By IAN WILSON

They just kept pecking away.

When they entered the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) during a COVID-19 shortened campaign – amid the logistical chaos of that time while breaking in a new stadium – the Sylvan Lake Gulls finished second in the 2021 regular season with a winning record of 23-17.

They settled into their nest at Gulls Field the following year and began to take flight. With a 38-18 record and an ace pitcher named Josh Tucker – who was named the WCBL’s Most Outstanding Pitcher after setting a single-season strikeout record with 91 Ks – the Gulls were asserting themselves as a legitimate challenger to their provincial rivals, the Okotoks Dawgs.

The 2022 West Division Final series was a tight matchup between the Dawgs and Gulls, and Okotoks had no interest in yielding any ground to opponents. In a low-scoring best-of-three chess match, the Dawgs swept Sylvan Lake with 4-0 and 4-3 victories and went on to claim the WCBL championship. Thus began the lessons in how to win, especially when it mattered most.

The 2023 season brought new hope and fresh opportunities to soar. With it, the Gulls posted another 38-18 record in the regular season and finished second in the West Division to those hard-hitting hounds who call Seaman Stadium home. In addition to Tucker, the Gulls had added another star pitcher to their roster in the form of Tyler Boudreau, who was honoured as the league’s Most Outstanding Pitcher that summer. The result, however, was the same when the playoffs rolled around. The Dawgs swept the Gulls in the West Division Final and Boudreau was saddled with the loss in Sylvan Lake’s final game of the year. Led by the clutch hitting of Brendan Luther, Trent Lenihan, Connor Crowson, Alejandro Cazorla, Logan Grant and Ricardo Sanchez and the steadying presence on the mound of Graham Brunner, Brock Townsend and Gavin Wuschke, Okotoks outscored the Gulls 17-6 before celebrating a second consecutive WCBL title win by beating the Medicine Hat Mavericks.

The Dawgs were in dynasty mode and the Gulls were trying to not only disrupt it, they were trying to figure out how to create their own reputation as champs.

So, they kept pecking away.

THE TOUGHEST LOSS

If they had grown tired of losing to Okotoks, Sylvan Lake didn’t display any signs of rival fatigue in 2024. The Gulls put together their finest regular season on record by establishing a new WCBL high for victories after going 44-12. They finished first in the West Division, two games ahead of the Dawgs, and in top spot in the league standings. Jason Chatwood, the head skipper for the Gulls since they entered the league, was named the WCBL Coach of the Year and Sylvan Lake outfielder Cooper Ciesielski was awarded WCBL Most Valuable Player honours for his strong regular season play.

The Dawgs didn’t care if the Gulls made their way into the Guinness Book of World Records or took home a Nobel Peace Prize. Their focus remained the same: win another championship ring and eliminate any team that stands in the way of that goal.

But surely this was the year for the Gulls? They put together their best campaign ever, they won their final 10 games of the regular season, they had the top player in the league, and the coach of the year was in their dugout. Their pitching staff still included Tucker and Boudreau, as well.

The two teams renewed hostilities yet again in the West Division Final. The Gulls swept the Brooks Bombers in the opening round in a low-scoring series, while the Dawgs showed signs of mortality. Okotoks defeated the Lethbridge Bulls, but it took the full three games and 13 innings in the deciding game for the Dawgs to advance.

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The Gulls got the start they wanted in the series opener, a 5-3 triumph over Okotoks at Gulls Field with Boudreau getting the win and second baseman Marques Abulhosn smacking a two-run, walkoff home run for Sylvan Lake in the bottom of the ninth. It was the first postseason victory for the Gulls over the Dawgs and what fans hoped would be a special moment in a title run.

That Dawgs team was loaded with grizzled veterans. They were battle tested and, though perhaps not as dominant in years past, they were unshaken by bad innings or tough losses. They had that aura and that energy, like a big brother who always knew he would defeat his younger siblings, no matter what game they were playing.

When the second game shifted to Seaman Stadium, the middle infield backbone of Luther and Sanchez helped produce enough runs and the pitching of Brunner, Wuschke and standout closer Ashton Luera held court during a 3-2 victory for the Dawgs.

