general meeting and awards banquet last weekend in Edmonton to talk about the year that was, look ahead to the upcoming year, and of course, hand out some hardware. We sit down with 18U 'AAA' Players of the Year Matthew Murray and Corbin Lochhead, Women's Open Player of the Year Tyra Stanich, new Baseball Alberta Life Member Ron Van Keulen and Baseball Alberta executive director Danielle Moffat to recap the festivities.
2:28 - Matthew Murray
7:02 - Corbin Lochhead
12:33 - Tyra Stanich
18:19 - Ron Van Keulen
23:38 - Danielle Moffat
What a week it was for Alberta's baseball scene, which started on the night our last episode dropped. For those who might have missed it, Calgary's Michael Soroka was involved in a blockbuster deal between the Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox. Our Ian Wilson stops by for some analysis and thoughts on the trade, as well as Alberta's connections to the latest National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ballot, and his personal story of community and connection with Brooks Bombers slugger Eric Rataczak.
We recap what has been a busy couple of weeks on the local baseball scene, including Matt Lloyd being named Baseball Canada's Men's National Team Most Valuable Player, Fort McMurray being named hosts for more national tournaments, a local look at the Arizona Fall League and a multitude of college commitments. Then we get to our guest, and the mere mention of Joe Young brings back a lot of memories for baseball scouts and insiders from the early-1990s. The 6-foot-4, 210 pound righthander made life miserable for men’s league athletes in Fort McMurray when he was just 14. In 1991, he won gold with Canada at the World Youth Baseball Championships, a team that featured Jason Dickson and Stubby Clapp among others. Two years later, Young was drafted in the third round of the MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, embarking on a six-year pro career that included the 1993 and 1994 seasons with the Medicine Hat Blue Jays. He played with and against some of the best young talent who later went onto become MLB players including Chris Carpenter, Roy Halladay and Michael Young, before retiring, coming back to the St. Paul area, where he is still involved in baseball and hockey. We sat down earlier this week to talk about his journey, including a chance encounter with ball player and future Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla.
It was only supposed to be a one-year deal to try playing baseball internationally. Yet, here we are, six years later, and Levi Moon is still traveling the world playing the game he loves. The Red Deer product has had a fascinating journey in the game, starting at home before becoming part of the first Badlands Academy team in Oyen. He went onto play at Niagara Community College, but injuries forced him to stay closer to home, finding a spot with Prairie Baseball Academy. It was on the advice of head coach Todd Hubka and some of his former teammates that he try his luck across the ocean. The former Moose Jaw Miller Express utilityman has now played baseball in Germany, Austria, Australia and has spent the past couple of seasons in Sweden. The 27-year-old has quite the story and has quite the stories to tell, from his dad Cam’s sports influence as a play-by-play announcer for the Red Deer Rebels and now the Edmonton Oilers, to becoming a bit of a travel junkie.
When you think baseball in Central Alberta, one family name is synonymous with the game: Northcott. And while he may too humble to admit it, Harold Northcott is an Alberta baseball legend. The Clive, Alberta native had a storied playing career which took him to Eastern Oregon University, where he helped the Mountaineers set team records for wins in each of his three seasons. That’s where he also earned the nickname “The Giant Killer” for becoming the first pitcher in school history to beat two games against big PAC-10 teams. Northcott went on to represent Canada on the international stage a number of times, including being named the most valuable Canadian at the 1985 Intercontinental Cup. He started his coaching career in 1988, helping guide numerous teams in St. Paul, Rocky Mountain House and elsewhere to provincial titles. He’s also served as the Canadian National Youth Team pitching coach in the 1990s, which featured names like Jordan Zimmermann, Ryan Dempster and Eric Gagne, then coached with the National Senior Team at the Pan Am Games amongst others. His wife, Barb, is heavily involved in the game, and all three of his kids – Dustin, Chad and Heidi – all blazed their own trails in baseball. Recently, a little birdy by the name of Brad Mills told us that his long-time friend was being inducted into the EOU Athletics Hall of Fame this month. As it turns out, the recognition was a long time coming, as was this great conversation I had with Harold Northcott last week.
Plenty of big news items coming out of the Western Canadian Baseball League this week, with the biggest being the announcement that Okotoks will host the 2024 All-Star Game. Our Ian Wilson caught up with WCBL president Kevin Kvame and managing director of corporate sponsors and marketing Mark Stiles to talk about the selection process, while Dawgs general manager Tyler Hollick and head coach Lou Pote discuss the ins and outs of putting together the mid-summer classic for a third-straight season.
It started as a simple question our Joe McFarland posted on Twitter/X shortly after Nathan Flewelling (Innisfail) picked up the Home Run Derby crown at the Canadian Futures Showcase and Simon Baker (Cochrane) at the Canadian Futures Showcase: does Alberta punch above its weight when it comes to baseball in Canada? It elicited a number of replies, DMs and texts, leading him write an opinion piece for our website and to expand on his thoughts on this episode of the podcast. We're also joined by long-time Canadian baseball coach and influencer John Milton, who provides some context to what he saw in Ontario and what he thinks needs to happen for Alberta to enter the conversation as a powerhouse in Canada.
Plenty of catching up to do on this week's episode and all three guests were fantastic. Hear from Dawgs Academy (via Quebec) product and Oregon State commit Leo Cote about his great summer, former Baseball Alberta Midget-AAA Player of the Year and Sylvan Lake Gulls catcher Ben Prediger and Vauxhall Academy/University of Washington alum and head scout/director of player personnel for the BCHL's Nanaimo Clippers Josh Burgmann.
2:55 - Leo Cote
22:38 - Ben Prediger
47:43 - Josh Burgmann
Welcome to October and the start of the MLB playoff race, which is also an unofficial sign of the local scene starting to slow down. We chat about some of the headlines we're watching, then welcome a trio of athletes to the show. We hear from AHP Academy product Reece Hemmerling as he starts his sophomore season at Barton Community College, Baseball Alberta Women's Team bronze medalist Charmayne Gervais, and new Sacramento State University commit Stevyn Andrachick, who has had an interesting baseball journey from Montana to Vauxhall Academy.
3:11 - Reece Hemmerling
17:52 - Charmayne Gervais
33:06 - Stevyn Andrachick
Alberta took centre stage at the annual Canadian Futures Showcase in Toronto, with Innisfail's Nathan Flewelling taking home the Home Derby crown while Cochrane's Simon Baker was named Showcase MVP. Reporter Zach Worden caught up with them both, then joins us to recap what was a big week of baseball at Rogers Centre. Then we sit down with Sherwood Park product and Prairie Baseball Academy alum Scott Gillespie, who is fresh off winning the Intercounty Baseball League title with the Welland Jackfish.
Click here to read more about Flewelling.
Click here to read more about Baker.
Make sure to check out our first chat with Gillespie on Episode #81 of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast.
Playoff season is upon us and several Alberta-born and raised athletes have been able to raise trophies over their head. We recap those wins, then we head to Okotoks where Ian Wilson has spent most of the week chatting with those taking part in the Oregon State visit and camp at Dawgs Academy. He brings us a great conversation with Beavers head coach Mitch Canham as well as with players Travis Bazzana, Canon Reeder and Micah McDowell. Then he gets a surprise visit with Dawgs Academy and OSU alum Gavin Logan.
4:27 - Mitch Canham
27:47 - Travis Bazzana
39:36 - Canon Reeder
45:29 - Micah McDowell
56:20 - Gavin Logan
While things might be slowing down a bit in Alberta, there is certainly no shortage of storylines we're following. We get you up-to-date on a number of fronts, before a trio of great interviews. We preview the upcoming Canadian Futures Showcase in Toronto with Vauxhall Academy product Brett Getz and St. Albert Minor Baseball Association standout Keenan Parker, then catch-up with Okotoks Dawgs program alum and current Round Rock Express catcher Jordan Procyshen to talk about his crazy year including two appearances with Baseball Canada and life as a dad.
It's been another busy week with news on Michael Soroka, Damiano Palmegiani, Jacob Melton and Gavin Logan to go along with some of the local tournaments and events happening. We recap it all, then sit down with a pair of Canadian Futures Showcase invitees in Cochrane's Simon Baker (Webber Academy) and Halifax's Benito Bonilla (Dawgs Academy). We wrap things up with Episode #75 guest and Lethbridge product Landen Bourassa to talk about life after college baseball, wrapping up his third season with the Winnipeg Goldeyes, and representing Canada at the Pan-Am Games.
5:58 - Simon Baker
15:39 - Benito Bonilla
25:47 - Landen Bourassa
We recap a crazy week for Alberta’s baseball scene with everything from big tournament wins to big-league call-ups. Then we sit down for chats with Baseball Alberta Women’s Open Team player and 16U assistant coach Cydnie Moore, Sherwood Park Minor Baseball GM and Western Canada Prospects Series head coach Josh Bishop, and St. Joseph Academy product and Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase invite Nathan Flewelling.
It's been a busy few weeks in Alberta's baseball circles. We do our best to recap some of the big achievements and headlines, then get into the Western Canadian Baseball League final series with ADS co-founder Ian Wilson, catch up with West Coast League Pitcher of the Year and Edmonton Riverhawks hurler Halen Knoll, and chat about the upcoming Baseball Canada Men's Nationals with Dan Estey of Canadian Amateur Baseball Central.
Click here to see our WCBL Championship Photo Gallery.
For the seventh time in franchise history, the Okotoks Dawgs are Western Canadian Baseball League champions. In front of a packed Seaman Stadium, they beat the Medicine Hat Mavericks 13-5 in the winner-take-all game three of what turned into a wild series. After the game, we were able to catch up with head coach Lou Pote and Playoff MVP Brendan Luther as well as Dawgs players Logan Grant, Alejandro Cazorla, Eric Machej, Eric Hartman, Graham Brunner and Seth Thompson.
For our full written story, click here.
The home of the Okotoks Dawgs, Seaman Stadium, is onto the final of the Ballpark Digest "Best of the Ballparks" competition at the Summer Collegiate level. We chat with William Gardner of the Dawgs about what it means to the team, the WCBL and the community. We also visit with Mike Mayuk of the Fort McMurray Minor Baseball Association about hosting two major Baseball Canada events August 17-20, and we get to know Neutral Hills Academy product and ambidextrous pitcher Nathan Van Lagen.
We're throwing a bit of a change-up at you this week. Instead of a handful of WCBL-centric guests, we're tapping into the many great storylines in other action around Alberta. Our list of guests this week includes:
2:30 - Fort McMurray's Sydney Barry on helping Alberta win bronze at the Baseball Canada Women's Open Championships in Nova Scotia
14:40 - Parkland Twins head coach Zach Yuzda on winning the Baseball Alberta Elite League championship and heading to Nationals in Fort McMurray
26:50 - Red Deer Riggers veteran Jaret Chatwood on the hoping to win the Sunburst League title and hosting Nationals in a few weeks
It's a pitcher's paradise on this week's edition of the podcast. We sit down with four Western Canadian Baseball League All-Stars including Ty Boudreau of the Sylvan Lake Gulls, Devin Benavides of the Lethbridge Bulls, Dylan Esquival of the Medicine Hat Mavericks and Logan Knight of the Fort McMurray. All have had very different journeys to get to Alberta, and all are enjoying their summers in the WCBL.
Story: WCBL All-Star Game Recap Photo Gallery: WCBL All-Star Game
After speaking with several players taking part in the WCBL All-Star Game festivities last week, we wanted to bring you some of the conversations we had with dignitaries and special guests, including John Ircandia of the Okotoks Dawgs, VIP and special guest coach Matt Stairs, Hall of Fame writer Bob Elliott, long-time WCBL supporters and builders Merv Ozirny and Ken Larson, Saskatoon Berries president Steve Hildebrand, and Edmonton Prospects owner Pat Cassidy, who provided us with an update on his team's new home in Spruce Grove.
We take a look back at the 2023 Western Canadian Baseball League All-Star Game with Home Run Derby champion Hank Dodson of the Sylvan Lake Gulls, runner-up Ethan Murdoch of the Swift Current 57s, game MVP Kalem Haney of the Lethbridge Bulls, Okotoks Dawgs fan favourite Cole Cramer and Moose Jaw Miller Express star Dawson Tweet.
We look back at the week that was in Alberta's baseball world and then look ahead to this weekend's WCBL All-Star Game with West Division coach Lou Pote of the Okotoks Dawgs as well as a couple of Alberta products taking to the field with Lethbridge Bulls infielder Torrin Vaselenak (Coaldale) and Weyburn Beavers outfielder Trent Lawson (Calgary).
We have hit the midway point of the Western Canadian Baseball League season, so we thought we'd do a recap of what we've seen and look ahead to the WCBL All-Star Game in Okotoks with Ian Wilson. Then we catch-up with Okotoks Dawgs catcher Logan Grant, who is now a two-time WCBL All-Star, and Sylvan Lake Gulls infielder Jonah Weisner, who has had himself a great first half. As always, we also recap some of the big stories from the week.
As always, we start off by taking a look back at the week that was, including a special shout-out to a Sherwood Park pitcher who threw a no-hitter over the weekend. Then we recap the last week in the Western Canadian Baseball League and sit down for chats with Lethbridge Bulls coach Chance Wheatley, Brooks Bombers slugger Eric Rataczak and Medicine Hat Mavericks hometown hero Zach Stark.
We take a look back at the week that was in major baseball news for Alberta, including Matt Coutney's promotion and the Baseball Alberta Women's Team announcement. We also rewind on the WCBL week that was, and chat with Sylvan Lake coach Jason Chatwood, Okotoks pitcher Quinn Tocheniuk and Fort McMurray outfielder Max Stagg.
We take a look back at the week that was with some of the highlights around baseball in Alberta, and are joined for conversations with Medicine Hat Mavericks head coach Mark Goodman, Lethbridge Bulls infielder Kalem Haney and Okotoks Dawgs product Connor Crowson.
As we continue getting to know the people around the Western Canadian Baseball League this summer, we have a trio of players joining us this week. Sylvan Lake Gulls utilityman Matty Fung is among the league leaders in batting average and stolen bases, Brooks Bombers infielder Ryan Kucy is off to a great start in his collegiate career, and Medicine Hat Mavericks starter Adam Golby is looking to build off a great rookie campaign that included an All-Star Game nod as a member of the Swift Current 57s.
We take a quick look back at the first week of the Western Canadian Baseball League season and some of the early leaders. Then we sit down with Brooks Bombers head coach Ruddy Estrella, Fort McMurray Giants catcher Jordan Bach, and we conclude Ian Wilson's trek to the Okotoks Dawgs' Media Day with quick updates from Ryan McFarland, Brody Forno and Nash Crowell.
The 2023 Western Canadian Baseball League season is underway. Over the next few months, ten teams in Alberta and Saskatchewan will battle it out, with the goal of raising the Harry Hallis Trophy in mid-August. You can read the West Division preview story here and the East Division preview story here. Here on the podcast each week during the summer, we’re going to switch things up and endeavour to bring you a handful of coaches, players and surprise guests to give you some variety with each episode. This week, we sit down with Okotoks Dawgs head coach Lou Pote and pitcher Matt Wilkinson, who has some news about his summer plans, as well as reigning WCBL Pitcher of the Year Josh Tucker of the Sylvan Lake Gulls and rookie Lethbridge Bulls outfielder Demitri Shakotko.
For the first time in the program’s history, the University of Calgary Dinos are Canadian College Baseball Conference champions. After posting wins against Thompson Rivers University and Prairie Baseball Academy in the round-robin, they edged the Victoria Golden Tide 7-6 to get themselves into the CCBC final. Given that it’s a double-elimination format, Victoria bounced back with an 11-10 win over PBA to get themselves into the final for a rematch. And what a finale it was in Lethbridge as the Dinos edged the Golden Tide 8-7. We hear from head coach Cam Williams, as well as players Zach Delaquis, Marcus Coderre and Cale Yuzdepski.
It all comes down to this. A championship is on the line this weekend in Lethbridge as the Canadian College Baseball Conference season comes to an end. It feels like the regular season just flew by, but the Alberta teams surely made an impact. Prairie Baseball Academy finished on top with a 21-11 record, with the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks and University of Calgary Dinos finishing third and fourth, respectively. But it’s anyone’s game come the final weekend, and one player who can attest to that is Jacob Honke. The EC Hawks infielder is heading into his last collegiate games as he’s set to graduate from the University of Alberta, with an eye on becoming a strength and conditioning coach, something he’s doing already with Taylor Burns at Absolute Human Performance and AHP Academy. Honke, who hails from Red Deer, joined us recently to talk about being a veteran presence heading into championship weekend, the evolution of the Hawks program since he first started, and what it means to have family not only on, but off the field with him.
Blink, and you might just miss it. For any player entering their final year of college eligibility, it feels like it doesn’t take very long to go from raw rookie to standout veteran. Such is the case for Marcus Coderre. The fifth-year University of Calgary Dinos third baseman has become a key piece of the leadership group that has helped turn the program around, to the point where they are now a serious contender heading towards the Canadian College Baseball Conference Championships in a couple of weeks. The 5-foot-11 Coderre is hitting .228 with 11 RBI and 2 stolen bases in 26 games, but more importantly has been instrumental in helping the young Dinos core establish itself quickly, sitting with a 15-13 record as we recorded this episode. The Calgary product joined us recently for a great chat about his baseball journey, his hope to give back through coaching, and what he’s learned under Calgary Wildcats senior director of baseball operations and former MLB hurler Chris Reitsma.
