The Okotoks Dawgs’ 2009 MVP is saying ‘oui’ to professional baseball.

Outfielder Anthony Cros was named the Dawgs’ Most Valuable Player at the team’s annual banquet and awards ceremony Saturday at the Foothills Centennial Centre and he is now hoping to catapult the success he had during his two years with the Dawgs into a pro career starting this summer in Quebec.

The 2009 Dawgs awards recipients were, from left, Jeremy Shelby, True Grit Award; Anthony Cros, Most Valuable Player; and Jeff Duda, Pitcher of the Year. Rookie of the Year Mac Sullivan was unable to attend the Dawgs Awards Banquet Saturday at the Foothills Centennial Centre. photo by Bruce Campbell

“Right now I am getting to play pro baseball, hopefully with the Quebec City Capitales,” said Cros, who grew up in France. “They are looking for French-speaking players.”

The Capitales are an independent pro team, similar to the Calgary Vipers.

Quebec City will be getting more than a ballplayer who can speak French. He can also let his bat do his talking.

The rightfielder led the Dawgs in hitting with a .393 average last summer. He also had 37 runs batted in and three dingers.  He hit .360 in the playoffs as the Okotoks Dawgs went on to win their third consecutive Western Major Baseball League title.

“There were a lot of highlights for me,” Cros said. “I think winning the title last year and again this year were big. It’s too bad we didn’t get to celebrate on the field this year.”

The Dawgs and the Melville Millionaires initially were named co-champions, when, with the series being tied at one game apiece, it was cancelled due to poor weather. The Dawgs were named champions in December when it was ruled the Millionaires were using an ineligible player in the playoffs.

His memories of the faithful fans at Seaman Stadium will help take away the sting of not being able to celebrate.

“There was one game late in the season and I was supposed to have the day off,” Cros said. “I came up to pinch hit and the fans gave me an ovation. That was special to me.”

Cros gave the fans even more reason to roar. He doubled in the tying run in that game and came into score the winning run.

“This place is special,” Cros said in an interview about Okotoks. “To play and see your name on the scoreboard and all the fans. Especially coming from France where we barely had grass in the field. This is an experience I will never forget.”

Dawgs’ centrefielder Jeremy Shelby received the True Grit Award.

Shelby covered more ground in the outfield than a farmer during fall harvest. Initially Shelby struggled at the plate striking out as if he was facing Nolan Ryan every at bat. He was recovering from a rib injury at the time and he bounced back to hit .248 in the regular season with three home runs.

He credits the Okotoks fans for helping him get on track.

“You have a game where you go 0-for-4 with four strikeouts and after the game, these little guys come up to you and say, ‘Way to go. You had the best game in the world,’” Shelby told the sold-out crowd. “That’s the kind of thing you don’t forget.”

He also said Dawgs hitting coach David Robb worked extensively with him to correct his swing.

“A lot of my success in the playoffs is because of DR,” Shelby said of Robb will be the head coach for the Dawgs next season. “He told me I might have struggled in the season, but I could be a leader in the playoffs.”

Shelby was the Dawgs’ offensive leader in the playoffs leading the team with a .389 average, 11 RBIs and two home runs. One of those home runs was a three-run shot against the Medicine Hat Mavericks to tie the game at 7-7 in the seventh inning. The Dawgs were down 7-0 going into the seventh. (They would win the game when Brett Thomas followed Shelby’s homer with a solo shot).

Shelby was glad to have his father, former major leaguer John Shelby, attend Saturday’s banquet.

“For him to come up and experience this is special — he gets to experience Okotoks like I got to,” the Kentucky native said. “A major league coach gets to coach everyone but his sons. For him to come here and see what I accomplished, is special for both of us.”

Shelby is in his senior year at Grambling State and he is considering playing pro.

“I would love to come back here, but I want to try the next level,” he said.

Jeff Duda was named the Dawgs’ Pitcher of the Year. He has been a member of the Dawgs since they came to Okotoks in 2007 — winning the WMBL title all three years.

“Any pitching award goes to a team,” Duda said. “They have to score the runs in order for me to win.”

He credits Dawgs managing director John Ircandia for giving him the chance to play ball after his career at powerhouse Lewis and Clark State ended in 2007.

“John took a chance on me and these last three years have been the best of my life,” he said.

Duda led the team with six wins (second best in the league). He was also a workhorse as his 73.2 innings pitched led the Dawgs. Duda’s 82 strikeouts were also tops in the league.

Duda has always been a strikeout machine as he had a record-breaking 17 strikeouts in the 1998 Little League World Series and the highlights of that game were shown after he was presented with the award.

The Dawgs’ Rookie of the Year was Mac Sullivan as the six-foot-six first baseman belted a team-high five home runs and added 48 RBIs while hitting .324.

Sullivan was unable to attend Saturday’s banquet.

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