The Regina Red Sox and the Moose Jaw Miller Express are throwing out the regular season.
The Red Sox swept the season series against the Express, but neither team expects that fact to have much of a bearing on what happens when the teams meet in their Western Major Baseball League East Division final season starting tonight.
“We’ve had tough games with Moose Jaw this year,” said Red Sox head coach Rob Cherepuschak. “One bounce in any of those games and it could have gone the other way. We think it’s going to be a great match up for the fans in both cities.”
Game 1 of the best-of-five series will start at 7:05 p.m. at Currie Field in Regina. Game 2 is Friday (7 p.m., Ross Wells Park) in Moose Jaw.
“It’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure,” said Express head coach Michael Hunt. “We were 0-4 against them, but two of those games was a one-run game with another going into an extra inning. We’re definitely up for the challenge.
“We feel like we’re playing a lot better baseball than we ever were when we were playing them (in the regular season). We’re pretty confident in our abilities.”
The Red Sox (29-13) finished 10 games ahead of the Express (19-23) during the regular season, but the red-hot Express are 8-2 in their last 10 games.
The Red Sox will give Braden Keathley (1-3) his first start of the post-season tonight. The Sox have used a five-pitcher rotation and are carrying that into the playoffs.
“We’re rolling with our plan that we’ve used in the last month of the season,” said Cherepuschak. “We’re not changing anything and sticking with what got us here.”
The Express will counter with Mike Rahrich (5-2) who has won his last five starts and posted a 2.18 ERA in the month of July.
For more please see Thursday’s Times-Herald.