While we didn’t actually get a chance to meet at the Prairie Baseball Academy annual banquet earlier this year, it was hard not to notice Carter Claerhout. The 6-foot, 235-pound Red Deer product isn’t just a physical presence, but seems to almost always be smiling. And if he knew at the time just how good he’d be this spring, that smile would probably be even bigger. After flirting with .600 for the better part of the first half, the first baseman has settled in at .483 with three homers and 19 RBI in 20 games to lead the entire Canadian College Baseball Conference in each category. It’s a fantastic follow-up to his 2022 season, where he hit .356 with seven dingers and 45 RBI in 32 games. But PBA fell short of winning the league last year, and that’s ultimately what is fueling the Southern Arkansas University commit, who joined us for a great chat a couple of weeks ago. A special thanks as well to Cindy Adachi for sharing her photos of Carter for our podcast use.
We’ve had authors on the show before, but none quite like Lisa Bowes. The well-known broadcaster spent many years at TSN as well as CTV Calgary. A few years ago, she used her journalistic chops to start writing children’s books. The series, entitled “Lucy Tries” and illustrated by James Hearne, follows Lucy on her sports adventures. The first five books saw Lucy try luge, short track, soccer, hockey and basketball. The sixth book, “Lucy Tries Baseball,” hit store shelves earlier this month, and isn’t meant just to shine a light on the sports, but to inspire kids to get active as well. To mark the book’s release, I had a great chat with Lisa via Zoom recently to talk about what inspired her to write the book, how she approaches the writing process, and the importance of inclusion in sport.
Buzz is starting to grow around the newest addition to the Baseball Alberta fleet of offerings. 2023 will be the pilot season for the new Alberta Girls Baseball League. It will feature three associations: the Beaumont Minor Baseball Association, Edson Prospects Baseball and the Rocky and District Baseball Association. All three took part in the Spruce Grove Girl’s Baseball Tournament in 2022, and were all keen to grow it into a league. Not only do they hope to grow the game and grow as a league with more teams in the future, but also help keep girls in the game longer to become more of a pipeline for future provincial and national teams. We sat down for a great chat with Baseball Alberta Girls/Womens Director Barb Northcott recently, to talk about the league, the potential, and the hope to also change the conversation about girls and baseball.
One could argue that Kyle Bloor has seen everything baseball can show you in a really short amount of time. Growing up mainly as a catcher, he got to represent Alberta and Canada on a number of occasions, spending time with various teams between Lethbridge and Calgary. At 16, he randomly ended up having to go through Tommy John surgery, and wasn’t even sure he’d be able to play college baseball until he was recruited by Colby Community College. The former Lethbridge Bulls hurler's numbers weren’t eye-popping, but he kept on working, and ended up getting an offer to head to the Tennessee Wesleyan University Bulldogs, where he’s been lights-out this year, going 2-0 with six saves and a 3.38 ERA in 13 appearances. Bloor joined us for a candid conversation a couple of weeks ago to talk about his journey, and what he hopes young kids can take away from his wild ride.
If you’ve been to a baseball game in Western Canada over the last 15 or 20 years, especially in Okotoks, you’ve probably seen Jonathan Hodgson around. Growing up in Calgary, he remembers going to Calgary Cannons games, then being gutted when they left in 2002. He immediately attached himself to the new Western Major Baseball League team, the Calgary Dawgs, and in his wheelchair, followed them to Okotoks a few years later, where he transitioned from fan to broadcaster, writer and media relations guru for a few years. Hodgson’s journey in baseball has also included working with the Canadian Baseball Network, the Toronto Blue Jays and Victoria Harbourcats. However, home is still at Seaman Stadium with the Dawgs. We sat down recently for a candid conversation about his love of the game, the amazing connections he’s made along the way, and the special sense of belonging he’s received being in the baseball community.
It’s been nearly ten years since the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets folded, citing horrible attendance and financial losses. Since then, tires have been kicked and efforts have been made to bring Saskatchewan’s largest city back into the Western Canadian Baseball League, but to no avail. At least - not until Wednesday when the league was finally able to announce that the Saskatoon Entertainment Group, which owns and operates the Western Hockey League’s Saskatoon Blades and National Lacrosse League’s Saskatchewan Rush, had the perfect plan and proposal, and will be joining the WCBL for the 2024 season. We sit down from SEG's Steve Hildebrandt and Tyler Wawryk about the announcement, as well as WCBL president Kevin Kvame, who hints at some more future expansion around the league.
The snow has started to thaw and we’re finally starting to see some local diamonds clearing up for the sweet sounds of the game we love. Among the first teams to hit field will be those in the Canadian College Baseball Conference, including the Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs, University of Calgary Dinos and Edmonton Collegiate Hawks. Opening weekend is this weekend, and to get you set for the season, we’ve published the league’s preview stories on our website, and we have a jam-packed episode this week as we welcome coaches Todd Hubka, Cam Williams and Jake Lanferman back to talk about the season and the expectations they have for their respective teams.
He might not be the biggest player on the field, but pound-for-pound, Ricky Sanchez might have the biggest impact on any baseball team he’s ever been on. The 5-foot-8, 170-pound infielder quickly became a sparkplug with Dawgs Academy after moving to Alberta from Mexico City in high school, following his brother Eddie as well as former Dawg and current Cincinnati Reds infielder Alejo Lopez. His performance earned him a spot with the Barton College Cougars, where in 2022, he hit a blistering .442 with nine homers, 90 RBI and 27 stolen bases in 59 games. Sanchez followed that up by hitting .342 with two homers, 39 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 52 games for the WCBL’s Dawgs, helping them win a championship while he was named the league’s MVP. We caught up with Sanchez just before the college season got rolling to talk about what he plans to do for an encore in 2023, committing to Lamar University to continue his post-secondary career, and the importance of family. You can also read our latest story on Sanchez here.
Banquet season continues around our province as communities gather to celebrate the successes of their respective programs. This past weekend, our Ian Wilson traveled south to take in the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball's annual fundraising event. During the course of the evening, he sat down with Reno Lizzi Memorial Award winner Cardel Dick, Wall of Excellence inductee and long-time board president Todd Ojala, and guest speaker and former Toronto Blue Jays hurler Ricky Romero. To get a full account of the evening, you can read Ian's story here.
Tim Hagerty is a baseball broadcaster with the El Paso Chihuahuas, the triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, having called professional games since 2004. The Massachusetts native is also an author, with freelance work featured in the Sporting News, The Hardball Times and more. Hagerty has also written two baseball books. The first was “Root for the Home Team: Minor League Baseball’s Most Off-The-Wall Team Names and the Stories Behind Them.” He’s now out with a second book, “Tales From The Dugout: 1,001 Humorous, Inspirational & Wild Anecdotes from Minor League Baseball.” And yes, there are stories from here in Alberta, including Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and, interestingly enough, Bassano. Our Ian Wilson caught up with Hagerty recently to talk about his career, the book and some of the connections to our province.
The US college baseball season is here! To celebrate, we thought we’d start reaching out to some of those athletes who are looking to make a name for themselves, and we start things off this week with Edmonton’s Brady Kobitowich. He’s one of a handful of Canadian players who are calling Niagara University home this spring, including some familiar names here in Alberta like Okotoks Dawgs product Cole Tucker, Sylvan Lake Gulls hurler Steven Hospital, Airdrie’s Evan Wilde and St. Albert’s Mike Brisson. Kobitowich made the jump to the Purple Eagles from Cloud County, which has a pretty storied history of Canadian and Alberta content of its own. The 6-1, 190-pound Kobitowich is aiming to be the utilityman for coach Rob McCoy, willing to pitch in any situation. We sat down prior to the season to chat all things baseball, a little hockey, and returning to the Edmonton Riverhawks this summer.
We love stories of second chances and resilience through tough times. For Jackson Sherren, his story involves more than both of those. The Cornwall, PEI product was recruited to join Dawgs Academy back in 2018. He was expected to head west the following year, but was set back by an ACL tear. He arrived for a short time in 2020, only to be turned around as the world grinded to a halt in the face of a pandemic. Sherren thought he was good to go that fall, only to tear his ACL a second time. After missing three full years of baseball and dealing with the physical and mental challenges of rehab, the hard-throwing righthander made his triumphant return to Okotoks in 2022, helping the 18U Black team win several tournaments as it was named one of the top programs in North America. It’s one thing to hear the Cole’s Notes as I just gave you, but it’s another to hear it straight from the 18-year-old’s mouth. So here is our candid conversation with Jackson Sherren.
It is banquet season around the Alberta baseball scene, as teams and organizations look to gather - some for the first time since before the pandemic - and celebrate their successes while also doing a little fundraising. I’ve often mused on social media about an "Alberta Dugout Stories World Tour" to get to see some familiar faces, and we thought this would be a great opportunity to do just that. Recently, Prairie Baseball Academy held its annual fundraiser banquet with about 250 people in attendance at the Sandman Signature in Lethbridge. It also featured the induction of three people into the PBA Hall of Fame: Les Colwill, Natasha Buis Deering and Les McTavish. Before they were inducted, head varsity coach Todd Hubka made a major announcement: PBA had received a $500,000 donation from Larry Nolan to help with upgrades to the Dawgs’ facilities at Lloyd Nolan Park. That night, we chatted with Hubka, Buis Deering and McTavish for the podcast.
The road to the big leagues for Erik Sabrowski hasn’t been an easy one. After an incredible start to his college career at Cloud County, the Edmonton left-hander was a 14th round pick of the San Diego Padres in the 2018 MLB Draft. Almost immediately, he went under the knife for Tommy John Surgery, setting his sights on a return in 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed those plans. Sabrowski returned to the field in 2021, posting a 2-0 record and a 1.86 ERA in eight games for the Fort Wayne TinCaps. But he still wasn’t feeling like himself, and ended up going under the knife again for a second Tommy John that October. The hard-throwing lefthander was then taken by the Cleveland Guardians in the Rule-5 Draft that fall, and has since been getting himself back into game shape again. What’s the rehab been like over the last year? How is he feeling right now? And when does the 25-year-old expect to be back on the mound again? That’s just a sampling of the questions we asked him recently in this candid conversation.
They were once roommates at Vauxhall Academy. And now, there’s a chance Adam Macko and Damiano Palmegiani might start the 2023 baseball season on the same team again. After being drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 2019, Macko was involved in the high-profile Teoscar Hernandez trade with Toronto, where Palmegiani has been since the Blue Jays drafted him in 2021. Both have high hopes of themselves and each other as they look to climb the ladder in the Jays organization. To kick off the 2023 season of the podcast, we bring you conversations with both players, who are coming off solid seasons.
Greetings and salutations, friends! We hope 2023 has been a home run for you and yours. It’s about that time of the year where we tell you about our plans for the new season of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast, and we’re excited to share that the first episode of the new year is coming January 26th. We’ve been hard at work lining up guests for the first few weeks, and we have some great ones coming up. Check out this preview for more!
Few athletes have their names all over the Baseball Alberta awards like Gavin Galenza. In 2015, he was named the 11U ‘AA’ Player of the Year, and followed that up with the 13U ‘AA’ honours in 2016 and the 13U ‘AAA’ in 2017. The Camrose product added another one to his mantle this November by picking up the 2022 18U ‘AAA’ Player of the Year Award, after torching Baseball Alberta Elite League pitching with a .505 batting average with the Red Deer Carstar Braves. He followed that up with a great performance with the silver medal-winning Team Alberta at the Canada Summer Games. Galenza, who moved to Red Deer to join Jason Chatwood at St. Joseph High School Academy, now has his sights set on the next step of his baseball journey with the Colby Community College Trojans, where he already has a semester under his belt. We caught up with the 5-foot-8, 190-pound catcher this week to talk about it all, including getting some baseball life advice from 2022 MLB Draft Pick and Alberta’s own Matt Coutney.
It’s been a whirlwind few years for Calgary’s Matt Lloyd. A 15th round pick of the Cincinnati Reds in the 2019 MLB Draft, he spent his first pro summer split between the Rookie League Billings Mustangs and Single-A Dayton Dragons.
Listen to his visit with us in 2019 here.
2020 was wiped out by COVID, and he split 2021 between the Red’s Arizona Complex League squad and Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts. The Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs product began the 2022 season right where it left off with the Lookouts, but was shelved 20 games in with an ankle injury. He’s spent the last few months getting it back into game shape, showing his progress regularly through Instagram stories. We caught up with the 26-year-old to talk about the challenges of the injury, his mindset throughout, and where he’d like to be in 2023.
Reign Letkeman’s ascension from a minor ball player in Red Deer to Big Bend College to being drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015 all felt like it happened in the blink of an eye. In fact, Letkeman admits he started taking the game seriously a lot later than most. But the 6-3, 180-pound right-hander enjoyed the ride, including a three-year stint in the Rays system, before he had to go through a major surgery in 2018. He returned for one more year of professional baseball before the pandemic, then shifted his priorities to his family and to coaching at his alma mater. The 27-year-old joined us this week to talk about his journey in the game, how he has no regrets, and how excited he is to soon become a dad.
2020 and 2021 must have been excruciating for busy-bodies like Madison Willan. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the 21-year-old multi-sport star with Baseball Alberta, Baseball Canada, the University of Alberta Pandas hockey team, golfer and more to spend less time playing the sports she loves. The Edmonton product was definitely happy getting back to her old routines in 2022, and was rewarded for her efforts with the Baseball Alberta Women’s Open Player of the Year award this past weekend. Between classes recently, Willan took some time to chat with us about the award, her athletic journey, and quickly becoming a veteran on the National Women’s Team despite not having a ton of experience under her belt.
There’s no doubting Brent Radlinsky’s dedication to the New York Yankees. All you need to do is see the wall behind him when he’s hosting his podcast or chatting with you on Zoom. It’s all jerseys and memorabilia. There’s also no doubting his love of the game of baseball. Whether it’s talking about the game on his Fourteen Twenty Sports Bar podcast, the occasional writing he does for Belly Up Sports, or at the field as an umpire at a variety of levels in Southern Alberta, Radlinsky is a baseball lifer. The Fort Macleod product joined us recently and we shared a few laughs about his baseball journey, some of his favourite moments, and the worst call he ever made.
It was certainly a year to remember for Halen Knoll. The Edmonton product was dynamite on the mound to start the spring with the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks, leading the CCBC with 70 strikeouts while registering a 3-4 record and a 3.39 ERA en route to being named a First-Team All-Canadian and a finalist for league MVP. After a stint with the WCL’s Edmonton Riverhawks, Knoll traveled up to Fort McMurray for a return to the Giants, where he continued his dominant ways, posting a 5-1 record and a 2.66 ERA in ten games to be named a WCBL All-Star, while helping the Giants to their first post-season berth. To put a cherry on top for the year, the 22-year-old accepted a scholarship to play at the University of Mary in North Dakota. That’s where he was when we caught up with him earlier this week to talk about his baseball journey, what’s to come, and his love of escape rooms.
It was a year to remember in Brooks as, for the first time since entering the Western Canadian Baseball League in 2016, the Bombers made it to the postseason. It’s been a challenging few years, especially after the interruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Bombers were able to take that time to refine what they were doing on and off the field so they would be ready for 2022. Near the end of the season, our Ian Wilson headed to Brooks to chat with team officials, players and fans about how the Bombers have taken off. To top it off, he brought a microphone with him, so now we can hear right from those involved in the turnaround. Hear now from GM Jason Wandler, head coach Brice Davis, All-Star catcher Jimmy Costin and former Bombers standout McCoy Pearce.
It took Ty Penner just ten minutes to go from wondering how he wasn’t selected in this July’s MLB Draft, to agreeing to a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Vauxhall Academy of Baseball product admits, from there, it turned into an absolute whirlwind, traveling between Alberta, his college home at UBC, and Clearwater, Florida to begin his professional baseball journey. That whirlwind turned into a literal hurricane, as he had to come home early with Hurricane Ian fast-approaching. Penner, who was a guest on Episode #143, made it back to his home province safe and sound, and while he was here, checked in with us about his first taste of pro ball.
Yeah, you read that right. We are now 200 episodes into this passion project, with the first one debuting almost four years ago to the day: October 30th, 2018. This doesn’t happen without all of you, so thank YOU for taking the time to listen in to the long-form stories of baseball in our province. To mark the occasion, we welcome back ADS co-founder and writer extraordinaire Ian Wilson to talk about the milestone and what 2022 has brought so far, and we also go off the beaten path a bit to talk MLB Playoffs, Judge vs. Ohtani, and what we like and dislike about the new rules that the big leagues will bring in 2023.
Ashley Stephenson's name is synonymous with Baseball Canada's Women's National Team. A member of the squad from 2004-2018, she played in everything from World Cups to Pan-Am Games and everything in-between. She was also a two-time winner of the Jimmy Rattlesnake Award for her on-field accomplishments, team spirit and leadership. That award was later renamed in her honour. After Stephenson's playing career came to a close, she joined the national team's coaching staff then took over as head coach, hitting the field for the first time in her new role this summer in the Canada-US Friendship Series. She's a trailblazer, and recently added to her list of accomplishments by being named the first woman to hold a coaching position at the Canadian Futures Showcase, formerly known as Tournament-12. We recently caught up for a candid conversation about baseball, coaching philosophies, life and much more.
