McFarland, Wilson: Okanagan College Coyotes crowned CCBC champs
The Okanagan College Coyotes are the 2025 Canadian College Baseball Conference champions. Photo: Ian Wilson, Alberta Dugout Stories
*This article was originally published on Alberta Dugout Stories on May 19. You can read it here.
May 18, 2025
By Joe McFarland and Ian Wilson
Alberta Dugout Stories
The Okanagan College Coyotes had some unfinished business to take care of.
After losing a heartbreaking 13-inning marathon to the University of Fraser Valley in the 2024 Canadian College Baseball Conference World Series final, the Yotes wanted nothing more than another shot.
With coffee and energy drinks in tow, the Coyotes met up with the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack for an 8 a.m. first pitch Sunday, as the circuit tried to beat out an oncoming rainstorm at Spitz Stadium in Lethbridge.
What started as a runaway turned into a nail-biting affair that came down to the last pitch, when OC infielder Coleman Kawaguchi took a Jared Sucro grounder and tossed it to Jack Swinton for the final out.
The ensuing dogpile led to a trophy presentation, and it was mission accomplished for the Coyotes.
“College baseball is a lot more of a grind than what I thought it was going to be,” infielder Easton Brons told Alberta Dugout Stories after the game. “For it to finally pay off and get a championship – it means so much.”
It put the cap on a weekend and a season that the Coyotes players and coaches say was filled with overcoming obstacles and adversity.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
The first half of the CCBC season for Okanagan College was the definition of “up and down” in sports.
The team went 8-7 through the first 15 games, and head coach Geoff White says they weren’t playing all that great.
“We weren’t defending very well,” he said. “We were pitching well and hitting well at times, but just couldn’t put it all together.”
White says the turning point, in his mind, was a visit to Vancouver Island University in mid-April.
While the team went 2-2 in that set, he says the senior players started to come around, changing the team’s season.
After splitting another four-game series with TRU, Okanagan went 9-3 through the final 12 games, including two-straight wins against the Wolfpack on the final regular season weekend.
THE ROAD TO SUNDAY
Under a cloudy sky and threats of rain for most of the World Series tournament, the Coyotes thought it would be their offence that would have to guide their way through the cold weather.
They sent a message to the rest of the league in their opener, a 15-5 victory over the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks.
While other teams were battling it out in double-digit scores, Okanagan then had to lean on the combination of Logan Bradford, Dawson Head and Cory Lawson in a 5-2 victory over VIU, guaranteeing themselves a spot in the semi-final.
They then got out to a 7-0 lead on Prairie Baseball Academy and held on for a 7-6 win to put themselves into the final.
The Wolfpack, meantime, also went 2-0 in the round-robin with wins over the Victoria Golden Tide and UFV.
They then lost to the Cascades in the first game of the semi-final, forcing a second game in the double-elimination tournament, which they won handily 17-2.
QUITE THE START
Drayson Vodarek found himself in an unusual spot as the team bus pulled into Spitz Stadium on Sunday morning.
The CCBC All-Conference Second-Team reliever started only one game all year, a 4-2 victory over Edmonton, while finishing with a 1-1 record, three saves and a 2.70 ERA.
He also faced the Hawks in the World Series opener, pitching two innings out of the bullpen.
So with a well-rested arm, the West Kelowna native was called upon to start the biggest game of his collegiate career.
“We just had to come out first and come out firing early,” Vodarek said. “In those early games, that’s the most important thing is whoever strikes first gets to set the tone.”
“I knew I couldn’t let the boys down and I knew I had to be dialed in right away.”
After allowing a lead-off single to Carter Spencer, the right-hander struck out Riley Hay, allowed another single to Sucro, and finished the inning by getting Gabe Powell to ground into a double play.
The Coyotes helped their hurler out in a big way in their half of the first inning, pushing across four runs against CCBC All-Conference First Team reliever Manny Recchi, who was also getting a rare start.
Vodarek’s final line on the morning was no runs on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts in five innings, as he left with a 6-0 lead thanks to the Coyotes putting up two more runs in the bottom of the fifth.
EDGE OF YOUR SEATS
The Wolfpack finally got on the board in the top of the sixth against reliever Ryan Powers, scoring one before the Coyotes put up another two-spot in their half of the inning.
Facing an 8-1 deficit, the TRU offence woke up in the seventh inning, exploding for six runs including a two-run home run from veteran first baseman Simon Crossfield.
White says the team needed to settle down if they were going to hold onto their one-run lead.
“As a staff, we honestly knew that TRU was never out of it,” he said. “They’re a great club and we knew they weren’t going to be rolling over and dying – it was going to be a fight.”
Okanagan right-fielder Ethan Skiffington hit a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth to give his team a little breathing room going into the final frame.
After giving him the ball in the eighth inning, White sent senior reliever Cory Lawson back out in the top of the ninth to finish the job.
It didn’t start well though as the Calgary native walked Lucas Miracle and Manny Birch, then hit Hunter Fanshaw.
“Getting squeezed a little bit there in the ninth, you just have to calm your emotions down and think about the next pitch,” Lawson said. “I was just like, ‘Okay, I’ll go right at you again right here.’”
He allowed a run when Ryan Petrie grounded into a 1-6-3 double play, and Birch scored when Spencer singled.
The inning kept going when Riley Hay made it to first on an error, advancing Spencer to third.
Facing Sucro, Lawson says he had no doubts that he could end it, and when Kawaguchi took the grounder and threw the ball onto first for the game-ending out, a sigh of relief was met by jubilation.
“That’s baseball, right,” said the reliever. “It’s never over until the last out and I just had faith in our guys.”
It’s the first CCBC championship for OC since 2022.
SEASON OF GROWTH
After the trophy presentation, photos and hugs subsided, many on the team took a moment to soak in what was an emotional ride of a game and season.
Coyotes lead-off hitter Adrian Orioli, who went 2-for-4 with three runs scored, says the dugout felt loose throughout the championship contest, as everyone believed in their teammates and trusted that they were always in a good spot.
“Emotions were running high throughout the whole thing, up and down,” he said. “Not falling too low, just trying to stay even.”
Brons, who was named a CCBC All-Conference Second-Team infielder, also went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in.
“Our bats were the reason we won this thing,” the Saskatoon native reflected. “They showed up every game and that was really important.”
In the other dugout, Crossfield and his teammates weren’t hanging their heads in the aftermath of a back-and-forth battle.
The Vancouver, B.C. native says baseball is a game of inches and, sometimes, it just isn’t meant to be.
“It was a great season,” Crossfield said. “I think all of our guys should be really proud of how we competed throughout the year.”
After each team gets home from the tournament, the players will go their separate ways, while the coaching staffs will start focusing on what next year will bring.
For White, he’s excited about what the future has in store for the Coyotes.
“We have a fairly young group, which is nice for the returning class next year,” he said. “Overall, lots of growth on the season.”
BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR
It was another empty-handed CCBC World Series weekend for Alberta’s three teams.
The hosts, Prairie Baseball Academy, lost 7-5 to VIU and beat Edmonton 6-3 before knocking off the Mariners 20-5 in the quarter-final and falling to OC in the aforementioned semis.
The University of Calgary Dinos, meantime, lost 8-2 to UFV and shut-out Victoria 14-0 before falling 13-8 to the Cascades in the quarters.
And the Hawks from Edmonton were two-and-done with their losses to OC and the Dawgs.
While the weather left a little to be desired, the CCBC season will be remembered as another year of improving talent across the circuit and competitive action every weekend.