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 Episode #258), as well as Baseball Canada Women’s National Team and Vancouver Canadians coach Ashley...

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 Jason Dickson joins us to talk about it all, plus we chat about his playing career which included...

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 joins us to set the stage for the event and what people can expect, then we get a bit of a preview...

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 comes to web visits and podcast downloads. Thank YOU so much for all of your support!

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 University, spent the year with the Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate. 1:41 - Matt Coutney 24:06 -...

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, culminating with being named the Women’s National Team MVP. She’s had a fascinating journey in the...

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 Lochhead, Women’s Open Player of the Year Tyra Stanich, new Baseball Alberta Life Member Ron Van...

What a week it was for Alberta’s baseball scene, which started on the night our last episode dropped. For those who might have missed it, Calgary’s Michael Soroka was involved in a blockbuster deal between the Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox. Our Ian Wilson stops by for some analysis and thoughts on the trade, as well as Alberta’s connections to the latest National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ballot, and his personal story of community and connection with Brooks Bombers slugger Eric...

We recap what has been a busy couple of weeks on the local baseball scene, including Matt Lloyd being named Baseball Canada’s Men’s National Team Most Valuable Player, Fort McMurray being named hosts for more national tournaments, a local look at the Arizona Fall League and a multitude of college commitments. Then we get to our guest, and the mere mention of Joe Young brings back a lot of memories for baseball scouts and insiders from the early-1990s. The 6-foot-4, 210 pound righthander made...

It was only supposed to be a one-year deal to try playing baseball internationally. Yet, here we are, six years later, and Levi Moon is still traveling the world playing the game he loves. The Red Deer product has had a fascinating journey in the game, starting at home before becoming part of the first Badlands Academy team in Oyen. He went onto play at Niagara Community College, but injuries forced him to stay closer to home, finding a spot with Prairie Baseball Academy. It was on the advice...

When you think baseball in Central Alberta, one family name is synonymous with the game: Northcott. And while he may too humble to admit it, Harold Northcott is an Alberta baseball legend. The Clive, Alberta native had a storied playing career which took him to Eastern Oregon University, where he helped the Mountaineers set team records for wins in each of his three seasons. That’s where he also earned the nickname “The Giant Killer” for becoming the first pitcher in school history to beat...

Plenty of big news items coming out of the Western Canadian Baseball League this week, with the biggest being the announcement that Okotoks will host the 2024 All-Star Game. Our Ian Wilson caught up with WCBL president Kevin Kvame and managing director of corporate sponsors and marketing Mark Stiles to talk about the selection process, while Dawgs general manager Tyler Hollick and head coach Lou Pote discuss the ins and outs of putting together the mid-summer classic for a third-straight season.

It started as a simple question our Joe McFarland posted on Twitter/X shortly after Nathan Flewelling (Innisfail) picked up the Home Run Derby crown at the Canadian Futures Showcase and Simon Baker (Cochrane) at the Canadian Futures Showcase: does Alberta punch above its weight when it comes to baseball in Canada? It elicited a number of replies, DMs and texts, leading him write an opinion piece for our website and to expand on his thoughts on this episode of the podcast. We’re also joined by...

Plenty of catching up to do on this week’s episode and all three guests were fantastic. Hear from Dawgs Academy (via Quebec) product and Oregon State commit Leo Cote about his great summer, former Baseball Alberta Midget-AAA Player of the Year and Sylvan Lake Gulls catcher Ben Prediger and Vauxhall Academy/University of Washington alum and head scout/director of player personnel for the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers Josh Burgmann. 2:55 - Leo Cote 22:38 - Ben Prediger 47:43 - Josh Burgmann

Welcome to October and the start of the MLB playoff race, which is also an unofficial sign of the local scene starting to slow down. We chat about some of the headlines we’re watching, then welcome a trio of athletes to the show. We hear from AHP Academy product Reece Hemmerling as he starts his sophomore season at Barton Community College, Baseball Alberta Women’s Team bronze medalist Charmayne Gervais, and new Sacramento State University commit Stevyn Andrachick, who has had an interesting...