Ashley Stephenson's name is synonymous with Baseball Canada's Women's National Team. A member of the squad from 2004-2018, she played in everything from World Cups to Pan-Am Games and everything in-between. She was also a two-time winner of the Jimmy Rattlesnake Award for her on-field accomplishments, team spirit and leadership. That award was later renamed in her honour. After Stephenson's playing career came to a close, she joined the national team's coaching staff then took over as head coach, hitting the field for the first time in her new role this summer in the Canada-US Friendship Series. She's a trailblazer, and recently added to her list of accomplishments by being named the first woman to hold a coaching position at the Canadian Futures Showcase, formerly known as Tournament-12. We recently caught up for a candid conversation about baseball, coaching philosophies, life and much more.
The Calgary International Film Festival will have a baseball flavour to it this year (September 22-October 2). “It Ain’t Over” takes a look at the life and times of New York Yankees great and Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra. Famous for his on-field play as well as his wit, humour and “Yogi-isms”, Berra was also misunderstood. Director Sean Mullin tries to set the record straight by chatting with Berra’s granddaughter Lindsay as well as former teammates, sports writers and admirers like Billy Crystal. Our Ian Wilson wrote a story recently about his chat with Mullin, and here now is that conversation.
The Calgary International Film Festival will have a baseball flavour to it this year (September 22-October 2). “It Ain’t Over” takes a look at the life and times of New York Yankees great and Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra. Famous for his on-field play as well as his wit, humour and “Yogi-isms”, Berra was also misunderstood. Director Sean Mullin tries to set the record straight by chatting with Berra’s granddaughter Lindsay as well as former teammates, sports writers and admirers like Billy Crystal. Our Ian Wilson wrote a story recently about his chat with Mullin, and here now is that conversation.
Every college player dreams of making an impact with their summer baseball league. Braden Desonia did more than that in his first season with the Medicine Hat Mavericks. The 6’1”, 165-pound centrefielder was a terror for opposing pitchers and defenses, hitting .348 with five home runs and 42 runs batted in while stealing a Western Canadian Baseball League record 42 stolen bases, 15 more than anyone else. Desonia was also a WCBL All-Star, taking part in the festivities in Okotoks, stealing the show at the Home Run Derby, not with his power, but with the storyline of a last-minute request to have his dad, who was flying in from Mead, Washington, be his pitcher. It was a heartfelt moment in a season to remember for the Desonia family. Near the end of the regular season, our Ian Wilson recently chatted with them both about the opportunities and experiences of baseball north of the 49th parallel.
Every college player dreams of making an impact with their summer baseball league. Braden Desonia did more than that in his first season with the Medicine Hat Mavericks. The 6’1”, 165-pound centrefielder was a terror for opposing pitchers and defenses, hitting .348 with five home runs and 42 runs batted in while stealing a Western Canadian Baseball League record 42 stolen bases, 15 more than anyone else. Desonia was also a WCBL All-Star, taking part in the festivities in Okotoks, stealing the show at the Home Run Derby, not with his power, but with the storyline of a last-minute request to have his dad, who was flying in from Mead, Washington, be his pitcher. It was a heartfelt moment in a season to remember for the Desonia family. Near the end of the regular season, our Ian Wilson recently chatted with them both about the opportunities and experiences of baseball north of the 49th parallel.
There was already a lot of buzz around Edmonton’s Michael Yusypchuk before he joined Team Alberta for this year’s Canada Summer Games in Ontario. Last year’s Baseball Alberta 15U “AAA” Player of the Year has been spectacular with St. Albert Minor Baseball Association teams over the years, is heading to Dawgs Academy in Okotoks, and has already committed to Missouri State. Well, he added to that legacy during the summer games with a no-hitter in the semi-final against BC, striking out seven and was a walk away from the perfect game in a 4-0 victory. Alberta went on to win silver in the tournament, and once the dust settled, we caught up with Yusypchuk to talk about the performance, his baseball journey and what he believes his ceiling might be, as the Canadian Baseball Network has him listed as a top-5 Canadian to be chosen in the 2024 MLB Draft.
There was already a lot of buzz around Edmonton’s Michael Yusypchuk before he joined Team Alberta for this year’s Canada Summer Games in Ontario. Last year’s Baseball Alberta 15U “AAA” Player of the Year has been spectacular with St. Albert Minor Baseball Association teams over the years, is heading to Dawgs Academy in Okotoks, and has already committed to Missouri State. Well, he added to that legacy during the summer games with a no-hitter in the semi-final against BC, striking out seven and was a walk away from the perfect game in a 4-0 victory. Alberta went on to win silver in the tournament, and once the dust settled, we caught up with Yusypchuk to talk about the performance, his baseball journey and what he believes his ceiling might be, as the Canadian Baseball Network has him listed as a top-5 Canadian to be chosen in the 2024 MLB Draft.
It was quite the spectacle in Toronto recently as the Blue Jays marked the 30th anniversary of their 1992 World Series championship. Fans were able to re-live those memories as the stars like Joe Carter, Dave Winfield and Devon White came back to town to celebrate the occasion. That team also had a few connections to its Pioneer League affiliate that won its first title a decade earlier. This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Medicine Hat Blue Jays taking home what would become its only championship. Pat Borders, David Wells and Jimmy Key were among those who were with the Baby Jays that season. On this week's episode, we take a trip down memory lane with a couple of key members of that team: Keith Gilliam and Kash Beauchamp.
The countdown is on to the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Four cities will host the tournament from March 8th-21st. Canada will be in tough in Pool C with the defending champion United States along with Mexico, Columbia and one of four qualifier teams. There will be two qualifier tournaments, with Pool “A” in Germany from September 16th-21st, and Pool “B” in Panama from September 30th-October 5th. There will be some Alberta talent in Pool “B” with Amar Mahmood. The Edmonton product has been named to the roster for Pakistan, which is where his parents are from. He’s a rising star from AHP Academy, having already committed to De Anza College in the California Community College Association. The 18-year-old took some time this past week to chat with us about his baseball journey, his love of the game and what it means to represent his roots.
2022 will be remembered as the first season with the Edmonton Riverhawks of the West Coast League. In the ultra-competitive North Division, the Riverhawks made a push for the second half pennant, falling just short during the final weekend, finishing with an overall record of 25-28. Several hometown products were able to crack the roster, including outfielder Clayton Loranger. The Sherwood Park native was outstanding, hitting .365 with two home runs, 30 RBI, and 27 stolen bases in 47 games en route to being named a WCL First Team All-Star. We caught up with the 5-11, 195-pound Stephen F. Austin State University senior recently to talk about his summer and what it meant to be a part of the inaugural season as a hometown hero.
For a sixth time in franchise history, the Okotoks Dawgs are the top dogs of the Western Canadian Baseball League. In front of a packed Seaman Stadium, the Dawgs clinched the title with a 4-1 win over the Moose Jaw Miller Express Thursday night. Head to our website to check out the full story. After the game, we caught up with Playoff MVP Brendan Luther, outfielder Micah McDowell, pitcher Matt Wilkinson, infielder Ricky Sanchez, outfielder Alejandro Cazorla and head coach Mitch "Big Bear" Schmidt.
What a week it was in Calgary for the Canadian Little League Championships. Not only was the weather fantastic, but the baseball was second-to-none as teams from around the country vied for the right to represent the maple leaf in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The final was held Friday with Moose Jaw taking on the Little Mountain Baseball All-Stars, competing as Team BC. And with a 9-4 victory, BC has now won 15 of the last 16 Canadian regional championships. Our Ian Wilson was in attendance and managed to catch up with some of the players, coaches and organizers for the event, which received rave reviews from all involved. Hear from players Jaxon Mayervich and Alden Yu. manager Ulysses Yan, and 2022 tournament chair Allan Chatenay on this week's episode.
This week, we take a look back at a great accomplishment by Dawgs Academy’s 18U Black squad. They headed south of the border for a few tournaments over the summer, including the Perfect Game World Series in West Palm Beach, Florida. After going 3-1-1 in the round-robin, the Dawgs didn’t turn back, beating NEB National 4-2 in the final. Dawgs starter Tyrelle Chadwick, who picked up the win in the final with a 3-hit, 3-walk, 5-strikeout in six-plus inning performance, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher. While he’s only 19, he already has experience in summer college ball with the Dawgs Black WCBL squad in 2021 and then his hometown Kamloops NorthPaws for a few games before coming back to the Academy this summer. An Illinois State recruit, he’s also the son of former Edmonton Trappers and California Angels pitcher and current TRU Wolfpack head coach Ray Chadwick. We caught up with the promising young right-hander to talk about his baseball journey, winning the Perfect Game tournament and what he’d like to one day accomplish.
What a year it’s been for Gavin Logan. The Oyen, Alberta product and Dawgs Academy grad took full advantage of being the starting catcher for Oregon State, hitting .281 with three home runs and 36 runs batted in while committing just one error in 45 games as he was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and All-Pac-12 Tournament Team. While the Beavers fell short of their goal of winning the NCAA national championship, they were a powerful squad and it showed when eight players were selected in the MLB Draft in July. That includes Logan, who was taken in the ninth round, 258th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has received a hero’s welcome in Okotoks, including throwing out a first pitch at a Dawgs game then catching the ceremonial toss from Matt Stairs at the WCBL All-Star Game. I caught up with him at those festivities to talk about his whirlwind last few weeks, as we last connected for Episode 170. Read the story we wrote earlier this year about Logan here and the story of his fellow drafted Albertan, Matt Coutney, here.
Words probably can’t describe the feeling everyone had Saturday night after witnessing the Western Canadian Baseball League’s All-Star Game festivities in Okotoks. A crowd of 6,000+ people, the players and coaches enjoying every minute of it, some incredible moments of baseball, fireworks at the end, and a million memories made, and it feels like we’re just scratching the surface. Make sure to head to albertadugoutstories.com for the game story and photo gallery that we posted earlier this week. We have plenty more stories to come in the days ahead. Here on the podcast, instead of one guest telling us the story of the day, we have a series of shorter interviews done before and after the game, to help capture the day’s events. Listen in to hear from Matt Wolff of the Brooks Bombers, Braden DeSonia of the Medicine Hat Mavericks, McCoy Pearce and Micah McDowell of the Okotoks Dawgs, Weyburn Beavers slugger Nolan Machibroda, and Sylvan Lake Gulls infielder and All-Star Game MVP Ethan Ho.
Three days. 30 teams. 20 rounds. 616 baseball prospects chosen in the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft. Among them, 15 Canadians including two from Alberta. Dawgs Academy product and Oregon State catcher Gavin Logan went in the ninth round, 258th overall to the Arizona Diamondbacks, while St. FX Academy product and Old Dominion University first baseman Matt Coutney was taken in the tenth round, 298th overall by the Los Angeles Angels. Congratulations to all for taking the next step in your baseball journey. And congratulations as well to those who will undoubtedly get free agent contracts in the days and weeks ahead, just like Vauxhall Academy grad and UBC slugger Ty Penner did with the Philadelphia Phillies. For this week’s episode of the podcast, we catch up with one of the three recently-signed Albertans. We got to know Coutney on Episode #176, talking about his baseball journey and his stellar season at ODU, where he was one of the nation’s top home-run hitters this season. And he really actually started heating up in April after inserting a contact lens that he had been prescribed but didn’t think would make a big difference. We caught up this week to talk about getting drafted, the process as a whole, and what it meant to him and some of his biggest fans.
It’s been a long couple of years without WCBL baseball in a trio of Alberta communities. Over the past few episodes, we’ve chatted with hometown athletes Dax Wandler of the Brooks Bombers and Sean Dunn of the Fort McMurray Giants about coming back this season and the excitement in their respective communities. The third team to return is the Medicine Hat Mavericks and who better to talk about to than Nathan Stark. The Medicine Hat product grew up coming to Mavericks games, and has had the fortune of being with the team since 2017, including their 2018 championship run. While those years were special, this year is even more sweet as he has his brothers, Josh and Zach, on the roster as well. In fact, as we record this episode, they’ve all been on the field at the same time on a couple of occasions. Nathan is the eldest brother who played his high school ball with the McCoy Colts before moving onto Colby Community College, LSU-Shreveport and Doane University. It’s been quite the journey for the 6-foot-3, 171-pound right-hander, who joined us earlier this week to talk all about it.
Talk about a homecoming for Sean Dunn. The Fort McMurray product has been chomping at the bit to get back onto the field with his hometown Giants in the Western Canadian Baseball League for a while now, as the pandemic got in the way of their return in 2020 and 2021. The Giants are in a dogfight for a playoff spot in the West Division, hoping to get there for the first time since entering the league in 2016. Dunn remembers those early years, and believes the team has what it takes to turn up the heat in the second half of the season. The 6-3, 185-pound hurler knows a thing or two about winning, as he is fresh off helping Okanagan College capture the Canadian College Baseball Conference title this spring. We talked about all of that earlier this week, as well as what it means to him to give back to his hometown’s baseball community and much more.
Justin King might be the king of self-awareness. As a young multi-sport athlete, he admits he realized one day he wasn’t the fastest skater, so he decided to focus on playing baseball. A gifted hitter growing up in Okotoks, King decided to try pitching in his final college season at the University of Louisiana-Monroe in Spring 2021. As his Twitter bio states: “couldn’t hit 95 so now we a pitcher.” While some might have bristled at making that move, he faced it head-on and it has paid off in a big way. In early-June, the 6-1, 215-pound southpaw signed a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he’s already made his way to the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers alongside fellow Dawgs Academy grad Tristan Peters and Canadian Tyler Black. We caught up with King during a recent off-day to talk about what has turned into quite the chapter in his baseball journey and more.
It’s been a long road back to the diamond for Dax Wandler. The Brooks Bombers infielder last appeared in the Western Canadian Baseball League in 2019, hitting .242 with a home run and five RBI for his hometown team. He needed surgery following that season, but hit some roadblocks along the way. The 5-10, 160-pound COVID freshman is finally back on the field and hoping to turn a few heads so he can catch on with a collegiate program in the fall. Wandler checked in with us a couple weeks ago to walk us through his baseball journey, the recuperation from his injury and much more.
The Battle of Alberta might be one of the most heated rivalries in all of pro sports. The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers have hated each other from the very beginning. That rivalry not only transcends hockey, but sports in general as well. When it comes to baseball, any time Alberta’s two largest cities face each other, it’s bound to have fireworks. Never was that more prevalent than on June 13th, 2006. The Northern League’s Calgary Vipers were hosting the Edmonton Cracker-Cats at Foothills Stadium when one of the most infamous brawls in baseball history broke out. Our Ian Wilson has wanted to tell the story for a few years now, and after a lot of hard work and research, published his newest story to mark the anniversary. Cracker-Cats starter Reggie Rivard joins us on the podcast to talk about how it all went down, what he remembers, and how he ended up with the most-severe suspension.
There have been plenty of great storylines about Alberta baseball products doing big things in US college programs this spring. One of those has been watching two Dawgs Academy products help Central Arizona College claim the Junior College World Series. Tyrese Johnson hit .340 with a pair of homers, 23 runs batted in and nine stolen bases, while Matt Wilkinson went 5-2 with two saves and a 1.87 ERA to go along with 85 strikeouts in just 53 innings. We caught up with both of them this week to recap their championship season.
No rest for the wicked if the wicked’s name is Brendan Luther. The Ontario product who now calls Western Canada home spent the spring at Okanagan College, where he hit .426 with two homers, 26 runs batted in, 48 runs scored and six stolen bases en route to being named a Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference First-Team All-Star. He then packed his bags as the Coyotes headed to Lethbridge, where he hit .385 with two doubles and two RBI as Okanagan ran the table to claim the CCBC World Series. Why did he pack his bags? Because the 6-1, 190-pound infielder headed straight up to Okotoks to report to the Dawgs for the start of the Western Canadian Baseball League season. It’s a change of scenery for Luther, who spent the past couple of seasons with the Edmonton Prospects. We talked about the expected chirps from that move, his baseball journey and much more in this recent conversation. (Image credit: Brent Calver/OkotoksTODAY)
The 2022 Western Canadian Baseball League season is upon us! We've been showcasing the Alberta teams with previews on our website, and the architect who has been writing them, ADS co-founder Ian Wilson, joins us to talk about what has him excited about a full slate of games and teams for the upcoming season. We also check in with WCBL president Kevin Kvame, and chat about some of the other big storylines heading into the summer.
Cassie Matlock has been willing to do anything and go anywhere to play softball. Growing up in Edmonton, there weren’t a ton of options for her, so she went wherever she could to get noticed. Eventually, Matlock landed on her feet at Lindsey Wilson College, where her team made it to the NAIA World Series and she was named to the All-Tournament Team, amongst a host of other honours. She then moved onto the University of West Alabama, where she continued to dominate. The 5-foot-9 outfielder just put the wraps on her senior season, and is on her way back to Alberta. We caught up with Matlock earlier this week to talk about her award-winning season, the trials and tribulations of being a student-athlete, and her hopes of helping grow the game in her home province.
