The Prairie Baseball Academy (PBA) Dawgs were taking some final swings and fielding practice on Wednesday at Spitz Stadium ahead of the Canadian College World Series.
The Dawgs are leading the way in the Canadian College Baseball Conference this season, finishing with 21 wins and 11 losses.
“It feels great. We obviously finished the league in first, but the job’s not done yet,” said catcher Tiegen Parenteau.
After a midseason lull that saw PBA drop seven of 10 games, the team enters the tournament on a four-game win streak.
“We kind of hit a funk there for about two-and-a-half weeks where we just weren’t playing good baseball and it looks like this past weekend, (we) started to figure some things out,” said Todd Hubka, PBA’s head coach.
“Hopefully going into the weekend we’re firing on all cylinders.”
Expectations are high for the local squad as the Dawgs try to improve on last season’s result.
Finishing the regular season in second place, they made it all the way to the championship game, where they were shut out 5-0 by the Okanagan College Coyotes.
“For a lot of sophomores coming back, it’s kind of been in the back of our minds since Day 1,” Parenteau said.
“I never want to relive that feeling, so we’re going to do all we can to not have to go through that again.”
The Dawgs open their tournament against the eighth-seeded Vancouver Island University Mariners on Thursday.
Despite securing the top seed, the team isn’t taking the competition for granted.
“Anything can happen. You only have to lose two games and you could be done,” Parenteau said. “At the end of the day, we just need to bring our best game every single day and compete to our abilities.”
As the Dawgs set their sights on a championship, the coaching staff is reminding its players to keep things loose and trust in their preparation.
“September all the way to now, the weight room, the conditioning, the practices, the kids have dedicated themselves for this weekend,” Hubka said.
“It’s time to relax and have fun.”