This story was originally published on Okotoksonline.com on August 9, 2013 (link to story)
Do or die. Backs against the wall. Must-win.
You can use any cliche out you want, but the fact was the Okotoks Dawgs needed to win to carry on their season Thursday night.
They didn’t, they lost 13-8 to the Medicine Hat Mavericks, the top team in the WMBL over the regular season.
The loss didn’t come because of a lack of effort, however. The Dawgs responded to a three-run opening inning by the Mavs with a six-run explosion and led the visiting team 6-3 after the first inning. Not to be done there, the Dawgs kept the crowd at Seaman Stadium on their feet blasting two more runs in the second, bringing their runs total to 8, more than they had put up in the previous two games combined.
Unfortunately, the runs stopped there for the Dawgs as an early pitching change by the Mavericks changed the momentum for the rest of the game.
In the end the Mavs proved too powerful finishing the night with 19 hits and forcing 6 errors.
Those mistakes are what ultimately ended the Dawgs season.
“A team that puts up 19 hits, you gotta tip your hat, and we tried to match them with 14 hits ourselves. And with six errors, you can’t win ball games against this team when you make six errors,” Dawgs’ Manager AJ Fystro said after the game.
Post game on the field gave a real sense of what this team was all about, how close the players and staff are. With a short season, College summer teams rarely are able to form much of a bond. Players come from all over the United States and Canada to get their reps in while school is out, and it doesn’t allow much time to get to know each other.
The 2013 Okotoks Dawgs were different. Players hugged each other, stayed silent, some even teared up after the realization of the summer ending sunk in.
“I can’t say enough great things about this team. If you came into our locker room or came into our dugout you’d think we’d been together for a full season like a college team,” explained catcher and Okotoks native Jordan Procyshen. “Everybody loves each other and the chemistry we created here is unbelievable, and I consider each one of these men here my brothers.”
After a 31-13 regular season record surely the Dawgs wanted a better result. No organization, from top to bottom, wanted another championship more than the Okotoks Dawgs. But this season, the Medicine Hat Mavericks are the better team.
“That’s just baseball,” said Procyshen.