Crossroads Staff
The 2018 playoffs have gotten started for four teams in the Fertile Valley Baseball League. The Oyen Eagles have earned the league’s regular season pennant.
Six teams qualify for the playoffs in the FVBL with the top two teams earning byes to the semifinals and four other teams facing off in two quarter-finals. The quarter-finals are set with the Rosetown Angels versus the Elrose Aces and the Kindersley Stallions versus the Outlook River Hawks.
The Stallions lost in the 2017 FVBL final in their first year in the league and they open the playoffs against a team that played its first FVBL season this year. The River Hawks beat the Stallions 9-3 at home in the teams’ meeting on June 28.
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Game 1 of the series was set for Kindersley on July 10, but it had to be postponed due to weather. Game 1 will be played on July 11 weather permitting, and Game 2 was always scheduled for yesterday, July 12, in Outlook. Game 3, if necessary, will be played early next week.
The Angels were set to host the Aces in Game 1 of the second quarter-final on July 11, and then Game 2 of the series was scheduled for July 12 in Elrose. Game 3, if necessary, will be determined at a later date.
Either of the quarter-final showdowns could be finished by today, and the Eagles and Kindersley Raiders await the winners in the semi-finals. The Eagles and Raiders will be ready with both teams playing this weekend in the Red Lion Inn and Cold Beer and Wine Store Western Canadian Oldtimers & Senior Men’s Baseball Championship in Kindersley. People should check the FVBL website at www.fvbl.ca for scores and updates.
The Eagles (10-1) finished in first place after the FVBL regular season followed by the Raiders (9-2), Angels (9-2), Stallions (8-3), River Hawks (5-6), Aces (5-6), Eatonia Wheat Kings (4-7), Kyle Yellow Jackets (4-7), Beechy Breakers (3-7-1), Kindersley Klippers (3-8), Kindersley Cubs (3-8) and Kindersley Royals (2-8-1). The River Hawks and Cubs were brand new teams for 2018, but it was also the first season for the established Eagles.
There could be several scenarios for how the semi-final match-ups play out for the Eagles and defending FVBL champion Raiders. Since the league started in 2011, only the Angels (5) and Raiders (2) have won FVBL championships.
Oyen led the league in runs for and runs against this season with 111 runs scored and only 40 runs allowed in its games. Rosetown was second with 106 runs scored and Outlook was third with 101 runs scored. The Raiders were a close fourth with 100 runs scored.
The Raiders and Stallions were tied for second in runs against allowing only 51 runs each. The Angels allowed the fourth fewest runs with 53 this season. The Klippers gave up 121 runs for the most of any team and the Royals scored the fewest runs with only 39 runs during the 2018 FVBL season.
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