Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

We start off the episode by recapping the MLB debut of St. Albert's own Erik Sabrowski, who went 1+ inning of shutout baseball in relief for the Cleveland Guardians in a 4-1 loss to Kansas City. We then take a look at some of the other major storylines, before we catch up with former MLB slugger and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame member Matt Stairs, who was recently named a hitting coordinator with Dawgs Academy in Okotoks.

It was another crazy week for baseball in Alberta, highlighted by Erik Sabrowski being called up by the Cleveland Guardians. We recap the week in news, then are joined by Baseball Canada 18U National champion Jake Brooks of the Red Deer CarStar Braves, 16U Girls National silver medalist Claire Hingley and Edmonton Riverhawks veteran Tylor Jans to talk about their summers and more.
4:56 - Jake Brooks
21:08 - Claire Hingley
33:59 - Tylor Jans

We have seen some outstanding performances from Alberta teams in recent weeks, so we thought it'd be a good time to catch up with a few of them. This week, you'll hear from Medicine Hat Major Mavs coaches Steve Russell and Aaron Lybbert as they look back at the team's outstanding performance at the Canadian Little League Championships, where they finished one win away from going to Williamsport. We also sit down with Baseball Alberta 14U Girls coach Geoff Hall after that team won Western Regional gold for a third year in a row. And we get to know AHP Academy product Dom Morgan (St. Albert) as he just came back from a trip with the Baseball Canada Junior National Team and will soon be heading to the Canadian Futures Showcase.
4:56 - Steve Russel and Aaron Lybbert
23:06 - Geoff Hall
35:34 - Dom Morgan

For the eighth time in team history and the third-straight season, the Okotoks Dawgs are Western Canadian Baseball League champions. After outlasting the Lethbridge Bulls and Sylvan Lake Gulls in the first round of the playoffs, they battled through a classic best-of-three series with the Moose Jaw Miller Express, winning game three 6-5 thanks to a walk-off solo home run from local product Connor Crowson. We take a look back at the series, then feature a series of interviews heard in Seaman Stadium and on the HomeTeam Live broadcast, including players and coaches for both teams as well as league president Kevin Kvame.

We have several guests lined up for this week's episode as we take a look back at the first two rounds of the Western Canadian Baseball League playoffs and look ahead to the best-of-three championship between the Okotoks Dawgs and Moose Jaw Miller Express. You'll hear from:
Okotoks Dawgs - head coach Lou Pote as well as players Brendan Luther, Tucker Zdunich, Brock Townsend (and his father Bill), Graham Brunner, Logan Grant and Ashton Luera
Sylvan Lake Gulls - head coach Jason Chatwood and player Elijha Hammill
Moose Jaw Miller Express - head coach Eric Marriott and player Nate Mensik

We are getting into a busy part of the baseball season with championship weekends at a number of levels. We get through a ton of news before we catch up with Baseball Canada Women's National Team member Cassie Matlock after winning bronze at the Women's Baseball World Cup. Then we sit down with Red Deer Braves coach Josh Zanolli after they claimed the Baseball Alberta Elite League title. And we wrap things up with Vauxhall Academy product and Team Alberta infielder Easton Kitura as he's been named to the upcoming Canadian Futures Showcase.
4:15 - Cassie Matlock
20:53 - Josh Zanolli
32:13 - Easton Kitura

Time to get back into some sense of normalcy! After having a couple of episodes each week for the last couple of weeks, we are going back to our weekly episodes (for now anyways). This week, we try to put the wraps on the news side of things in what's been a busy little while. Then we sit down with Baseball Alberta product and Women's National Team invitee Ava Greiner (Stettler) to talk about the World Cup roster tryout, we sit down with Dawgs Academy pitcher and Canadian Futures Showcase invitee Zac Foden (Edmonton) and we put the wraps on Ian's family trip to Saskatchewan with visits from Austin Gurney (Moose Jaw Miller Express), Brody Alexandre (Swift Current 57s), Oakland Flodell (Saskatoon Berries) and Mike Singleton (Saskatoon Berries).
5:07 - Ava Greiner
17:01 - Zac Foden
30:01 - Austin Gurney
36:02 - Brody Alexandre
40:20 - Oakland Flodell
46:24 - Mike Singleton

