Dawgs ready to defend
The Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs are going for their eighth consecutive Canadian College Baseball Conference championship title. The PBA hit the road to Kamloops for the CCBC championship starting Thursday, looking to build on what’s been a staggering string of championships.
That kind of run no doubt puts a target on the defending champions as the other teams in the field look to knock off the — pun intended — top Dawgs.
Still, with the first pitch to be tossed in two days, the Dawgs have had a dress rehearsal of sorts to get ready for the grind that is the CCBC championship.
That took place two weeks ago in the form of a couple of makeup games against the Vancouver Island University Mariners that not only set up some marathon ball, but some unorthodox game times.
At this point, Dawgs veteran right fielder Eric Davies picks up the story.
“That Vancouver Island weekend was crazy in terms of the length of the games and what times the games were played, midnight and 3 a.m,” said the product of Picture Butte as the PBA ran through a light batting practice Monday morning at Lloyd Nolan Yard. “It felt like a championship weekend because we played Wednesday to Sunday, and we’ll hopefully play Thursday to Sunday this weekend."
The fact the PBA captured the regular season title with a 21-7 record thanks to a 16-1 finish doesn’t hurt either.
“We’re really, really confident. It’s good to end on a good note and being capable of what we’re doing,” said Davies.
They’re riding a high at the right time, but the Dawgs 2018 season started with a sputter as the team sat at 5-6 in the early going, prompting a team meeting.
The chat between the sophmores and rookies alike was taken to heart as the PBA batted their way to 16 wins in their last 17 games.
“We understood what it meant to compete again and kind of what it took,” said Davies. “A little bit of a kick in the butt is what we needed. I think we got better as we got closer as a team, too. At the start we were kind of cliquey to each our own sort of a thing. When we went down a winning stretch we thought ‘Hey, this winning together is kind of cool, kind of fun’. So that was what it took. People started learning the roles, too. Some guys are going to score runs, some guys are going to get walks and some guys are going to pitch in that middle inning and some guys are going to close it out. Each guy found a roles toward the end. It's good that we're playing well toward the end of the season."
After that team meeting, the individual mindset was set aside, noted Dawgs rookie shortstop Lukas Ankermann.
“We weren’t really coming together as a team. But then the sophomores set us down and every sophomore said their thing and then the rookies said what they had to say and then we all came together as one unit and as a family. We were dominant from there on out."
Ankermann batted .292 over 23 games in his first season at the PBA.
“I’ve loved it, every second of it,” he said. “I played a small role that got bigger as I went along, but I didn’t know how much I would contribute until the season actually started, and then I loved it.”
The Dawgs open the CCBC championship with a pair of games Thursday, starting with Okanagan College Coyotes at 4 p.m. followed by a night game against the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack at 7:30 p.m.
As for a veteran’s advice on what to expect from championship weekend? Expect anything, said Davies.
“I think it’s just grind each game because you never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “We won in a walk-off blooper last year and we might win in a walk-off blooper again. So I think be prepared for anything because we might get down in our first game or we might be up by 10. So we have to be ready for anything.
“Being nervous is OK. I think that gives you a kick in the butt of ‘Hey let’s get this done let’s have some fun’. But you know what the stakes are and that kind of drives you to play well. Our team is always good under pressure."
Ankermann has listened to the advice of his veteran teammates about the CCBC championship.
“All the sophomores were telling us this is a fun weekend,” he said. “You have to enjoy it, you can’t play tight. You have to just sit back and enjoy it and just do what you can.
“We are feeling confident we’re all pumped up. We’re excited to get this playoff on the go."
Davies conceded the thought of going for an eighth straight title enters his mind at times.
“It keeps you up sometimes at night when you’re not doing well,” he said. “But since we’re doing well we have so much confidence that it's second nature that we’re going to win, I think."
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