2 days ago
Host Okotoks Dawgs drop Game 1 of WCBL's best-of-three semifinal series
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The Okotoks Dawgs' drive for history hit a speed bump Sunday.
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In pushing for a Western Canadian Baseball League-record fourth-straight championship, the team got sidetracked 7-3 to the Sylvan Lake Gulls in the first game of the West Division semifinal series at Seaman Stadium.
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That puts the Dawgs in a do-or-die spot heading into Monday's game of the best-of-three series at Gulls Stadium in Sylvan Lake (7:05 p.m.).
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In Game 1, the Dawgs scored two runs in the fourth inning and one in the sixth, but it wasn't enough to answer the early strength by the Gulls, who tallied two runs in each of the first and second frames, and the four-run barrage in the sixth.
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A late insurance run by the Gulls in the ninth sealed the outcome.
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Offensively, the Dawgs collected eight hits, with Zane Skansi (Campbellsville University) providing the biggest swing of the day — a solo home run. Ricardo Sanchz (Tennessee Tech), Nash Crowell (Tennessee Tech), Connor Crowson (Tennessee Tech), Logan Grant (Bellevue University), Aidan Rose (UBC), Jake Skaggs (Pittsburgh State) and Barry Eiseman (Reinhart University) each added a hit. Rose and Grant each knocked home runs.
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On the mound for the Dawgs, it was Gavin Wuschke (Bellevue) working five innings and allowing four hits and two earned runs while striking out six. Reid Madariaga (Seattle University) and Garrett White (Bellevue) each threw a scoreless inning in relief, combining for two strikeouts. The Dawgs pullpen allowed just one run in the final three innings.
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If needed, Game 3 of the semifinal is scheduled for Wednesday at Seaman Stadium (7:05 p.m.).
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The Dawgs came into the post-seaosn as the top team in the West after a 40-16 regular schedule.
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Next in the division were the Gulls with a 36-20 record.
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The Dawgs punched their ticket to the semifinal series by dispatching of the Brooks Bombers in two straight games — 11-4 and 9-2 — earlier this week.
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The Gulls, meanwhile, took down the Lethbridge Bulls 8-0 and 6-2 to reach this series.