The Okotoks Dawgs hit a drought in Saskatchewan.
The Dawgs, who have won the Western Division crown for each of their five seasons in Okotoks, are now fighting to stay in second place.
After Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Moose Jaw Miller Express, the Dawgs’ record dropped to 23-16 and they find themselves just a half-game in front of the third-place Lethbridge Bulls (22-16) and a full four games back of the first-place Medicine Hat Mavericks (28-13) with just a week left in the Western Major Baseball League season.
“The good thing is we are in the playoffs,” Dawgs manager Brandon Newell said.
“We are going to have a tough time catching Medicine Hat, and if we don’t, it won’t be the end of the world.
“Our goal is not to win the West, but to win a championship ring.”
The Dawgs started last week’s road trip tied for first-place with the Medicine Hat Mavericks.
However, they became road-kill by losing all four of their road games, including dropping a 12-11 decision to the Bulls after taking a 10-0 lead in the first inning on July 17 in Lethbridge.
“You should never give up a 10-run lead,” Newell said.
“I told our guys that in a ballpark like Lethbridge and the wind blowing out, anything can happen and it did.”
It was the start of a four-game losing streak for the Dawgs after they lost a 5-3 decision to the Swift Current Indians on July 18.
They then lost a pair of games to the Weyburn Beavers on July 18-19.
The Dawgs came home on Saturday night and rebounded to beat the Moose Jaw Miller Express 4-1 in front of a full house.
Ryan Rogers got the win for the Dawgs to improve his record to 4-3. Stetson Olson drove in a pair of runs for the Dawgs.
The Express then derailed the Dawgs’ one-game winning streak by beating Okotoks 4-1 at a full Seaman Stadium on Wear Pink Day Sunday.
“We’re just not playing very good ball right now,” Newell said.
“We had three errors in the ballgame and you’re are just not going to win in this league with three errors in a game.”
The Dawgs had a much-needed day of rest on Monday after playing 12 days in a row — seven of those games in Saskatchewan.
“The reality is our pitching is starting to catch up with us now,” Newell said. “We had four guys leave the day before the roster deadline (July 1). At that time of the year, there isn’t really anybody around to replace them.”
Starting pitchers Hunter Herdt and Trent Wilson left the Dawgs in July due to their college team being concerned about throwing too many innings during the summer, both of who were part of the Okotoks’ rotation at the start of the year. Dalton Mellot and Brett Haan, who also gave the Dawgs some valuable innings, had to leave for family and an injury, respectively.
However, Newell admits, like the great Willie Nelson said: “You gotta dance with the one you brought with ya.”
“We have had to shorten up our bullpen but all teams have things they are dealing with at the end of the year,” he said. “It is, what it is… We do have the ability to win this. Our players have to decide do they want to be here for four or five more weeks and win a championship or do they want to go home after two weeks?”
Third-year Dawg Rylan Chin is convinced the Okotoks squad plans to be here for the long haul.
“The next week we have to pull off a few wins in a row to get a good spot in the playoffs,” Chin said. “Right now, we are slumping
with the bats.
“The day off is going to help us and I think we will come out hitting.”
He admitted the Dawgs played like the terrain while they were in Saskatchewan.
“We just played flat all week,” Chin said. “All of the ball games we were right there to win, but we just couldn’t get that timely hit.”
The schedule appears to be on the Dawgs’ side. Four of Okotoks’ final seven games are against the Edmonton Prospects, owners of the worst record in the league.
They have a crucial game tonight (July 25) when they play the Lethbridge Bulls in Lethbridge.
The Dawgs play the Melville Millionaires on July 26-27 at Seaman Stadium 7 p.m. They then travel to Edmonton to take on the Prospects on July 28. They host the Prospects during Fan Appreciation on July 29.
The Dawgs will close out the season on July 30 when they play the Edmonton Prospects at Seaman Stadium. It is a make-up game for a rainout in Edmonton so the Dawgs will be the road team.
The WMBL playoffs will begin on July 30. The Dawgs’ playoff dates have yet to be determined. For ticket information call 403-262-DAWG (3294).
Western Major Baseball League playoff scenario:
Western Major Baseball League playoff scenerio as of July 22:East 1 (Regina Red Sox) vs. East 4 (Weyburn Beavers)East 2 (Melville Millionaires) vs. East 3 (Moose Jaw Miller Express)West 1 (Medicine Hat Mavericks) vs. West 4 (Lethbridge Bulls)West 2 (Swift Current Indians) vs. West 3 (Okotoks Dawgs)
