A provincial home run has the Okotoks Dawgs Academy headed back to nationals.
Okotoks Dawgs Black ran the table as hosts of the Baseball Alberta 15U AAA Tier I championships, capping a dominant weekend with a 7-4 victory over the Parkland Twins in the provincial final on a Sunday afternoon scorcher at Conrad Field.
“Everything we’ve asked from these guys all year, they’ve just stepped up to the plate,” said Dawgs Black head coach Lou Pote. “They seem to thrive off of it and we couldn’t be prouder as a staff to be able to see all of their hard work and commitment and watch them celebrate like that.”
In the final, Preston Tocheniuk gave the Dawgs their first lead with smart baserunning on a pass ball to score from third in the second inning.
Parkland returned the favour in the top of the third to even the score before Okotoks rallied for three in the fourth with Tocheniuk hitting an RBI single, Van Norsworthy drawing a bases loaded walk and Pryor Woollett adding another run on a sharp liner past first base.
Okotoks broke the gold medal game wide open in the fifth with one swing of the bat.
Third baseman Taye Thierman was sitting on a first pitch fastball and didn’t miss, launching a no-doubter three-run home run to straightaway centre.
“I knew they were going to throw a fastball first pitch there to try and get ahead,” Thierman said. “I just looked for the fastball, middle close to the plate and just put my hands on it and it went out and it felt amazing.
“It was the perfect time in the game for it.”
Tocheniuk, the tournament MVP, got the start in the final and went five innings allowing just one run to keep the Twins’ offence at bay.
“I wasn’t trying to do too much, just trying to make some pitches,” Tocheniuk said. “If they hit it, they hit it, but I just tried to put in some pitches and get some outs.”
Nicholas Dewey came out of the bullpen for the final two innings and after a two-out rally from Parkland in the top of the sixth, struck his way out of a jam.
In the top of the seventh, the hard-throwing righty set the Twins down in order to put an exclamation point on the championship.
“It was amazing all game, the team energy,” Thierman said. “Everyone was hyping from the bench, if there was a strikeout everyone was cheering.
“There was a lot of positivity and that’s what got us through all tournament.”
For the returning players on Dawgs Black — Tocheniuk, Dewey and catcher Cas Herold — it was a chance at redemption after a tough loss in the provincial final last summer.
“That was really a motivation coming into this year,” Tocheniuk said. “We wanted it all, me and the vets on the team. We wanted to put some runs up and win some ball games.”
Mission accomplished.
The Dawgs swept the field in round-robin action getting by the St. Albert Cardinals, Red Deer Braves and Cochrane Peloton Crush to lock up the top seed out of Pool A.
The semifinal showcased Okotoks’ potent offence as the Dawgs powered to an 11-run fourth inning to take a 17-2 result over the Midwest Prairie Pirates out of Lloydminster.
“Games like that help,” Pote said. “You get everybody in the lineup, get everybody at-bats, but at the same time having to take a step back and re-focus when we knew we were facing a really good team and a really good arm.
“It’s a compliment to these guys and how much they believe in each other that they were able to turn the page and be ready to play after a lopsided win, that’s not easy.”
The Dawgs will look to continue their winning ways on the national stage as they charge into the Ray Carter Cup, the Baseball Canada 15U AAA championships, Aug. 25-28 in Saskatoon.
“This is huge for the team,” Tocheniuk said. “Everybody’s got this provincial win under their belt so why not try and do it at the national level?
“And for the younger guys coming back next year, they can do it again.”
