Sun Devils hope to shine for Dawgs

You never know what you can learn when you are sitting in the locker room of one of the top American university baseball teams.

The Okotoks Dawgs’ newest infielder found out Okotoks was a great place to play baseball while hanging out in the locker-room at Arizona State University.

“Our coach told me that I was going to Okotoks, Canada to play for the Dawgs for the summer and Kasey Coffman and Trever Allen were sitting right next to me,” said Emilio Torrez, a redshirt second baseman for the ASU Sun Devils. “They told me what a great place it was — the great facilities, all the fans at the game…. They got me pretty excited.”

Torrez and Tony DiMartino, a first baseman with the Sun Devils, will play for the Dawgs this summer.

Koffman and Allen played first base and outfield respectively for the Dawgs in 2011 when Okotoks lost to the Regina Red Sox in the Western Major Baseball League final. They are two Sun Devils who proved you can get hot in Arizona with a Canadian summer under your belt.

Koffman is hitting .320 with five home runs and 32 RBI for the Sun Devils this season. The rifle-armed Allen is hitting .338 with nine dingers and 40 RBI.

Allen and Koffman said they saw little action at ASU before coming to Okotoks.

“They told me that Okotoks gave them a good jump start to playing college baseball,” he said.

Torrez hasn’t seen any action in his freshman year in Tempe. He described himself as a guy who will do anything to help his team.

“I’m someone who gets after it and gives 110 per cent every day,” Torrez said. “I do the little things — try to hustle everything out.”

He said his strength is his glove and his base running.

“I want to take in the whole experience of my first summer college experience and get some at bats,” Torrez said. “I’m open to playing any position, wherever the coach needs me.”

DiMartino has had a handful of at bats in his freshman year with the Sun Devils.

“It’s really hard to play as a freshman at Arizona State, so every at bat I try to take advantage of,” he said. “I’m am doing pretty well. I’m four for seven.”

One of those hits includes a home run.

DiMartino is a 19-year-old six-foot-one, 210-pound right-handed hitter with some pop.

“I was recruited by quite a few teams and it was always my dream to play for Arizona State with all of their baseball tradition,” he said.

His goal is to be in the heart of the order for the Dawgs.

“I think I am a pretty good power hitter with a pretty good glove around first base,” he said.

DiMartino has hit a world beating home run in his youth. He hit a walk-off home run for USA in the U14 World Championship final in Guatemala.

Now he wants to get more international baseball experience by heading to Canada to follow in Koffman and Allen’s footsteps.

“As a freshman, the (ASU) coaching staff wants me to grow and get as much experience as I can in Okotoks,” DiMartino said. “They said nothing but good things about Okotoks. I went to talk to ‘T’ Allen and Kasey and they told me going to Okotoks was the greatest experience ever for summer leagues.”

Dawgs coach AJ Fystro said the fact top schools like ASU, which has won five NCAA championships, are recommending their players to come to Okotoks is a testament to the Dawgs program.

“The schools know that their kids are going to get playing time and they won’t be spending their whole summer on the bench,” Fystro said.

The Dawgs open their season with an exhibition game on May 30 against the J Dawgs Academy at Seaman Stadium.

They kick off the WMBL season June 1 on the road against the Lethbridge Bulls. Their home opener is June 7 against the Edmonton Prospects.

For ticket information call the Dawgs at 403-262-DAWG or go to www.dawgsbaseball.ca