Dawgs plan nothing different as battle for first place looms
As much as they’d like to fastforward to next weekend and the 2016 Western Major Baseball League post-season, the Okotoks Dawgs absolutely must stay in the moment.
There are seven games remaining on their regular-season docket — including a clash Saturday at Seaman Stadium against the Edmonton Prospects (7:05 p.m.) — and with an exciting battle for first place in the Western Division with the Medicine Hat Mavericks, maintaining momentum is crucial.
“We just want to continue to finish strong and see what happens,” said first-year Dawgs coach Tyler Graham, who is spending his summer in Okotoks after serving as the assistant coach at Oregon State University.
“We’re already in the playoffs now, regardless of what happens. All four teams are set. It’s just a matter of who plays who. Honestly, the seeding doesn’t matter that much to me. It would be nice to get first place and have home-field advantage.
“But other than that, we’re going to do the same thing we’ve been doing all year — show up and play and see what happens.”
It’s worked so far, especially in the month of July which they’ve gone 11-5, including a two-game set earlier this week against the Prospects.
Led by their two top hitters, Kellen Marruffo of the University of Utah ( batting .352 as their cleanup man) and Brendan Rose of the University of British Columbia (.336), they have also relied on leadoff hitter Daniel Fredrickson, an outfielder from Gonzaga University and the 2015 league leader in hitting.
Oregon State University infielder and catcher Michael Gretler has also been a standout, as well as right-handed pitcher C.J. Lewington out of the University of Arkansas who, in eight games, is second in the league with a 2.36 ERA and boasts a 5-0 record.
“Our goal is to get to the sixth in- ning with a lead or close to a lead,” Graham said.
“Then go to our bullpen, and they’ve been lights-out all year.
“It’s a really good lineup; all the kids can hit, have good approaches and good at-bats. They’ve continued to improve all summer and we hope to keep going.”
The interesting part of this final stretch, of course, is that the Dawgs (27-13 and 7-3 in their last 10 games) face the Medicine Hat Mavericks twice before the end of the season — once Sunday in Medicine Hat and again for their final game of the season July 29 at Okotoks.
Heading into action Friday, the Mavericks were 27-13 and on a six- game losing skid, with a 3-7 record in their last 10 games.
After that, the dust settles and the post-season kicks off.
The first round of the best-offive first-round playoff series for the Dawgs — should they remain in first or second place — would start July 31 and Aug. 1 at Seaman Stadium.
Games 3 and 4 (if necessary) would go Aug. 2 and Aug. 3 on the road with a Game 5 (if necessary), returning to Okotoks Aug. 5.
“Absolutely, we have what it takes,” said Graham, a former draft pick of the San Francisco Giants. “If we show up and play like we should every game, we should have a very good opportunity to win a championship.
“But in baseball, you have to play the games and a lot of things have to go right. There’s a lot of other good teams in the league. It’s not going to be easy, but if we play our best baseball at the right time, we’ll have a chance to win it all.”