Athletic excellence is in the genes of the Geekie family. Three brothers – Morgan, Noah and Conor – grew up playing hockey in the winter and baseball in the summer. While Morgan and Conor stuck with hockey when it was time to follow one path, Noah decided to chase the baseball dream. He moved to Okotoks to attend Dawgs Academy, is about to play in his third summer with the Western Canadian Baseball League Dawgs, and after a successful two years at Barton Community College, just wrapped up his second season with the NCAA Division II Emporia State University Hornets. He’s a two-way threat, going 6-2 with a save and a 5.04 ERA in 14 outings, starting the year as a reliever before excelling as a starter. He also hit .315 with a homer, 13 runs batted in and six stolen bases in 33 games. The 6-3, 195-pound junior took some time this week to chat about his journey, growing up in that athletic household and coming back to his home away from home this summer with Okotoks.
There’s a new home run king at Old Dominion University and he’s from our province. Wetaskiwin’s Matt Coutney went yard twice against Florida Atlantic on April 24th, hitting his 21st home run to break the school record. Everyone knew Coutney had some pop in his bat, after a standout two years with Colby Community College, where he hit .426 with 26 home runs and 116 runs batted in. He was solid through his first two seasons with ODU, but has really hit another level this spring. As we recorded this episode, he was hitting .361 with 22 homers and 48 RBI, as the Monarchs take aim at an NCAA championship. Coutney took some time out of his busy schedule last week to chat with us about his baseball journey, the record, and how one small tweak has made a world of difference.
Like Erik Sabrowski, Aidan Huggins, Evan Wilde and several other Albertans over the last few years, Tom Poole is making a name for himself this spring with the Cloud County Thunderbirds of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. The Calgary product was originally recruited as a pitcher, but has instead put together a mammoth season at the plate, hitting .369 with 18 home runs, 59 RBIs and 17 stolen bases heading into the final weekend of the regular season, where his Thunderbirds will take on Barton in four games. Not only is Poole leading the conference in homers, he’s just two off the school record of 20. The 6'1", 205-pound freshman took some time out of his busy schedule recently to chat with us about his amazing campaign, growing up in Calgary, and how he considers himself a bit of a late-bloomer.
There is plenty to get excited about in watching Alberta-born and trained athletes excel at major US programs. Matt Coutney is hitting everything he sees at Old Dominion University, Cesar Valero has been on fire with Sacramento State and Tom Poole has dominated at the plate for Cloud County College, among many others. One player who has been a force on the mound is Matt Wilkinson. Originally from Ladner, BC, the Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs product is a key piece of the bullpen for Central Arizona College. Through his first 13 games, Wilkinson has a 3-1 record with two saves, a tiny 1.52 ERA and has struck out 58 batters in just 29+ innings of work. But strikeouts are nothing new to "Tugboat", who fanned 16 in just five innings to open up the 2015 Little League World Series. We talked about that and much more in the latest #ADSPodcast.
We put the wraps on our Canadian College Baseball Conference preview episodes this week by chatting with University of Calgary Dinos bench boss Cam Williams. Originally from Coquitlam, BC, Williams moved to Calgary to study kinesiology and play baseball. We first met the infielder back in 2018 when he set the Dinos all-time record for career hits. He stayed in Calgary, joining the Bucks coaching staff before taking the top job with the Dinos. It's been a weird start to his coaching career, doing it all during a pandemic. But he's had some early success as the team finally got to play some games over the last couple of weeks, guiding them to a .500 record. What's the transition been like? What are his coaching philosophies? And what kinds of advice is he passing onto his players? We chatted about it all recently.
We continue our look at the three Alberta-based teams from the Canadian College Baseball Conference this week and we’re going from the seasoned veteran in Todd Hubka at Prairie Baseball Academy last week, to the new kid in town, Edmonton Collegiate Hawk coach Jake Lanferman. The Sherwood Park native was born the same year Hubka joined PBA: 1996. Fresh off a solid playing career including stops at Fort Hays State University and UBC as well as the Edmonton Prospects and Sylvan Lake Gulls, the outfielder is now diving into the coaching realm headfirst as part of Absolute Human Performance as well as the Collegiate Hawks. How is he finding the transition? What does he expect out of the team? And what are his coaching philosophies? We talked about that all and much more last week.
The Canadian College Baseball Conference kicks off its first spring season since 2019 this weekend. The 2020 season was turfed in the initial aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the logistics for the 2021 season meant they would have to wait for another day. And that day has finally come for those Western Canadian college teams, including Prairie Baseball Academy. At the centre of that program is Todd Hubka, who has seen it all since joining in 1996, first as an assistant coach to Blair Kubicek, before taking the reigns in 2010. He and I actually share the same hometowns, originally being from Carmangay, then going to high school in Claresholm, and randomly crossed paths again while he was coaching the Lethbridge Bulls while I was a young reporter in Medicine Hat. We’ve been able to share a few laughs over text and phone calls over the years, so it was only a matter of time before we had him on the podcast. We talked about his upbringing, including throwing a no-hitter, his coaching philosophies and his expectations of his young PBA club this spring.
March 31 marks the anniversary of the debut of Alberta Dugout Stories. It was years in the making, thanks to several stops at Calgary pubs talking about baseball's yesteryear in our province. To celebrate the occasion, we wanted to reminisce about the stories we've told and say a special "thank you" to everyone who has supported our vision for creating something unique to baseball in Alberta and across Canada.
Gavin Logan is no stranger to the open road. Raised on a farm outside Oyen, he commuted to town as well as Consort to play his minor ball, before heading west to Okotoks to join Dawgs Academy. Since then, he’s played with the college Dawgs, the West Coast League’s Bend Elks, Southeaster Community College, Linn-Benton Community College and he’s now at the #2-ranked NCAA Division program in the country: Oregon State. After what he admits was a tough first year with the Beavers where he had to battle for his playing time, the 5-11, 212-pound backstop is now “the guy” behind the plate, hitting .339 with two homers and 12 RBI in his first 13 games. We recently caught up with Logan to talk about the highs, lows and what’s still to come in his baseball journey.
We would be shocked if Brett Platts wasn’t nicknamed “Coffee.” Not only does enjoy the hot beverage a “lot” by his estimation, he would also need it with how fast his career is taking off. The native of Albany, Prince Edward Island moved to Dawgs Academy in Okotoks for high school, and wound up at Southeastern Community College in 2017-2018. But a major ACL injury derailed his on-field dreams, leading him to get into strength and conditioning. He started his own business, then was planning to move back to Dawgs Academy, then was going to join the University of Iowa, before he got a call from the Chicago Cubs to work as a strength and conditioning coach for their young players in the Dominican Republic. Before he caught a flight out of town, we caught up with Platts to talk about his entire journey, including his time in our province, the mental challenges of coming back from injury, and how persistence paid off in making his newfound dreams come true.
Jason Chatwood has seemingly become Mr. Baseball in Central Alberta. He’s the lead instructor and coach at St. Joseph High School Academy in Red Deer, he does some scouting with the Arizona Diamondbacks and he’s the head coach of the WCBL’s Sylvan Lake Gulls. Chatwood isn’t that far removed from playing the game either. Growing up in Innisfail, he played all over the province and even representing Alberta before a very successful college career at Colby Community College and then NCAA Division I Gonzaga University, which is where he got his first taste of coaching and mentoring. We recently sat down to talk about his baseball journey, the challenges of wearing so many different hats, and the importance of family, which starts with his wife, Heather, who was a softball standout and a member of Canada’s national team.
Taylor Burns might be the most-active social media presence in Alberta baseball circles. Not only known for his takes on his beloved Edmonton Oilers, Burns has been busy building the brands of Absolute Human Performance and AHP Academy, with videos of his athletes, as well as his own advice and takes on strength and conditioning. It’s become his passion as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, after spending years as an athlete himself. Burns had shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum after his junior season at university in 2011, but wasn’t able to pitch again until he went to the University of Central Missouri in 2016-2017. That time off allowed him to find some new passions, including coaching and mentoring in the Edmonton and St. Albert regions. We’ve long wanted to have Taylor on the podcast to talk about his journey, and felt like we were only scratching the surface in this candid conversation.
February marks Black History Month, and over the last few weeks, we’ve had social media posts about past stories on legendary baseball players who broke the colour barrier in their own way, including Satchel Paige, John Donaldson, Leon Day, Jackie Robinson and Andre Dawson. We also introduced you to two new stories: one on Hall of Famer “Cool Papa” Bell, and another on Dick Brookins, whose final days in professional baseball came here in our province. For a little more insight into those stories and the research that went into them, we welcome ADS co-founder and writer Ian Wilson back to the podcast.
He was the first Canadian to be selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft, taken 34th overall by the Boston Red Sox in the 1996 Draft. Chris Reitsma went onto a seven-year MLB and 12-year pro career. Best-known for his time in Atlanta, where in 2004 he had 84 appearances as the set-up man to John Smoltz, Reitsma later groomed another young prospect, Mike Soroka, to be taken in the first round by the Braves in 2015. Giving back to the baseball community in his home province has become a point of pride for the now-44-year-old, as he is now serving as the Senior Director of Baseball Operations and Pitching Director with the Webber Academy Wildcats in Springbank, just west of Calgary. Reitsma recently took some time out of his busy schedule to talk about his entire baseball journey and what he’s hoping to build at Webber.
Luxon Glor has been named an All-American multiple times, he’s broken school and conference records at the University of Mary and has been named a conference athlete of the year. He did it all in track, despite originally wanting to do it all in baseball. The Haiti-born and Winnipeg-raised speedster was an accomplished multi-sport athlete when Les McTavish brought him into the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball, where he continued to shine during the 2014-2015 seasons. But an eye injury made the game he loved a little more difficult as headed to UMary, so he changed his focus, and ended up finding a new passion. Now, the 24-year-old is chasing an Olympic dream while also attending law school in New York. Glor has quite the story to tell, and he joined us recently to talk all about it.
It has been a meteoric rise up the coaching ranks for Calgary’s Jim Henderson. A 26th round draft pick of the Montreal Expos back in 2003, the hard-throwing right-hander spent 15 years in professional baseball. In 2012, he became the first Dawgs Academy product to make it into the major leagues and would go on to pitch in 155 games for the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets. The 6-5, 220-pound hurler finished out his playing career in 2018 with the Biloxi Shuckers in Double-A, where an injury allowed him to cut his teeth as a scout, then as a coach in the Pioneer League. He rose through the Brewers system, just as he did as a player, and just a few weeks ago, was named the bullpen coach for the MLB squad. We had the opportunity to catch up with him recently to talk about his entire journey, his roots back home and what his family has meant to him.
Alejo Lopez made history last summer as being the first position player from Dawgs Academy in Okotoks to make it to the big leagues. The Mexico City native tore apart minor league pitching after being drafted by the Reds in 2015, earning a spot with the big club for 14 games in 2021, where he hit .261. But the 5'10", 170-pound infielder isn’t content with that. He wants more and is working towards that goal every day. Lopez took some time out of his busy schedule to sit down for a candid conversation with us, to talk about his baseball journey, coming to Alberta and his hopes and dreams.
It's the news many of you have been waiting for! The new season of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast will begin...
Sorry, you'll have to listen to find out when it will start and who the first guest will be!
That's it. That's all. See ya later, 2021! It was definitely a time. We have now arrived at the season finale of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast. It's a chance for us to reminisce about the last 12 months and look ahead at what the next 12 might have in store. Co-founders Ian Wilson and Joe McFarland chat about their memories of the last year, favourite stories to tell, and give a sneak-peek into what's coming in 2022.
Keith Comstock was a fifth round pick of the California Angels back in 1976. He went onto spend 16 years in pro baseball, including six in the majors. Near the end of that journey, he pitched in 20 games for the Pacific Coast League’s Calgary Cannons in 1989 and 1991. Comstock might be best remembered for an infamous ProCards baseball card when he was with the Las Vegas Stars in 1989. ESPN called it the “funniest baseball card ever made." Nowadays, Comstock is a coach, working with the Texas Rangers as their rehab pitching coordinator. Our Ian Wilson was able to track him down and had this candid conversation about his journey in baseball, which included an earlier stop in Central Alberta.
Many coaches and mentors in Alberta's baseball community, including Ethan Elias, believe that success breeds success. After being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2011 and spending seven years in professional baseball as a player, he turned his attention to coaching in the Edmonton area. After spending time with the Edmonton Collegiate Baseball Club of the CCBC, Elias has joined AHP Academy as a co-head coach and associate pitching coordinator, and is slated to be the pitching coach for the expansion Edmonton Riverhawks of the West Coast League. We chatted about his entire baseball journey and some of his coaching beliefs in this conversation from late last week.
Calling the last few weeks a "whirlwind" might be an understatement for Mike Frostad. It started with unexpected playoff run by his Atlanta Braves that culminated with a World Series victory over the Houston Astros. Then came the aftermath and celebrations before everyone parted ways for the winter. Frostad not only headed back home to Alberta, but he announced he had been courted by the Los Angeles Angels to become their new director of sports medicine and head athletic trainer. We caught up with him after he spoke at the Coaching Teaching Leadership Conference in Calgary last weekend to talk about the World Series, working with Mike Soroka on his injuries, the changing landscape of being a trainer since he was with the Medicine Hat Blue Jays in the 1990's, and what his wife's support has meant to him in his journey.
In an era where fans packed ballparks by the thousands to watch games and tournaments, Jimmy Rattlesnake was a headliner. His reputation was second-to-none, and his accomplishments have been recognized in many ways. There is no higher honour in this country than to be named to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and earlier this week, the pride of the Ermineskin Cree Nation took his place in the hall as part of the Class of 2021. We had the honour and opportunity to talk about the induction with Jimmy's daughter, Phyllis, and grandson, Oren. We're also joined by ADS co-founder Ian Wilson, who wrote an in-depth story about Rattlesnake's on-field accomplishments.
Greg Morrison has seen baseball in Medicine Hat from almost every angle imaginable. From a young player in the American Legion to winning a Pioneer League Triple Crown with the Baby Jays in 1997 to coaching the Western Canadian Baseball League Mavericks before becoming owner and general manager in 2009, Morrison is using his experiences to help young ball players at the grassroots level around the community. Even during the last two years of the Mavericks not being able to play, he’s been doing everything he can to keep that connection strong heading into 2022 and beyond. We’ve wanted to have Morrison visit us on the podcast for a while now, as his journey is certainly a fascinating one. And the opportunity was right earlier this week to talk about how it all began, his pro playing career and what it means to him now, being able to give back to the baseball community in Medicine Hat.
Dane Tofteland has had quite the adventurous last few years in baseball. After setting records despite several injuries in his time with Indiana State University, he helped the Okotoks Dawgs capture the 2019 WCBL championship. The 2020 summer season was turfed with the pandemic, which allowed him to spend time at his family's farm near Grande Prairie. The Dawgs Academy grad then started the 2021 season with Quebec of the Frontier League before moving to the Welland Jackfish of the Intercounty Baseball League. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound slugger turned a lot of heads, hitting .417 with eight home runs, 36 runs batted in and 19 stolen bases in 30 games. We caught up with him recently to talk about his journey, this last summer, and the dream of turning pro.
Jordan Procyshen admits the last few years have been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. The Calgary product was a 14th round pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2014, and after a few years in their farm system, was sent on a whirlwind including the Los Angeles Dodgers, independent baseball, Baseball Canada and this past season with the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. While he's been chasing his dream of reaching the majors, the Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs product met his wife and they are also now expecting their first child in a few weeks. We caught up this week to talk about everything on and off the field.
With the baseball season coming to an end here in Alberta, we thought we’d switch things up on this episode to bring on someone we’ve wanted to chat with for a while. Willie Steele is the author of “Going the Distance: The Life and Works of W.P. Kinsella". Released in 2019, it’s the biography of the Alberta-born scribe most famous for the novel “Shoeless Joe.” Kinsella was born and raised in the Edmonton area and also spent time at the University of Calgary among his many travels. Steele has been a big supporter of us, sharing our stories and even writing one of his own for us on his experience at the Field of Dreams game this season.
Much like our last few podcast guests, Carson Hindmarsh has had himself a busy summer. Aside from starring with the Okotoks Dawgs Black during the WCBL season, the 17-year-old Saskatoon native found himself playing with Baseball Canada's Junior National Team at the 18U Friendship Series in Florida. His season isn't over either as he's planning on another trip with the national team soon, and big things are on the horizon for the 6'3", 180-pound southpaw as he's committed to the University of Tennessee. We talked about all of that and so much more earlier this week.
Matt Grabmann has become a world traveler in his short baseball career. Just this summer, he went from Dawgs Black in the Western Canadian Baseball League to Baseball Canada's Junior National Team to the Baseball Factory All-America Game, where he drew plenty of praise and was touching 95 miles per hour on the radar gun. The right-hander from Nova Scotia is a Dawgs Academy product who has also committed to joining the NCAA Division I University of Oregon to continue his baseball journey. We caught up with him earlier this week to talk about all of his travels and his future plans.
Boston Warkentin was among a handful of Okotoks Dawgs players recently named to Baseball Canada's Junior National Team which took on the US in a best-of-seven Friendship Series. He pitched in ten games for Dawgs Black this summer before being summoned to the national team, where he impressed every time he stepped on the bump. Originally from Delta, BC, the 18-year-old righthander came through Dawgs Academy, where he’s elevated his game to being listed by the Canadian Baseball Network as the 11th best Canadian prospect for the 2022 MLB Draft. He’s also committed to the University of Washington, another Division 1 powerhouse. We talked about it all with Boston in a phone chat last week.
