McFarland: Larouche leads Dawgs Academy to win on Day 1 at Road to Okotoks
L.C. Larouche (second from right), from the Dawgs Academy, celebrates with his teammates after homering to help his squad to an 11-1 win over Atlantic Frontier on the opening day of Baseball Canada’s Road to Okotoks national championship tournament. Photo: Scott Savard Photography
*This article was originally published on Alberta Dugout Stories on July 15, 2026. You can read it here.
July 15, 2026
By Joe McFarland
Alberta Dugout Stories
To some, he’s Louis-Charles. To his teammates, he’s L.C. To the baseball world, he’s introducing himself as a big-time hitter.
Louis-Charles Larouche made his mark on the inaugural Road to Okotoks on opening day, going 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs batted in and one run scored as the hometown Dawgs Academy knocked off Atlantic Frontier 11-1.
The Montreal native’s first-inning roundtripper showed why he will be participating in Friday’s Home Run Derby.
Having never seen the Atlantic Frontier pitchers before, Larouche says he wanted to be aggressive.
“I’m not really a complicated guy,” the San Jose State University commit told Alberta Dugout Stories.
“I just like to see pitch, and if I like it, I’ll just swing at it.”
Like all other teams, the Dawgs felt getting a win on the first day was very important to set the tone, especially with the 19U national championship being held in their hometown.
“We know everyone’s coming for us,” Larouche said.
“We’re the team to beat, we’re the home team, and we have a little pressure, so we just took that pressure off our shoulder first. It’s good to get the first one out of the way.”
The Dawgs will face Gulls Prep on Wednesday, the Ontario Terriers on Thursday and the UBC Thunder on Friday before the weekend’s playoffs.
The ultimate goal for everyone is to be the ones lifting the Morneau Cup on Sunday afternoon.
“There would be no words for it,” Larouche said. “It would be so awesome. We’ve prepared for this since the beginning of the winter and that is the ultimate goal.”
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Listen to the Alberta Dugout Stories podcast from Day 2 of Baseball Canada’s Road to Okotoks national championship here.
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THE DAILY RUNDOWN
Opening Day started with the Etobicoke Rangers coming away with a 2-1 win over the Langley Blaze. Cooper Doan was outstanding in the contest, striking out 11 while allowing just two hits in six innings of action.
AHP Academy was the first Alberta team on the field and they manhandled the Ontario Kobras 12-2. It was the definition of a team win with eight players registering RBIs, including a three-hit day from Michael Szpak.
A battle of the west coast saw the UBC Thunder down the Abbotsford Cardinals 8-5. Jeffrey Qi led the way offensively with a homer and four RBIs.
A great performance on the mound again came from Kayden Militello as he went six innings striking out 10 and allowing just three hits as the Victoria Eagles blanked the Ontario Blue Jays 4-0.
A big offensive game for utilityman Will Zielinski saw him go 3-for-3 with four RBIs to pace Vauxhall past the DT Selects out of Quebec 11-1 in a mercy game. Calum Andersen and Graham Thiessen combined to allow just three hits while striking out 12.
Braxton Bussing was outstanding, tossing a complete game three-hitter to lead Gulls Prep past the Ontario Terriers 5-0. The Coronation native allowed just two walks while striking out six. Dayne Liske homered and drove in three for the Gulls.
A solid back-and-forth affair between Team Sask and the Mississauaga HPP Tigers saw the Tigers coming away with the 5-2 victory. Kash Berg and Jarrett Rude drove in the Sask runs.
And the nightcap saw the host Okotoks Dawgs Black mercy Atlantic Frontier 11-1. Aside from Larouche’s performance, Alex Machej also drove in three with a pinch-hit three-run double in the final inning.