Dawgs battle back to down Cardinals
July 14, 2018
By Tyler Lowey
Okotoks Dawgs
OKOTOKS, Alta. — The Okotoks Dawgs came from behind in the eighth inning and toppled the Yorkton Cardinals 8-5 on Saturday at Seaman Stadium.
The Dawgs (23-10) rallied in the eighth when Riley Baasch (Bellevue University) belted a two-run double that scored Eddie Sanchez (Central Arkansas University) and Nate DeChaine (Morningside College) in front of 4,002 fans.
Two batters later, Ryan Humeniuk (Indian Hills Community College) got drilled by a curve ball with the bases loaded for the winning run and earned his 19th RBI.
The Dawgs have now won eight in a row.
Cardinals starter Hunter Sanford was looking good through seven innings but struggled when he came out for the eighth and exited the game after he allowed five earned runs. His record now sits at 1-1.
The Cardinals (8-24) struck first in the top of the fourth when three-straight hits scored Jared McDonald. Collin Kellington grounded into a 4-6-3 double play that scored Ryne Niemi.
Humeniuk showed off his wheels in the fifth to get the Dawgs back in it. After leading off the inning with a single, he stole second and third base on two pitches, before he darted home on a shallow single to right field by Cole MacLaren (University of Pittsburgh).
MacLaren started his first game since July 2, as he missed nearly two weeks to attend to a family matter.
The Dawgs tied it at two in the sixth after DeChaine connected on his second double of the game. He later came around to score on a sacrifice fly to centre by Abdiel Alicea (Tabor College).
Dawgs Academy product Graham Brunner battled with command in his fourth start but still made it through six innings. He allowed two earned runs, struck out three and walked four.
His replacement, Dustin Schorie (Mesa Community College) surrendered the lead in the top of the seventh when Griffey Halle drilled a two-out triple to score Thirus Joones.
Jesse Coleman (Weber International University) pitched a clean eighth inning and improved to 2-0 this season. Corey Jackson (Indian Hills Community College) allowed a pair of runs in the ninth, which allowed Craig Smith (Columbia College) to earn his 10th save.