Many athletes dream of the day they are able to represent their country on the world stage. St. Albert's Max Hartman was able to do that recently when he was named to Baseball Canada's Junior National Team that was heading to Florida for the 18U Friendship Series against the United States. The Washington State University commit joins us this week to talk about his baseball journey, which includes Dawgs Academy, Tournament-12 in Toronto and this past summer with Okotoks Dawgs Black.
Cody Hendriks has certainly seen his share of baseball stadiums, airports, and quarantines over the past year. But traveling is nothing new for the 17-year-old, who is originally from the Netherlands. His family moved to Coquitlam, BC when he was 10, then a few years later, he came west to Dawgs Academy in Okotoks. Being from Netherlands meant he was eligible for their U18 team at the European Championship in early-July, where he helped his country take home the gold medal. He then came back to his home away from home to play with Okotoks Dawgs Black, and is now at school with the NCAA Division I California State University-Bakersfield.
Fresh off their trip to Quebec for the Baseball Canada Women's National Team showcase, Helaina Appleyard and Hayley Lalor join us on this week's episode of the podcast. They were among four Albertans named to the roster (Madison Willan and Ellie Jespersen were the others), taking part in everything from fitness and baseball drills to practices and intrasquad games. Appleyard has been on Baseball Canada's roster for a while, turning many heads during the 2019 national tournament in Okotoks, while Lalor was also a key piece to Alberta's success in that event. And as we hear in this episode, both have strong family ties to the game.
For the first time since 2015, the Lethbridge Bulls have captured the Western Canadian Baseball League title. It was quite the ride for the Bulls, who finished the regular season on a six-game losing streak, including the final four to the Sylvan Lake Gulls, who they met in the semi-finals. They would go on to sweep the Gulls and the Edmonton Prospects. We recap the run and are joined by WCBL Playoff MVP Bryce Oriold-Fraser and catcher Noah Or in our latest episode of the podcast. Big thanks to @YQLSports for the team photo we're using as our cover art for this episode.
You couldn’t have asked for a better day of baseball on Saturday in Okotoks, as the Western Canadian Baseball League held “Baseball Day in Canada.” Not only did it feature two games between the Dawgs Black and the Edmonton Prospects, but also a full-day broadcast with interviews and panel discussions. Ian Wilson, who co-hosted the event along with Joe, stops by to talk about the event. We also listen into our conversation with Baseball Canada CEO Jason Dickson, who gave us a state of the game and talked about where we'll go from here, as part of the broadcast of "Baseball Day in Canada."
Kyle Froehlich has been as consistent as they come for the Sylvan Lake Gulls this summer, and he’s doing it as a two-way threat. At the plate, the Nipawin, Saskatchewan native is hitting .330 with six home runs and 29 RBIs in 29 games. On the mound, he’s made 11 appearances, mostly in relief, sporting a 1-3 record with five saves and a 2.40 ERA. He put up similar numbers this past spring with Colby Community College, drawing interest from the WCBL’s Moose Jaw Miller Express. When they weren’t able to take part this season, Froehlich looked elsewhere and found a home in Sylvan Lake with a few of his Trojan teammates. Last week, we caught up to talk about his experience, his baseball journey and much more.
Many players around the Western Canadian Baseball League are getting the chance to play in the stadiums they grew up watching baseball games in. Such is the case for Ty Penner. The Lethbridge native is in his second season with the Bulls and has been having a solid season. The Vauxhall Academy of Baseball grad and UBC Thunderbirds infielder is among the league leaders in batting average and doubles this summer, and is grateful for the opportunity to take part in the All-Canadian season with a few past and present teammates from those programs.
The NJCAA Division II final series between LSU-Eunice and Western Oklahoma was one for the ages. It also included a pair of players with ties to Alberta. We previously chatted with Airdrie's Ayden Makarus about becoming a national champion, and this week, we bring a conversation we recently had with fellow Dawgs Academy grad Jackson Fraser. The freshman right-hander hails from Buena Vista, Saskatchewan, and is no stranger to hopping on a plane to keep his baseball dreams alive. He's now playing in the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League in New York and joined us to talk about his journey in the sport, including a memorable time at the Tournament-12 in Toronto.
As the Western Canadian Baseball League season winds along, we wanted to give you a chance to get to know some of the players who have been entertaining us with their play this summer. That continues this week with Dawgs Black infielder Alejandro Cazorla Granados and Edmonton Prospects outfielder Conor Bronson. The two have had very different paths that have now crossed. Cazorla Granados is originally from Venezuela but moved to Canada when he was younger, while Bronson is originally from St. Albert.
Many eyes were on the 2021 MLB Draft this week as young baseball players hoped to hear their names called over the 20 rounds. In the end, 17 Canadians were taken and while none were from Alberta, a handful played or trained here. We recap what all happened, plus we're joined by Milwaukee Brewers draft pick and Dawgs Academy grad Tristan Peters as well as San Diego Padres selection and Vauxhall Academy product Garrett Hawkins.
One of the big storylines heading into the Western Canadian Baseball League season was about how it would be an "All-Canadian" summer. It was viewed as an opportunity to show off the great talent we have in Canada, especially here in Alberta, as we slowly emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode of the podcast, we chat with a couple of players who are suiting up for teams close to home. Elnora's Cleary Simpson entered the Sylvan Lake Gulls' record book by scoring the team's first-ever run and hit their first-ever home run, while High River's Tucker Zdunich is with Okotoks Dawgs Red after a five-year career with Dawgs Academy. Both are Colby Community College products who are excited about where their baseball journeys have taken them.
At 5'8" and 215 pounds, Carlin Dick isn't the most imposing player on the Lethbridge Bulls roster. But fans are definitely taking notice as he's opened up the WCBL season on fire. Through five games, the Vauxhall Academy product was hitting .333 with two doubles, five runs batted in and two stolen bases. The Abbottsford, BC native is also coming off an All-MAAC All-Rookie Team season with Canisius College, where he hit .348 with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 17 games. As the Bulls got ready for their Canada Day home games, the rightfielder took some time to talk about his year so far, which also included a mild case of COVID-19.
Cole Tucker figures to be a prominent piece of the Dawgs Red squad during the 2021 Western Canadian Baseball League season. The native of Mount Pearl, Newfoundland is a Dawgs Academy product who went on to play with Southeastern Community College before spending the last couple of years with the Niagara University Purple Eagles. He's coming off a spring where he hit .391 with three home runs and 19 runs batted in, while being named to the All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Second Team. We chatted with the 6'1", 195-pound middle infielder before he made his debut in Okotoks on Tuesday. Big thanks to Angela B Photography for the photos we've used of Cole. Check out her work here on Instagram.
It will be a season like no other, that can absolutely be certain. First pitch on the 2021 Western Canadian Baseball League season is upon us. Five teams will be taking part: the Edmonton Prospects, Lethbridge Bulls, two squads from the Okotoks Dawgs and the expansion Sylvan Lake Gulls will be hitting the field this summer with dreams of winning the coveted Harry Hallis trophy. And for the first time, the league is going “All Canadian” to showcase the home-grown talent we have in Alberta and across Canada. We check in with ADS co-founder Ian Wilson to preview the upcoming season, as he wrote up a season preview story on our website here.
Ayden Makarus can now add "national champion" to his impressive baseball resume. The Dawgs Academy product was part of the LSU-Eunice squad that captured the NJCAA Division II title over the weekend in an exciting 5-4 extra innings win over Western Oklahoma. Makarus has been an immediate contributor to the Bengals offensively after a successful high school career, including a spot on Baseball Canada's Junior National Team. We talked about it all, plus a few other questions that we didn't get a chance to ask when we first met him on Episode #27 of the podcast.
It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to look forward to actual baseball on Alberta diamonds. But after the provincial government announced its roadmap to reopening, baseball organizers started formalizing their “return to play” plans. There’s an air of cautious optimism, especially knowing that plans can and likely will, change. So we thought we’d go right to the source this week and chat with a couple of people who have been helping drive those preparations forward. Ryan Bird of Baseball Alberta and Kevin Kvame of the Western Canadian Baseball League join us to talk about their planning and what's to come this summer.
Every young baseball player starting off his college career dreams of making an impact right out of the gates. But maybe not to the extent Logan Grant achieved with the Bismarck State College Mystics. The freshman catcher/infielder made life difficult for opposing National Junior College Athletic Association pitchers, hitting a fantastic .423 with eight home runs, 58 RBIs and six stolen bases in 37 games. And for being such a young athlete, he’s had an interesting journey to get to where he’s at, including playing at both Vauxhall Academy of Baseball and Dawgs Academy in Okotoks. Grant has had some downtime recently as he was in quarantine after returning home from North Dakota , so we had a chat about his season full of accolades, growing up on the family farm outside Chestermere, and much, much more.
It all changed in the blink of an eye for Cohen Achen. The up-and-coming pitcher was on the mound for Big Bend Community College in early-2020 when he was hit in the face by a comebacker. He considers himself lucky that it was in a spot near the eye that didn’t damage the orbital bone, jaw bone or hit his temple. But he definitely had a concussion and a nasty bump that took about three months to heal. It wasn’t just physical either, as he had to get back onto a mound again, even though playing catch sometimes left him a little uneasy. Once he got over it, he flourished.
The 19-year-old came back this spring with Lindsay Wilson College, going 5-0 with a 2.38 ERA in 13 appearances, including seven starts after starting the season in the bullpen. For his efforts, Achen was named an All Mid-South Conference Second-Team All Star and was named the MSC Freshman of the Year. He’s now in quarantine after arriving back home, and chatted with me earlier this week about his baseball journey, his all star campaign, and how his injury actually helped give him a new love for the game.
It hasn’t been an easy road for Chas Wheatley. The Edmonton-area pitcher was off to a flying start in his baseball career, but then an ulnar nerve injury in the summer of 2018 led to surgery. Add in the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s been a long time since he’s been on the field for actual game action. The 6-foot-7 right-hander faced the additional challenge of watching other players his age commit to US colleges and universities, while he had to wait, hoping someone would take a shot at recruiting him. As it turns out, a few schools showed interest, and in December, Wheatley committed to the Division-1 University of Iowa Hawkeyes. It’s been quite the journey, but one he takes in stride. Earlier this week, we chatted with the 19-year-old about the injuries, the comeback, and training with Taylor Burns and the team at Absolute Human Performance.
We open up the episode by paying tribute to long-time and well-respected umpire Mitch Ball, who passed away last weekend after battling COVID-19. Someone who has been on the front lines facing the pandemic on a daily basis is Heidi Northcott. A long-time member of Baseball Alberta and Baseball Canada’s women’s programs as a pitcher, the Rocky Mountain House native is now a Registered Respiratory Therapist at an adult acute care facility in Edmonton. While she learned about pandemics and planning for them while she was going to school at SAIT in Calgary, she didn’t necessarily expect to be thrown into it so quickly after graduating in 2019. We talked about it all a couple of weeks ago during some rare downtime Northcott had and here is that conversation.
As the college baseball season continues stateside, we’ve had the pleasure of chatting with some of the Alberta products who have been turning heads. And we’ll continue that theme this week with Tristan Peters. Originally from Winkler, Manitoba, he moved to Alberta in high school to be part of the Dawgs Academy program. The 6-foot, 180-pound outfielder moved on to star at Chandler-Gilbert before hitting the ground running with SIU. Peters has been hitting near .400 all season. As we record this, Peters is at .355 with two home runs, 35 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases in 39 games. Patience has been his MO all year, drawing 31 walks and getting deep into counts, finding the right pitches to drive. We caught up with the sophomore about the transition to Division 1, being a part of the 2019 Okotoks Dawgs championship team, and why he’s a self-professed nerd.
It has been 40 years since Alberta baseball fans were first introduced to the Pacific Coast League. On April 14, 1981, the Edmonton Trappers took to the field on the road against the Portland Beavers. Eight days later, April 22nd, the Trappers made their debut on home turf, taking on the Tacoma Tigers at Renfrew Park. It was quite the journey in making that happen. Efforts to start a new professional baseball league in Western Canada fell through, as did hopes to bring a Pioneer League team to face Calgary, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. Edmonton’s Mr. Baseball, Mel Kowalchuk, wouldn’t take no for an answer, and looked into the possibility of Triple-A coming to town. When an expansion team wasn’t feasible, he looked at buying an existing franchise, bringing in Peter Pocklington to help finance a deal for the Ogden Athletics. After some back-and-forth, the deal happened, the team moved and the rest, as they say, is history. We chatted with one of Kowalchuk's friends, Orv Franchuk, and former pitcher Bill Atkinson about that inaugural season.
We first met Shawn Grandmont back in 2018 when he was with the College of Southern Idaho when they went to the JUCO World Series. We wrote up a story to preview the event, and have kept tabs on him ever since. Grandmont moved up to NCAA Division II Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, which is about a two-hour drive from CSI. Over the last three years, the Lethbridge product has continued to get better. He made our 2020 All-College Alberta team by hitting .339 with six homers and 15 RBIs in just 16 games. This year, he’s been even better, hitting .378 with six homers and 34 RBIs in 24 games, helping lead the Knighthawks to a 19-5 record overall and 13-3 in conference play. The Vauxhall Academy grad took some time earlier this week to chat with us about baseball, patience and cookies.
Our guest this week is a man who has dreams of being on an Opening Day roster in the not-too-distant future. Damiano Palmegiani has had quite the journey already in his young baseball career. The native of Surrey, BC came to Alberta as a teenager to take his career to the next level with Vauxhall Academy. He did that in spades, making it to the Tournament-12 in Toronto and then Baseball Canada’s Junior National Team. In 2018, Palmegiani was drafted in the 35th round by his favourite team, the Toronto Blue Jays. He decided to go to school, first heading to Cal State Northridge. But he struggled on the field, hitting .157 in 31 games. The COVID-19 pandemic got in the way of any possible rebound in 2020, leading him to a change of scenery with the College of Southern Nevada for 2021. And he has shined with the Coyotes. As we record this, Palmegiani is hitting .376 with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs in 31 games. In this wide-ranging conversation, the 6-1, 195-pound sophomore talks about the long road to Nevada, how he turned things around, his commitment announcement earlier this year to Division-1 Arizona and much more.
As March winds to a close, we thought we’d take another opportunity to recognize International Women’s Day by welcoming another former member of Baseball Alberta’s Women’s team to the podcast. And her story is a fascinating one. Kandi Wyatt played a lot of baseball growing up in Rocky Mountain House. Mainly a catcher, Wyatt made her way up to the provincial team, winning gold at nationals in 2006 and 2014. She was also a part of the Girls Day in Baseball event put on by Baseball Alberta last summer that featured several big names from this province including Kelsey Lalor, Tara Sliwkanich and last week’s podcast guest Paige Wakefield. We reached out to Wyatt earlier this month to chat about her journey in baseball, moving onto boxing, cycling and her attempt to crush a five-pound poutine.
We’ve been lucky enough to have quite a few conversations over the last couple of years around the women’s game in this province and highlighted them on social media back on #InternationalWomensDay. From profiling players like Nicole Luchanski, Kelsey Lalor, Tara Sliwkanich, Ellie Jespersen and Madison Willan to our chat with Baseball Alberta’s Barb Northcott and Chris James about the growth of the game as a whole, it felt like there was a lot of momentum before the pandemic hit.
During the pandemic, Joe was lucky enough to MC the Girls Day in Baseball online sessions featuring panel discussions with past and present players to help keep the spotlight on the game. And that’s where I first chatted with Paige Wakefield. The St. Albert product represented our province at nationals on a few occasions and went to Havana, Cuba for Team Canada’s Spring Training in 2010. She had an illustrious career that spanned 13 years, including a gold medal at nationals in 2006. She later got into coaching and is now in physiotherapy. Earlier this week, we took to Zoom to chat about her journey in baseball, some of her personal highlights and how she uses that experience in her day-to-day life today.
Calgary’s Soren Graversen has been on a tear at William Penn University. As we record this, the Dawgs Academy grad is hitting .395 with five home runs and 20 RBIs. I reached out to him after an insane day at the plate on February 23rd. In a doubleheader against St. Xavier and Harris-Stowe State, he hit three home runs and 8 RBIs. The 6-4, 195-pound junior is back to having fun at the ballpark again. But it hadn’t been the case for a while, after controversy rocked the school he was previously at. At the end of 2018, Indian Hills Community College baseball coaches Cam Walker and Steve Kletke were accused of misconduct, allegedly providing false identities to foreign students so they could work to raise money for the team. The players, like Graversen, weren’t allowed to work under the terms of their student visas, with the players who came forward saying the coaches used physical punishment at practice for violations of team rules. Not only did it lead to ramifications off the field, but it affected players on the field as well. In this candid conversation, Graversen talks about trying to bounce back from it, what he’s learned about himself through it all, and he offers a fascinating answer to our usual question of what the game means to him.
Ty Scott of the Bryan College Lions was named to our 2020 All-Alberta Team back in January, after hitting .417 with four home runs, 15 RBIs and five stolen bases in just 20 games before the pandemic hit. As a senior this year, the Calgary product is back to his old tricks, hitting .415 with three homers, 12 RBIs and seven stolen bases in 16 contests. No hit this year was bigger than a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to cap off a 16-14 win over Lindsey Wilson College back on February 23rd. We talked about the bomb, growing up in Calgary with players like Mike Soroka, heading to Vauxhall Academy of Baseball, and mindset, which is appropriate given he’s a psychology major.
