Dawgs hit double digits in five straight games

The Okotoks Dawgs have scored double digits in their first five games of the 2024 season. The Brooks Bombers came to Seaman Stadium for their third game against the Dawgs this year. Okotoks put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth, earning four runs and winning the game 11-6.

Calgary Wranglers netminder Oscar Dansk would throw the ceremonial first pitch at Saturday's (June 1) game. 

Calgary Wrangler Oscar Dansk throwing a pitch before the start of the Dawgs and Bombers game.

Garrett Maloney would start on the mound for the Dawgs and earned the win after pitching four innings and striking out six Bombers.

Brooks got on the board first when Kelton Phillips, their second batter up for the evening, hit a home run in the top of the first inning. Ricky Sanchez got his team going in the bottom of the first in his first home game of the season for the Dawgs when he hit a double to right field. 

Eric Machej scored Sanchez in for the Dawgs' first run of the game after he followed up with a double of his own. Connor Crowson was up next, he hit a single to right field and got Machej in for a run to give the Dawgs a 2-1 lead.

Benito Bonilla putting out a Brooks Bomber.

Innings two and three would go scoreless. Bombers tied the game up in the top of the fourth, but it was short-lived with the Dawgs putting up five runs in the bottom of the fourth going up 7-2. 

Jason Arriola got the first of five runs in the fourth when Ricky Sanchez hit a single to left field scoring Arriola who was on third base. Eiji Sawamura would score the next run off of a Machej single. Benito Bonilla scored the next three runs when he hit a home run scoring both Crowson and Sanchez in.

Dawgs celebrate after Benito Bonilla hits a home run.

Brooks then started to chip away at the lead in the next three innings, blanking the Dawgs and getting within one point making it a 7-6 game. Bombers scored two runs in the fifth inning, another run in the sixth, and their last run in the seventh.

That was as close as the Bombers could make it as the Dawgs put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth and not allowing a run at the top of the ninth.

Sanchez would get a home run of his own with Landon Kauffman and Sawamura both on base giving the Dawgs a 10-6 lead. Machej finished the scoring after hitting a triple and then scoring a run off of a wild pitch finishing the game 11-6.

The Dawgs will play their third game in the same number of days when they visit Sylvan Lake to face the Gulls at 2:05 pm tomorrow.