It ended late, but the Yorkton Yankees didn't mind the lack of sleep that followed their SESBL playoff semi-final clash against the Langenburg Indians on Monday night. After two hard fought games to open the best of three series Jubilee Park hosted the decisive third and final game under the lights.
The late start gave the game a real playoff atmosphere, as the stands were as full as most WMBL games the diamond sees with both home and away fans showing their support of the SESBL ballclubs.
The Yankees got off to a good start and jumped out to a comfortable lead before withstanding the Tribe rally in the middle innings to capture the 18-9 victory and advancing to the SESBL Finals against the Willowbrook Royals.
Yankees coach Mark Jacobs was happy with the team's effort in the series saying "It was a hard fought series, and they played us tough all year and stole one from us in game one, and the last two games were a battle, but we don't die."
Jacobs also noted that the Yankees win in the series was a team effort, with every player contributing to a balanced performance that earned them the trip to the finals.
Jacobs pointed out that Derek Marshall had an impressive showing in game three, giving two quality innings for the Yankees despite not having many appearances on the mound for the Yankees throughout the regular season. Marshall's two inning performance was a key to the victory and shows how deep the Yankees are off of the bench in their pitching staff in combination with their well balanced lineup on offense.
Jacobs notes that their five game championship series against Willowbrook will not come easy and that the Royals have improved from last season, making the SESBL Championship an entertaining matchup. The two Yorkton area teams (Willowbrook is just a few minutes outside of Yorkton) will likely start their series next week as the Saskatchewan Senior Provincials are at Jubilee Park this weekend, but the five game series will commence shortly after.
All spectators are welcome to come out and support the local clubs and admission to Jubilee Park is free.
