Backroads and Ballfields: Three Okotoks Dawgs Commit to Three D1 Programs
By Daniel Wilson ·
Okotoks, Alberta, sits about half an hour south of Calgary, and the baseball club there has a habit of sending players south of the border. On Oct. 15, the Okotoks Dawgs announced three more: Ethan Renaud to Wake Forest, Brooks Froese to Kansas State and Dallas Tanaka to Pepperdine. Three schools, three conferences, three time zones, one academy roster.
Prep Baseball's profiles date Froese's pledge to Oct. 4, Renaud's to Oct. 12 and Tanaka's to Oct. 14, and the club announced all three the next day. The release says Froese and Tanaka accepted scholarships. It doesn't give terms for Renaud.
Two Who Grew Up There
Renaud was born and raised in Okotoks and joined the Dawgs at 12, on their 13U team, according to the club. This past season he was part of the 18U Black team that won the first Road to Okotoks National Championship.
He's a 2028 outfielder at Foothills Composite High School, one of the academy's two partner schools, listed at 6-foot-3 and 186.7 pounds. He bats left and throws right. His max exit velocity reached 102.9 mph at a March event in Calgary, and at the Future Games in July his longest ball traveled 392 feet. He ran a 6.91 60-yard dash at that same event and threw a max of 96 from the outfield in March. He has also pitched, topping out at 89.2 in March, but the outfield looks like the main path.
Canadian Baseball Network reported last September that Renaud was one of the youngest players at the Blue Jays Academy's Canadian Futures Showcase, at 15. The same story counted 18 Dawgs Academy players at that event.
Tanaka is also an Okotoks native. The club says he joined the program at 11, played on its 13U and 15U teams and took a big step this past fall with 18U Black, where he drew interest from several college programs. His father, Kevin Tanaka, played college ball at Hawaii Pacific and coaches in the academy.
He's a left-handed hitting and throwing outfielder at Holy Trinity Academy, the other partner school, listed at 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds. His max exit velocity in Prep Baseball's data is 103.5 mph, set at the same March event in Calgary, and his best 60 time is 6.72 from May. Prep Baseball's notes from early 2025 talked about the tools and about waiting for him to add strength. The March exit velocity suggests some of that has arrived.
One Who Moved In
Froese took a different route. He's from Red Deer, about an hour and a half north of Calgary, and the club says he joined the academy this fall to take the next step. It describes him as a middle infielder expected to be an impact player on 18U Black.
Joe McFarland of Alberta Dugout Stories wrote in September that Froese was named Team Canada's MVP at the Prep Baseball Future Games, playing shortstop. He was then a tournament all-star at the Baseball Canada Cup, where Team Alberta won its first bronze in 12 years. McFarland also noted his size: 5-foot-11 and 152 pounds at the Canadian Futures Showcase, two pounds heavier than the lightest player there. Froese told him he hoped to add 25 pounds at the academy.
His max exit velocity in Prep Baseball's data is 91.4, and his max infield throw is 86, both from a March scout day. Those numbers are well behind Renaud's and Tanaka's. The case for him rests on the glove and on strength he hasn't added yet. Prep Baseball lists him as a 2028 shortstop and second baseman who bats and throws right-handed.
The Producer
The academy traces its roots to the Calgary Dawgs youth program that started in 1996. Its release lists recent Division I players from Indiana, Coastal Carolina, Portland, Miami, Washington State, St. John's, North Dakota State and Illinois State. Portland alone shows six names. The club also points to former Dawgs in pro ball, including Tristan Peters with the White Sox, Andrew Kittredge, Kody Funderburk and Jim Henderson, now the Brewers' pitching coordinator.
This group fits the pattern: two homegrown players and one newcomer from elsewhere in the province, all on 18U Black. The release doesn't say which events or coaches led to which offers, and I won't fill that in.
The Draft Calendar
Canadian high schoolers follow the same draft rules as American ones, so class year is draft year. Renaud and Froese are both 2028 graduates.
Tanaka is a 2027 graduate. Prep Baseball's notes from 2025 and March 2026 list him in the class of 2027, which makes 2027 his draft year. None of the three has an 80Grade draft rank yet.
What Comes Next
All three will be back with 18U Black. For Renaud, it's whether the 392-foot power shows up in games against better pitching. For Tanaka, it's carrying more of the March exit velocity into his 2027 draft year. For Froese, it's the 25 pounds. If he adds the weight and keeps the glove, the rest of the profile starts to fill in.