Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

We're back! After a brief break after a crazy few weeks of bonus episodes and breaking news, we're back to our regular Thursday cadence for shows. We put the cap on the week's worth of news + have a trio of great guests join us. Hear from Hudson Harding (Calgary/Webber Academy), Reid MacDonald (P.E.I./Dawgs Academy) and the newly retired Scott Gillespie (Sherwood Park).

5:08 - Hudson Harding

18:30 - Reid MacDonald

33:45 - Scott Gil...

It’s awards season in the Western Canadian Baseball League and we have a quartet of the winners on the show. Hear from Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year Jake Hiromoto of the Swift Current 57s, Top Canadian Ethan Murdoch of the Saskatoon Berries, Coach of the Year Michael Gonzalez of the Moose Jaw Miller Express and Top Reliever Brayden Stewart of the Sylvan Lake Gulls.

2:16 - Jake Hiromoto

14:02 - Ethan Murdoch

30:4...

We know we said we'd take a bit of a break. But then Ian texted and said "I have an idea." So we're flipping the script where Ian plays the role of host while Joe answers a few of his questions about the experience of going to the Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase. We talk about the state of the game in this country and get into how this has been a banner year for baseball on the prairies and, by extension, Dugout Stories...

After a whirlwind few days, the Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase has come to an end. Maple, Ontario's Jalen Jacob is the new Home Run Derby champion while Team New Blue won the championship with a decisive 6-1 win over Team Royal. We chat with the new home run king, four members of the New Blue Crew, and the new Showcase MVP, Dayne Liske.

1:32 - Jalen Jacob

3:23 - Gabe Fink

5:50 - Hudson Harding

8:19 - Zach MacDonald

11:...

The round robin has wrapped up and it all comes down to the Home Run Derby and the championship at the Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase. We have a total of seven guests joining us on the show this time around to get their perspectives on the tournament and how things have gone, including Dayne Liske (Drayton Valley/Gulls Prep), Keaton Lejan (Saskatoon/Going Yard Academy), Jake Trask (Nova Scotia/Dawgs Academy), Gabe Fink...

We continue our daily coverage from the Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase with another quintet of guests. Hear from Hudson Nikkel (Vauxhall Academy), Riley Wolbeck (Leduc/Dawgs Academy), Zach MacDonald (Stettler/Webber Academy), Ira Rootman (Toronto/California) and coach Lars Bauck (Moose Jaw/Prairie Baseball Academy/Mid Island Pirates).

1:29 - Hudson Nikkel

3:55 - Riley Wolbeck

9:10 - Zach MacDonald

15:06 - Ira Rootman

2...

The first official day of the Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase is in the books. The players took part in Scout Day with pitching, hitting and fielding drills to show off their talents, then it was onto a pair of games. We'll see games all day on Friday and Saturday before the Home Run Derby and Championship on Sunday. We're focusing on the athletes here on the show, starting with reigning Home Run Derby champion Daril Ro...

Welcome to the first of our daily shows from Vancouver as the Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase gets underway today (Thursday). We'll be bringing you conversations from the field throughout the next few days. Before we get there, we bring you a trio of conversations that Joe had with rising stars who he wrote about as part of the tournament's program. Hear from Vauxhall Academy product Calum Andersen as well as Ontario Bl...

The countdown is on to the Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase. For a trio of young athletes, it will be a great way to cap off a memorable year on the field as all three helped Alberta claim bronze at the Baseball Canada Cup earlier this summer, among other great events. Hear from Nathan Bailey (Edmonton/AHP Academy), Josh Deloise (Edmonton/Vauxhall Academy) and Lucas Carroll (Calgary/Webber Academy) as they get ready to p...

The season might be winding down but we are still checking in with a tonne of news before hearing from a trio of first-time guests. Hear from Baseball Sask product Keaton Lejan (Saskatoon/Going Yard Academy) and New Brunswick native Nate Hallihan (Fredericton/Dawgs Academy) as they get ready for the Blue Jays Academy Canadian Futures Showcase. Then we hear from All-WCL Second Team reliever Logan Colville (St. Albert) of the Edmonto...

Time to get back into the regular swing of things with Thursday episodes after a crazy busy summer. We put the wraps on the week with a catch-up on the news before a trio of national medal winners. Hear from Baseball Canada Cup bronze medalist Mac Warawa (Innisfail/Webber Academy), Baseball Canada 16U silver medalist Gracy Hadwin (Consort/Neutral Hills Academy) and Men's National bronze medalist Tyler McWillie (Watrous, Sask./Red D...

It's hard to believe but the 2026 baseball season is winding down and fast. One of the surest signs of that is that the Western Canadian Baseball League campaign is now over after the Saskatoon Berries clinched the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy with a two-game sweep over the Sylvan Lake Gulls. Joe and Ian sit down to talk about how they will remember the year and things to come as we head towards 2027. We also hear from league presi...

For the first time in their three-year history, the Saskatoon Berries are Western Canadian Baseball League champions. A record crowd packed into NexGen Patch at Cairns Field to witness the Berries complete the two-game sweep of the Sylvan Lake Gulls with a convincing 11-1 win. We recap each of the games and some of the highlights, then hear from seven players as well as head coach Joe Carnahan and president Steve Hildebrand.

2:56 &...

For the first time in their three-year history, the Saskatoon Berries are heading to the Western Canadian Baseball League championship. After being taken the distance with the Regina Red Sox in the first round, they came up with the sweep of the Moose Jaw Miller Express to claim the East Division crown. We take a look back at that series and ahead to the championship against the Sylvan Lake Gulls with Ethan Murdoch, Nathan Houston ...

For a second-straight season, the Sylvan Lake Gulls are going to the Western Canadian Baseball League championship. They knocked off the Okotoks Dawgs in a two-game series sweep with wins of 7-2 and 9-8. The second game was a nailbiter with Coleman Parry hitting a solo home run in the eighth inning to break a tie before Brayden Stewart finished up his 2+ innings of relief by striking out Jordan Kievman to end the game and the serie...

And then there were four. The Western Canadian Baseball League's Division Series all wrapped up with the Okotoks Dawgs, Sylvan Lake Gulls, Moose Jaw Miller Express and Saskatoon Berries emerging victorious. We take a look back at each of their first-round matchups and look ahead to the Division Championship Series, which are set to begin on Tuesday. Joe and Ian had this conversation as part of the latest "WCBL Report" recorded on M...

The field of 12 teams is now down to eight, and in just a few days, we’ll be down to four, and then two will be looking to claim the Harry Hallis Trophy as WCBL champions.

Over the next couple of weeks, Joe McFarland and Ian Wilson will look ahead to each postseason round, then will bring you full coverage of the championship series, which is set for August 1...

We put the wraps on another busy week of baseball (including the MLB Trade Deadline, a couple of promotions in the minors and the start of the Women's Pro Baseball League season). Then we hear from the Baseball Canada 19U Women's Nationals Hitter of the Tournament and bronze medalist Braidy Birdsall (Saskatoon), Morneau Cup champion and Washington State commit Jack Bello (Richmond/Dawgs Academy) and Morneau Cup silver medalist and ...

We're back with another edition of the show after a few extra days off following a wild stretch of daily shows during The Road to Okotoks and the WCBL All-Star Game. We get you all caught up with the news, then hear from Swift Current 57s record-breaker Jake Hiromoto, Parkland Twins extra-innings hero Garet Ostapchuk and Baseball Sask's Greg Brons as we revisit Carter Beck getting drafted by the Atlanta Braves.

7:47 - Jake Hiromoto