The Saskota Baseball League playoffs saw four teams move on to the next round, the Estevan Wolves, Carlyle Cardinals, Carnduff Astros and Oxbow Chiefs were all able to sweep their opponents, with the No. 6 Chiefs pulling the only upset over the third-seeded Cubs.
The Cardinals, who had to reschedule their Aug. 4 game to the following day, rode the arm of Kody Rock’s complete game performance and good team defence to a 3-1 win in Game 1, and then won 9-2 in Kipling with Danny Rasmussen going the distance against Burke Lyons in the Aug. 6 matchup.
The Kenosee Cubs grabbed third spot when they ruined the Estevan Wolves undefeated season in the final game of the regular season. Kenosee hosted the Oxbow Chiefs, opening their series on Aug. 4, but were not up to the task, unable to shake Oxbow’s starter Cory Purves in the opener, losing 7-3.
The Cubs then had to travel to Oxbow on Aug. 6 and win in Bow Valley Park to keep their season alive. They threw Thomas Husband on the mound against the Chiefs Brandon Pauchard who gave the Cubs little they could get their bats on. Oxbow took advantage of a Tom Frasz RBI double to open the tap in the first. A three-RBI performance by Brody Nordin and a solo home run by James Cameron made for a 17 -2 drenching of the Cubs for the series sweep, sending the visitors home to dust off the golf clubs.
The Carnduff Astros, the reigning league champions, proved that they were ready to for another deep playoff run knocking off a tough Redvers A’s team, who lost the opener in Carnduff 9-6. The A’s delayed the Astros sweep, holding onto a 1-1 tie in the Aug. 6 game in Redvers that was suspended on account of darkness after nine innings. The game resumed Aug. 7 in Redvers.
The Astros overcame their road legs, making their second road trip in two nights, winning the league’s longest game of the year 3-2 after 11 innings. They will travel to Carlyle for the next round, taking on the Cardinals, who shut the Astros out in Carnduff in their only meeting earlier in the season.
The first place Estevan Wolves knocked out the cross-town rival Southeast Fireballs in two straight and will face the Chiefs in the other semifinal.
