They came agonizingly close once again, but the season ended for the Moose Jaw Miller Express on Saturday night.
Playing in front of a huge crowd at Ross Wells Park, the Express trailed all game and could not complete an eighth inning rally to tie Game 3 of the Western Major Baseball League (WMBL) East Division final, falling 4-3 to the Regina Red Sox.
Winning all three games in the best-of-five series by one run margins, the Red Sox now advance to the WMBL final for the second consecutive year. They will face either the Okotoks Dawgs or Medicine Hat Mavericks for the title.
Express starter Marshall Dean went the distance, striking out four.
Fred Atkins reached base four times for the home side, scoring twice. He came in on a Jon Cotter double in the second inning and again on a Ben Douglas single in the eighth. Douglas would also count in the inning on a bases loaded walk to Austin Russell, but the bases were left stranded when Jess Cooper grounded out to end the frame with the Express still down 4-3.
Regina got a home run from Randy Ramirez in the first inning and scored again in the second. They got four singles in the seventh inning to make the game 4-1 at the time.
For more on this story, read Monday's Times-Herald.
