By IAN WILSON
Let the big Dawg eat.
These are the words that adorn the back of the sign that welcomes fans of the Okotoks Dawgs to Seaman Stadium. They serve as a reminder of the club’s appetite for winning.
And if the last few years are any indication, the Dawgs have been well fed.
Okotoks enters the 2024 season as the back-to-back defending Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) champions and the team has won three of the last four WCBL titles.
The Dawgs have made it clear to the rest of the 12-team league that they are the team to beat, and with a number of core players coming back they’ll look to make it a three-peat this summer.
No matter what happens on the field, you can expect a full house to witness the baseball unfold. The Dawgs set a new attendance record in 2023 when 127,622 spectators showed up for 28 regular season contests, resulting in an average crowd of 4,558 fans. That attendance continued to surge into the postseason, when Seaman Stadium welcomed 5,462 people, on average, to four playoff games.
Some stadium upgrades will greet Dawgs fans in 2024, including a new ribbon video board above the outfield wall, as well as an additional section of grandstand seating along the first base side, an extended patio and the incorporation of field-level suites.
IN THE DUGOUT
The coaching staff will be led by former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Lou Pote, who serves as the interim manager for a second straight season. Pote is filling in for Mitch Schmidt, who remains on a medical leave of absence. Schmidt guided the Dawgs to WCBL championships in 2019 and 2022, while Pote continued the team’s winning ways by leading Okotoks to another title in 2023. Pote is also the director of player development for the Okotoks Dawgs Baseball Academy.
Assisting Pote are Dave Robb, Andy Peterson and Joe Sergent. Robb, who also coaches at Mesa Community College, is a long-time member of the coaching staff with years of international experience. He will serve as the club’s hitting and bench coach. Peterson, the head coach at Linn-Benton Community College, returns to work as the infield coach, while Joe Sergent – a 1999 Florida Marlins draft pick – is back as the pitching coach.
Savannah Blakley has been working with the Dawgs for over a decade as the squad’s athletic therapist and she will return to Seaman Stadium in that role this summer.
ON THE MOUND
Graham Brunner is about as familiar a face as you’ll find on the roster. The Sherwood Park starting pitcher returns for his seventh season of WCBL action with the Dawgs in 2024. Since 2017, the lefthander has put together an incredible record of 25-5 in both the regular season and playoffs, putting him in the running to be the winningest pitcher in franchise history. Brunner has logged over 221 innings on the mound with Okotoks and racked up 230 strikeouts.
Regina righty Gavin Wuschke also returns to the rotation following a successful 2023 campaign in Okotoks. Through 15 games and 43-plus postseason and regular-season innings for the Dawgs last summer, Wuschke went 5-0 with a 2.68 earned run average (ERA) and 34 Ks. He worked as a starter and out of the bullpen.
Newcomers who are expected to get time as starters include Eric Nachtscheim, Troy Benko, Zane Morrison, Cam Stephens and Trent Warstler, who are all right-handed pitchers. Nachtscheim and Benko are both sophomores at Mesa Community College, while Brunner and Warstler are teammates at Emporia State University.
The Dawgs had an outstanding bullpen in 2023 and a number of relief pitchers from that team are coming back this summer. Quinn Tocheniuk, Seth Thompson, Ryan McFarland, Cade Hermann, Garrett Maloney, Greg Ross, Ben Soke and Brody Forno will all don red ball caps again.
Since 2021, Tocheniuk has gone 7-3 with a 4.45 ERA in 89 innings for Okotoks, while Hermann has posted a 1.57 ERA with 71 Ks in 51-plus innings over two WCBL seasons.
Thompson was named the team’s Reliver of the Year in 2023 after he registered a 1.87 ERA with two saves and 29 strikeouts in his 24 regular-season innings.
McFarland went 2-2 with a 3.52 ERA in 38.1 innings last summer while Maloney, his Campbellsville University teammate, put together a 5-2 record with 44 Ks in 35.2 innings with Okotoks.
Forno is a righty who has pitched for Okotoks since 2021. In that time, he’s gone 7-2 with a 3.78 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 78.2 innings as both a reliever and a starter.
New to the bullpen are Alex Dionne, Kaden Douglas Pluff, Easton Corey, Seth Dreeszen, Ashton Luera and Aaron Hammer.
Corey and Dreeszen join the Dawgs as freshman from Linn-Benton Community College, while Pluff is a sophomore southpaw from Okanagan College.
BEHIND THE PLATE
The backstops on the roster are all Canadians who have suited up for the Dawgs before.
Caleb Lumbard is the veteran of the group, having played 91 games for the Dawgs since 2021. The Okanagan College backstop has recorded a .262 batting average, 49 runs batted in (RBI) and 57 runs while serving as a solid pitch caller in that time.
Lou Anderson and Jacob Wrubleski are both Dawgs Academy products who got a taste of WCBL action in 2023.
AROUND THE HORN
A collection of high-end veterans will populate the infield of Seaman Stadium.
Brendan Luther – who earned the nicknamed “Mr. August” after claiming back-to-back playoff MVP awards – will share middle infield duties alongside Ricardo Sanchez, who was named the 2022 WCBL MVP.
Power hitter Nash Crowell, who finished third in the league in homers with 10 in 2023, will handle responsibilities at first base when he’s not slotted in the lineup as a designated hitter.
Corner infielder Connor Crowson is expected to return to the Dawgs, as will second baseman Aidan Rose. Crowson has played in 118 WCBL games for Okotoks dating back to 2021. In his 405 at bats, he’s batting .343 with 71 RBI, 88 runs and 26 doubles. Rose has also been a Dawg since 2021, during which time he’s posted a .270 batting average with 56 runs in 108 contests.
Meanwhile, Eric Machej was an impact player for the Dawgs in the 2023 postseason. The Dawgs Academy second sacker had a .438 batting average and four doubles in five playoff games.
New faces include Jarrett Burney, a senior infielder from Reinhardt University, where he is teammates with Crowell, and Josh DeGroot, a recruit from Mesa Community College.
IN THE OUTFIELD
Logan Grant is a well-traveled WCBL player who suited up for the Swift Current 57’s and Sylvan Lake Gulls before landing in Okotoks last summer. The Calgarian, who has also geared up as a catcher, is expected to track down fly balls as a corner outfielder this year.
Tucker Zdunich suited up with the Moose Jaw Miller Express in 2019 and then joined the Dawgs for the 2021-2022 seasons. With Okotoks, the Reinhardt University senior collected 10 homers, 61 RBI, 70 runs and 16 stolen bases in 85 games.
Another returning player is sophomore Elijah Hammill, of Oakville, Ontario. In his 30 regular-season games with the Dawgs last year, Hammill scored 20 runs and stole 10 bases while hitting .301.
The newbies include Emporia State University junior Kadyn Williams, Linn-Benton Community College sophomore Spencer Sullivan and University of Montevallo junior Barry Eiseman.
Home Ballpark: Seaman Stadium (named best summer collegiate facility by Ballpark Digest in 2023)
Home Opener: 7:05 pm, Friday, May 24th vs. Brooks Bombers
2024 WCBL All-Star Game & Home Run Derby: Saturday, July 20th, Seaman Stadium
2023 Regular Season Results: 1st place in WCBL with 40 wins & 16 losses
2023 Playoff Results: WCBL Champions with 2-1 series win over Medicine Hat Mavericks; 6-1 record in postseason
View 2024 Okotoks Dawgs Roster
WCBL Championships: 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2019, 2022, 2023
Mascot: Diggity
