Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

The US college season is wrapping up and the summer baseball season is about to begin, so we have a lot to get to both in the news and with our guests. This week, we chat with Edmonton Collegiate Hawks hurler Halen Knoll about this weekend's CCBC championships and the season so far. Then we head back south to hear the inspiring story of Spruce Grove's Gavin Fraser , who has been named Second-Team...

It's been a little like drinking out of a fire hydrant lately with the amount of news to talk about each week. We do our best to get through it before we sit down with Valley City State University shortstop Jaden Babiuk (St. Albert) to chat about being named Second-Team All-Conference and heading to the Medicine Hat Mavericks this summer, Prairie Baseball Academy infielder Morgan Halliday (Edmonto...

We have a full lineup of news to get to, but the big story of the week has obviously been the performances of Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs alum Matt Wilkinson . The highlight was a no-hit, six-inning gem for Cleveland's Single-A affiliate, the Lynchburg Hillcats, on April 25 and after five starts, he sports an ERA of 0.35 and 46 strikeouts in just 25+ innings. For a little insight into his arse...

The University of Calgary Dinos are facing some stiff competition in their quest to repeat as CCBC champions. We sit down with veteran Aiden Szautner to get inside the clubhouse after the first weeks of the season. We also chat with Dawgs Academy alum Jacob Wrubleski about his stellar freshman season at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. And we also hear from Brady Turner of Prep Baseball Report...

From the outstanding performance of Matt Wilkinson to a Canadian Baseball Network College Player of the Week nod for Logan Grant, there was no shortage of storylines we followed this week. So we go through a lengthy news rundown before getting to two guests from the Canadian College Baseball Conference. We start off with Prairie Baseball Academy infielder and CCBC Player of the Week Owen Lucas to...

The warm weather is back which is making it feel like baseball season now. We get through a ton of pro and college news headlines, then chat with Edmonton Collegiate Hawks veteran Rejean Bourget (Bonnyville/St. Francis Xavier), UBC Thunderbirds freshman Kyle Yip (Calgary/Vauxhall Academy) and Baseball Canada Junior National Team invitee Eric Hartman (St. Albert/Dawgs Academy) about their seasons s...

Baseball season is in full swing with MLB and the minor leagues getting underway. We get caught up on the CCBC as well and chat with Calgary's Ryan Dousett, who is with Okanagan College, then sit down with AHP Academy alum and Indian Hills Community College standout Cole Huebner and Dawgs Academy prospect Tim Piasentin, who is one of many players with Alberta ties named to the Baseball Canada Juni...

Not only is it Opening Weekend in Major League Baseball, but the Canadian College Baseball Conference kicks off this weekend as well with all games happening in BC. The University of Calgary Dinos are the defending champions, but both the Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs and Edmonton Collegiate Hawks are hot on their tails. We get the inside scoop on all things CCBC with Logan Wedgewood and Sean Rob...

We last chatted with Kyle Bloor on Episode 220 of the show as he was in the midst of a great season at Tennessee Wesleyan University, where he ended up going 3-0 with 7 saves in 21 appearances including one start, posting an ERA of 5.04 and 40 strikeouts in 30+ innings of work. Bloor had dreams of going pro, heading to Falmouth of the Cape Cod League hoping to capture the attention of MLB scouts....

While the snow is flying outside here in Alberta, several Western Canadian baseball products are soaring at US college programs. We go through a few of the highlights before we're joined by St. Albert Minor Baseball and Dawgs Academy alum Max Hartman (Washington State University), Olds native and St. Joseph's Academy product Jaxon Zanolli (UMary) and we chat with the latest Canadian Baseball Netwo...

In an unexpected twist, both guests this week aren't just chasing their baseball dreams, but they are also pursuing educational ventures in engineering. Dawgs Academy grad Ben Hoshizaki is into his sophomore season at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, where he is leading all Canadians in US college programs in stolen bases. We chat with him about the art of the stolen base and much more. Then we...

Andrew Albers spent 13 seasons in professional baseball, including parts of five years in the Majors with the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. The North Battleford, Saskatchewan product was also a fixture of the Baseball Canada roster, playing in several major events including the Pan Am Games, Baseball World Cup and the 2023 World Baseball Classic. His baseball journey has...