A winner-take-all matchup back in Sylvan Lake offered Gulls players, coaches and fans more hope that this year would be different. Tucker was starting. Few knew the ins and outs of this rivalry better than the southpaw from Spokane, Washington. When the Gulls struck for two runs in the first inning, most of the 1,550 spectators in attendance were unsure whether they should start celebrating or begin chewing their finger nails. A couple of scoreless innings passed and more than a handful of Gulls fans started counting down the outs left in the game.

The hope turned to cruelty in the fourth inning. The Dawgs struck for one run with one out and then loaded the bases. The Gulls managed to record a second out without further damage, but Sanchez – down in the count 0-2 – cracked a base-clearing double that gave Okotoks the lead. Tucker hit the next batter, Tucker Zdunich, before he was pulled for pitcher Zach Bowman. The Dawgs two-out rally continued with run-producing hits from Jarrett Burney, Caleb Lumbard and Crowson. The Gulls needed another pitching change to put down the revolt and end the decisive inning, but the damage was done and Okotoks had an 8-2 lead. The Dawgs padded that lead with RBI doubles from Luther and Sanchez in the fifth inning and cruised to a 10-4 win.

“It’s a Yankees-Red Sox rivalry now and I think it’s going to be that way for a very long time,” said Luther after the series.

It was a numbing loss for the Gulls, and another stepping stone to a three-peat championship for the Dawgs. Okotoks defeated the Moose Jaw Miller Express in dramatic fashion in the WCBL final, thanks to a walkoff dinger from Crowson that sent the Seaman Stadium faithful into a state of pandemonium.

REDEMPTION

Despite the heartache of a third-straight playoff loss, Chatwood remained optimistic heading into the 2025 WCBL season.

“Last year was a really good step for us. We have to keep finding a way. I don’t think there’s one single answer,” Chatwood said at a Gulls fan event in April.

“There are guys that want to come up, who reach out and they know they want to go through Okotoks and face those hostile environments. It’s fun. It’s good and there’s a rivalry and there’s a tonne of respect for the two organizations… we’re going to figure it out one way or another.”

The head coach was saying the right things, but the first portion of the regular season did little to convince baseball watchers that this might be a breakthrough year for the Lake Boys. The team was playing .500 baseball through the first 20 games of the summer and lost three of their first four meetings against the Dawgs. To make matters worse, Chatwood was struck by a line drive while sitting in the dugout during the Rural Roots Classic against the Lethbridge Bulls in Oyen, Alberta on June 8th. That left the skipper injured and unable to travel with the team for several games.

Following a disappointing road trip through Saskatchewan in late June, the coaching staff held a meeting with several veteran players to remind them of the expectations the Gulls had for the pitchers and hitters on the roster.

“They were hard conversations … we needed to let them know what we expected of them and for some of those guys it was unbelievable the transformation that some of those guys made and how they carried themselves and how they played the game,” said Chatwood.

“Since that point the guys have been taking a lot of pride in the little things.”

The team meeting led to a hot finish to the regular season, with the Gulls going 26-9 down the stretch, including a 7-3 run in their final 10 games.

They kept pecking away.

Sylvan Lake finished second in the West Division with an overall record of 36-20. The Dawgs were on top, yet again, after going 40-16. It was the fourth straight season that Okotoks reached the 40-win mark.

The Gulls drew a tough opening postseason matchup opponent in the 33-22 Lethbridge Bulls.

Tucker drew the starting assignment for the first game, which took place at Spitz Stadium due to a rainout at Gulls Field. The lefty tossed an impressive seven-inning victory that saw him yield six hits, one walk and no runs while striking out eight batters. Tucker – the career strikeout leader in the WCBL – passed the 300-mark in Ks during the game. Reliever Jakob Rochelle tossed two scoreless innings to preserve the 8-0 win. Antony Gilbert – who was the 2024 WCBL batting champion as a member of the Brooks Bombers – bolstered the offence with two hits, three RBI and one run, and second baseman Jaden Flores added another two RBI.

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The Gulls completed the sweep with a 6-2 home victory over starting pitcher Levi Abbott, who had the lowest earned run average in the WCBL and the second most strikeouts during the regular season. Josh Doelitsch, who started for Sylvan Lake, went five innings and allowed one unearned run and the bullpen allowed just one more run the rest of the way. The Bulls committed five errors in the game.

