Western Canadian Baseball League season cancelled due to COVID-19

The Okotoks Dawgs are celebrating their win at the WCBL championships after defeating the Regina Red Sox at Seaman Stadium on Saturday night.

Calgary — Ongoing restrictions on travel and crowd sizes means the Okotoks Dawgs won't get a chance to defend their Western Canadian Baseball League title this year.

The WCBL board of governors announced Wednesday the 2020 season has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The League made every effort to monitor the evolving COVID-19 crisis in hopes that sufficient progress would be made in containing the virus so as to enable play, if only for a shortened season," the league said in a statement.

"However with the ongoing restrictions on mass gatherings and a closed Canada/USA border, it had become clear that the 2020 WCBL Season could not “safely” proceed."

In a statement, the team thanked fans and urged them to continue following public health advice.

"Regrettably, we will have to wait until the 2021 season to defend our WCBL championship," it read. "Together we are going to beat this thing and come back firing in 2021."

Season ticket holders should receive an email about the team's "credit and bonus credit or refund policy," the team said.

Information is also available on the team's website.

The Dawgs swept the Regina Red Sox in a best-of-three series to win the 2019 title, their first since 2009.