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Dawgs slugger cleaning up in four hole

A view from the other side bought the WMBL’s top power hitter to Big Rock Country.

A view from the other side bought the WMBL’s top power hitter to Big Rock Country.

First baseman Kody Funderburk has marked his first season with the Okotoks Dawgs by consistently mashing the baseball as the Western Major Baseball League’s home run leader.

“As I played in Edmonton last summer and we played in Okotoks, that’s the team to beat,” Funderburk said. “You want to beat Okotoks, you want to play in Okotoks, you get big crowds every game. That’s the place to be and you get better here.”

Funderburk, admittedly new to big crowds prior to coming north, got to play in front of the second biggest fan base in the league last season in the City of Champions.

“Last year the experience did help — we averaged around 2,000. When you’re playing you don’t notice the fans,” he said. “It’s very different than where I’m from in Arizona, but it’s still a good time. The weather is beautiful, a little humid, Canada is awesome.”

The Queen Creek. Arizona native’s route to Okotoks came through the Grand Canyon State.

Funderburk was a JUCO All-American with Mesa, where Dawgs bench coach David Robb plies his trade in the baseball season, this past year while leading his conference in home runs and posting a .651 slugging percentage.

“DR, I played with him for two years at Mesa and he gave me the opportunity to come up here,” he said. “Okotoks is a great town, the environment is incredible and people really love the Dawgs. Coming up here for the summer is awesome.”

Funderburk was almost a member of the Dawgs last season only to get caught up in a numbers game.

He went on to showcase his talents in Edmonton, seeing action at first base and on the mound for the Western Division finalists.

“I wanted to get him here, but we were already full at that point,” Robb said. “I got him to Alberta, to Edmonton at least, so he could play. He’s a pitcher/player and Ray Brown is a pitching coach and I figured he will do some work with him and he improved a lot.”

The improvements carried over into year two of summer ball where he leads the league with nine round-trippers and ranks fifth with 30 RBI.

On top of his offensive exploits, the versatile athlete has a sharp glove at first base, can steal a bag or two and has seen action out of the bullpen.

There isn’t much the 6-foot-4, 225 pound lefty can’t do.

“He’s maturing all the time, he’s getting better,” Robb said. “And starting to be the kind of hitter where he has that approach to every at-bat instead of just swinging at everything.

“He’s going to drive in runs, he’s got that extra-base power and the other thing is he really doesn’t strike out all that much. That’s a thing we really emphasized at school.”

Being insulated by tremendous talent from leadoff to the number nine hole hasn’t hurt either.

Sparkplugs like Greg Cullen and Dawgs academy alums Eddie Sanchez, Peter Hutzal and Matt Lloyd set the table for the clean-up hitter who’s further insulated by the likes of the powerful Jayse McLean, Zach Hanna and Cameron Campbell.

“Up and down our offence we have so many Division 1(players) who can hit at the next level,” Funderburk said. “I’ve got guys behind me so there’s no pressure on me. Zach Hanna going to an SEC school. I can go up and think well if I get out, Hanna is behind me and then Campbell who goes to Oregon.

“It’s so hard to stop our offence for nine innings.


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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