Given the regular season dominance of the Yorkton Yankees and the Canora Supers in the South East Senior Baseball League with both clubs posting near perfect records, it was a slight surprise to see the Langenburg Indians as the Yankees SESBL Championship opponents. After all the Canora Supers finished 11-3 and the Yorkton Yankees finished undefeated at 13-0-1 making the two ballclubs the favorites heading into the best of three quarterfinals and semifinals with byes into the SESBL final four.
The Indians however had other ideas, dispatching the Supers in three games in what was a back and forth series that went all the way to extra innings in the deciding Game Three.
After winning Game One 12-1 the Indians would lose Game Two of the series at home 3-2 in extra innings to send the series back to Canora for a deciding game that would see the winner play Yorkton who already swept the Russell Bulls.
After the two ballclubs traded runs during the seven innings, the deciding game went into extra innings where this time the Indians would get revenge on the Supers. Derek Haberstock's two run crank in the eighth innings would send Langenburg to the league final to take on the Yankees.
In the first game of the series the Indians hopes of upsetting the red hot Yorkton Yankees would be served a dose of hard reality in the bottom of the third inning at Jubilee Park when the defending champions hung a seven run inning on the visitors to open up what would be a 10-0 blowout.
Langenburg made it through the first two innings unscathed, but could only find two hits over the entire game on Yankees ace Logan Calanchie as the pitcher who was dominant in the Yankees title win over the Willowbrook Royals last season was back at it in this year's SESBL Championship.
Calanchie pitched six innings allowing just one hit before Ross Stilborn came into close the game. Calanchie would also add two runs with his bat. Kurt Karcha also registered two RBI's in the win.
Calanchie would be right back on the mound Monday evening in Langenburg as the game travelled down the highway for Game Two.
On decent rest Calanchie went four innings as he and reliever Stillborn shut out the Indians yet again to take a 6-0 win.
Stillborn would be the game's MVP as he also put up two RBI's in the win in addition to getting the save as the Yankees inched one game away from the title.
A perfect season will be on the line in Game Three as the Yorkton Yankees are one win away from the title.