There aren’t many hats Les McTavish hasn’t warn in Southern Alberta baseball. From a young athlete to playing at Prairie Baseball Academy over to Washington State University to some time with the Oyen Pronghorns and Lethbridge Bulls before heading to coaching with the American Legion Lethbridge Elks, the PBA, Team Alberta, the Bulls, the Canadian Junior National Team and now with the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball. He’s also served with the Alberta Amateur Baseball Council and has been an area scout for the Seattle Mariners. Clearly, no shortage of things to talk about when it comes to his journey, but also about how the game has changed in the last 20+ years and about life coming full circle as he watches his kids play sports.
Calgary’s Geoff Freeborn has made a name for himself in a variety of ways, breaking onto the scene with the hometown Vipers between 2006 and 2008, including an All Star calibre season. He went onto spend years traveling around the world, then coaching, leading to a profile we wrote on him a little more than three years ago. We hadn’t had him on the podcast yet, so this seemed like a great opportunity to catch up on his coaching, his golf game and on SideArm Nation.
The COVID-19 pandemic has left many bats on shoulders around this province, as athletes, coaches and everyone else involved the game are relegated to their garages and basements, waiting to maybe get to train again in familiar facilities. Add in this blast from Old Man Winter and those quarters have been tight lately. So it was welcome news to see some training resume on Monday and many were chomping at the bit to get going. Among them was Tyler Hollick. The Okotoks Dawgs and Dawgs Academy general manager has had to oversee a very quiet Seaman Stadium area over the last several months, but hopefully that can come to an end this spring. So last week, we connected with Hollick for an in-depth chat about growing up in the Dawgs system, moving onto Chandler-Gilbert Community College and then the San Francisco Giants organization before ultimately returning home.
The Florida Gators are one of the top-ranked NCAA teams heading into the spring and one of the people leading the charge from the bench is from our province. Lars Davis grew up in Grande Prairie, went to Prairie Baseball Academy and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2003 and the Colorado Rockies in 2007. That led to an eight-year professional career before he landed with the Gators as their volunteer coach, where he's been since 2014. In this episode, we chat with Davis about his baseball journey, what it means to him to have stayed involved in the game as long as he has, and getting to play with some future stars like new St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado.
Before we took our winter break, the college commitment announcements were coming in fast and furious. We spent a little time getting to know some of those young athletes and we thought we’d continue that heading into the new year. On this week's edition of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast, we introduce you to Connor Crowson and Ryan Ludwig. Crowson is an Okotoks product who came up through the hometown Dawgs Academy program, starting with being part of the original peewee program and has excelled in appearances at nationals and the T12 tournament in Toronto. Ludwig is an Edmonton native who came up through the Confederation Park Little League program and has been working with former MLBer Mike Johnson and others with Northern Alberta Xtreme. Crowson is heading to Bossier Parish Community College while Ludwig has committed to Fairleigh Dickinson University.
It might have been a small sample size, but 2020 was shaping up to be quite a year for many of Alberta’s baseball players who were taking the field in American colleges. Teams were lucky to get in 20 games before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but they were being treated to some fantastic outings by athletes from our province. That led to us combing through the stats reports to come up with our 2020 Alberta All-College Team. We chat with Edmonton's Aidan Huggins (Illinois State) and Airdrie's Evan Wilde (Cloud County) in the latest installment of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast, as both were selected for our team.
Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year! Welcome to the new season of #ADSPodcast! In our first episode of the new season, we chat with the newly-minted mental health and mindset coach of Dawgs Academy in Okotoks, Laura Redgate. She owns Baseline Therapy and works with athletes and others in hopes of ending the stigma around mental health in sport. And while we spent a lot of time talking about it from a baseball perspective, this episode can be also be translated to everyday life with things like New Year's resolutions and the COVID-19 pandemic still hanging over our heads.
Baseball Santa stops by to read a new spin on the classic "Twas the Night Before Christmas." From our dugouts to yours, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a home run of a year in 2021!
It’s been a year, hasn’t it? Well, 2020 certainly didn’t work out the way anyone would have guessed when January started and we are certainly in that same boat. Right around now, we’re usually doing stories on Baseball Alberta award winners and maybe doing a quick “season in review” with a few of the pros. But none of those things happened. However, Ian and Joe sit down to talk about the year that was, the year to come and the decision to take a few weeks off with the podcast to get caught up on a few things, including what's most important in life.
We have been lucky enough to share some of the stories of Alberta's baseball players announcing their commitments to post-secondary institutions stateside recently. This one has a bit of a twist, in that on the same day Jonah Arseneau of the Calgary Bucks announced he had verbally committed to Minot State University, he was also named to New Zealand's U18 National Team. So how does a kid from Calgary end up on that squad? He was born there and spent the first nine months of his life in New Zealand before his family moved to Canada, settling in Alberta a few years later. We talked about that journey and more with the 6-foot-2, 165-pound pitcher and outfielder.
August 1, 2019 will be a date forever etched not only on the mind of Shaun Atamanchuk, but also through the scars on his arm. That's the date the Beaumont native went under the knife for Tommy John Surgery. The last year has been a challenging one for the 6-foot-4 right-hander, who took to Instagram to document the journey for not only himself, but for those having to go through the same recovery. We caught up with the Dawgs Academy grad to talk about that, as well as his move to Georgia Gwinnett College, where he will be reunited with former Dawgs coach Allen Cox.
There have been a number of Alberta-based baseball players making their college commitment announcements recently and so we wanted to catch up with some of those athletes. On this week's edition of the podcast, we caught up with two from Dawgs Academy in Okotoks. Simon Lusignan's story is an interesting one, being from Quebec and having to better his English while also bettering his pitching skills. We talk to him about that, being ranked one of the best players in the country and his commitment to Stetson University. Then we visit with Strathmore's Kaden Zarowny. The catcher-turned-outfielder has skyrocketed up the Dawgs Academy depth charts and recently announced he will be joining a few teammates at Crowder College.
You know things are bad when the veteran of your team says “hey boss, this team sucks balls.” You also know things are bad when the general manager literally camps out on the field until his team snaps a dreadful losing streak. And you know things are bad when that story specifically not only garners local headlines and news coverage, but goes national and even makes it to the Los Angeles Times and almost to the popular Late Night with David Letterman. But that’s exactly the situation the Medicine Hat Blue Jays found themselves in 1988. We chat with rookie GM Dean Linden about the publicity stunt, but also about how he ended up "getting the keys" to the team and more. And read more on this story on our website.
We first met Vauxhall Academy’s Jackson Clemett in a web story we did following his appearance at the T-12 at Rogers Centre in Toronto just over a year ago. Things haven’t slowed down for the grade 12 student, as in the spring he announced his commitment to the University of Utah. And over the last couple of weeks, he joined fellow Jet Anson McGorman for the Future Stars Series. The Program-15 event has happened each year since 2017, showcasing some of the best high school talent from the US against the World squad. The outfielder soaked in the experience and tried to make his presence felt despite being a late addition to the World team. He made an outstanding grab in centre field, just past the shadow of the Green Monster and got in a few at-bats as well. He’s back home now, in the two-week quarantine, still beaming about the experience.
As the baseball season winds down, we've taken the opportunity to spend more time working on stories from baseball's past in Alberta. We tend to go down rabbit holes and sometimes find interesting stories that go beyond the game. Over the last couple of weeks, we highlighted a trip to Alberta for Hollywood superstar Marilyn Monroe and Yankees legend Joe Dimaggio. We also dove into the controversial end to the 1920 Western Canada League championship series between the Calgary Bronchos and Regina Senators. Ian and Joe talk about the stories and offer some insight into the work that goes into bringing these older stories to life.
September is a big month on our calendar for "On This Date" events. As the summer winds down, regular seasons come to an end, leaving behind playoffs and championship runs. We have highlighted a number of those on social media, but wanted to bring one of the stories to life for the podcast. The Lethbridge Dodgers were a powerhouse in the late-70's and early-80's, capturing Pioneer League titles in 1977, 1979 and 1980. It's no small feat when you consider the high turnover of players the rookie leagues see. The one common denominator during those three seasons in Lethbridge was manager Gail Henley. The Los Angeles Dodgers' director of minor league development led Lethbridge to a 173-105 record in his four seasons (1977, 1979, 1980 and 1983). We chatted with Henley, who is approaching 92 years of age, about his memories of the province and what he's most proud of when he looks back on his life in baseball.
It was back on Episode #93 when we tried to get to the bottom of the situation around RE/MAX Field in Edmonton. We had both Edmonton Prospects owner Pat Cassidy and Baseball Edmonton Inc managing director Dr. Randy Gregg on after the latter signed a ten-year lease with the city. It left the Prospects homeless, but not for long as they released plans to move to Spruce Grove for 2022. But there was a cloud of uncertainty around what Gregg’s group had in mind. Then came Tuesday, with the announcement that the West Coast League was coming to the province for the first time with the new Edmonton Riverhawks. We thought we’d do things a little differently on the podcast this week and do a deep dive on what this all means for the capital region with our own Ian Wilson.
There have been a number of Alberta baseball products who have announced commitments to post-secondary schools over the last few months. In an effort to catch up on some of their news, we thought we'd chat with a couple of the newly-announced recruits. We first talk to Dawgs Academy product Bennett Freiter about his decision to head to North Dakota State University. Then we discuss the decision by Vauxhall Academy of Baseball catcher Ty Wevers to head to Cloud County Community College.
You can circle July 24, 2021 on your calendars. That is when the Western Canadian Baseball League will be hosting its annual All Star Game. The event will also see a change of venue, as the league announced on Wednesday that it will move the game from Edmonton to Okotoks. Ian Wilson sat down with league president Kevin Kvame as well as Dawgs Academy pitching coaches Lou Pote and Jeff Duda to talk about the announcement and what it means for the game in this province and Western Canada.
Some of the province's best young baseball talent converged on Spitz Stadium in Lethbridge last week to take part in an open ID camp put on by Prep Baseball Report. The organization has bureaus all over North America, providing coverage of athletes through online profiles, scouting reports, metrics and video. It provides an opportunity for the players to get some exposure, while also giving schools a chance to scout talent from a distance. The Alberta contingent was recently transformed and is now headed up by new scouting director and current Prairie Baseball Academy head coach Todd Hubka. We talked about the team he's put together, the dynamics involved in an event like the one they put on, and we also checked in on what's new at PBA.
Jason Chatwood is involved in almost every aspect of baseball in Central Alberta. So it's fitting that he recently added a new title to his business card: head coach of the expansion Sylvan Lake Gulls of the Western Canadian Baseball League. Chatwood was introduced in a news conference held in late-July and our own Ian Wilson had a chat with him shortly thereafter to talk about being named coach, how the opportunity came to be and what he has in mind as he gets ready for the first season of Gulls baseball.
We're back! After a couple of weeks off to spend some much-needed time with family and loved ones, we are ramping things back up again on our website and here on the podcast. During the break, Ian and his family went to Glen Hansen Field in Calgary to check out some Foothills Major Baseball Association action. After doing so, we hooked up with FMBA board member and Wolfpack utilityman Curtis Smith to talk about his journey in baseball, the league and what's to come as the season is already winding down.
Who would have thought we'd amass 100 episodes of the #ADSPodcast? Well here we are. To mark the occasion, Alberta Dugout Stories co-founder and co-contributor Ian Wilson joins us to talk about some of the stories he has been working on, specifically the Western Canadian Baseball League connections to Major League Baseball like Marco Gonzales, Andrelton Simmons and Andrew Kittredge. We also talk about MLB's return and Mike Soroka. That segues into a conversation with Medicine Hat Mavericks' owner and GM Greg Morrison, who almost had the young Calgary phenom in his lineup before he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves. We finish off the podcast with Ian talking about what's to come, including a bit of a break for the podcast as Joe has some pretty big news coming for his family's dugout.
The COVID-19 pandemic not only wiped out the 2020 Western Canadian Baseball League season, but it also delayed the debut of new Medicine Hat Mavericks coach Nolan Rattai. Coming off a stellar playing career including a few years with his hometown squad, the Mavericks' bench boss was also named the assistant general manager during the off-season. And just like he did on the field, Rattai has taken the changing dynamics in stride. We thought we’d catch up with the 23-year-old to talk about his progression from player to front office and now to coach, and what it’s like to keep his baseball career going in his hometown.
In the first of what we hope to be several conversations branching off Baseball Alberta's Girls Day virtual chats, we sit down with Baseball Canada alum Tara Sliwkanich. The Fort Saskatchewan native has been involved in the game for 17+ years, suiting up for many teams including two national championship winning teams for Alberta as well as the National Women's Team for several occasions including the 2012 World Cup of Women's Baseball in Edmonton. Today, she's a policy analyst for the Alberta government. We talked about her journey in baseball and much more in this episode of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast.
Lou Pote has seen it all. From the college ranks to Major League Baseball and now to coaching with Dawgs Academy, Pote has many stories to tell. One of them includes an encounter with former Calgary Cannons star Edgar Martinez in 2001 that led to a brawl with the mild-mannered Hall of Famer. This was the focal point for one of our most-popular stories for the month of June, so we thought we would bring it to you in audio form for this edition of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast. Pote also talked to our Ian Wilson about his time with the Edmonton Trappers, Cracker-Cats and Capitals, and about seeing his kids grow up with athletic dreams.
It has been a busy few weeks for a couple of Alberta baseball products as they've taken steps to continue their baseball journeys. Last week, it was announced the Minnesota Twins had signed Prairie Baseball Academy's Willy Diaz (Edmonton) to a contract. Meantime, Prospects Academy grad Kyler Charchun (Camrose) was able to sign on the dotted line to continue his education with Southwest Baptist University after a successful stint with Cloud County College. We talked to them both about their respective paths in baseball and what's to come in the not-too-distant future.
It’s been tough not being able to talk about live baseball over the last couple of months and watching the MLB situation unfold has been frustrating to say the least. However, it has provided an opportunity for us to go back into the history books and talk about the days of affiliated baseball in this province. For some fans, they have taken it a step further by seeking out caps and shirts of their favourite teams of yesteryear. In this episode of the podcast, we chat with the founders of C of Dead and Ross Flats Apparel to hear their origin stories and to reminisce about the days of the Calgary Cannons and Edmonton Trappers.
It’s hard to put into words what we are experiencing in the world right now. The death of George Floyd and the subsequent rallies and protests have sparked a movement many in our generation have never seen. While some might think we don’t need to go down this path, we feel silence isn’t the way to go either. It’s a conversation that is happening in every facet of our lives and this sport is no exception, especially as you watch many athletes coming forward with their own stories. Dawgs Academy products LaRon Smith (Spruce Grove) and Jose Nunez (Chestermere) share their own experiences with racism and what the current world's events mean to them.
Over the last few weeks and, frankly, the last couple of years, a lot of questions have been raised about RE/MAX Field in Edmonton. From rumours of affiliated baseball returning to the provincial capital, to stories being told through different media outlets, many are trying to wrap their heads around what is happening. In hopes of answering those questions, we chat with Edmonton Prospects owner Pat Cassidy about the plan to move to Spruce Grove for the 2022 season after failed attempts to get a new lease signed with the City of Edmonton. One of the people behind the group that did sign a long-term lease, Dr. Randy Gregg, also joins us to talk about his vision and when he plans to approach the Western Canadian Baseball League to get not only a franchise, but to also have the Prospects lift their regional rights to the capital area.
"So you're saying there's a chance" was a saying muttered a few times over the last few weeks as the Western Canadian Baseball League pondered what to do this summer in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. After agreeing to postpone the start of the season a few weeks ago, the league's teams gathered again on May 27th to discuss what should happen to the season. Unfortunately, like many other summer events, the WCBL agreed unanimously to cancel the 2020 campaign. “This difficult decision was based on our number one concern, the health and safety needs of all involved,” said league president Kevin Kvame. He joined us after the meeting to discuss the decision, where to go from here, the ongoing situation in Edmonton and we also got a brief update on the Canadian College Baseball Conference.
Earlier this year, Baseball Alberta announced Darren Dekinder was retiring after a ten-year run as executive director. The long-time coach and umpire was applauded widely for his contributions to the game, including overseeing a massive growth in the sport in this province over the last few years. However, it left a major hole at the top of the organization.
Enter: Tam Rosnau. She has an impressive resume, working in sport on a variety of levels. She’s also very familiar with Baseball Alberta, having served as a program coordinator over the couple of years. And talk about getting thrown right into the fire. With the COVID-19 pandemic hanging over everyone’s head, it’s been a game of wait-and-see from a health and safety perspective, which is tough when you’re hoping to plan ahead for a summer on the baseball diamond. We talked about that and much more in this conversation from last week.
Some exciting news for our province, courtesy of Baseball Canada, late last week. With the cancellation of the 2020 national championships at all levels, attention has now been turned to planning events for future years. And the national body announced the border city, Lloydminster, will host the 13U National Westerns in 2021, while Red Deer will get the men’s nationals and Fort McMurray gets the 18U national championships. Fort Mac will get that same tournament again in 2022 and then the Baseball Canada Cup in 2023. One of the people behind the efforts has been Fort McMurray Minor Baseball Association president Kevin Breen, who joins us as our first guest this week to talk about what went into it, but also the growth of the game in the northern Alberta city. We also check in with one of the Fort McMurray products who has taken his talents stateside. Max Poole has spent the past couple of years pitching for the Mars Hill University Lions.
