The Okotoks Dawgs were on the losing end of a late comeback in game two, falling to the Millers Express 8-7 on Friday night in Moose Jaw.
The 2024 WCBL best-of-three championship finals are now tied at 1-1 with game three being set for Saturday night at Seaman Stadium.
So far in the post-season, the Dawgs are 3-0 in a do-or-die with a win in game three against the Lethbridge Bulls, game two against the Sylvan Lake Gulls, and game three against the Gulls.
Okotoks' own Brody Forno started on the mound for the Dawgs in game two. He would pitch for four and one-third innings with three strikeouts. Cade Herrmann, Ryan McFarland, Easton Corey, Brock Townsend, and Ashton Luera came in as relievers.
Corey was lights out during the inning he pitched, striking out three Miller Express players for three up, three down.
Okotoks opened the scoring at the top of the first inning with two runs. Tucker Zdunich got "Mr. August" Brendan Luther in for the first run of the game on a single and then an error by the right fielder. Ricky Sanchez added the second run on a fielder's choice on a hit by Jarrett Burney.
Logan Grant made it a 3-0 game at the top of the second, smashing a solo home run to add to the Dawgs lead.
Okotoks' offence wasn't done yet as they would score another two runs at the top of the fifth. Aidan Rose and Luther would get across home plate for the runs while Sanchez was up to bat, making it a 5-0 ball game.
The Miller Express showed life at the bottom of the inning, getting three runs and cutting the Dawgs' lead to just two.
Luther hit a double at the top of the seventh and Sanchez would get Luther home when he hit a single to give the Dawgs a 6-3 lead. Okotoks added another run at the top of the eighth with Rose earning a walk with bases loaded and scoring Burney in for the run.
Moose Jaw had a wild comeback at the bottom of the eighth getting five runs to take the lead by just one. The Miller Express would close the game out at the top of the ninth to force the pivotal game three for Saturday night.
Since the Dawgs hold home-field advantage, game three will be played at Seaman Stadium and the team has a chance to win the championship in front of a loud hometown crowd. The first pitch for the winner-takes-all game three will fly at 7:05 pm.