For Immediate Release September 10, 2019

OKOTOKS, AB…..PERFECT GAME RANKS DAWGS ACADEMY 3^rdIN NORTH AMERICA

The Okotoks Dawgs Baseball Academy enjoyed a banner year in 2019, and has been recognized for it across North America. Perfect Game, widely regarded as the elite amateur baseball showcase, tournament and scouting platform in youth baseball worldwide, has recently released its rankings of the Top 2019, 18U Travel Teams in North America. Identified as Number 3 on the list is the Okotoks Dawgs 18U Black. The Dawgs were the only Canadian team to crack the top 10 in all of North America.

The Dawgs 18U had a dominant 2019 season, finishing with a 60-12 record while winning 4 tournament championships. Season highlights include winning the Kelowna Invitational Championship, the New Era Mother’s Day Classic Championship, the Langley Blaze Invitational Championship and the Perfect Game 18U BCS National Championship in Florida. The Dawgs ended the season finishing 3^rdout of 112 premier youth teams at the Pastime 18U National Wood Bat Championship in Indianapolis. The Dawgs only loss was a 3-2 defeat in the semi-finals against the Midland Redskins, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, Perfect Game’s #2 ranked travel team.

Beyond the championships, there were plenty of individual accolades collected by the Dawgs over this past year.  The Dawgs Academy had 17 players selected to participate in the prestigious Blue Jays T12 Tournament held annually at Rogers Centre in Toronto; six (6) Dawgs were selected to play for Team Canada’s Junior National Team in 2018-19; nineteen (19) graduating Dawgs Academy players accepted scholarships to play college baseball; and three (3) Dawgs Academy alumni signed professional contracts with Major League Baseball organizations. In addition, Dawgs Academy players made a significant contribution to the Dawgs summer collegiate club as it captured the 2019 Western Canadian Baseball League Championship. In particular, Academy grad, Tristan Peters won the WCBL batting title, Ricardo Sanchez delivered outstanding play at shortstop and lefty ace, Matt Wilkinson gave the collegiate Dawgs quality innings on the mound.

Looking ahead, the Dawgs Academy looks to continue to raise the bar in amateur baseball and provide opportunities no other program can offer.This fall, another 15 Dawgs players have been selected to participate in the Blue Jays T12 Tournament at Rogers Center. To top it off, the Dawgs are also making a major West Coast college road trip as top Dawgs Academy players will play games against Gonzaga University, the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, San Jose State University, St. Mary’s University, Cal State- Bakersfield, UC-Santa Barbara and Oregon State University. At Oregon State, Dawgs Academy players will be reunited with freshmen Dawgs, Cesar Valero and Micah McDowell, both in their first year playing with the NCAA Division 1 powerhouse, OSU.

The future is looking bright in Okotoks with the fall season of the Academy currently underway. The Dawgs Academy offers a professional coaching staff of 10 full time coaches and 8 seasonal coaches, all with collegiate and/or professional playing or coaching experience. Dawgs also offer its 7 teams of youth players, aged 13 to 18 years, the premier playing and training facilities in the country.

For further information contact:

Tyler Hollick, Dawgs Academy General Manager-  403-669-9588

Jeff Duda, Dawgs Academy Pitching Coordinator-  403-652-0325

John Ircandia, Managing Director-  403-863-8413

Websites: www.dawgsacademy.ca; www.dawgsbaseball.ca

About Okotoks Dawgs Baseball

The Dawgs are a nonprofit organization that began in 1995 as an elite youth development program in Calgary, AB. The Dawgs currently offer 7 high performance youth teams from ages 13 to 18 years that have won multiple provincial, national and Perfect Game championships as well as a highly successful summer collegiate club that has won 5 WCBL championships. The collegiate Dawgs are currently ranked 1^stin Canada and 3^rdin North America in attendance, averaging almost 4000 fans per game. The Dawgs home is the Seaman Stadium Complex, a $22M, state of the art facility featuring 2 stadiums, 4 diamonds and outdoor and indoor training centers. Several Dawgs players have played for Team Canada, NCAA and NAIA universities and colleges, and been drafted by Major League Baseball organizations. In July 2019, Dawgs hosted the National Women’s Baseball Championships and in 2020 the Dawgs will host Baseball Canada’s Ray Carter National 15U Championship.