Home cooking continues to let the Okotoks Dawgs feast on opposition.
Okotoks (22-5) extended its winning streak to 12 games in front of a record crowd of 6,000 at Seaman Stadium as they knocked off the Brooks Bombers 10-0 in the annual Canada Day Game featuring a post-game fireworks extravaganza on July 1.
“For me, I just went out there for the first inning, looked around and took my surroundings in and took it all in,” said Dawgs catcher Caleb Lumbard. “A lot of kids don’t get to experience playing in front of this many people.
“It’s just awesome and a great experience to have.”
The Dawgs flexed their offensive might with a six-run first inning with Lumbard, Trent Lenihan, Noah Geekie, Aidan Rose and Alejandro Cazorla all getting in on the run driving act.
Nash Crowell hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, his team leading sixth dinger, to break the game wide open.
“That was surreal, emotions were running high, I tried to take it as best I could and try to get the fans involved,” Crowell said. “It was an amazing experience, with the Dawgs that’s got to be a top three (moment) for me and it’s not third.
“It’s just sticking to the approach and trusting what I’ve been doing and working hard for. You don’t always find success, it’s a game of failure, but when you do, you try to stick with it.”
On the bump, veteran lefty Graham Brunner tossed five shutout innings, striking out six while allowing just two hits for his third victory of the summer.
“Guys are just bought in, everybody wants to win and no one wants to lose or end the streak,” Crowell said. “We come out with a lot of energy and play hard for nine innings every day.”
Earlier in the week, the Dawgs improved to 9-0 on the season versus East Division opponents with a two-game sweep over the visiting Swift Current 57s.
On June 29, Logan Rumberg pitched four shutout innings while striking out ten to lead Okotoks to the 12-1 victory.
Connor Crowson had a monster performance at the plate with three hits, a home run and four RBI with Cazorla also going deep and Ricardo Sanchez driving in two runs.
Okotoks didn’t let up the following night, riding high to a 12-3 victory.
Crowell went deep with Cesar Valero launching his first big fly of the campaign and joining Elijah Hammill with game-high three RBI performances.
On the mound, Bobby Vath went five innings with the LSU Shreveport hurler notching his second win.
“We’re just a really tight-knit group, everyone has got each other’s back and things are going our way right now,” Lumbard said. “It’s nice and we’ve got to enjoy it, but there’s going to be ups and downs throughout the whole year, so we’ve got to be ready for that to happen.”
The Dawgs will look to stay hot away from home, with seven straight road games on the docket with stops in Medicine Hat, Moose Jaw, Regina and Weyburn from July 3-9.
“We’ve got to just keep playing our game, keep jumping on teams and capitalizing on scoring chances,” Lumbard said. “That’s how we win, and the pitching has just been phenomenal as well.”
Okotoks returns to Seaman Stadium on July 11 versus Moose Jaw.
For more information, visit dawgsbaseball.ca.
