Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

It’s hard to believe but the baseball season has come to a close. The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions for the first time in their history and that brings the end of the 2026 campaign. And so begins awards season, where we’ll start with the Baseball Sask AGM and Awards Gala from last weekend. You can read the full rundown here as we bring you conversations here on the show with Minor Male Player of the Year Tayson Tangjerd (Estevan), Female Player of the Year Criseyde Borthwick (La Ronge) and Male Player of the Year Aiden Kilshaw (Swift Current).

3:52 – Tayson Tangjerd

14:58 – Criseyde Borthwick

27:19 – Aiden Kilshaw

Jeff Chipley is a decorated baseball official, having won some major awards including Baseball Alberta’s Junior Umpire of the Year and Senior Umpire of the Year during his career. He’s worked games across the baseball spectrum in this province and across Canada including the 2025 Canada Summer Games and this summer’s Baseball Canada Men’s Nationals in New Brunswick. Chipley’s been working in the WCBL since 2010 and has seen the league grow leaps and bounds, including in his hometown of Sylvan Lake. He was lauded for working hard on his game over the last few years and his dedication to not just his craft but improving other umpires on his crews. Read the full story here.

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 Gillespie

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

30:44 - Michael Gonzalez

40:17 - Brayden Stewart

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.

If you haven't already, make sure to check out Joe's editorial with a few more of his thoughts.

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

11:00 - Cohen Miller

13:34 - Dayne Liske

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 (Edmonton/AHP Academy), Tighe Houghton (Calgary/Webber Academy), Jake Carriere (Abbottsford), and former Lethbridge Bulls catcher/current Vancouver Canadians strength and conditioning coach Noah Or.

1:18 - Dayne Liske

3:30 - Keaton Lejan

7:11 - Jake Trask

12:04 - Gabe Fink

17:36 - Tighe Houghton

24:29 - Jake Carriere

30:17 - Noah Or

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

21:10 - Lars Bauck

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 Rodriguez (Red Deer/Gulls Prep), then hearing from Brooks Froese (Red Deer/Dawgs Academy), Xavier Lampshire (Edmonton/ATHX Academy), Dante Dewey (Victoria/AHP Academy) and coach Andrew Albers (North Battleford/Going Yard Academy).

1:38 - Daril Rodriguez

6:11 - Brooks Froese

12:15 - Xavier Lampshire

16:57 - Dante Dewey

20:49 - Andrew Albers

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 Blue Jays sluggers Jalen Jacob and Mikey Batiste.

2:10 - Calum Andersen

11:21 - Jalen Jacob

25:54 - Mikey Batiste