It’s only fitting that the goodest girl joined the booth Thursday.
Mokoro, the Lake County bat dog, suited up for her broadcast debut at Classic Auto Group Park during the Captains’ final Dawg Night of the season. In the bottom of the sixth inning of the Captains’ 4-3 walk-off victory over the Great Lakes Loons, Mokoro put her duties of retrieving bats on pause.
“She’s a natural,” play-by-play broadcaster Logan Potosky said. “She’s got the headset on and all.”
While easily teaching Mokoro to retrieve the bat off the field, owner and trainer Victoria Brody noted the distractions of her beloved pooch. From baseballs, hot dogs and sunflower seeds, Brody’s worked around keeping her Labrador focused. Even in the Lake County media guide, Mokoro’s favorite treat is listed as, “Anything that’s edible.”
“So we absolutely do not make it a habit of feeding her hot dogs,” Brody laughed. “But because we needed to train something with high value for her because she’s working really hard, we do give her little, teeny, tiny pieces of hot dog when she goes to get the bat. So we keep it in the ballpark theme, and that’s her favorite.”
COMPLETE GUARDIANS PROSPECT COVERAGE
Before sharing the booth with Mokoro, Potosky found a photo of the 1-year-old from a Dawg Night in 2024. Mokoro, only a puppy then, turned from a fan to an employee of the team, becoming a companion to the Lake County players as well.
“They love her,” Brody said. “There’s times where she just wanders up and down the dugout and just hangs out with everybody, gets her pets in. She’s always looking for snacks too, so that’s always fun because you never know what she’s eating.
“A lot of people were worried about her biting the bats and stuff, but it’s like oh, no, Labradors are actually trained to have really soft mouths because they’re usually retrieving birds out for hunting. They’re intentionally not supposed to bite down hard. … She’s not leaving teeth marks on the bat.”
Mokoro, who appeared in her first game this past April, received a congratulation from Slider of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans during her first season. Moving forward, Brody hopes to connect with more bat dog owners and trainers.
