The vocal leader of the Okotoks Dawgs is letting his play at the plate do the talking.
Third-year Dawg Austin Voros has made a point of backing up his words with his play on the field for Okotoks. Through 11 games he’s accomplished the feat in mighty impressive fashion.
The affable Dawgs outfielder leads the team with a staggering .516 batting average and 11 runs batted in doing clean-up duty in Okotoks.
“I’ve just been working a lot in the cage, coming in here early and getting in a lot of swings,” Voros said of the reasons for the hot start. “I’ve really focused on getting my hands going and finding barrel and it’s been working out.”
The 22-year-old said he’s never quite been on a roll like this in Okotoks.
“This is my best start ever, hopefully I can keep getting lucky and finding barrel and things will go my way.”
Dawgs’ manger Brandon Newell said Voros’ plate discipline has been crucial to his success with the bat to start the summer.
“The biggest thing is he’s getting pitches to hit, he’s getting a lot of fastballs to hit and with Austin it’s usually a pitch selection thing,” Newell said. “Right now he’s swinging at a lot of strikes.”
He had momentum coming into the summer season after notching a terrific Senior campaign with Texas A & M International University. Playing right field for the Dust Devils, Voros finished with two homeruns, 27 runs batted in, a .333 batting average and an impressive .433 on base percentage.
“I had a good swing at the end of the year and have just tried to keep that going,” Voros said. “That momentum definitely has carried over from school.”
Voros played spot duty in the outfield last season and often served as the designated hitter. This year, he’s been a fixture in left field.
“I prefer the outfield because it’s more active. I’m loud, but sometimes I lose focus so that helps me stay into the game,” Voros said.
He should only get more playing time in a less crowded outfield after the recent departure of outfielder Tyler Hollick to the San Francisco Giants’ farm system.
In his third summer in Okotoks, Voros has embraced his expanded leadership role as one of the true veterans on a young Dawgs team. The Vancouver native said his responsibility in the dugout has significantly evolved since he first stepped foot in Seaman Stadium in 2010.
“My first year it was let the guys who have been here before lead a little bit,” Voros said. “Now this year I’m trying to get everyone going, trying to be a leader because all the guys who have been here don’t know what this place is about.
“There’s a lot of pride here and you have to play with pride so I try to help these guys out.”
Voros, a fan-favourite and two-time winner of the Dawgs’ True Grit Award, is well suited to leadership duty.
“I enjoy it because I’m a very outgoing guy, very personable, loud and I think that guys take notice of that and if I show by my actions then hopefully they will follow,” Voros said.
His advice to the young players is to loosen up on the field in front of the hordes of fans in the Seaman Stadium seats.
“You can’t be tight, you’ve got to be loose, you’ve got to have fun,” Voros said. “That’s the only way you’re going to do well, you cannot play this game uptight anywhere, especially here in front of 2,000 people.”
Voros has taken first-year Collegiate Dawg James Stewart, a product of the Dawgs Academy, under his wing to help him handle the jump up in competition, pressure and expectation.
“He’s a great kid, he’s going to be a good player for us and I’ve been helping him out, keeping him loose and just encouraging him,” Voros said of Stewart. “That will help him.”
Newell said it’s vital to have Voros’ combination of experience and professional demeanour on the roster.
“It’s huge because we know exactly what we’re going to get out of Austin everyday,” Newell said. “And he can relay that information to all of our other young players and say ‘hey this is how we act when we’re around here and these are the expectations.’
“It’s another coach when we’re out on the field and he sure makes my job easier.”
Dawgs victimized by weather
The Okotoks Dawgs must be wondering what they did to deserve such a bad stretch of weather to start the Western Major Baseball League campaign.
After suffering a 9-1 defeat to the Medicine Hat Mavericks on June 21 in Okotoks, the Dawgs’ opportunity to atone for the loss the following night was taken away due to the wet weather.
Instead, the Dawgs and Yorkton Cardinals played back-to-back games on a rain-filled June 24. Okotoks took the opener 7-0. In his first appearance of the season, Bret DeRooy pitched seven shutout innings while holding the Cardinals to just three hits. Trace Tam Sing hit a solo homerun in just his second game with the Dawgs, while third baseman John Apostolo drove in three runs.
The visiting Cardinals took the back end of the matchup with a narrow 3-2 victory in a rain-soaked affair.
Okotoks hosted the Edmonton Prospects on June 26, but results were too late for press time. The Dawgs return from a three-game road trip on June 30 to take on the Swift Current Indians at 7 p.m. at Seaman Stadium. The Dawgs then host their annual Canada Day game on July 1 against the Indians at 7:05 p.m. Following the game there will be a fireworks display starting at approximately 10 p.m. For more information go to www.dawgsbaseball.ca.
