Regina Red Sox ride Cinderella run to first WCBL championship since 2012
For the first time since winning it all in 2012 as part of back-to-back titles, the Red Sox are Western Canadian Baseball League champions following a 5-4 victory Saturday night over the Sylvan Lake Gulls in Game 3 of the championship series.
It's the culmination of a Cinderella run for Regina, which only lost two games during the playoffs—and doing so after a season which had its fair share of tragedy and struggles.
The Red Sox saw most of their mid-season starters depart the team early for college commitments and other baseball opportunities. They finished the regular season with an unremarkable 29-27 record to earn the third seed in the East Division.
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Regina would go on to sweep the Medicine Hat Mavericks in the opening round of playoffs before winning a three-game series against the record-breaking Saskatoon Berries in the WCBL East Division final.
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2:09
Saskatoon Berries see record-breaking season end with East Division Final loss
The Red Sox dropped the opener of the league finals 3-2 in extra innings on Friday night in Regina, Facing elimination against the Gulls on Saturday, they entered the top of the ninth inning trailing 6-4 and went down to their final out.
But Regina staved off that outcome with a six-run ninth inning to earn a remarkable 10-7 comeback victory. It won Saturday's Game 3 final with a winning two-run single from Rafael Jackson in the seventh inning.
On social media, the Red Sox dedicated their championship to their teammate Jesse Lubiniecki who died in late May in a single-vehicle crash in Montana while driving back to his hometown of Regina from Taft Community College in California.
Red Sox catcher and local product Brady Bye was named WCBL Playoff MVP, leading all post-season batters with 10 RBIs in eight games with a .333 batting average.
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