Despite the wait we’ve all endured to get back onto the ball field, there has been some wonderful news in the baseball world in Alberta over the last few weeks. Several young ballplayers have signed letters of intent to head south of the border to continue playing the game they love at the college level. We sit down to chat with Tyrese Johnson (Dawgs Academy), Maddux Mateychuk (Vauxhall Academy) and Tylor Jans (Prospects Academy) about signing their respective journeys in baseball and where they are heading to next.
There have been a lot of questions surrounding the upcoming summer baseball season in Alberta, across this country and around the world. Will it happen? Can we have a shortened campaign? How willing are players and fans to take part? The Western Canadian Baseball League's board of governors met on Wednesday night to discuss the next steps as we get closer to the originally-scheduled start of the season. We chatted with WCBL president Kevin Kvame about what was decided, as well as what might be in the cards for the Canadian College Baseball Conference and Little League in southern Alberta.
Do you remember where you were 35 years ago? Many baseball fans in Calgary will remember their first exposure to the Pacific Coast League Cannons. The Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners had many future Major League Baseball players on the roster when they hit the field. We chatted with Harold Reynolds, Pat Casey and Darnell Coles about their time in our province and what it was like to arrive here for the home opener, only to be welcomed by snow and cold, delaying the contest for a few days. You can also read more about the Cannons' arrival in our new retrospective story here.
Believe it or not, it was 35 years ago that the Calgary Cannons made their Pacific Coast League debut. The Pacific Coast League squad would spend the next 18 years at Foothills/Burns Stadium, serving as the triple-A affiliate for the Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox and Florida Marlins during its tenure. In that first season, there was a lot of excitement across the province, especially in providing another chapter in the Battle of Alberta with the Edmonton Trappers having joined the PCL four years earlier. After a lengthy roadtrip to start the season, the Cannons were ready for their home opener on April 19, 1985. Unfortunately, Old Man Winter had other plans. We talk about that and much more with broadcaster and former Cannons PR guru Mark Stephen.
It’s not just sports fans trying to grapple in this world without games to watch. The broadcasters who bring us those games also have some unexpected time on their hands, as they’re not spending hours at the ballpark or arena for the games, practices or media scrums. They also don’t get to have that guaranteed, daily connection with the fans. Sportsnet’s Jamie Campbell has found a way to bridge that gap, making a simple request on Twitter to get in touch with older fans looking to chat about baseball and just life in general. He took some time this week to talk about the initiative, as well as baseball collectibles and autographs, his memories of broadcasting in Edmonton and a fascinating tale about his first encounter with a young Mike Soroka.
Some very cool news over the last few days from Baseball Canada has led to this bonus episode of the #ADSPodcast. The Women's National Team award winners were unveiled late last week and we'd like to congratulate MVP Kelsey Lalor, Ashley Stephenson Award winner Amanda Asay, Futures Award winner Ellie Jespersen and Special Recognition Award winner Nicole Luchanski. You read that right: three of the four award winners are from Alberta. We caught up with Lalor and Luchanski about the honours and to catch up on what they have been up to since the last time we had them on the podcast.
We have had a ton of fun putting up stories about baseball cards on our website. So to stick with that theme, we thought we'd talk to someone who recently wrote a book about the cardboard collectibles. Brad Balukjian's new book is called "The Wax Pack: On The Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife." It's a fascinating tale about tracking down former MLB players found in a pack of old baseball cards to answer that fun question we sometimes ask: whatever happened to that guy? Not only did we talk about the baseball side of things, but also the self-discovery roadtrip Balukjian found himself on in writing this book.
We know it's not Thursday, but with Opening Day supposed to be last week and many people chomping at the bit for baseball content, we thought we'd put together a bonus episode. This time around, we chat with Spruce Grove's Chris Ewanik and Lethbridge's Landen Bourassa. Both went through Prairie Baseball Academy, both underwent Tommy John Surgery and both had just returned to their college baseball programs when the news hit that their seasons would be ending abruptly because of the coronavirus pandemic. We chatted with them about what's happened since then and what they view as being "next".
It has been a roller-coaster ride for many Alberta baseball products who were honing their trades in colleges south of the border. Not only were they dealing with the cancellations of their seasons, but they also had to deal with the logistics of getting back home in light of the coronavirus. We chatted with Prairie Baseball Academy grad Scott Gillespie and Dawgs Academy alum Graham Brunner about their respective journeys in baseball and what it was like to see their 2020 college seasons come to an abrupt halt.
A lot of athletes have been left wondering how they should be handling the current coronavirus pandemic. With calls to stay home and limit time out, how do you make the most of the opportunity and stay in shape when the baseball season starts back up again? We chatted with Absolute Human Performance's Taylor Burns about some of the things he's recommending and some of the game-plans he is working on both physically and mentally.
It is a baseball oasis in the heart of Southern Alberta. The Okotoks Dawgs and Dawgs Academy have quickly become a powerhouse in Canadian baseball. But it also has an interesting history that includes a highly-contentious move from Calgary. Behind the effort has been Managing Director John Ircandia. In this in-depth conversation, we wanted to go a little deeper, to get to the heart of what drives him day-after-day, what it was like to build the program in the early days and what it's like to be him now, stepping into Seaman Stadium or any of the facilities in Okotoks and see that a dream has become a reality.
You know baseball season is just around the corner when all of the different programs across this province are holding their annual awards and fundraising banquets. Our own Ian Wilson headed south to Vauxhall Academy of Baseball last weekend and chatted with a number of people, including guest speaker Rance Mulliniks, current players Jackson Clemett and Carlin Dick, and Wall of Excellence inductee David Reiniger.
They were legends of the game, all went to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and all made stops in Alberta. This episode of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast features conversations about Satchel Paige, Leon Day and Andre Dawson. Joe McFarland and Ian Wilson sit down to talk about Ian's stories on Paige and Dawson, while Tom Kern chats with Joe about Day, who he wrote Day's Society for American Baseball Research bio.
The women's baseball program has been a point of pride in recent years in Alberta. With a handful of players representing the province on the national team each year, it has a great momentum behind it. But where do we go from here? We asked that and much more of Baseball Alberta Girls & Womens director Barb Northcott and technical coordinator Chris James in this conference call from a few weeks ago.
He didn't go to an academy in Alberta, but Landen Bourassa made a name for himself south of the border anyways. The Lethbridge-born pitcher is getting ready for his first start in almost a year this weekend after undergoing Tommy John Surgery shortly after his first start of the 2019 season with the University of San Francisco. We talked about the 6'4" right-hander's upbringing, the injury and his mindset, which centers on believing in himself.
The baseball season is getting closer! We're less than a week away until pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training. We thought we'd catch up with a pitcher and catcher from Alberta hoping to turn some heads. Vauxhall Academy's Adam Macko enters his first spring training after being drafted by Seattle in 2019, while Dawgs Academy's LaRon Smith is going into his second after being drafted by Minnesota in 2018. We chatted with both about the adjustments they have made in professional baseball and what they expect out of themselves heading into 2020.
Blair Kubicek moved to Lethbridge in 1995 with the goal to help get the Prairie Baseball Academy off the ground. He ended up coaching the team for 15 years while helping grow the game of baseball all over this province. He and five others will be inducted into the academy's new Hall of Fame this coming weekend, and we chatted with "Coach Kubicek" about the long list of accolades he has received (including being an Okotoks Dawgs Hall of Fame inductee in 2014), his advice for others trying to build the game in this province and why behind every good man, there’s a great woman.
Emerson Frostad's journey in baseball took him to places a kid who grows up in a hockey-dominated world could have only dreamed of. From his days with the Calgary Dawgs program before they moved to Okotoks to Lewis-Clark State College to being drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2003 and playing for Baseball Canada at the Olympics and Pan-Am Games, Frostad did it all. Now a corporate lawyer in Calgary and a member of our recently-announced "Alberta's All-Decade Squad", Frostad spoke with us about where he's been, some baseball life advice he cherishes, and his thoughts on former coach Larry Walker being inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Van De Keere name is synonymous with baseball in the Barrhead area, northwest of Edmonton. Keith was a standout pitcher with the Barrhead Blue Jays and was a member of the Canadian National Team before turning his attention to coaching and teaching. He was Baseball Alberta’s Ted Rudd Minor Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2002 and was made a Baseball Alberta Life Member in 2011.
So it’s pretty easy to see why his son, Devery, would pick up a bat and excel at the sport. A star with his hometown teams as a youngster, he went onto Phoenix Junior College and Louisiana-Lafayette before being drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 48th round of the 2007 MLB Draft. After a couple of years with Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League, he went down his own path, traveling the world while playing and coaching.
Now 34, Van De Keere is in Vancouver and has his eyes set on wearing the maple leaf again. We chatted with him earlier this week about where he’s been, where he’s going and some of the lessons he’s learned along the way.
With 2019 in the rearview mirror, Ian and Joe sit down to talk about some of the stories that stick out in their minds from the last year and look ahead to what's in store for 2020. Plus, we have a conversation with Jordan Blundell of the Edmonton Prospects as the team now has some certainty heading into the summer after a few questions were raised about what the City of Edmonton had in mind for RE/MAX Field.
What a year it was for baseball in Alberta. From the all-star performance of Calgary's Mike Soroka to the top-notch talent making names for themselves at the university and college levels to the grassroots game in every community, it was another year to remember. In the final episode of the 2019 season, we chat with Baseball Alberta's Darren Dekinder about the sport, the year that was and what's to come in 2020.
Even before his professional baseball career began, Chris Shaw was no stranger to visiting places unknown. He started following his dream in high school by moving to Alberta to take advantage of an opportunity with Dawgs Academy in Okotoks. He later went on to play for the college Dawgs before being selected three times in the Major League Baseball Draft. He eventually signed with Baltimore and spent several seasons in their farm system before joining Quebec of the Canadian-American Association in 2019. Shaw is back in Calgary training and hoping to gain the attention of another Major League team. We caught up with him recently to talk about his journey, what he's working on now and what's in store for 2020.
We first chatted with Drayton Valley's Shane Dawson about a year ago when he welcomed Toronto Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen to his new Strive Baseball Program in Calgary. Fresh off a stint as pitching coach for Alberta at the 2019 Canadian National Women's Championship in Okotoks, Dawson invited former teammates Ryan Borucki and Anthony Alford to come to Calgary to take in some of the sights and sounds and to coach some of the province's young talent a thing or two about making it to the pros.
Mike Frostad has had a unique vantage point from his perch in the dugout over the years. The Calgary native spent 22 years with the Toronto Blue Jays organization, starting with the Baby Jays in Medicine Hat and eventually six seasons as the big club’s assistant athletic trainer. He has held that same position with the Atlanta Braves over the last two years. The University of Calgary grad has many accolades to his name and still calls Alberta home in the offseason. Recently, Frostad was one of the speakers at Little League Alberta’s Coaching, Training and Leadership Conference in his hometown. During a break between sessions, he sat down with our own Ian Wilson to talk about his journey to the majors, his day-to-day workflows and the other Mike from Calgary.
What a weekend it was in Edmonton as Baseball Alberta held its annual general meeting and convention, which included the year-end awards highlighting the athletes, umpires, volunteers and the many others who make the baseball community in our province all that it is. In this week’s episode, we chat with 16U Girls & Open Women's Award winner Ellie Jespersen, 15U 'AAA' winner Conor Pote and 18U 'AAA' winner Donovan Wallace about the awards and what it mant to them to be recognized at a provincial level.
A couple of major pieces of news came out of the recent Western Canadian Baseball League annual general meeting. One was that Sylvan Lake was getting a franchise for the 2021 season, while the Brooks Bombers would be under a new ownership model. Aqil Samuel joins us to talk about the Central Alberta situation, while Bombers president and Brooks Regional Ballpark Association chairman Jason Thomasen updates his team's transition.
A whirlwind winter at home is in store for Calgary’s Mike Soroka. The Atlanta Braves all-star isn’t just waiting to find out if he will be named the National League’s Rookie of the Year, which he was named a nominee earlier this week. But he has already started touring around this province, speaking at a number of events. He was a guest at Geoff Freeborn's Sidearm Nation camp this past weekend in Calgary, where he was joined by former Medicine Hat and Toronto Blue Jays pitching coach Bruce Walton, who spent this past season with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
The Western Canadian Baseball League's annual general meeting generated quite a number of storylines heading into what promises to be a busy off-season. We sit down with league president Kevin Kvame to discuss the summer of 2019, the future of the Yorkton Cardinals and Melville Millionaires, a new ownership strategy with the Brooks Bombers, a new team in Sylvan Lake and much more.
What a summer it was for many baseball players who saw their dream of turning pro come true. For two former Dawgs Academy products, it might have come a little later than expected, but they're certainly happy to be where they're at now. We chat with PEI's Cole MacLaren and Alberta's Matt Lloyd about getting called up and playing at different levels of professional baseball.
She has traveled all over the world to work on some of the biggest baseball productions. Edmonton's Shari Reiniger joins us to talk about her journeys in the game, the state of the Canadian baseball scene and her love of the Braves (including watching Calgary's Mike Soroka pitch in the MLB playoffs).
Joe and Ian get together again to chat about all that's been going on lately involving Atlanta Braves rising star and Calgary's own Mike Soroka as well as some of the stories we'll be working on as the winter months approach, including some historic pieces on the Black Sox scandal's connection to Alberta and the ten Alberta women who played in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. We also get an update from Edmonton's Erik Sabrowski on how recuperation has gone after he underway Tommy John surgery.
Imagine: being in high school, flying across the country to play at THE Major League Baseball stadium in Canada: Rogers Centre. Or for some of us, it’s still Skydome. At any rate, since 2013, the Tournament-12 has been held there, showcasing the best talent in our nation and providing coaching from Blue Jays greats like Roberto Alomar, Lloyd Moseby, Jesse Barfield and George Bell, to name just a few. We caught up with Vauxhall Academy coach Les McTavish, who not only coached at T12 again this year but was the manager for Team World at the recent New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series International Week. And one of his pupils at Vauxhall and the T12, Max Grant, joins us to talk about that experience and coming to Alberta from Fredericton, New Brunswick.
The baseball community in our province wouldn't be what it is without the amazing work done by so many. From the players and coaches to the staff members, parents and volunteers, the work doesn't go unnoticed. And in some cases, it leads to a lasting legacy. We chat with St. Albert Minor Baseball Association President Kurtus Millar and long-time Foothills Major Baseball Association member Glen Hansen about having facilities named after them earlier this summer in their respective communities.
What a year it has been for Dawgs Academy. After posting a 60-12 record including four major tournament wins, the 18U Black squad was named the third-best 18U travel team in North America by Perfect Game. We chatted with Dawgs Academy GM Tyler Hollick to talk about the team and what's to come in Okotoks. We also chatted with pitchers Andrew Yusypchuk and Matt Wilkinson, as they are among the 150 athletes taking part in the annual Tournament-12 in Toronto, showcasing the best young talent in Canada.
On September 12, 2009, the Calgary Vipers became the first team from the city to claim a professional baseball championship. We chat with Medicine Hat-born slugger Drew Miller and current Okotoks Dawgs and Dawgs Academy coach Joe Sergent about that season and some of their memories of their days in the Golden Baseball League.
From elementary and high school to college and university, the kids are back in school. For many Alberta-born athletes, they have headed to their respective schools to get training again for their baseball endeavours. In this episode of #ADSPodcast, we check in with Calgary product Jared Kennedy about graduating this past spring, but he's not straying far from his alma mater. The Vauxhall Academy of Baseball grad was named the Assistant Director of Athletic Performance at Canisius, where he spent the last few seasons playing for the Golden Griffins.
Two Alberta squads had summers to remember as they represented our province and country at their respective Little League World Series events. We chat with Medicine Hat coach Dean Harrison and Lethbridge coach Denny Puszkar about their seasons, going to nationals and then wearing the Maple Leaf.
It will be baseball for a great cause in Sherwood Park over the next few days, as the World's Longest Game will be held in support of Cure Cancer Foundation. We're joined by founder and organizer Brent Saik to talk about what August 22-25 will bring. And Sherwood Park native Tanner Kirwer stops by to talk about his upbringing, being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017 and advice he has for fellow Albertans hoping to make baseball their way of life.
It has been a long time coming for the Okotoks Dawgs. After a decade of success but no Western Canadian Baseball League championship to show for it, the club went wire-to-wire as one of the league's best teams before knocking off Edmonton, Lethbridge and Regina to claim the 2019 title. Ian Wilson chats with coach David Robb as well as pitchers Brandon Desjardins and Justin Hammergren and Dawgs Academy grad Dane Tofteland about this summer's journey.
We have visited with several Western Canadian Baseball League stars over the summer for our 7th Inning Stretch features, but we haven't been able to share those conversations in podcast form much. This is our opportunity to catch up on some of the insight and, frankly, the hilarity of some of those chats. In this episode of #ADSPodcast, we revisit Ian Wilson's sit-downs with Okotoks Dawgs pitcher Andrew Yates, Medicine Hat Mavericks all-star Austin Soyka, Brooks Bombers slugger Josh McIntyre and Fort McMurray Giants ace Will Langford.
Every January, umpires from across the globe hope to hear their names called for Little League World Series assignments. Over 90 officials will be asked to oversee seven different tournaments. Each of those events features one Canadian umpire and, this year, three of the seven Canadians hail from Alberta. We chatted with two of them prior to their events: Geoff Larsen (Calgary) who will be part of the Senior League Softball World Series in Lower Sussex, Delaware and Kevin Alenius (Calgary) who is heading to Taylor, Michigan for the Junior League World Series.
