With a flair for the dramatic, the North Battleford Beavers were the top team in the round-robin standings at the Midget AA Tier I Provincial Baseball Championships with a 3-0 record.
Now they hope to ride that wave into the playoffs Sunday at Beaver Lions Stadium as they look to win their first provincial title since 2005.
"We've been waiting for provincials all year," Gavin Nolin said. "It's special for us and to play here on our home field really gets us going and motivates us.
"I want to win it all and I'm sure everyone on the team feels that way. Anything less than that for me would be dissappointing."
After losing the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League Midget AA crown in a 8-7 thriller to the Moose Jaw Canucks last weekend in Humboldt, the Beavers got off to a sluggish start in their tournament opener Friday as they fell behind 4-0 early to the Regina Blue Jays.
They slowly clawed their way back to within a run after the fifth inning and then rattled off four unanswered runs in the bottom of the sixth frame on their way to a 7-4 win.
"I think it just took a little bit for the mojo to get going for the guys," Beavers coach Michael Hudec said afterwards. "Regina played well though. They stole a couple of bases on us early and they capitalized on a couple of bobbles by us.
"I really think a key momentum switch was when we changed pitchers. Brock Thomson came in and was a real spark plug for us by throwing strikes. That's not to say that our starter Paul Cubbon was doing bad out there, but sometimes a switch like that is what you need to give the guys a real spark."
The Beavers late-game heroics continued Saturday morning. After falling behind 3-1 to the Lumsden Cubs, they scored six runs in the top of the sixth inning and withstood a late charge to take a 7-5 victory.
Then in a battle for the top overall seed in the nightcap against the Humboldt Dodgers, the Beavers broke open a 3-3 tie with a five-run sixth inning on their way to an 8-4 triumph.
Nolin provided the key blow in that contest as he hit a three-run double with two outs in the sixth.
"We've had three walk-off wins this year so we've been in those situations already," Nolin said. "It would be nice though if we could get off to a faster start in the early innings and not have to deal with all of these dramatic situations.
"It does build confidence for us though. We know we can step it up and play better but we also know that we have what takes to come through in the late innings, especially here in the playoffs."
The Beavers will return to action at noon Sunday when they will face the Cubs once again.
The other semifinal will take place at the other side of Centennial Park as the Dodgers take on the Canucks.
The championship game will take place at 3 p.m. at Beaver Lions Stadium.
