There’s no place like Seaman Stadium to ring in Canada Day.
For Brendan Luther, a third opportunity to play for the Okotoks Dawgs in their annual July 1 home contest took on added meaning as the leadoff hitter ran out onto the field draped with a Canadian flag to kickstart a memorable 10-4 win over the Swift Current 57’s in front of 5,711 fans.
“Today, they told me I could run out with the flag and that was pretty special,” said Luther, a third-year Dawg who plays collegiately with Bellevue University. “Playing in the States, you don’t really get to hear your national anthem so just to play in front of this many people on Canada Day was an unreal experience.
“You’re just excited to get to play in front of this, it’s a big honour and a lot of the guys are just jacked up to get out there and play in front of this crowd.”
Oregon State infielder Dawson Santana got the low-down on what to expect in his first Canada Day experience.
“It was really different,” said Santana, who calls Lake Oswego, Oregon home. “I wasn’t expecting to play today, as an American I thought it was Canadians only today, but it was cool to get in today, good environment, good crowd and it was super fun.
“They’ve talked about it for a while, even before I came here, the coaches were saying Canada Day, big crowd, thousands of people, it’s going to be a blast.”
The fireworks weren’t confined to the post-game variety.
Okotoks was opportunistic on offence and keyed a mid-game comeback with a five-run fourth inning and added three more in the eighth to put the result to bed comfortably.
Logan Grant had a game-high three RBI with Aidan Rose driving in a pair.
Veteran southpaw Graham Brunner got the start and went four innings to pick up his second win of the season with Ryan McFarland, Chase Tucker, Greg Ross, Trent Warstler and Seth Thompson providing solid relief out of the bullpen.
Okotoks scored a combined 24 runs in the two-game sweep over Swift Current.
“It’s just sticking to our approach,” Luther said. “Sometimes we’ve been getting out of it and we haven’t been able to score, but once we really stick to that approach that’s when you see us put up those four, five run innings.
“That’s really what’s starting to separate us.”
Santana, who joined the team two weeks ago, said he’s thrilled to add some speed to a powerful Dawgs lineup.
“It’s been fun getting to know the guys, getting up here and playing in a different country,” Santana said. “I’m just looking to get better, that’s the point of the summer, get better, get some reps and go into next fall ready to go and fighting for a spot.
“It’s fun here, there’s a lot of big guys that can hit the ball out of the yard and it’s fun to be a small guy who runs, in this offence so it’s cool to mix in here and be kind of the outlier in the offence and do the boring stuff. These dudes are awesome, they hit the ball a mile.”
The Dawgs (21-4) remain first in the Western Canadian Baseball League West Division standings, one game ahead of the surging Sylvan Lake Gulls in their bid to three-peat.
“We’re matching right up there,” Luther said. “This is a special group, a lot of guys want to be here and I think the American guys are thinking, ‘Canada, this is the spot, Okotoks, Alberta.’”
This week, Okotoks is on the road on July 3 in Lethbridge before returning home for a three-game set versus the Edmonton Prospects from July 4-6.
For more information, go to dawgsbaseball.ca.
