5 days ago
'A little bit of magic': Regina Red Sox advance to WCBL championships
It was a joyful bus ride home from Saskatoon on Tuesday night for the Regina Red Sox baseball team.
"Lots of singing. The music was going pretty good. That two and a half hour ride seemed like half an hour — we were having a lot of fun," Regina Red Sox head coach Rye Pothakos said.
The team was celebrating its 6-2 win over the Saskatoon Berries in the deciding Game 3 of the Western Canadian Baseball League's East Division Final.
"The boys played outstanding baseball," Rye said. "Our pitching was superb and there was timely hitting."
Rye said the Red Sox planned to have starting pitcher Chris Spry, who he described as a "workhorse," go as deep as he could before Ayden Page closed out the game.
The plan worked to a T, Rye said, adding the team has had a strong playoff run so far.
"It's turned into a little bit of magic. The boys are playing for each other and we have great culture, great character and great leadership," Rye said.
The team will get a rest day before facing Alberta's Sylvan Lake Gulls on Thursday night at 7 p.m. CST at Regina's Currie Field.
"We're excited about the championship series," Rye said.
'Disappointing night' for Berries
After a record-breaking regular season and several come-from-behind victories, the Saskatoon Berries' playoff run has come to an end.
"In our second year of being in this league, it's a great accomplishment to break the league record for most wins in a season," Saskatoon Berries president Steve Hildebrand said.
"But obviously at the end of the day, we also are about winning championships and we fell short, unfortunately, last night."
Hildebrand said the players were disappointed, but did a great job.
"We'll take a step back, we'll go over things we feel we need to improve on and get better," he said. "We have a really good ball team."
Hildebrand said the Berries' Carter Beck hitting a walk-off grand slam against Moose Jaw in the first round of the playoffs was a stand-out memory from the season.
"It was a great moment," Hildebrand said. "It's something that I'm fairly certain will be talked about for many years."
