Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

Welcome to the silly season for baseball in our neck of the woods. National championships are getting underway, The Road to Okotoks is nearing, and the Western Canadian Baseball League All-Star Game is set for next weekend. To get you all set up, we hear from Baseball Sask rising star Beth Sarauer (Clavet) about her excitement to play for three provincial teams, Kaleb Bozek (Castor) of Vauxhall Academy and the Brooks Bombers on all the things he's up to this summer, and our Ian Wilson stops by for a mid-season(ish) check in on the WCBL and his excitement for the All-Star Weekend in Saskatoon.
7:26 - Beth Sarauer
17:20 - Kaleb Bozek
27:59 - Ian Wilson

Plenty of news around the baseball world as we enter the month of July. Then we get to know a trio of guests with ATHX Academy product Caleb Mercer (Fort McMurray), Baseball Alberta rising star Avery Mullin (Leduc) and we catch up with Saskatoon Berries hurler Adam Korte (Muenster).
5:50 - Caleb Mercer
19:46 - Avery Mullin
33:54 - Adam Korte

We get you caught up on yet another busy week in the baseball news business before a trio of fantastic conversations. Baseball Alberta unveiled its 14U, 16U and 19U women's national events coming up later this summer and one familiar face is Airdrie's Natalie Kerr, who joins us to talk about her journey in the game. Then we head to the Western Canadian Baseball League to hear from one of the leading hitters in Swift Current 57's star Jake Hiromoto and one of the circuit's top pitchers in Okotoks Dawgs hurler Wyatt Sadleir.
 
7:39 - Natalie Kerr
21:33 - Jake Hiromoto
37:38 - Wyatt Sadleir

It has been a crazy week with one major story dominating the headlines. We take a deep dive into all that has transpired as the Western Canadian Baseball League has granted approval to the Energy City Cactus Rats hosting home games for the rest of the season. We provide a lot of context and some lengthy clips from league president Kevin Kvame's news conference on Wednesday. After that, we hear from Regina Red Sox veterans Justin Simard and Colton Bank, Medicine Hat Mavericks infielder Johnny Vulcano, and we catch up with Cochrane's Simon Baker after his award-winning college season.
11:54 - Justin Simard
15:53 - Colton Bank
19:08 - Johnny Vulcano
27:37 - Simon Baker

More guests and more news! We have a jam-packed episode of the show as we get to know Dawgs Academy hurler AJ Rogers as he gets ready for a busy summer. He’s pitching in the MLB Draft League right now and is also getting ready for The Road to Okotoks. Then Ian Wilson kickstarts our season of “In The Dugout” with a quartet of guests: Thomas Soto and William Edwards of the Moose Jaw Miller Express and Rydell and Kyrell Adair of the Swift Current 57’s. We also have a bit of a mailbag segment to round out the show.
6:40 – AJ Rogers
20:03 – Thomas Soto
28:35 – William Edwards
33:06 – Rydell Adair
37:10 – Kyrell Adair
40:15 – Mailbag Questions

Slowly but surely we're getting ourselves back into a regular cadence. And that includes putting the wraps on another busy week of news in the baseball world. Then we dive into The Road to Okotoks and last weekend's Prairie Qualifiers, which were rained out on the final Sunday. In the end, Baseball Canada opted to allow all four semi-final teams to get to the main event in July. We get to know a player from each of the teams on the latest edition of the show. Read "Next Stop: Okotoks" for more on the Prairie Qualifiers.
7:08 - Hudson Nikkel - Vauxhall Academy
19:10 - Cale Harsch - AHP Academy
30:34 - Rhett Anderson - Baseball Sask
44:23 - Owen Coumont - Gulls Prep

What a Friday it was in Carnduff as the Western Canadian Baseball League came to the community and put on a show for the second-annual Rural Roots Baseball Classic. A massive tip of the cap to everyone involved in organizing yet another memorable day in celebrating the past, present and future of baseball in Carnduff and southeastern Saskatchewan. Last year’s inaugural event in Oyen was fantastic and this season’s was another spectacle with a packed house coming to see the Saskatoon Berries and Weyburn Beavers do battle. Check out the photo gallery here.
1:10 - Ian Wilson
13:05 - Ethan Murdoch
20:23 - Jackson Fox
23:30 - Garnet Hansen
27:14 - Blair Beck

We put the wraps on a very busy week for baseball across the prairies by taking a look at the female game with some pretty exciting news over the last couple of weeks. We have a quartet of guests joining us to get through it all, including a new league in Calgary, a new academy in Saskatoon, an update from the Women's National Team, and a long-time national team member who made a special appearance in Lethbridge over the past week.
2:02 - Sydney Barry
10:55 - Addie Ziebart
19:27 - Julianna Scott
27:08 - Nicole Luchanski (via the Bullhorn in Lethbridge)

We’ve chatted with players and now it’s time to provide a little insight into how we see things shaping up around the Western Canadian Baseball League this summer. Joe and Ian are the special guests for the WCBL Report’s Season Preview Show, hosted by Clark Monroe. Thanks to the league and IKS Media for sharing the audio so that we can bring all our thoughts to you. Enjoy!
Check out our one-stop-shop for all our written WCBL season preview stories here.

Welcome to part two of our WCBL Season Preview Extravaganza! After spending the last episode in the East Division, it's time to take a look at the West Division with a guest from each of the six teams and their expectations heading into the summer.
1:19 - Sylvan Lake Gulls - Kai Rempel
7:22 - Okotoks Dawgs - Brody Forno
12:39 - Lethbridge Bulls - Cardel Dick
19:32 - Brooks Bombers - Deri Steiert-Couture
25:01 - Fort McMurray Giants - Jordan Breen
30:13 - Energy City Cactus Rats - Hudson Kozicki

The Western Canadian Baseball League season is upon us! As has become a new tradition here on the show, we've lined up quick check-ins from one player with each team to look ahead to the summer and what they're expecting out of their respective teams. Today, we focus on the East Division, while the West Division comes tomorrow.
1:09 - Regina Red Sox - Brady Bye
6:34 - Saskatoon Berries - Aidan Marien
12:34 - Medicine Hat Mavericks - Evan Morrison
18:13 - Moose Jaw Miller Express - Nathan Pisio
25:24 - Weyburn Beavers - Brayden Mayencourt
30:40 - Swift Current 57s - Hudson Unger

For the first time since 2017, the Canadian College Baseball Conference championship belongs to Prairie Baseball Academy. After the last few years of hosting the CCBC World Series but not making it to the big game, head coach Todd Hubka and company claimed first place in the regular season and made it count this past weekend, finishing it up with a 12-7 win over the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks. During this episode, you'll hear from Hubka and several PBA players as well as EC head coach Jake Lanferman following an outstanding season.
2:18 - Todd Hubka
5:28 - Aiden Beck
8:13 - Will Paterson
10:28 - Declan O'Kane
12:51 - Logan Heaney
15:11 - Nate Garth
17:49 - Tetsu Nishida
19:49 - Jake Lanferman