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Dawgs complete Saskatchewan sweep

As much as they didn't want to go it might be harder to leave Canada's breadbasket.

As much as they didn't want to go it might be harder to leave Canada's breadbasket.

The Okotoks Dawgs made out like bandits in their season high six-game road trip through Saskatchewan with two-game sweeps over Yorkton, Melville and Regina to clinch first in the Western Major Baseball League’s Western Division.

“We know that if we play our best we have a good shot with anyone,” said Dawgs catcher John Hawk. “We played really good baseball this week. It was kind of nice seeing what was on the other side of the league.”

The Eastern front proved to be no match for the Western artillery.

Okotoks, 30-11 and seven games clear of second place Lethbridge, finished off the trip in a 10-5 triumph over the East-leading Regina Red Sox on Sunday.

Chris Horvath pitched six innings, allowing two earned runs for his fourth win of the season.

“We wanted to come out and get the sweep,” Hawk said. “We knew if we played well and had a good start from Chris we were going to be able to do that and we had some timely hitting.”

It was a one through nine offensive showcase for the visitors.

Okotokian Matt Lloyd extended his hitting streak to 21 games, Kody Funderburk powered his league leading 13th home run, Brendan Rose had a key two-RBI knock, Darius Foster had his fourth multi-hit game of the season while Hawk and Zach Hanna each led the way with four-hit afternoons.

“Anything I can do to help the team win,” Hawk said. “We have a ton of depth. One through nine anyone can hit the ball out of the park, anyone can drive in that run. It's not like there is any (drop-off) in the lineup anywhere. The pitching staff, you can throw anyone on the mound and know they're going to get their outs.”

The starting rotation depth was on display on Saturday.

Liam Stroud, who's battled a blister all summer, earned the win in his first start of the month by pitching five shutout innings in the 6-3 victory over the Red Sox.

“I knew it was a big game against Regina, first place in the East and a potential playoff matchup,” Stroud said. “I wanted to give the team the best start I could.

“I haven't got off to the start I wanted to. I had a few sub-par starts at the beginning, but going forward into playoffs it's huge knowing that if need be I can make a start or if they need me to come out of the pen I can do that.”

Philadelphia-native Aderly Perez notched his first home run of the summer with Lloyd and Funderburk doing damage in the middle of the lineup via multi-hit performances.

Okotoks made quick work of Yorkton, outscoring the Cardinals 20-9 in two games to start the trip. The Dawgs then cashed in on 4-3 and 8-2 victories over the Melville Millionaires.

“It's a grind. We came in with the mindset of taking it every game at a time,” Stroud said. “Guys are pretty good at preparing themselves. The one thing is to stay focused and to try not to let the grind of the bus trips or sleeping in hotel beds for six days interrupt your routine.

“Just stick to what you normally do and you'll have success.”

Though 1,746 km round trip through six days on the road and in hotel rooms isn't ideal, the players know it's also far from something to complain about.

“The motivation was we all like playing together and being around each other and you get to play baseball all summer,” Hawk said. “It's not like we have to get up and go to work or take summer classes, we're playing baseball. It wasn't a problem at all coming on this road trip.” Okotoks, winners of 12 of 13, return home on July 25 to battle the Lethbridge Bulls. The Dawgs wrap up the regular season in a three game weekend at Seaman Stadium with Fort McMurray and Brooks visiting the friendly confines from July 28-30.

The regular season finale versus Fort Mac is the Dawgs' annual Wear Pink to the Park Jersey Auction as a fundraiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

For more information go to dawgsbaseball.ca


Remy Greer

About the Author: Remy Greer

Remy Greer is the assistant editor and sports reporter for westernwheel.ca and the Western Wheel newspaper. For story tips contact [email protected]
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