Two top of the lineup Dawgs are topping the charts league wide.
Okotoks Dawgs Black outfielders Kaden Zarowny and Alejandro Cazorla’s combination of hitting for power, hitting for contact and running the bases have them leading several Western Canadian Baseball League categories.
“We’ve been really prepared,” said Zarowny, a centre-fielder. “Working in the fieldhouse all winter getting ready to play games as much as we can, including live at-bats and all that, so I think it’s mostly just hard work, putting swings in and taking hundreds of swings every day.”
Once the academy teams got the go-ahead they would be playing in the WCBL it wasn’t so much a shift in preparation as it was a change in mentality, the outfielder added.
“It was going to practice to go to practice and hit live at-bats against each other and then all of sudden we found out we were going to play games and it was ‘boom, we’ve got to win, we’ve got to get into it, get competitive again,'” Zarowny said. “Even though that never left, it was just different, and it clicked just like that and we were ready to go.
“It was a long wait, for sure, it got everybody pumped up to find out we were going to get to actually play some games in front of everybody.”
With fans in the stands, the affable outfielder has been putting on a show.
Zarowny leads the WCBL with 5 home runs and 22 ribbies along with 17 runs scored.
“I just try to stay as short as I can through the ball and the more I catch barrels, the more balls are going to leave,” he said of his power hitting. “I just want to try and make contact as best as I can and barrel the ball anywhere I can and take it up the middle.”
Zarowny’s biggest dinger of the season came in dramatic fashion in Lethbridge on July 8 as he clutched up for grand slam with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 victory.
“It was a couple great at-bats right before to load the bases,” Zarowny said. “My good friend Tyrese Johnson was at third and I took a look at him and knew I was going to get it done, it was a weird feeling and I knew I was going to get something done.”
With ample speed to cover centre field, Zarowny looks every bit a veteran at the position.
In fact, that’s anything but the case.
“It was a big switch, I’ve been catching pretty much my entire life and never played in outfield, that was like the only position I didn’t play back in Bantam,” he said. “Back in Grade 11 my coach (Tyler Hollick) realized I can run a little bit so they didn’t want to ruin my legs by being a catcher every day so I made the transfer.”
Cazorla, who typically hits in the three-hole and mans right field, has been an absolute terror on the basepaths and at the plate with a league best 20 hits, 16 stolen bases along with a.392 batting average, a stat led by Dawgs Black catcher Kobe Laevens who’s hitting an impressive .415.
Cazorla attributed his prolific base-running statistics to his work in the gym and the terrific coaching he’s received through the academy from Hollick.
“Growing up I was never really the fastest guy on the field and something I put a lot of work into is base-running,” he said. “Yes, I may have stole a lot of bases as a kid, but as the level got higher guys throw a lot harder across the plate, faster to the plate and you’ve just got to adapt.
“Luckily we have, in my opinion, the best strength program in the whole country here and with that in addition to the speed work we have it’s come over the years. “Coach Hollick has done an outstanding job of teaching me the minute details of base-running, whether the (pitcher) has a big leg-kick, how fast he is to the plate, breaking ball counts, stuff like that.”
Often hitting one after another at the top of the lineup and penciled in at right and centre field together, it’s easy to see how the Dawgs teammates feed off one another.
“There might be an at-bat where we thought it got away from each other, but he’s right there to pick me up and same thing the other way,” Cazorla added. “We’re there to pick each other up every day of the week and that’s something I’m very appreciative of, especially with us going to the same school in the fall.
“And we’ll hopefully keep bringing that down there.”
Cazorla, Zarowny and Dryden Howse have charted a course to JUCO powerhouse Crowder College, following in the footsteps of Okotoks academy grad Ricardo Sanchez.
Cazorla said the opportunity for his longtime academy teammates, the likes of Zarowny, Howse, Connor Crowson and Matt Wilkinson, is not lost on them with this being their final season together.
“We all got together one day and told each other ‘hey, let’s buy in, results will come and the W is the most important thing at the end of the day,” Cazorla added. “That’s what we’ve been sticking by and the results are coming along.
“And we’re just very appreciative of every moment we have on the field together.”
The gradual improvements have been evident on the scoreboard.
Dawgs Black completed its best week of the season with four wins to improve to 8-7 on the season, good for third in league behind Edmonton and Lethbridge. Dawgs Red sits at the 6-10 mark.
This week, Dawgs Red is at Seaman Stadium for games on July 14, 15 and 17 while Dawgs Black has a more road-heavy schedule with home dates on July 15 and 19.
For more information go to dawgsbaseball.ca