As the Gulls made quick work of Lethbridge, the Dawgs were handling the roster-depleted Brooks Bomber in the first round with similar ease. Okotoks swept Brooks in two games and outscored the Bombers 20-6 in the process.

CONNECT FOUR

To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.

Entering the 2025 WCBL postseason, it was clear that the Dawgs were the best team in the West Division. They were the No. 1 seed and they entered the playoffs as defending three-time champs.

There were some signs that this edition of the Okotoks Dawgs may not have been a team in the prime of their dynasty, but their default mode seemed to be set to championship. The Dawgs did not have Brunner, Luther, Lumbard and Zdunich to lean on in key moments, but Sanchez, Grant, Crowson, Wuschke, Nash Crowell, Ryan McFarland and Aidan Rose provided veteran leadership.

Seaman Stadium and its afternoon crowd of 5,128 was home to a sunny series opener that saw the Gulls get on the board first. Flores belted a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw from Wuschke, the Dawgs starting pitcher. Several zeros went on the board before outfielder Zane Skansi replied for Okotoks with a solo homer in the fourth inning. A single from Rose to score Barry Eiseman tied the game shortly after. The Gulls kept the base paths busy throughout the day and forced the Okotoks infield to turn three double plays. The Lake Boys continued to peck away and in the sixth inning, it paid off. With two outs, Michael Quick hit a single. Junior Garcia singled. Ayden Makarus drew a walk. When outfielder Simon Baker stepped to the plate, he parked the first offering he saw from Chase Tucker over the fence for a grand slam.

“I kind of blacked out until I hit third base and then it kind of hit me, it’s just pure joy. You can’t ask for anything more than that. It’s one of the best feelings in baseball,” said Baker of his game-altering round tripper.

Okotoks clawed back a run in the bottom of the sixth, but the Gulls prevailed by a 7-3 score. It was another first for Sylvan Lake, this time their first postseason win at Seaman Stadium.

The Gulls had seen this movie before, however. They knew that going up in series was not enough to close it out.

When the series traveled up the road to central Alberta for the second game of the West Division Final, the batters of the Gulls were ready to pounce. After conceding a run in the top half of the inning, Sylvan Lake tied the game in the bottom half of the opening frame by racking up four hits against starting pitcher Brady Baltus. The Gulls led off the second with a pair of singles, prompting the coaching staff of the Dawgs to pull Baltus in favour of Brody Forno. The Okotoks hurler induced an out via fielder’s choice before a Ty Yukumoto single scored Baker. A Flores single then plated Kyle Lewis. The Dawgs went to their bullpen again, this time summoning Garrett White, who allowed another four more runs. Six hits for the pesky and pecking Gulls and an error by the Dawgs put Sylvan Lake up 7-1 after two innings.

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For Gulls fans, no lead seemed safe. The Gulls management team didn’t want to listen to any team boosters discuss plans for the WCBL final until the outcome was decided. The excitement of the early success in Game 2 was tempered by the nerves of enduring seven more innings until victory was secured. Leeroy Taverez, the starting pitcher for Sylvan Lake, helped soothe the anxiety. The righthander from Texas, who pitched for the Bombers in 2024, went six innings and allowed two runs, only one of them earned. Taverez registered six strikeouts and one walk. He was relieved by Rochelle, who allowed a pair of runs in the eighth inning. Mickey McClaskey took the ball from there and, with the help of an insurance run, closed the book on the Dawgs season while opening a new chapter for the Sylvan Lake Gulls franchise.

The celebration of the 8-4 win was somewhat muted for the players, who were aware that they still have a championship to compete for, but the 1,799 fans in attendance erupted after Connor Crowson fell victim as the final out of the game. The “Crow Show” falling to the Gulls was a welcome sight in Sylvan Lake.

“You have to tip your cap to the Dawgs,” said Chatwood after the series.

“We felt it three years in a row and we battled and they had to go through us and they did it. It was hard-fought and it was really nice to come through on the other side of things … you feel like you had to take that step.”

Do the Gulls have one more step left in them? They’ll find out when they face either the Regina Red Sox or the Saskatoon Berries in the WCBL championship series.

When they get there, expect the Gulls to keep pecking away.