The North East Red Sox made short work of their first round playoff series against the Selects, sweeping them two games to none.
Not only did they beat them in two straight games, but the Red Sox kept both games short as they won in 6-1 in five innings on July 30 in a rain shortened game, and 11-0 on Aug. 3 in a five-inning mercy game.
Logan Casavant was terrific on the mound for the Red Sox as he pitched all 10 innings, allowing just one run with neither of them earned, while striking out 13.
With rain wreaking havoc on the baseball schedule, the Red Sox had the luxury of pitching Casavant in both games, with five days rest, which was a huge help, noted Red Sox Devin Gerwing.
Casavant was terrific on the mound, but the Red Sox made sure to give him plenty of run support piling up 17 runs, which was just a continuation of what they had been doing all year, said Gerwing.
“We got guys on base and everyone was hitting. There wasn’t one guy that was doing it all or anything... everyone was getting their one or two hits a day and that kind of lead us to all those runs.”
Luc Casavant was a catalyst in the Red Sox’s offense, particularly in Game 1, where he finished 3-for-3 with three runs batted in, and four stolen bases.
Heading into the series, the Red Sox received a test as they finished the year with two straight games against A Division opponents, which Gerwing said was a big help in getting them ready for the A Division’s Selects.
“Sometimes [when] you’re playing C teams or lower level B teams, it gets a little hard to stay focused during those games, when you just show up and know you are going to win. So it was nice to end the year playing those A teams as a bit of a tune up for playoffs.”
The win moves the Red Sox into the Saskatoon Men’s Baseball League quarterfinals where they will take on another A Division opponent in the Rangers.
Heading into the series, the Red Sox hold the mental edge thanks to a dominating 14-3 win over the Rangers on June 4 in their lone game in the regular season.
Despite the dominant win, Gerwing said the key will be to not let that score fool them, noting the Rangers are a good team, with good players, who have had a lot of success in the SMBL for a number of years.
“If we’re going to win, it’s going to be a really close game and we’re going to need our pitching to be strong, probably four guys strong, and we’re going to need our hitting to get guys on base. They’re a really good team and if we don’t come to play we’re not going to have much of a chance.”
The two teams will play a doubleheader on Aug. 8, with Game 3, if necessary, scheduled for later in the week.
With provincials on the horizon for the weekend, Gerwing said it will be really important for them to try to end the series as quickly as possible so they can set their rotation properly for provincials.
“That would give us another nice little break.”
Looking ahead to the provincial championship, Gerwing said the expectation for the team is to go in and win.
“The draw really shaped up well for us in round robin somehow. So we really have no excuse in my mind anyway to go there and at least be in the semi’s and I expect that’s what we’ll do. But anything can happen.”
