An Okotoks Dawg was relieved to be back on the bump after concerns he would be ineligible for the 2012 Western Major Baseball League season sent a scare through the locker room.
Southpaw Ryan Rogers got the start in the Dawgs’ 4-2 loss to the Lethbridge Bulls on June 7 at Seaman Stadium. His 2012 Dawgs’ debut came 24 hours after he was scratched from the team’s home opener on June 6 because of questions of his eligibility.
“I found out right after BP (batting practice) on the home-opener that I wouldn’t be starting,” Rogers said. “It was in the back of my mind that I wouldn’t get to play this season, but I was pretty confident that a good decision would be made.”
The concern dealt with Rogers not playing collegiate ball in 2011-12 after competing an all-star WMBL season last summer. The WMBL has switched to only college-eligible players as of this season.
Rogers had initially gone back to Lindsey-Wilson College in Kentucky in the fall of 2011, but the school dropped Rogers after a disagreement with a coach.
“My grades were fine, but they pulled my scholarship,” Rogers said. “I couldn’t afford to pay the tuition to go there.”
As a result, Rogers spent the winter in Okotoks helping to coach Dawgs Academy players.
However, Rogers is eligible to play college ball in the fall and he is presently deciding which school he wants to attend.
The Dawgs left-hander was reinstated by the WMBL in a unanimous vote among league officials during a conference call immediately following the Dawgs’ home opener on June 6.
Dawgs executive director John Ircandia was part of that conference call.
“I pointed out that the league had drafted a rule that (even though) you could be eligible to play college, you could be cleared by the NCAA and the NAIA and yet you can’t be eligible to play in our league,” Ircandia said.
He said in other college leagues across North America, Rogers would have been deemed eligible.
he WMBL executives credit for amending its rule and allowing Rogers to play.
WMBL president Kevin Kvame said the league ruled in favour of Rogers in order to be consistent with other collegiate leagues.
“As we move to being a summer college league and put regulations in place, you don’t anticipate certain scenarios,” Kvame said. “As situations develop it’s important that we look at our rules and adjust them accordingly.”
He said under the initial rule made in December, Rogers was not eligible.
“By looking at other league rules, he (Rogers) definitely had college eligibility left,” he said. “So we voted to amend our rule.”
The concern of Rogers’ eligibility to play for the Dawgs was raised by a Saskatchewan-based team in the WMBL.
Ironically, the Dawgs have been the major advocates of making the WBML a total collegiate league.