The 2024 MLB Draft might be one for the record books in Alberta. For the first time since 2015, an Albertan was taken in the first three rounds of the draft (Nathan Flewelling) while a total of five Albertans were taken in the 20 rounds, something that hasn't happened since 2011. We break down the numbers, then chat with three Albertans, a Canadian who trained here and an American whose career was resurrected by coming to our province.
2:42 - Nathan Flewelling
9:20 - Cohen Achen
17:05 - Owen Pote
26:58 - Micah McDowell
34:06 - Eric Rataczak

After spending last episode focusing on the players involved in the 2024 Western Canadian Baseball League Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, this episode focuses on the state of the league through the various conversations had during the broadcast for the game. Thanks to HomeTeam Live for allowing us to use the audio from those interviews, which include:
1:36 - WCBL President Kevin Kvame
12:20 - Okotoks Dawgs GM Tyler Hollick
18:33 - Regina Red Sox VP Al Simpson
24:47 - Canadian Baseball Network editor Kevin Glew
29:26 - Saskatoon Berries President Steve Hildebrand
35:32 - WCBL Managing Director of Corporate Sponsorships & Marketing Mark Stiles
45:16 - Canadian baseball legend Matt Stairs

Have yourself a day, Carter Beck! The Saskatoon Berries slugger was the star of the 2024 WCBL Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, finished second in the Derby to Fort McMurray's Peyton McDowall before going 3-for-3 with two RBI to help the East Division to the 13-6 win over the West Division. Beck, who is from Carnduff, Saskatchewan, was named the Game MVP. In the first of a trio of new podcast episodes this week, we chatted with several players representing their teams at the All-Star Game festivities at Seaman Stadium in Okotoks.
1:45 - Carter Beck - Saskatoon Berries
4:50 - Peyton McDowall - Fort McMurray Giants
7:19 - Cooper Ciesielski - Sylvan Lake Gulls
10:45 - Jackson Syring - Regina Red Sox
15:44 - Colton Anderson - Regina Red Sox
20:58 - Ian Heck - Weyburn Beavers
26:36 - Nathan Houston - Moose Jaw Miller Express
29:26 - Antony Gilbert - Brooks Bombers
32:06 - Tucker Zdunich - Okotoks Dawgs
 

It's an action-packed episode of the podcast as we have five guests joining us this week as well as a new sponsor announcement and a contest to win a Michael Soroka autographed baseball. Joe sits down with long-time Okotoks Dawgs infielder Aidan Rose while Ian takes us along for his family trip through Saskatchewan to chat with Cory Wouters of the Saskatoon Berries, Takao Cookson of the Moose Jaw Miller Express and Marcus Graham of the Swift Current 57s. We wrap up the episode back in Medicine Hat where Ian caught up with Sportsnet broadcaster Jamie Campbell.
4:39 - Aidan Rose
21:05 - Cory Wouters
27:30 - Takao Cookson
33:59 - Marcus Graham
41:11 - Jamie Campbell

Both Joe and Ian found themselves on the road for Canada Day to take in games in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, respectively. Joe chatted with Bulls head coach Myles Fletcher (Lethbridge, AB) about being an original member of the LA Bulls and marking the team's 25th anniversary, utilityman Carlin Dick (Abbotsford, BC) about his season so far, and Sylvan Lake Gulls hurler Hunter Jones (Edmonton, AB) about his outstanding start. Then Ian stops by for conversations with Medicine Hat Mavericks stars Nick Thibodeau (Burlington, ON) and Tyler Vanneste (Warman SK) about their respective baseball journeys.
5:40 - Myles Fletcher
10:50 - Carlin Dick
16:16 - Hunter Jones
24:13 - Nick Thibodeau
33:16 - Tyler Vanneste