A down to the wire derby and a historic WCBL All Star Game.
Saturday night at the home of the Okotoks Dawgs was one for the books with a Western Canadian Baseball League record crowd of 6,064 fans at Seaman Stadium taking in the 2024 WCBL All-Star Game and Home Run Derby.
To kick-off the evening, Peyton McDowall didn’t have to look far for inspiration en route to crushing his way to the Home Run Derby championship with six dingers in the final round.
The Fort McMurray Giants slugger dedicated his title in the competition to his grandmother Virginia, a retired police officer from Oregon, who passed away recently.
“The past couple of years have been pretty tough, she was on oxygen, but she was a great woman, she loved horses,” said McDowall, a 6-foot-4 infielder from Texas. “I recently went to the horse show at the Stampede and I teared up a little bit and I’m getting teary eyed again at the end there and realized she didn’t see it.
“But I know she’s looking down from Heaven.”
McDowall said honouring her in this way was the best thing he could do.
“I’ll always remember this one,” he added.
The competition featured 12 sluggers from the West and East Division over three rounds, featuring the Dawgs’ Nash Crowell, including an extra tiebreak hit off round between Lethbridge’s Jack Kalisky and Edmonton’s Zach Barnao.
Gage Ninness, McDowall’s teammate in Fort McMurray and at the University of Science and Arts in Oklahoma, was throwing to him in the competition.
“That was amazing, I was definitely gassed from swinging, but after the round my buddies hyped me up so much,” McDowall said. “It’s pretty tiring, especially with the adrenaline of the first 30 seconds of the first round because you’re just thinking, ‘I’ve got to go, I’ve got to go.”
Saskatoon Berries outfielder Carter Beck finished as the runner-up in the Derby, but the rookie from the small town of Carnduff wasn’t done with his night.
Once the All-Star Game kicked off, Team East scored first and kept up the offence with 20 hits to cruise to a comfortable 13-6 triumph.
Beck was named the All-Star Game MVP with three hits and two RBI on the night.
“It got to the All-Star Game, and I just tried to what I do and keep it simple and it seemed to work out today,” Beck said. “The bat was feeling heavy, but it still managed to get the job done.”
The victory snapped a two-year run where the West earned All-Star Game bragging rights in Okotoks.
“It was good to see us East guys beat the West,” Beck said. “West is always the premier side of the league so it was really good to beat them.”
The Berries, a first-year franchise in the WCBL who do not have a road game in Okotoks this season, made quite the first impression at Seaman Stadium.
“I think we’ve shown as a first-year team, we’re not just a roll over, we’re here to play,” he said. “All of us guys went out and played pretty well today and it shows we can compete with anybody in the league.”
The Dawgs had their fingerprints all over the showcase.
Southpaw Graham Brunner, a seventh-year pitcher with the college team, earned the start in his first appearance in an All-Star Game.
“It’s the crowd here at home and the teammates that make it as close to playoffs as you can get,” Brunner said. “Getting the ball out of the gate was pretty surreal for me, it was pretty awesome, being in front of the crowd for a Canada Day Game or an All-Star Game, it’s a different feeling.”
Garrett Maloney and Cole Tucker came out of the bullpen, fellow-reliever Seth Thompson earned the rare opportunity to pinch run, and scored a run late in the contest.
At the plate, Okotokian Connor Crowson had a two-hit night with an RBI with outfielder Tucker Zdunich adding an RBI single. Brendan Luther, Logan Grant and Barry Eiseman also suited up for the Dawgs.
Picking all-stars from a team of stellar contributors is almost as difficult a feat as putting the barrel on a 100 mile per hour four-seamer.
“You’ve got to give the committee names and we felt those were the guys that really carried us early on,” said Dawgs and Team West coach Lou Pote. “A lot of times, it’s easier said than done. We have a lot of guys that could have been on there. And I think the cool part is our guys are happy for eachother when they get selected.
“For a lot of guys, it might be one of their only all-star appearances so you just want them to really enjoy it.”
Prior to the All-Star Game, three league builders were recognized by league president Kevin Kvame.
Bill McApline, former Okotoks mayor and an instrumental figure in the Dawgs coming to Okotoks, was honoured along with Bernie Eiswirth and Doug Jones for their contributions to the Regina Red Sox and Lethbridge Bulls, respectively.
For more information, go to wcblbaseball.com.
