Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

Time to get back into the regular swing of things with Thursday episodes after a crazy busy summer. We put the wraps on the week with a catch-up on the news before a trio of national medal winners. Hear from Baseball Canada Cup bronze medalist Mac Warawa (Innisfail/Webber Academy), Baseball Canada 16U silver medalist Gracy Hadwin (Consort/Neutral Hills Academy) and Men's National bronze medalist Tyler McWillie (Watrous, Sask./Red Deer Riggers).
6:19 - Mac Warawa
21:01 - Gracy Hadwin
32:56 - Tyler McWillie

It's hard to believe but the 2026 baseball season is winding down and fast. One of the surest signs of that is that the Western Canadian Baseball League campaign is now over after the Saskatoon Berries clinched the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy with a two-game sweep over the Sylvan Lake Gulls. Joe and Ian sit down to talk about how they will remember the year and things to come as we head towards 2027. We also hear from league president Kevin Kvame on his thoughts with a busy offseason upon us with several major discussions coming to the table.

For the first time in their three-year history, the Saskatoon Berries are Western Canadian Baseball League champions. A record crowd packed into NexGen Patch at Cairns Field to witness the Berries complete the two-game sweep of the Sylvan Lake Gulls with a convincing 11-1 win. We recap each of the games and some of the highlights, then hear from seven players as well as head coach Joe Carnahan and president Steve Hildebrand.
2:56 – Ethan Murdoch
10:22 – Wesley Shackelford
13:35 – Aiden Kilshaw
16:13 – Nathan Houston
19:31 – Merek Yeager
23:09 – Brooks Jones
25:18 – Colin Plain
28:48 – Joe Carnahan
32:08 – Steve Hildebrand

For the first time in their three-year history, the Saskatoon Berries are heading to the Western Canadian Baseball League championship. After being taken the distance with the Regina Red Sox in the first round, they came up with the sweep of the Moose Jaw Miller Express to claim the East Division crown. We take a look back at that series and ahead to the championship against the Sylvan Lake Gulls with Ethan Murdoch, Nathan Houston and head coach Joe Carnahan.
2:27 - Ethan Murdoch
16:34 - Nathan Houston
25:04 - Joe Carnahan

For a second-straight season, the Sylvan Lake Gulls are going to the Western Canadian Baseball League championship. They knocked off the Okotoks Dawgs in a two-game series sweep with wins of 7-2 and 9-8. The second game was a nailbiter with Coleman Parry hitting a solo home run in the eighth inning to break a tie before Brayden Stewart finished up his 2+ innings of relief by striking out Jordan Kievman to end the game and the series. The Gulls will move onto face the Saskatoon Berries in the championship. We hear from both dugouts after Game #2.
2:13 - Coleman Parry
5:18 - Cleary Simpson
8:57 - Kyle Froehlich
13:17 - Matt Hape
17:45 - Connor Crowson

And then there were four. The Western Canadian Baseball League's Division Series all wrapped up with the Okotoks Dawgs, Sylvan Lake Gulls, Moose Jaw Miller Express and Saskatoon Berries emerging victorious. We take a look back at each of their first-round matchups and look ahead to the Division Championship Series, which are set to begin on Tuesday. Joe and Ian had this conversation as part of the latest "WCBL Report" recorded on Monday.

The field of 12 teams is now down to eight, and in just a few days, we’ll be down to four, and then two will be looking to claim the Harry Hallis Trophy as WCBL champions.
Over the next couple of weeks, Joe McFarland and Ian Wilson will look ahead to each postseason round, then will bring you full coverage of the championship series, which is set for August 15-17.
But it all starts here with the Division Series. In the East, the #1 Moose Jaw Miller Express will battle the #4 Medicine Hat Mavericks and the #2 Saskatoon Berries face the #3 Regina Red Sox. In the West, the #1 Okotoks Dawgs take on the #4 Energy City Cactus Rats while the #2 Sylvan Lake Gulls and #3 Lethbridge Bulls will lock horns.

We put the wraps on another busy week of baseball (including the MLB Trade Deadline, a couple of promotions in the minors and the start of the Women's Pro Baseball League season). Then we hear from the Baseball Canada 19U Women's Nationals Hitter of the Tournament and bronze medalist Braidy Birdsall (Saskatoon), Morneau Cup champion and Washington State commit Jack Bello (Richmond/Dawgs Academy) and Morneau Cup silver medalist and USC-Lancaster commit Lucas Gensler (Edmonton/ATHX Academy). 
5:54 - Braidy Birdsall
18:23 - Jack Bello
27:13 - Lucas Gensler

We're back with another edition of the show after a few extra days off following a wild stretch of daily shows during The Road to Okotoks and the WCBL All-Star Game. We get you all caught up with the news, then hear from Swift Current 57s record-breaker Jake Hiromoto, Parkland Twins extra-innings hero Garet Ostapchuk and Baseball Sask's Greg Brons as we revisit Carter Beck getting drafted by the Atlanta Braves.
7:47 - Jake Hiromoto
14:24 - Garet Ostapchuk
27:23 - Greg Brons

Saskatoon: you did good. Real good. The Western Canadian Baseball League made its maiden All-Star Weekend voyage to the home of the Berries, where they put on a show. It was the first time the league wasn’t in Okotoks since the pandemic. We talk to the players, organizers and check in with Ian Wilson to discuss the weekend and what's to come in 2027.
1:14 - Gael Salinas - Saskatoon - Bunt Competition Champion
3:55 - David Simmons - Energy City - HR Derby Champion
8:32 - Thomas Soto - Moose Jaw - Chasing Stolen Base Records
14:04 - Dallen Rude - Saskatoon - The Muenster Connection
18:49 - Carter Roth - Medicine Hat - All-Star Game MVP
21:08 - Steve Hildebrand - Saskatoon - The Host with the Most
24:47 - Aqil Samuel - Sylvan Lake - Next Year's Host
29:45 - Ian Wilson - Dugout Stories Chief Correspondent

The Morneau Cup came to Okotoks and that’s where it will be staying. Dawgs Academy defended home turf in style with an 11-5 win over Gulls Prep in the finale of the inaugural Road to Okotoks 19U academy national championship Sunday afternoon. We take a look back at all the action from the day and hear from the champs, go through the tournament all-stars and award winners, then check back in with the namesake of the new tournament, Justin Morneau.
2:17 - Jeff Duda
7:08 - Taye Thierman
9:03 - Cam Gerla
10:54 - Kadyn Armitage
12:29 - L.C. Larouche
15:56 - Rhys Whiteford
19:17 - Justin Morneau

It's down to the Final Four at the Morneau Cup. A busy Saturday with the play-in round and quarterfinals, so we take a look at some of the big performances from the day, plus get you set for the semifinals, which will feature three Alberta teams: Vauxhall Academy faces Gulls Prep while Dawgs Black battles the Mississauga Tigers. We also sit down with Baseball Canada architect Greg Hamilton to see how he's feeling after seeing a ton of baseball, and we chat with Jaxson Smith Peterson from Prep Baseball Canada about what he's noticed during the course of the inaugural tournament.
3:05 - Greg Hamilton
9:08 - Jaxson Smith Peterson