Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

It was a packed house at the Wyndham Edmonton Hotel and Conference Centre, as the best of the year were celebrated. From players and coaches to volunteers and organizations, it was great to hear of all the successes of 2025 and look ahead to what 2026 had in store. We have a full rundown of the festivities and list of award winners here. On the show this week, you will hear from Women's Player of the Year Julianna Scott (Calgary), ...

It was an historic week as the Women's Pro Baseball League held its first-ever draft to start putting rosters together for its inaugural season. A total of 120 players were selected including some of the biggest names in the game like Kelsie Whitmore and Ayami Soto. 20 Canadians had their names called, including Edmonton's Madison Willan, Fort McMurray's Sydney Barry, and Saskatoon's Braidy Birdsall and Addie Ziebart. In this speci...

What a year it’s been for all three of our guests this week. Dawgs Academy hurler Josh Mills (Leduc) played for Alberta at the Canada Summer Games, the Canadian Futures Showcase and most recently suited up with the Baseball Canada Junior National Team. Baseball Sask Female Player of the Year Taylor Schueller (Saskatoon) also went to the Canada Games as well as repped Saskatchewan at the 19U Women’s Nationals and the Women’s Nationa...

After unfortunately missing this year's special Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025 Induction Ceremony, we circled back to bring you some conversations with the baseball people recognized. Last week, we chatted with executive director Tracey Kinsella and the families of inductees Reno Lizzi and Mel Kowalchuk. This week, we sit down with inductees Orv Franchuk and Dr. Randy Gregg to talk about their journeys in baseball and wh...

After unfortunately missing this year's special Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025 Induction Ceremony, we circled back to bring you some conversations with the baseball people recognized. We start this episode by chatting with the Hall's executive director, Tracey Kinsella, before we hear from Reno Lizzi's daughter, Brenda, and Mel Kowalchuk's son, Darin. This is the first of a two-part series as we will chat with fellow ind...

Baseball Sask celebrated the best of 2025 with its annual awards banquet on Oct. 18 and we bring you a trio of the winners on this week's show. Hear from Male Player of the Year Kane Kaufmann (Regina), Junior Female Player of the Year Rylee Lenius (Saskatoon) and Builder of the Year Justin Eiswirth (Regina). Check out our new story about the Baseball Sask Awards here.

3:40 - Kane Kaufmann

14:47 - Rylee Lenius

24:59 - Justin Eiswirt...

it’s admittedly been a while since we last caught up with Oyen’s Gavin Logan. After being selected in the ninth round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, it’s been a rollercoaster couple of years as he’s tried to make a name for himself. The Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs alum had a breakthrough of sorts this year, starting the season with the High-A Hillsboro Hops before getting an unexpected call to the Triple-A R...

Garrett Hawkins may have had one of the more unforgettable 2025 seasons of anyone out there. Fresh off Tommy John surgery, which sidelined him for most of 2023 and all of 2024, we weren’t sure how he would bounce back. The Biggar, Saskatchewan native and Vauxhall Academy grad was out-of-this-world good, starting the year with San Diego’s High-A team in Fort Wayne, going 8-1 with eight saves and a 1.43 ERA in 32 relief appearances. ...

We're back after a week hiatus to bring you all the news and notes from the baseball world in Alberta as the season winds down. Then we take a look at the Western Canadian Baseball League awards, which have been unveiled through a series of announcements. Our Ian Wilson stops by for a recap plus a look back on the year that was before we hear from Most Outstanding Pitcher Levi Abbott of the Lethbridge Bulls, Most Outstanding Canadi...

The baseball season might be winding down, but still plenty to talk about. We start with Wednesday’s big news from Baseball Canada that the inaugural Morneau Cup will be hosted by the Okotoks Dawgs, bringing together 16 of the best academy programs in Canada. We hear from Tyler Hollick of the Dawgs about how we got here and what’s to come over the next few months. Then we recap the Canadian Futures Showcase with Home Run Derby cham...

It's been a while since we've done a one-guest episode, but when a former Toronto Blue Jays prospect comes calling, especially when the current team is almost clinching the AL East pennant, you take advantage of the situation. Shane Dawson, Jr. was a 17th-round pick of the Jays in 2012, spending six years in the organization before handing it up after the 2019 season. He came back home to do some coaching, where he is now a head co...

The season might be winding down but there's still plenty to talk about and several athletes we want to introduce you to before the year is up. We get through the week that was in news, then we hear from Abby Szilagyi (Okotoks) after she helped Team Alberta claim silver at the Canada Summer Games. Then we head to the Canadian Futures Showcase, which starts next week, to get to know Zach MacDonald (Central Alberta) of Webber Academy...

We take a look back at a busy week of news before hearing from another trio of great guests. We get to know Dawgs Academy utilityman Ethan Renaud (Okotoks) and Vauxhall Academy outfielder Rogan Rivard (Bonnyville) as they get ready for the upcoming Canadian Futures Showcase in Toronto. Then we check back in with Reece Hemmerling (Beaumont) after he was named an All-West Coast League Honorable Mention for his outstanding season with...

We take a look back at another busy week of baseball as we look at some of the big pro storylines as well as the national championship season wrapping up. Then we go a little more in-depth with the Canada Summer Games, which was historic for having Women's Baseball finally added to the docket. To make things even better, Alberta captured the silver medal in the event. We hear from first base player Sydney Klebanosky (Spruce Grove),...

The summer college season has wrapped up and national champions are coming to a close, but that doesn't mean we don't have plenty to talk about around the baseball world in Alberta and Saskatchewan. We sit down for a conversation with Western Canadian Baseball League president Kevin Kvame to recap the season and look ahead to what might be big topics for the offseason. Then we get to know Drayton Valley's Dayne Liske after he repre...

The 2025 Western Canadian Baseball League championship was a baseball lover's dream as it had a little bit of everything from start to finish including lead changes, momentum swings, contentious calls, a steal of home in extra innings and much more. In the end, it was the Regina Red Sox coming away with their first championship since 2012, after what was an emotional year. We take a look back at the series before sitting down with ...

For the first time in franchise history, the Sylvan Lake Gulls are heading to the Western Canadian Baseball League championship. After three years of heartbreak against the Okotoks Dawgs in the West Final, the team exorcised some demons by beating the Dawgs in a two-game sweep this time around. Ian and Joe were there for the series finale and chatted with several Gulls players as well as one long-time Dawg who played his last game....

And then there were four. The Western Canadian Baseball League first round is now complete and the division finals are set. For a fourth year in a row, the West will feature the Okotoks Dawgs and Sylvan Lake Gulls, while the East will see the Regina Red Sox face the Saskatoon Berries. We take a look back at the first round and ahead to those series with a quartet of guests in a special edition of the show.

1:19 – Leo Cote – Okotoks...

Welcome to the Championship Season for baseball in Western Canada! We get through a dugout full of news before we chat with Ian Wilson to preview the first round of the Western Canadian Baseball League playoffs. Then we get to know utilityman Jace Richardson after he helped the St. Albert Cardinals claim the Baseball Alberta Elite League championship. And we wrap things up with Saskatoon’s Addie Ziebart, who was a big piece of Base...