We had originally planned to head south to Vauxhall Academy of Baseball for their annual banquet and awards last Saturday. Then I ended up catching yet another cold, then Mother Nature dumped a ton of snow on us, rendering us immobile to take in the celebrations. However, we have been able to catch up with a few of the honoured guests from what was, by all accounts, another smashing success. Our I...

It’s hard to believe but it’s been 25 years since the Lethbridge Bulls joined what was then the Saskatchewan Major Baseball League. That decision changed the trajection of the league, which would later become the Western Major Baseball League and is now known as the Western Canadian Baseball League. Take a trip down memory lane with coach Todd Hubka, players Les McTavish and Denny Puszkar and long...

The US college baseball season is well-underway and several Albertans are getting themselves into the headlines with great performances at all levels. We take a look at some of the best over the past week, then we catch up with Calgary Babe Ruth product and Lindsay Wilson College veteran Cohen Achen as well as Fort McMurray Minor Baseball and Dawgs Academy alum Justin Breen (Southwestern Oklahoma...

It's banquet and awards night season and recently, it was Prairie Baseball Academy who spent a night celebrating the year and two new members of the PBA Hall of Fame . Our Ian Wilson catches up with PBA head coach Todd Hubka as well as the two new inductees: Rob Greeno and Rob Watt.

We have an announcement to make: we are expanding and have officially launched Saskatchewan Dugout Stories . To mark the occasion, Dugout Stories co-founder Ian Wilson joins us for a bit of context behind our decision and what he's most excited for. Then we get a "state of the game" conversation with Baseball Sask's Greg Brons.

We're doing things just a little differently this week. With just two weeks left until pitchers and catchers report in MLB, we thought we'd take a look at the expectations of Canada's team, the Toronto Blue Jays, through the lens of three people with ties to Alberta. Sportsnet broadcast and former MLB catcher Buck Martinez was here recently as part of the Blue Jays Academy National Coaches Clinic...

Dozens of coaches spent last weekend at Webber Academy, just outside of Calgary, for the Blue Jays Academy National Coaches Clinic . They learned about how they can get the most out of their teams through drills, practices and even game-planning with several high-profile guest speakers including former Blue Jays Pat Borders , Devon White , Buck Martinez and Ernie Whitt (who we chatted with on Epis...

This one isn't just for our listeners in Alberta. Baseball Canada released its 2023-2028 Strategic Plan in November, and while it might not mean a lot to some, there are a lot of interesting pieces to it, including how the organization plans to grow the sport across the country, evaluating the possibility of a 15U and 23U National Team, and the potential of an Academy National Championship. CEO Ja...

Welcome to the first episode of the 2024 season! While we've seen Old Man Winter return with a vengeance, it's easy to start dreaming about the upcoming summer baseball season. It actually starts with the preparation being done by coaches, aided this year by Blue Jays Academy bringing its annual National Coaches Clinic to Webber Academy in Calgary from January 19-21. TJ Burton from the Blue Jays j...

Greetings and salutations, friends! We hope 2024 is off to a great start for you and yours. It's that time of year again where we get things set up for the upcoming year, and we're excited to announce that the first episode of the 2024 season of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast will arrive on Thursday, January 11. We also have some big plans for this year after a record-setting 2023 when it com...

We started the year with two pros ( Damiano Palmegiani and Adam Macko ), so why not finish the 2023 season with two more, in the form of Wetaskiwin's Matt Coutney and Manitoba's Tristan Peters . Coutney, who attended St. FX Academy and Old Dominion University, just wrapped up his first full pro season in the Los Angeles Angels system, while Peters, who went to Dawgs Academy and Southern Illinois U...

Zoe Hicks laughs when you ask her about where she’s from. Among her answers: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Red Deer, Austria, Calgary, back to Manitoba, then off to US college and has now spent the last couple of winters back in Calgary. This last summer was a whirlwind though, as she played first base for Canada at the Women’s Softball World Cup, then third base at the Women’s Baseball World Cup, culmi...

It was a celebration fit for every Alberta community from Acme to Youngstown and from border to border to border to border. Baseball Alberta held its annual general meeting and awards banquet last weekend in Edmonton to talk about the year that was, look ahead to the upcoming year, and of course, hand out some hardware. We sit down with 18U 'AAA' Players of the Year Matthew Murray and Corbin Lochh...