Wilkie takes on Standard Hill in NSRBL finals

The Wilkie Brewers and the Standard Hill Lakers will face off in the 2016 North Saskatchewan River Baseball League (NSRBL) finals, with the right to be champion on the line.

Standard Hill came into the playoffs as the fifth seed with a 10-6 record and beat the Unity Cardinals 2-0 in the quarterfinals. The Lakers continued to roll, upsetting the first seed Lloydminster Twins 2-1 in the semifinals.

First baseman for Standard Hill Nic Weston, said defensive play on the diamond has been a big part of the playoff run.

“Our defence has been pretty unreal lately, and obviously our pitching. When you get a 17-year-old kid on the mound and shut out one of the best hitting ball teams in the league, it’s a pretty good feeling,” he said.

The 17-year-old pitcher Weston referred to is Cooper Olson.

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Olson pitched a complete game, giving-up only two hits in the deciding game three of the series against Lloydminster.

Weston said the Lakers feel confident matching up against the Brewers.

 “They’re a good hitting ball club, but we’ve had some pretty solid pitching lately and our bats are starting to come around so I think we could give them a good run,” he said.

Meanwhile in Wilkie, the Brewers enter the finals as the second seed with an 11-5 record. On the way to the championship the Brewers beat the Border City Blue Jays 2-0 and the Meadow Lake White Sox 2-1 in the semifinals.

Wilkie is making a return to the NSRBL finals after an extended absence but Coach Trent Cey said the Brewers won’t rest on their laurels.

 “To get back (to the finals) and have the year that we’re having, obviously everybody is excited, but we know that getting to the finals doesn’t really mean anything. You play to win the league championship and now we gave ourselves that opportunity to do that,” he said.

Going into the finals, Cey said the Brewers are up to the task of taking on a strong Standard team.

“They have beat two teams, that we know are very good teams in the playoffs, to get to the league finals, so (we) definitely won’t be underestimating them. We’ll hopefully be ready to take them on and have a good series with them because they’re on a roll,” he said.

Game one of the finals takes place Tuesday, Aug. 16 in Wilkie with game two Wednesday, Aug. 17 in Silver Lake and if necessary, game three on Tuesday, Aug. 23 back in Wilkie.

Matt Kelly is battlefordsNOW’s town municipal affairs and community reporter. He can be reached at mkelly@jpbg.ca.