OKOTOKS, Alberta — Okotoks baseball prospects Conor Pote (Oregon State University), Logan Rumberg (George Mason University), Max Hartman (Washington State University) and Boston Warkentin (University of Washington) will get a step closer to playing professional baseball in 2022. These Okotoks Dawgs Academy products will take part in the top division (Division I) of U.S. college baseball.

For his height and athleticism, Pote (6-foot-7) is one of the most eye-catching of the group. He has been on a baseball field since he can remember. His father, Lou Pote, played for the Angels and won a World Series in 2002.

“His athleticism is what separates him from other kids of his age (Pote is 17),” the Okotoks Dawgs 18U Black team head coach Val Helldobler said.

The right-handed pitcher has trained with the Canadian Junior National Team and that experience, according to Helldobler, has improved his game notoriously.

“It means everything to me to get the opportunity to put Canada across my chest and be able to represent my town, province, family and country at the national level,” Pote told BVM Sports. “There is no other feeling out there like walking out to the pitcher’s mound with Canada across your chest.

“I’m headed to play baseball at Oregon State University in the fall of 2022 and I couldn’t be more excited to get the chance to go and get a top-quality education and play for a powerhouse baseball program that competes for the national championship yearly,” the former Baseball Alberta’s 15U AAA Player of the Year said. “I think both opportunities (playing with the Canadian National team and joining Oregon State) have impacted my career already greatly and, hopefully, in a couple of years, I’ll look back on all these experiences I’ve had and say that they helped push me to accomplish my main goal, become the best baseball player and the man I can be.”

“He has a great future ahead of him,” Helldobler added.

According to Prep Baseball Report Alberta (PBRA), an independent scouting service that ranks and provides scouting reports on individual athletes across North America, “Pote’s velocity hasn’t yet climbed up to where we think he’ll get but he has thrown strikes and been around the zone, showing he can get outs without his best stuff.”

Logan Rumberg (5-foot-10) stands out for his control on the mound. He is described by Helldobler as a pitcher who “can put the ball wherever he wants to, put multiple pitches in strike. He pitches down the zone. He is very competitive.”

“Fastball topped out at 81 miles per hour, gets good running life on the pitch especially to the arm side. Curveball tunnels his fastball well, has good bite and depth and is a solid second pitch. Best pitches were when he was able to run his fastball into right-handed hitter’s hands,” the events amateur baseball events and database platform Perfect Game wrote about Rumberg one year ago.

Rumberg, Helldobler recalled, was a catcher at one point, and transitioned into a pitcher.

“I think it has worked out well,” the Dawgs coach and associate scout for the Atlanta Braves organization stated.

The outfielder and left-handed hitter Max Hartman (6-foot-2) can do almost everything on the field according to Helldobler.

“He is a very talented athletic kid,” he said. “He can run, jump, throw, and hit. He is becoming a good defender as well.”

Hartman has also worn the Junior Canadian National Baseball team uniform.

“(Hartman is) a hit first type player who has played all three outfield spots this season and seen the majority of his playtime in left-field with the National Team,” PBRA said about Hartman. “(Hartman) is an aggressive type player who uses the whole field offensively and will look to take extra 90’s out the box or when he gets on base.”

Boston Warkentin (6-foot-2) is praised for his sharp repertoire.

“He has a plus slider, that is his secondary pitch, a strikeout pitch, that could make him play at the next level,” Helldobler said.

When Warkentin first came to the Dawgs academy, he was an outfielder and pitcher.

“He was throwing in the high 70s, today he is throwing in the 90s,“ Helldobler added.

According to PBRA, the right-handed pitcher has a fastball that goes up to 91 miles per hour, a curveball with late action “and bites to it that kept hitters off-balance.” Overall, he has the tools to become a late-inning reliever type.

“He has a chance for two pitches to play up and be a lockdown guy out the pen early in his college career,” PBRA added.

The catcher from Montreal, Quebec, Nicolas Fortin, is another Okotoks Dawgs player who will play in the NCAA Division I next year. He is “athletic build and has a strong arm with a recorded 2.06 throw downtime” and can “swing the bat well from the left side.”

The Okotoks Academy has had an ultimate impact on these players who joined the program, in some cases, when they were at primary school.

“They train six days a week,” Helldobler said. “The kids put in the time and effort. The Dawgs and the coaching team are there to support their journey. They’ve walked a long way since they joined the academy.”

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