May 25, 2026

Hawks Fall in World Series Final

LETHBRIDGE, AB—The Edmonton Collegiate Hawks baseball program took a giant leap forward in 2026. In their fifth year of operations, the Hawks set a number of milestones including their first appearance in the Canadian College World Series. On Sunday (May 24), the Collegiate Hawks met up with the squad which won the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference regular season title-the Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs. The Dawgs sent their fans home happy at Lloyd Nolan Park by beating the upstart Hawks 12-7 in the championship final. PBA went through the weekend undefeated. The Collegiate Hawks went 3 and 2. Both losses came at the hands of the Dawgs. In the championship final, PBA got a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning off the bat of #18 Declan Okane. Okane had a pair of homers in the contest as he added a single shot in the eighth inning. He wound up going 3 for 4 with three runs scored and five runs batted in. PBA scored five runs in the third, added three more in the fifth with singles coming in the sixth and eighth innings. They had 11 hits and one error. The Collegiate Hawks scored once in the third along with three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. #47 Jake Tanner and #1 Kolby Smith each hit home runs for Edmonton. Tanner went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in. Smith went 1 for 4 with a run scored and two RBI. #12 Riley Starko made a rare start for the Collegiate Hawks in this one. He went three innings, giving up seven runs on six hits and struck out five. # 51 Will Peterson was the winning pitcher for PBA. He came out of the bullpen to pitch three and two thirds’ innings of one hit ball, striking out three. Collegiate Hawks head coach Jake Lanferman says the difference in the final was obvious. “ It was pitching depth. This is a very difficult tournament to win once you have lost a game. Today’s game was our fifth while PBA had played only three. The extra time off for their pitchers was definitely advantageous.” He added. “ We competed hard and made a charge after going down 10-1. We fought to the end. This was an extremely special group to work with.” When looking back at the team’s performance this weekend, Coach Lanferman stated. “The boys outperformed expectations and it took everyone to play roles to help us win baseball games. We competed from the first pitch until the end and it was a great year of growth for our program.” RECAP OF PREVIOUS 2026 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES GAMES: Sat May 24-Semi Final- Collegiate Hawks 21 Okanagan College Coyotes 17 The Hawks eliminated the defending champion Coyotes by outhitting them 21-17. Smith was 3 for 7 with four runs batted in and three runs scored. #51 Kyo Sakaguchi was 2 for 6 with three runs scored and three runs batted in. # 55 Caedyn Colford hit a home run-his third of the weekend going 3 for 5 with two RBI and two runs scored. #25 Nick Backstrom was the winner going five and two third innings giving up 11 runs on 12 hits and striking out two. Sat May 24-PBA Dawgs 18 Collegiate Hawks 0 In a battle of the two unbeaten squads and a berth in the championship final at stake, The Hawks were outhit 18-2. PBA’s #32 Sean Bavis tossed a complete game two hitter for the victory. He struck out five. Fri May 22-Collegiate Hawks 11 University of Calgary Dinos 8 Colford paced the Hawks with a three run homer. He was three for four with four RBI’s. Smith added a round tripper as well in a 2 for 4 performance at the plate . Edmonton had 19 hits. #40 Matty Schnieder was the winner. Starko pitched the last two innings for the save. Thurs May 21- Collegiate Hawks 13 University of the Fraser Valley Cascades 4 # 32 Logan Colville started and went five and a third innings for the victory. He surrendered four runs on seven hits while striking out two. Colford had a two-run blast in going three for five with three runs batted in. #16 Jace Daku went 3 for 4 with two runs batted in. Smith was 2 for 5 with three RBI. World Series notes: Four members of the Collegiate Hawks were honored at the CCBC ceremony on Thursday. Colford and Starko were named to the CCBC 1st All Conference Team while Smith and Tanner were named to the 2nd All Conference Team. Looking back at the 2026 Collegiate World Series, Lanferman reflected when asked if he would change anything (aside from losing the final). “I would change nothing. The first game against PBA in this tourney was critical. It’s a big disadvantage when you have to come out of the consolation side. Our bats were dominant all weekend but in that game (the 18-0 defeat), we seemed to struggle. It would have made that game more competitive if we were able to swing the bats better.” 2026 Collegiate Hawks CCBC Records: Edmonton set a new league record for most team home runs hit with 44. Their record of 23 and 18 and fourth place finish was the best in franchise history. Colford hit 15 homers which is a new CCBC record (breaking the previous record of nine). Coach Lanferman’s parting thoughts: On the Collegiate Hawks development: “Our Coaching Staff is incredibly proud of this group and everything we accomplished. For the younger guys, it’s a learning experience to see what it takes to win a championship. Our seniors and returners did a great job of being role models and leading by example while creating a strong culture for years to come. Being that close (to winning a title) always stings when you lose. But in our young history as a program, it’s exciting to see what next year (2027) has in store.” Would you change anything on how this year unfolded for the team? We take away what we excelled at and there’s always components of the game to improve on. Every year we learn and we will return in the fall excited to compete.” What did this season’s performance say to the baseball community about the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks program moving forward? “I think we were able to prove again that we are a program who competes and want to get the most our of our players. Again, our players over exceeded expectations and made us very proud.”