Over the last few years, Blue Jays Academy has hosted Super Camps powered by Honda for kids between the ages 9 and 16 across the country. It’s a chance for the young athletes to learn some things from some Blue Jays alumni. This year, there were two stops on the nationwide tour in Alberta, Tuesday-Wednesday in St. Albert and Thursday-Friday in Okotoks. We took in the festivities on Thursday and chatted with Homer Bush and JP Arencibia.
This weekend, former Calgary Cannons and Seattle Mariners great Edgar Martinez will take his place amongst baseball's best ever in Cooperstown. The National Baseball Hall of Fame's induction ceremony will take place, where Martinez will be officially inducted along with Roy Halladay, Mariano Rivera and Mike Mussina as well as Harold Baines and Lee Smith. In the new book "Edgar: An Autobiography", author Larry Stone chronicles Martinez's path to Cooperstown. We chatted with Stone about the book, the Hall of Famer's time in Calgary and what team might have been interested in the third baseman's services had he grown frustrated enough with having to keep bouncing between the Cannons and Mariners.
LISTEN MORE: Episode 13 of the ADS Podcast entitled "From Calgary To Cooperstown"
What a couple of weeks it was in Okotoks for the Baseball Canada Women's Invitational Championships. Mother Nature had a few different pitches up her sleeve, but it didn't dampen the spirits of the competitors. In the end, Ontario claimed the title while Alberta earned bronze. Afterwards, eight Baseball Alberta players were named to the National Women's Team selection camp and five ended up being selected. We chatted with Redcliff's Kaitlyn Ross, who was named the tournament's best catcher, as well as Janice Willan, who served as Alberta's chef de mission while watching her daughter, Madison, also crack the national squad again.
If Russ Parker's middle name isn't "Persistent", maybe he should look at changing it. After having been in discussions about bringing an affiliated team to Calgary for half a decade, he finally succeeded in 1977 with the Cardinals. In our final installment of "The Pioneers", we chat with Parker about joining the Medicine Hat A's and Lethbridge Expos as Alberta's contingent in the Pioneer League.
Mother Nature tried to rain on their parade, but the Western Canadian Baseball League's All-Star Game went off without much of a hitch in Edmonton over the weekend. Our own Ian Wilson was in the capital for the festivities and chatted with Home Run Derby Champion Kaleb Warden of the Lethbridge Bulls as well as special guest Matt Stairs. The former MLB slugger played with the Edmonton Trappers in 1996, a time that he believed changed his career.
Assuming Mother Nature doesn't rain on our parades, a couple of major events are slated for this weekend in our province. Okotoks will be home to the Baseball Canada Women's Invitational Championships from Thursday to Sunday, while the Western Canadian Baseball League will host its first All-Star Game on Sunday in Edmonton. We chatted with Team Alberta coach Drew Boyer about what he expects out of his squad, while WCBL Commissioner Kevin Kvame stops by to talk about the first half of the season and the All-Star festivities.
Before the 1975 Pioneer League season had even started, officials were sniffing around at possible locations for expansion. Medicine Hat quickly became a front-runner, although a "fiasco" surrounding renovations at Athletic Park threatened to put affiliated baseball's start in the city on ice. But on June 25, 1977, the Medicine Hat A's made their debut. They would only last one year before the new Toronto Blue Jays would set their rookie-level roots in town, a relationship that lasted another 24 years. Medicine Hat Tigers play-by-play man Bob Ridley was there for the first few years as the initial voice of Pioneer League baseball and joined us to reminisce about his time calling baseball.
After a three-year stop with the Calgary Vipers, Joe Sergent decided to make a life in the area. Over the last three years, he has been a coach with the Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs. He shares some of his favourite stories with Ian Wilson in our latest episode. And speaking of Okotoks, the community will host the Baseball Canada Women's National Championships in early July and one of the young athletes looking to turn some heads is Ellie Jespersen, who will be joined by her two sisters on Team Alberta.
Southern Alberta's love affair with baseball hit a fever pitch in the 1970's. After years of our own circuits and big league players barnstorming through, relationships were built to bring affiliated baseball to the masses. In the first of our three-part look at the Pioneer League's days in Alberta, we profile the lead-up to the first game for the Lethbridge Expos.
Over the last week, we launched a brand new feature on our website called "7th Inning Stretch". It's a chance for Western Canadian Baseball League fans to get to know some of their favourite players, through chats with our Ian Wilson. Here are the first three he did, in audio form. Fort McMurray's Richard Ortiz, Okotoks' Will Hollis and Edmonton's Taran Oulton join us. And to mark Father's Day this past weekend, we give you a small sample of the chat Ian had with Mike Soroka's father, Gary.
The dream for all athletes is to win a championship. In the case of two young baseball players from our province, that dream has been recognized recently, albeit in different ways. Baseball Canada Women's National Team rising star Madison Willan helped guide her St. Albert Slash hockey team to a third-straight Esso Cup title, while Dawgs Academy product Clayton Keyes was a big part of Central Arizona College winning the JUCO World Series. We caught up with both of them to talk about their accomplishments and what's to come this summer.
Four Albertans were selected in last week's MLB Draft while several others with ties to this province were also picked. We continue our discussions with some of those players in the second of our two-part review. This time around, we chat with Stony Plain's Adam Macko (Seattle) and Lethbridge's Thomas Little (Philadelphia), both of whom honed their skills with Vauxhall Academy. We also chatted with Lethbridge's Tanner Jesson-Dalton, who was taken by the Chicago Cubs and Ben Thompson, a New Zealand product who came to Alberta for Dawgs Academy and was taken by the Atlanta Braves. You can read more about all of Alberta's connections to the 2019 Draft here.
A total of four Albertans were taken in the 2019 MLB Draft as were several players with Alberta connections. In part one of our two-part look at some of those names, we catch up with Vauxhall Baseball Academy alum Josh Burgmann and Dawgs Academy product Matt Lloyd, who were taken by the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds, respectively.
He has been all the rage around Major League Baseball this season. Calgary's Mike Soroka has been achieving great things with the Atlanta Braves, setting records and turning a lot of heads. Ian Wilson and Joe McFarland chat about the phenom's season thus far and are also joined by former coach Brent Cooper. The guys end the show talking about the Western Canadian Baseball League season and what's exciting them most heading into the summer.
It probably comes as no surprise that there is no shortage of words from two teams involved in one of the Western Canadian Baseball League's biggest rivalries. The head coaches of the Okotoks Dawgs and Edmonton Prospects were pretty thorough in their answers as we previewed the upcoming summer, leading to a longer-than-usual episode to wrap up our look ahead to the season.
2019 could be another good year for Alberta baseball talent being selected in the Major League Baseball draft. Dawgs Academy product Cesar Valero has been projected as one of the top draft-eligible Canadians for quite a while now, but there is also some excitement surrounding teammate Ayden Makarus and Vauxhall Academy pitcher Adam Macko. We sit down with Jeff Duda from Dawgs Academy and Les McTavish from Vauxhall Academy to talk about the draft and what it means to them and their schools to have some of their students getting so much attention.
The Western Canadian Baseball League season is just a couple of weeks away now. We continue our previews of Alberta's six organizations with two in the sunny south. The Lethbridge Bulls are looking to rebound after a rough 2018 campaign, while the Brooks Bombers are hoping to make the jump into the playoffs after their first three seasons in league. We chat with Bulls head coach Jesse Sawyer and Bombers Vice-President and Director of Baseball Operations Jason Wandler about the upcoming summer.
As the US college baseball season winds down, we wanted to throw another spotlight on some of the great stories happening courtesy of Alberta's baseball talent. This week, we chatted with Belgium-born Kyran Weemaels about coming to Alberta and where he actually grew a love for the game (hint: think of a "Queen City"). We also sat down with Edmonton's Davis Pratt as he is one of many from this province who is playing for Cloud County, following a long list of players who have gone there.
We are getting closer and closer to the start of the Western Canadian Baseball League season. Over the next few weeks, we'll be bringing you two episodes a week. On Mondays, we will preview the WCBL season with chats with two different teams. This week, we sit down with Greg Morrison of the defending champion Medicine Hat Mavericks and discuss a big move north for new Fort McMurray Giants manager Ray Brown.
The Canadian College Baseball Conference playoffs are this weekend and the three Alberta teams are hoping to bring home the title. It will likely be an emotional weekend for a couple of players. Edmonton Collegiate's Ty Wagar is into his final weekend in college baseball as he heads towards graduation, while the University of Calgary's Myles Creran shares his inspirational story of playing the sport he loves while battling Multiple Sclerosis. We update you on this story we brought you last fall.
What a week it's been for Alberta's baseball products. From Calgary's Mike Soroka starting strong for the Atlanta Braves to a viral walk-off home run from Okotoks' Matt Lloyd, there was no shortage of heroics. One providing those heroics was Camrose native and Prairie Baseball Academy product Dylan Borman, who hit a walk-off grand slam for the University of Arkansas at Monticello. We chatted with him, as well as Dawgs Academy grad Jacob Bouzide, as he is one of the many players from our province who is now playing for Colby Community College.
Andrew Case first garnered attention for a no-hitter at the inaugural T12 tournament, signing with the Toronto Blue Jays. We hear about that story and more from one of his former coaches, Todd Hubka at Prairie Baseball Academy. We also chat with another Albertan making waves in the US college baseball ranks. Prospects Academy grad Matt Quartel is now patrolling the outfield for the Milwaukee Panthers.
When you're a reliever, you never know when you're going to get the call to come in from the bullpen. A few Alberta baseball products are making names for themselves south of the border, picking up saves for their respective college teams. Two of those players on the leaderboard are Tanner Jesson-Dalton (Lethbridge) at Sacramento State University and Liam Sabiston (Calgary) at Eastern New Mexico University. We caught up with both earlier this week to talk about their successes. For more on Jesson-Dalton, who we profiled last year, click here.
Baseball is a patient game. Not just for the players but also for photographers looking to snap that perfect image. Amanda Fewer's collection has captured the attention of many, including the Toronto Blue Jays and Okotoks Dawgs. We chat with her about getting into the game and what keeps her motivated. We also sit down with Dawgs Academy product J.T. Patterson to talk about his upbringing and this past weekend's 3-HR, 8-RBI game for Bellevue University.
The US college baseball season is well underway and we've been keeping tabs on some of the young Alberta-born talent who are making waves. But there are some players who came from out of this province to train here and are now plying their trade south of the border. A couple of great chats with Dawgs Academy alum Ryan Humeniuk (Manitoba) and Vauxhall Academy alum Josh Burgmann (BC) about their respective paths in baseball.
He has seen and played baseball all over the world. Former Edmonton Cracker-Cat and Toronto Blue Jay Scott Richmond talks about his time in Alberta as well as the importance of family while jetsetting across the globe. We also sit down with Ian Wilson to talk about all things ADS over the last little while, particularly his in-depth piece about baseball stars coming to Alberta in 1934!
It might be hard to believe, but a new baseball season is just about to get started up here in western Canada. The Canadian College Baseball Conference will see seven teams hitting the field over the next couple of months, including the Prairie Baseball Academy, the University of Calgary Dinos and a brand new Edmonton Collegiate team. We chat with interim league president Kevin Kvame and Edmonton coach Ethan Elias about what's in store for the season. Oh, and there's a little surprise at the end.
We start things off talking to one of two Alberta products who will be heading to Florida for the Baseball Canada Junior National Spring Training Camp. Dawgs Academy product Ayden Makarus is hoping it will keep him on the radar of MLB scouts. And we chat with TJ Bennett, a young man born in Alberta but didn't spend a lot of time here, as his dad was a coach with the Lethbridge Mounties.
Jarome Iginla was a world-class hockey player, but he also carried a big stick on the baseball diamond. Ian Wilson chats with childhood friend Bill Russell about Iggy's days in St. Albert. We also continue our #1Thru9 academy profiles with a look at St. Joseph Baseball Academy in Red Deer and a conversation with coach Jason Chatwood.
He has garnered the respect of everyone in the Canadian baseball world. We sat down with the highly-acclaimed baseball writer Bob Elliott to talk about how he got into the sport in the first place, some of his favourite memories, and what he would like young Canadian kids to think about as they strive to make it to the big leagues.
Dawgs Academy product Clayton Keyes has garnered many headlines over the last few years after being drafted by Toronto in 2016 and Arizona in 2017. He's hoping to write a new chapter to his story in 2019 though. And we continue our #1Thru9 academy profiles with a look at St. Francis Xavier Baseball Academy in Edmonton.
With Valentine's Day this week, Ian Wilson and Joe McFarland chat about some of the things they love about the sport as well as some of the things to come this spring with baseball in Alberta. And we continue our #1Thru9 academy profiles with a look at Prairie Baseball Academy and a chat with coach Todd Hubka.
Back to regular-scheduled programming. We continue our #1Thru9 profiles of Alberta's academies with Prospects Academy and a chat with Jordan Blundell. We also get some background on what it takes to track Alberta's college-bound prospects in the US with Kevin Wall from @CollegeBaseba12 and http://www.cbplayers.com.
A lot of news in the last couple of weeks when it comes to the stadiums in Edmonton and Calgary. We chat with Edmonton Prospects owner Pat Cassidy about his proposed deal surrounding ReMax Field and we give a little update on what the future might have in store for Foothills Stadium in Calgary.
We continue our #1Thru9 academy profiles with a look at one of the new kids on the block in Vimy Ridge Baseball Academy in Edmonton. And with the college baseball season upon us, we head to Saint Louis University to chat with St. Albert's Jackson Wark about the upcoming season and being ranked one of the top Canadian talents heading into the 2019 MLB Draft.
In his tenth and final year of eligibility, Seattle Mariners great Edgar Martinez was finally named to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Martinez becomes the first former member of the Calgary Cannons to be named to the Hall. We hear from Edgar about his time in Alberta, as well as some who saw him up close and personal.
Young baseball players in Calgary were given a few pointers on the game from a couple of young talents in the game recently. Toronto Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen joined up with former teammate and Drayton Valley's own Shane Dawson for the clinic. Ian Wilson caught up with both Jansen and Dawson for quick chats. Ian also spoke with former MLB pitcher and Calgary native Chris Reitsma to talk about his work with Mike Soroka, among other things.
It's all good at Badlands Baseball Academy in Oyen. We sit down with coach Jeff Amos to talk about the program's beginnings and what's to come in the rural Alberta facility. And it was Ron Kittle's 61st birthday over the weekend. We found the audio file from Ian's interview with the former Lethbridge Dodger and Edmonton Trapper from over the summer and play a bit of it for you!
It's always fun to reminisce about the year that's been and look at the year that will be this time of year. Joe McFarland and Ian Wilson revisit some of the big stories in Alberta's baseball world in 2018 and gaze into the crystal ball for what's to come in 2019. Joe also chats with Atlanta Braves youngster and Calgary native Mike Soroka about his MLB debut and coming back from injury.
She is one of the most-decorated baseball players in Alberta's history. Nicole Luchanski first joined Baseball Canada's national women's program in 2006 and just before her 29th birthday, announced her retirement. In this special edition of the podcast, we chat with her about baseball, her legacy and what's to come in life.
We continue our #1Thru9 series with a look at Vauxhall Academy and a chat with Les McTavish. We also chat with Dawgs Academy grad and Okotoks native Matt Lloyd about going viral with his swing recently and about the work he needs to do to get noticed by MLB scouts ahead of the 2019 draft.
In the first installment of our academy profiles in our province, we chat with Tyler Hollick from Dawgs Academy about the facilities and what it means to him to give back to the program he graduated from. We also catch up with San Diego Padres draft pick Erik Sabrowski about his phenomenal 2018 campaign and what he's doing right now after undergoing Tommy John Surgery.
After a stellar showing for Baseball Canada at the Women's Baseball World Cup, Red Deer's Kelsey Lalor finished up the season by being named Baseball Alberta's Women's Open Player of the Year recently. We chatted with her as well as former Medicine Hat Blue Jays catcher Guillermo Quiroz, who now coaches in the Chicago White Sox system.
Just in time for the holidays, we've launched a new fundraiser which might help you grab some gifts for the baseball fan in your life. So we chat about the items & wax nostalgic about those stories. We also sit down with Baseball Alberta's Midget AAA player of the year: Ben Prediger.
It's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when" Foothills Stadium in Calgary is demolished. Had Calgary decided to host the 2026 Olympics, we might have had a more definitive timeline for the wrecking ball. Also on this episode: we sit down with former Dawgs Academy product and Boston Red Sox draft pick Jordan Procyshen.
One is a draft pick of the Minnesota Twins while the other is beginning his first season at the University of Houston. LaRon Smith and Kobe Hyland have a dream to one day play together in the MLB. We chatted with them about their great 2018 campaigns, what's to come in 2019 and sibling rivalries.
Baseball Alberta's Darren Dekinder chats with Joe McFarland about how 2018 will be remembered and what we can look forward to in 2019 as the game has seen exponential growth in all facets across the province over the last decade.
In the opening episode of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast, Ian Wilson and Joe McFarland introduces you to...themselves. More than a year into the venture, we talk about the creation of Alberta Dugout Stories, our favourite stories and what's to come as we dive into the world of podcasting.
You have seen the website and the social media. Now, we're taking Alberta Dugout Stories down a new basepath.