Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

No rest for the wicked if the wicked’s name is Brendan Luther. The Ontario product who now calls Western Canada home spent the spring at Okanagan College, where he hit .426 with two homers, 26 runs batted in, 48 runs scored and six stolen bases en route to being named a Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference First-Team All-Star . He then packed his bags as the Coyotes headed to Lethbridge, where...

The 2022 Western Canadian Baseball League season is upon us! We've been showcasing the Alberta teams with previews on our website , and the architect who has been writing them, ADS co-founder Ian Wilson, joins us to talk about what has him excited about a full slate of games and teams for the upcoming season. We also check in with WCBL president Kevin Kvame, and chat about some of the other big st...

Cassie Matlock has been willing to do anything and go anywhere to play softball. Growing up in Edmonton, there weren’t a ton of options for her, so she went wherever she could to get noticed. Eventually, Matlock landed on her feet at Lindsey Wilson College, where her team made it to the NAIA World Series and she was named to the All-Tournament Team, amongst a host of other honours. She then moved...

Athletic excellence is in the genes of the Geekie family. Three brothers – Morgan, Noah and Conor – grew up playing hockey in the winter and baseball in the summer. While Morgan and Conor stuck with hockey when it was time to follow one path, Noah decided to chase the baseball dream. He moved to Okotoks to attend Dawgs Academy, is about to play in his third summer with the Western Canadian Basebal...

There’s a new home run king at Old Dominion University and he’s from our province. Wetaskiwin’s Matt Coutney went yard twice against Florida Atlantic on April 24th, hitting his 21st home run to break the school record . Everyone knew Coutney had some pop in his bat, after a standout two years with Colby Community College , where he hit .426 with 26 home runs and 116 runs batted in. He was solid th...

Like Erik Sabrowski , Aidan Huggins, Evan Wilde and several other Albertans over the last few years, Tom Poole is making a name for himself this spring with the Cloud County Thunderbirds of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. The Calgary product was originally recruited as a pitcher, but has instead put together a mammoth season at the plate, hitting .369 with 18 home runs, 59 RBIs an...

There is plenty to get excited about in watching Alberta-born and trained athletes excel at major US programs. Matt Coutney is hitting everything he sees at Old Dominion University, Cesar Valero has been on fire with Sacramento State and Tom Poole has dominated at the plate for Cloud County College, among many others. One player who has been a force on the mound is Matt Wilkinson. Originally from...

We put the wraps on our Canadian College Baseball Conference preview episodes this week by chatting with University of Calgary Dinos bench boss Cam Williams. Originally from Coquitlam, BC, Williams moved to Calgary to study kinesiology and play baseball. We first met the infielder back in 2018 when he set the Dinos all-time record for career hits . He stayed in Calgary, joining the Bucks coaching...

We continue our look at the three Alberta-based teams from the Canadian College Baseball Conference this week and we’re going from the seasoned veteran in Todd Hubka at Prairie Baseball Academy last week, to the new kid in town, Edmonton Collegiate Hawk coach Jake Lanferman. The Sherwood Park native was born the same year Hubka joined PBA: 1996. Fresh off a solid playing career including stops at...

The Canadian College Baseball Conference kicks off its first spring season since 2019 this weekend. The 2020 season was turfed in the initial aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the logistics for the 2021 season meant they would have to wait for another day. And that day has finally come for those Western Canadian college teams, including Prairie Baseball Academy. At the centre of that program...

March 31 marks the anniversary of the debut of Alberta Dugout Stories . It was years in the making, thanks to several stops at Calgary pubs talking about baseball's yesteryear in our province. To celebrate the occasion, we wanted to reminisce about the stories we've told and say a special "thank you" to everyone who has supported our vision for creating something unique to baseball in Alberta and...

Gavin Logan is no stranger to the open road. Raised on a farm outside Oyen, he commuted to town as well as Consort to play his minor ball, before heading west to Okotoks to join Dawgs Academy. Since then, he’s played with the college Dawgs , the West Coast League’s Bend Elks, Southeaster Community College, Linn-Benton Community College and he’s now at the #2-ranked NCAA Division program in the cou...

