Remaining top in its division will require the Okotoks Dawgs to do some damage outside of it.
The first-place Okotoks Dawgs take off for a season long six-game road swing through Saskatchewan looking to build on their four-game lead in the Western Major Baseball League’s Western Division.
The Dawgs makes stops in Yorkton, Melville and Regina for two-game sets with Eastern Division foes from July 18-23.
The Dawgs’ scorching hot month of July has the team (24-11) four and a half games clear of the Lethbridge Bulls in the Western Division race.
Okotoks saw its seven-game winning streak halted Sunday to the Medicine Hat Mavericks.
The Mavs outlasted the Dawgs 18-10 in a 31-hit slugfest in the Hat.
Okotoks took the front end of the home-and-home set by a 9-3 score on Saturday at home.
Joel Brophy launched a two-run bomb for his first home run of the season while Cameron Campbell and Aderly Perez each had two RBI performances.
On the mound Jack Rupe out of the University of California San Diego Tritons went five innings to pick his first win of the season.
Two days earlier Okotoks got the better of the Mavs by a 12-5 score on the road.
In limited action versus the East the Dawgs have a 3-3 record outside of the division.
Okotoks’ next home date is July 25 versus Lethbridge. The team wraps up the regular season in a three-game homestand with Brooks and Fort McMurray paying Seaman Stadium a visit.
On the Sticks
The hits keep coming in the heart of the Okotoks Dawgs lineup.
Okotokian Matt Lloyd continued his assault on opposition pitching by extending his hitting streak to 16 games on Sunday. Lloyd, the Indiana University star, leads the Western Major Baseball League in hitting with a sparkling .411 batting average.
Clean-up hitter Kody Funderburk powered his way into the record books last week by setting the new home-run benchmark for the organization with his 10th long ball of the season.
The Dallas Baptist commit added another to up his totals to a league leading 11.
What a Relief
A former Dawg is headed to the Show.
Andrew Kittredge, a reliever on the Dawgs staff in the 2011 season, got the call up from the AAA Durham Bulls – yes that Durham Bulls team – to the Tampa Bay Rays.
The native of Spokane sported a 3.52 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 30.1 innings pitched with Durham.
Kittredge is the second Dawg to graduate to the Major League Baseball ranks following in the footsteps of fellow right-handed pitcher Jim Henderson who made his big league debut in 2012.
