Dawgs confident ahead of World Series

By Lethbridge Herald on May 14, 2025.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs are vying for their first  CCBC (Canadian College Baseball Conference) World Series league championship since 2017 this weekend and are confident that if they play their game and play clean defence, they could be in the conversation for the trophy on Sunday afternoon.

Dawgs pitcher Jake Maniago sees PBA’s success coming from playing good defence.

“If you can play a clean game of defence I think that’s the biggest thing, especially in this league,” said Maniago.

Maniago was asked about what  the  pitching staff’s plan is to shut down the other teams as the level is raised in this tournament.

“Getting  strike one is gonna be big and just kinda  trying to stay ahead in counts and just minimizing as much damage as possible,” sad Maniago.

Maniago thinks the team’s play is good heading into the championship.

“We’re building the snowball and I think that snowball’s rolling and I think we’re in a good spot right now going into playoffs,” said Maniago.

First-year Dawg Will Turner thinks PBA’s preparations have been going on all season to face the other’s teams best in terms of pitching and hitting.

“We know what we’re looking for, we know what our approach is,  we’re ready to attack what they bring us,” said Turner.

Turner sees the pitching improvements helping them in the tournament.

“Work ethic has been crazy,” said Turner, on the pitchers.

“It pumps us up when we see a guy doing well (and)  throwing the ball well.  It makes us want to perform better, so then as a team we just grow and we become a more coherent team with one another.”

“We’re  a young group, so just relax and enjoy and play to your ability,” said Todd Hubka, PBA head coach.

“We know if we play our game that  we have a really good chance at winning this.”

Hubka talked about how important a good start is with the double-knockout format.

“It’s tough to lose Game 1 and go through the ‘B’ side and try  to come back and win it,” said Hubka.

“To get that first win on Thursday is very important and we’re deep enough that if we don’t then I think that we’re still there.  But it’s much easier  just to win four straight and call yourself a champion.”

The Dawgs open up the championship against the Vancouver Island University  Mariners tonight  at 7 p.m. at Spitz Stadium.

THE CCBC World Series runs today through Sunday at Spitz Stadium and more information can be found at http://www.prairiebaseball.com/canadian-college-world-series.

The Dawgs welcome  fellow CCBC teams for the  league championship including the University of Calgary Dinos, Okanagan College Coyotes, TRU Wolfpack,  VIU Mariners , UFV  Cascades, Edmonton Collegiate Hawks and Victoria Collegiate Golden Tide.