The manager of the Okotoks Dawgs is hoping a rest is good for a change as the team heads into the Western Major Baseball League playoffs.
The Dawgs go into their first-round best-of-five playoff against the Western Division champion Medicine Mat Mavericks with their pitching staff well rested, according to manager Brandon Newell.
“We have our starting pitching staff with more rest than they have had all year,” Newell said. “Bret DeRooy (2-1, 2.35. ERA) will go in having nine days rest and then Dan Britton-Foster (3-1, 2.45 ERA) has eight days rest. Those are the first two guys we got throwing.”
The series started July 31 in Medicine Hat and Foster is scheduled to pitch tonight (Aug. 31) in Game 2. When the series comes to Okotoks for Games 3 and 4, Thursday and Friday, Ryan Rogers (4-3, 4.81 ERA) and Connor Russell (5-2, 4.85 ERA) will likely get the starts.
The Dawgs are limping into the playoffs by losing eight of their last 10 games before a pair of forfeit victories over the Edmonton Prospects last weekend. (The games were played but did not count because the Prospects did not have enough eligible players).
The Dawgs will be pitching against a hard-hitting Mavericks team, who ended Okotoks’ five-year streak of Western Division crowns. The Mavericks, who hit .302 as a team during the regular season, finished with a 31-15 record while the third-place Dawgs were 26-19, their worst record since they moved to Okotoks in 2007. The Mavericks won five of the eight games between the two teams during the regular season.
“Through their line-up they are extremely competitive,” Newell said of the Mavericks. “They don’t strikeout and they got some power in the middle of their line-up... They have solid defense. If they play the way they can and we play the best we can, it will be a five-game donnybrook.”
Outfielder Bryan Arthur led the Mavs with a .369 batting average. He also had three homers and a team high 41 RBI. Outfielder Bubba Dotson mashed five homers and had 40 RBI.
Facing the Mavs’ pitching can be like a first date. You go in with plenty of optimism, but by the end of the night you wonder what went wrong.
“They have good pitching, but it’s not dominating pitching,” Newell said. “They are going to start Billy Martin in Game 1. He is a fast-worker, doesn’t throw that hard, but can really keep the batters off balance.”
Martin finished the season at 7-2 with a 2.60 ERA while their closer, Ryan Castadio, had 11 saves with an ERA of 1.70.
Mavericks coach Greg Morrison said he isn’t going to take anything for granted despite winning the Western Division crown. He knows the Mavericks are in for a dawgfight.
“It will come down to which players will step up at playoff time,” he said. “The Dawgs have good starting pitching and power in the middle.”
He said the Dawgs’ Stetson Olson and outfielder Jerod Bartnik have hurt the Mavericks in the past.
On the mound, Britton-Foster said he is looking forward to getting the ball for Game 2.
“I think I have an advantage over them because they saw me early in the season and I have my good stuff now,” Britton-Foster said. “They had one or two guys that really got a hold of me. I think with my two off-speed pitches, I can keep them off-balance this time.”
Britton-Foster beat the Hat 14-3 on June 17 at Seaman Stadium. He allowed five hits and one earned run over seven innings.
Britton-Foster is the last remaining Dawg from the organization’s last WMBL title in 2009.
“I don’t think you can dwell on the past,” he said. “This is a new team and we I think we will all focus down and be ready to go Tuesday.”
He said he also believes the Dawgs were coming out of their hitting slump last week.
Dawgs infielder Thomas Rodrigues agreed.
“I thought our last two games against Edmonton this team was starting to hit again,” Rodrigues said. “We hit a wall there for while, but I think we have broke through.”
The Dawgs’ hitting has slumped during the last two weeks. However, Newell said he has noticed a spark in the players in the clubhouse the last few days.
He said the Dawgs might have to the little things — hit-and-run, sacrifice bunts — early in the game to get the offense going.
“We had a long talk after the game (on July 24) and I told our guys flat out that we have the ability to win nine more games (to win the WMBL pennant),” Newell said. “It’s just a matter of how well we concentrate… I told our guys we have to get our swagger back. Some of our guys are frustrated and we have to get over it.”
Game 3 and Game 4, if necessary, are on Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. on Seaman Stadium. Game 5 would be in Medicine Hat on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The other WMBL series has Central Division champs the Swift Current Indians taking on the Lethbridge Bulls. In the East Division, the defending champion Regina Red Sox play the Weyburn Beavers and the Melville Millionaires play the Moose Jaw Millers.
