The Oktoks Dawgs paid another visit to Elks Field on Toonie Tuesday as the Bombers won big 8-1. Quinn Tocheniuk got the call to start for Okotoks and Grant Harvill would counter for Brooks.
Harvill would retire the side in order for an ideal start headding into the bottom of the first. Although Harvill walked Ricky Sanchez to start the inning new catcher Nate King showed off his arm and gunned down the shortstop at second base to catch him stealing. In the bottom half with two outs Jacob Gillis drilled a solo homerun to give the Bombers a 1-0 lead.
Nash Crowell started the Second inning with a humongous blast to left field that was one of the further homeruns seen at Elks Field to tie the game up at 1-1. Barry Eisman would then hit a single to get on base. With one on Harvill would strike out back to back batters before walking Jason Ariola. Kayden Williams had the chance to put the Dawgs but Harvill won the batlle striking out the center fielder to end the inning and limit the damage.
Harvill would get out of another jam in the third inning after hitting Nash Crowell to put a pair of runners on with two outs again. Barry Eisman would send a lazy fly ball to right field that D’Andre Gaines would make a play on to end the inning and strand two more baserunners for Okotoks.
The Dawgs would switch pitcher as Ryan McFarlane would replace Tocheniuk. This changed the game for the Bombers, D’Andre Gaines and Payton Matthews would single and double respectivly to set up Zander Bretza with two on and he delievered with a single that scored both runners to put the Bombers in front 3-1.
In the Bottom of the fifth Chase Tucker would take over for McFarlane. After Jouseph Gelpi reached second base with a single and a Tucker balk, Gaines would hit a double to drive him in. Gaines would then advance to third off a past ball then Jacob Gillis would rack up another RBI with a single to score Gaines. Zander Bretza would be the last batter Tucker would face as he doubled. Cade Herman replaced him and the first batter he faced was Cash Benavidez who brought Gillis home with a sacrifice fly as Brooks carried a 6-1 lead into the sixth.
Harvill continued to dominate as beyond the third inning he hardly faced any stressfull situation with base runners. The final line for him was seven complete innings giving up one earned and three hits while striking out nine Dawgs.
“Grant needed this start, he didnt get alot of work in the spring due to an injury so for him this is huge”, said Pitching Coach Jake Zettel.
“This is the Grant Harvill I recruited, it was awesome to see”, added Zettel.
The Bombers would get two more runs curtosey of a two run shot to deep center off the bat of D’Andre Gaines for his first bomb at Elks Field. Zander Bretza would pitch the final two innings and complete the dominant victory giving up three hits and a walk in the final two innings to get the first win over the Dawgs in 2024.
It was a truly complete performance with great pitching and timly hitting. The Bombers have been close in a few games this season but finally got over the hump of the Oktoks Dawgs.
” I feel like the baseball gods rewarded us for our hard work, this one has been a long time coming for this group”, said Head Coach Dan Morgan.
The Bombers have a pair of off days before facing the Edmonton Prospects on friday night at Elks Field.