Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

We take a bit of a detour this week as we have an entire guest list filled with umpires. Hear from Tyler Malaka as he gets ready to head to the Little League World Series, Rob Allan on some of the work going on behind-the-scenes in the WCBL, and Brandon Strocki looks ahead to how busy the 2026 season is going to be. We also get into each of their individual journeys in the game and more!

6:16 - Tyler Malaka

27:44 - Rob Allan

49:07 ...

What a crazy week it’s been with plenty of action in MLB Spring Training with ties to our provinces, as well as several player of the week nods in college baseball and new commitments state-side. We have the full rundown in the news, then visit with a trio of newcomers to the show plying their trades south of the border. Hear from Dawgs Academy alum Jacob Gillis (Fergus, Ontario) as he’s off to a great start at Ball State Universit...

We put the wrap on what's been a busy couple of weeks on the show with a special episode to unofficially kick off the 2026 college baseball season. We welcome three brand new voices to the program who had massive 2025 campaigns. Turner Zdunich (High River/Dawgs Academy) is into his sophomore season at Colby Community College while Hudson Hoy (Spruce Grove/Parkland Twins) is doing the same at Northeastern Junior College. The veteran...

We now know who will represent Canada at the World Baseball Classic. All rosters were unveiled during a special broadcast last Thursday night. Led by manager Ernie Whitt, 21 of the 30 players are either current or former MLB players, with a quartet of pitchers having roots here in Alberta: Michael Soroka, Rob Zastryzny, Adam Macko and Matt Wilkinson. We catch up with Baseball Canada architect Greg Hamilton to talk about the process...

With a busy couple of weeks coming up, we're getting this episode out a couple of days early. Hear from Tyler Hollick of the Okotoks Dawgs as they have plenty of construction, roadtrips and "The Road to Okotoks" coming up this season. Then we hear from Baseball Alberta's 15U 'AAA' Player of the Year, Riley Wolbeck, about his journey with Black Gold 47s and much more. And we wrap things up this week with Innisfail native/Red Deer Mi...

We head to the minor leagues for a pair of fantastic conversations this week. Hear from Wetaskiwin's Matt Coutney as he continues to make a name for himself in the Los Angeles Angels system. Then we get to know Regina's Thomas Ireland as he had a breakout season in the Texas Rangers organization. Both are looking forward to the new season and an opportunity to get closer to the big leagues.

4:48 - Matt Coutney

23:44 - Thomas Irelan...

It's good to be back! The 2026 season of ADS: The Podcast gets underway in a big way with a trio of fantastic guests. We hear from Steve Hildebrand of the Saskatoon Berries as the team has unveiled plans for an addition to NexGen Patch at Cairns Field. Then Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs alum Eric Hartman stops by to chat about his first full season of pro baseball in the Atlanta Braves system. And we wrap things up with Toronto B...

If you thought 2025 was a busy year for baseball in our provinces with all kinds of highlights, we have no doubt that 2026 will be even better. With a wide array of storylines to follow, from the grassroots to the big leagues, we are excited to announce that our coverage on the show will begin with the 2026 season premiere on January 22. So make sure to hit subscribe or like the show on your app so you don't miss a moment of the ac...

It's finally here! Thank you for your patience as Joe battled through a sickness recently, which led to a delay in the final episode of the 2025 season. He catches us up on all the news from the past couple of weeks (including some personal news courtesy of Baseball Canada) then Ian Wilson stops by for a recap of the recent WCBL annual general meeting. We also hear from league president Kevin Kvame before we get into our highlights...

He’s a man who really needs no introduction. Justin Morneau is a former MLB MVP, All-Star, Silver Slugger, Batting Champ and more. The New Westminster, B.C. native had an 18-year pro career, which included a stop with the Edmonton Trappers in 2002. Most recently, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame legend was made the namesake of the new Morneau Cup, the academy national championship through Baseball Canada, which is playing out in ...

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...