Alberta took centre stage at the annual Canadian Futures Showcase in Toronto, with Innisfail’s Nathan Flewelling taking home the Home Derby crown while Cochrane’s Simon Baker was named Showcase MVP. Reporter Zach Worden caught up with them both, then joins us to recap what was a big week of baseball at Rogers Centre. Then we sit down with Sherwood Park product and Prairie Baseball Academy alum Scott Gillespie, who is fresh off winning the Intercounty Baseball League title with the Welland...

Playoff season is upon us and several Alberta-born and raised athletes have been able to raise trophies over their head. We recap those wins, then we head to Okotoks where Ian Wilson has spent most of the week chatting with those taking part in the Oregon State visit and camp at Dawgs Academy. He brings us a great conversation with Beavers head coach Mitch Canham as well as with players Travis Bazzana, Canon Reeder and Micah McDowell. Then he gets a surprise visit with Dawgs Academy and OSU...

While things might be slowing down a bit in Alberta, there is certainly no shortage of storylines we’re following. We get you up-to-date on a number of fronts, before a trio of great interviews. We preview the upcoming Canadian Futures Showcase in Toronto with Vauxhall Academy product Brett Getz and St. Albert Minor Baseball Association standout Keenan Parker, then catch-up with Okotoks Dawgs program alum and current Round Rock Express catcher Jordan Procyshen to talk about his crazy year...

It’s been another busy week with news on Michael Soroka, Damiano Palmegiani, Jacob Melton and Gavin Logan to go along with some of the local tournaments and events happening. We recap it all, then sit down with a pair of Canadian Futures Showcase invitees in Cochrane’s Simon Baker (Webber Academy) and Halifax’s Benito Bonilla (Dawgs Academy). We wrap things up with Episode #75 guest and Lethbridge product Landen Bourassa to talk about life after college baseball, wrapping up his third season...

We recap a crazy week for Alberta’s baseball scene with everything from big tournament wins to big-league call-ups. Then we sit down for chats with Baseball Alberta Women’s Open Team player and 16U assistant coach Cydnie Moore, Sherwood Park Minor Baseball GM and Western Canada Prospects Series head coach Josh Bishop, and St. Joseph Academy product and Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase invite Nathan Flewelling.

It’s been a busy few weeks in Alberta’s baseball circles. We do our best to recap some of the big achievements and headlines, then get into the Western Canadian Baseball League final series with ADS co-founder Ian Wilson, catch up with West Coast League Pitcher of the Year and Edmonton Riverhawks hurler Halen Knoll, and chat about the upcoming Baseball Canada Men’s Nationals with Dan Estey of Canadian Amateur Baseball Central. Click here to see our WCBL Championship Photo Gallery.

For the seventh time in franchise history, the Okotoks Dawgs are Western Canadian Baseball League champions. In front of a packed Seaman Stadium, they beat the Medicine Hat Mavericks 13-5 in the winner-take-all game three of what turned into a wild series. After the game, we were able to catch up with head coach Lou Pote and Playoff MVP Brendan Luther as well as Dawgs players Logan Grant, Alejandro Cazorla, Eric Machej, Eric Hartman, Graham Brunner and Seth Thompson. For our full written...

The home of the Okotoks Dawgs, Seaman Stadium, is onto the final of the Ballpark Digest ”Best of the Ballparks” competition at the Summer Collegiate level. We chat with William Gardner of the Dawgs about what it means to the team, the WCBL and the community. We also visit with Mike Mayuk of the Fort McMurray Minor Baseball Association about hosting two major Baseball Canada events August 17-20, and we get to know Neutral Hills Academy product and ambidextrous pitcher Nathan Van Lagen.

We’re throwing a bit of a change-up at you this week. Instead of a handful of WCBL-centric guests, we’re tapping into the many great storylines in other action around Alberta. Our list of guests this week includes: 2:30 - Fort McMurray’s Sydney Barry on helping Alberta win bronze at the Baseball Canada Women’s Open Championships in Nova Scotia 14:40 - Parkland Twins head coach Zach Yuzda on winning the Baseball Alberta Elite League championship and heading to Nationals in Fort...

It’s a pitcher’s paradise on this week’s edition of the podcast. We sit down with four Western Canadian Baseball League All-Stars including Ty Boudreau of the Sylvan Lake Gulls, Devin Benavides of the Lethbridge Bulls, Dylan Esquival of the Medicine Hat Mavericks and Logan Knight of the Fort McMurray. All have had very different journeys to get to Alberta, and all are enjoying their summers in the WCBL.