The Okotoks Dawgs’ season ended last week when they faced the same bugaboo they’ve had all year — they weren’t able to get the key hit at a key time.
The Dawgs were edged 5-4 by the Medicine Hat Mavericks Friday night at Seaman Stadium to give the Gas City ball club a 3-1 victory in the best-of-five series in the opening round or the Western Major Baseball League (WMBL) playoffs.
“It’s devastating, not what we wanted, it’s not what our goal is,” said Dawgs catcher Jordan Procyshen. “We had them this game and we couldn’t pull through. We played our hearts out but (this season) we fell short too many times.
“We had the talent, but we were just too inconsistent.”
Medicine Hat scratched out the winning run Friday in the top of the 11th without getting a hit. Dawgs relief pitcher Matt Thornton plucked the Mavericks’ Greg Silva in the back with one out.
Silva then stole second base. He was able to come home when Dawgs catcher Andrew Nist’s throw went awry trying to nab Silva swiping third.
Okotoks battled back from a 4-1 deficit scoring three runs in the seventh inning to tie the game at 4-4.
The Dawgs then proceeded to fall short by about 90 feet.
They had two chances to outright win the game in the bottom of the ninth and 10th innings with a runner on third base but couldn’t push either of them across. They left the tying run 90 feet away when Drew Pettit grounded out to third with Zac Asman on third base to end their season.
The Dawgs appeared to have won the game in the bottom of the 10th when, with one out and the speedy James Stewart on third base, Okotoks’ Adam Clark hit a hard ground ball to Mavs’ third baseman Garrett Weise with the infield in. Weise rifled the ball home to Mavs’ catcher CJ DeDeaux and Stewart was called out by umpire Mat Payne.
“Yeah, I was definitely safe, I thought I had a couple of inches,” Stewart said. “You can’t do anything about it.”
Not surprisingly, the Mavs’ DeDeaux disagreed.
“It was a tough play all around,” DeDeaux said. “The throw was a bit off line, but it had enough to get there. I just made sure I blocked the plate, watched the ball come in and I got the tag down. I thought he was out.”
The Dawgs had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth when Okotoks’ Tres Eberhardt smashed a line drive to Mavericks second baseman Collin Hetzler with two outs.
“I honestly thought that was it because I hit it right on the screws and I was just hoping it would go two inches left or right because it would have been game over,” Eberhardt said. “It just didn’t go our way after that.”
Connor Russell got the start for the Dawgs and gave up four runs in 5 2/3 innings. Paul Geuy was brought in to relieve Russell and was brilliant giving up no runs in three and a third innings.
Geuy got considerable help from Thornton in the top of the 10th inning. Thornton had inherited Mavericks on second and third and a 2-2 count on Medicine Hat’s Bryan Arthur.
Thornton struck out Arthur and was able to get out of the inning.
The Dawgs opened the series with a 12-8 victory on July 31 in Medicine Hat.
However, they then lost the next three games. The Mavericks took it to the Dawgs 10-3 on Aug. 1 in Medicine Hat to tie the series at 1-1. The Mavs then took a 2-1 lead in the series by embarrassing the Dawgs 12-2 at Seaman Stadium on Thursday.
It might have been the team’s worst performance ever in the friendly confines of Seaman Stadium.
Dawgs manager Brandon Newell said he was embarrassed by the 12-2 loss on Thursday in front of a hometown, but was proud of how his team regrouped for Friday night’s game.
The first-round loss is the earliest exit the Dawgs have ever had in their six seasons in Okotoks. Newell admitted the team’s performance was below expectations.
“It’s no one’s responsibility but mine. I am the one who recruits the team and it falls on me,” Newell said. “We weren’t good enough… I didn’t recruit good enough players this year.”
He added he felt Stewart was safe but the Dawgs had plenty of other chances to win game. Newell said the loss was symbolic of the Dawgs’ whole season.
“We had every opportunity to win that game and we didn’t get it done,” Newell said. “It was the story of our summer. We found a way to not get it done a lot.”
He added credit should be given to the Mavericks, who finished first in the West Division, 4 games ahead of the third-place Dawgs.
Newell will be taking more of an administrative role with the Dawgs next season. The collegiate team will be coached by AJ Fystro, who led the Okotoks Dawgs to two WMBL titles in 2008
and 2009.
The Mavericks will play the Lethbridge Bulls for the Western Division title.
In Saskatchewan, the defending WMBL champions Regina Red Sox will take on the Moose Jaw Miller Express in the East Final.