We would be shocked if Brett Platts wasn’t nicknamed “Coffee.” Not only does enjoy the hot beverage a “lot” by his estimation, he would also need it with how fast his career is taking off. The native of Albany, Prince Edward Island moved to Dawgs Academy in Okotoks for high school, and wound up at Southeastern Community College in 2017-2018. But a major ACL injury derailed his on-field dreams, lea...

Jason Chatwood has seemingly become Mr. Baseball in Central Alberta. He’s the lead instructor and coach at St. Joseph High School Academy in Red Deer, he does some scouting with the Arizona Diamondbacks and he’s the head coach of the WCBL’s Sylvan Lake Gulls. Chatwood isn’t that far removed from playing the game either. Growing up in Innisfail, he played all over the province and even representing...

Taylor Burns might be the most-active social media presence in Alberta baseball circles. Not only known for his takes on his beloved Edmonton Oilers, Burns has been busy building the brands of Absolute Human Performance and AHP Academy , with videos of his athletes, as well as his own advice and takes on strength and conditioning. It’s become his passion as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Sp...

February marks Black History Month, and over the last few weeks, we’ve had social media posts about past stories on legendary baseball players who broke the colour barrier in their own way, including Satchel Paige , John Donaldson , Leon Day , Jackie Robinson and Andre Dawson . We also introduced you to two new stories: one on Hall of Famer “Cool Papa” Bell , and another on Dick Brookins , whose f...

He was the first Canadian to be selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft, taken 34th overall by the Boston Red Sox in the 1996 Draft. Chris Reitsma went onto a seven-year MLB and 12-year pro career. Best-known for his time in Atlanta, where in 2004 he had 84 appearances as the set-up man to John Smoltz, Reitsma later groomed another young prospect, Mike Soroka , to be taken i...

Luxon Glor has been named an All-American multiple times, he’s broken school and conference records at the University of Mary and has been named a conference athlete of the year. He did it all in track, despite originally wanting to do it all in baseball. The Haiti-born and Winnipeg-raised speedster was an accomplished multi-sport athlete when Les McTavish brought him into the Vauxhall Academy of...

It has been a meteoric rise up the coaching ranks for Calgary’s Jim Henderson. A 26th round draft pick of the Montreal Expos back in 2003, the hard-throwing right-hander spent 15 years in professional baseball. In 2012, he became the first Dawgs Academy product to make it into the major leagues and would go on to pitch in 155 games for the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets. The 6-5, 220-pound hu...

Alejo Lopez made history last summer as being the first position player from Dawgs Academy in Okotoks to make it to the big leagues. The Mexico City native tore apart minor league pitching after being drafted by the Reds in 2015, earning a spot with the big club for 14 games in 2021, where he hit .261. But the 5'10", 170-pound infielder isn’t content with that. He wants more and is working towards...

It's the news many of you have been waiting for! The new season of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast will begin... Sorry, you'll have to listen to find out when it will start and who the first guest will be!

That's it. That's all. See ya later, 2021! It was definitely a time. We have now arrived at the season finale of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast. It's a chance for us to reminisce about the last 12 months and look ahead at what the next 12 might have in store. Co-founders Ian Wilson and Joe McFarland chat about their memories of the last year, favourite stories to tell, and give a sneak-peek i...

Keith Comstock was a fifth round pick of the California Angels back in 1976. He went onto spend 16 years in pro baseball, including six in the majors. Near the end of that journey, he pitched in 20 games for the Pacific Coast League’s Calgary Cannons in 1989 and 1991. Comstock might be best remembered for an infamous ProCards baseball card when he was with the Las Vegas Stars in 1989. ESPN called...

Many coaches and mentors in Alberta's baseball community, including Ethan Elias, believe that success breeds success. After being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2011 and spending seven years in professional baseball as a player, he turned his attention to coaching in the Edmonton area. After spending time with the Edmonton Collegiate Baseball Club of the CCBC , Elias has joined AHP Academy as a co...

Calling the last few weeks a "whirlwind" might be an understatement for Mike Frostad. It started with unexpected playoff run by his Atlanta Braves that culminated with a World Series victory over the Houston Astros . Then came the aftermath and celebrations before everyone parted ways for the winter. Frostad not only headed back home to Alberta, but he announced he had been courted by the Los Ange...