Dawgs land Vickers, Kirkwood twins

The Kirkwood twins,INF Drake Kirkwood and OF Garrett Kirkwood, along with LHP Nick Vickers will be with the Okotoks Dawgs this summer.

Tuesday Jan. 12, 2016

Dawgs sign homegrown talent

Three former Okotoks Dawgs will be returning to Okotoks for the summer to once again wear the red and white, but this time for the college Dawgs.

Left-handed pitcher Nick Vickers, along with twins Drake and Garrett Kirkwood represent three players who have grown through the Dawgs ranks since bantam.

Nick Vickers, Northeastern Junior College, LHP
Vickers was invited to the Canadian Junior National Team extended spring training roster in 2015, a clear testament of his talent. He is expected to make a major impact with Plainsmen in his first season after a strong string of years as a starter for the Dawgs Academy.

Last season, Vickers appeared in two games for the collegiate Dawgs, recording seven strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings. His time spent with the team should prepare him well for his first upcoming college season. He should warrant strong consideration for a starting role with the team next year.

Drake Kirkwood, Colby Community College, INF
Garrett Kirkwood, Colby Community College, OF
The Kirkwoods are the second set of brothers to sign to play for the Dawgs this summer, joining pitchers Bo and CJ Lewington. The Kirkwood twins terrorized Alberta baseball at the bantam and midget levels, both putting up impressive offensive numbers and approaching Dawgs academy records for stolen bases. It was an easy choice for the brothers to stay together when they left the Dawgs academy for college this past year.

Garrett, older by one minute, is an outfielder who bats left. Drake is an infielder who bats right. Both have blazing speed and will cause immense problems on the base paths for the opposition.

The duo shared the Dawgs Jimmy Henderson award for top academy player s last year before signing to attend classes at Colby Community College in Kansas. Initially, they were planning on attending Spalding University, but elected to attend one of the top community colleges, opening doors for a big transfer to an NCAA powerhouse after their sophomore year.

Vickers and the Kirkwoods join Brendan Rose and CJ Lewington as former JDawgs on the 2016 team. More will be J Dawgs alumni will be announced in the coming weeks, too.