JONATHAN HODGSON -- WMBL playoff wrap | Canadian Baseball Network

Aug. 8, 2009

By Jonathan Hodgson

The calendar has turned to August and that means the Western Major Baseball League playoffs are underway.

The quick two-month regular season has gone by quickly, but there have been some great performances and storylines turned in by many Western Major Baseball Legue players and organizations.

The WMBL playoffs began July 31, with a four-team West bracket and a four-team East bracket. The best-of-five series will eventually determine the 2009 WMBL Champion. Here is an overview of the regular season for each team as well as a quick playoff preview.

West Division

Okotoks Dawgs

2009 Record: 32-13, First place West Division.

Manager: AJ Fystro (Calgary)

The Dawgs turned in another stellar regular season, recording the most wins in a single season in WMBL history. After a mediocre 6-6 start, the Dawgs have been on a roll, entering the playoffs 26-7 in their last 33. Pitching and hitting has been there all year for the Dawgs, but if there is one problem for the Dawgs it is their inconsistent fielding. Off the field, the Dawgs once again averaged over 1800 fans per game at Seaman Stadium.

Top Canadians:

OF Anthony Cros (Kamloops, BC) (.393, three, 37) 51 walks for a .564 OBP

RHP Jeff Duda (Surrey, BC) (6-1, 2.44, 82 K’s in 74 IP)

RHP Lee Ingram (Penticton, BC) (eight SV, 3.10, 18 K’s in 20 IP)

Top Hitter: 1B Mac Sullivan (USC) (.324, five, 48)

Top Pitcher: RHP Jeff Duda (Surrey, BC) (6-1, 2.44, 82 K’s in 74 IP)

First Round: The Dawgs first round matchup was a best-of-five series with the Moose Jaw Miller Express.

Lethbridge Bulls

2009 Record: 24-21, Second place West Division

Manager: Scott Rhodes (New Mexico State)

The Bulls got their record above .500 again in 2009. Lethbridge had a good home record at 15-7 but struggled somewhat on the road going 9-14. They also struggled against the rival Okotoks Dawgs going 3-7.

Top Canadians:

3B Jesse Sawyer (Calgary, AB) (.276, seven, 43)

2B Dustin Bissonnette (Lethbridge, AB) (.351, zero, 18)

RHP Steve Hogue (Edmonton, AB) (1-0, 2.10, 30 K’s in 26 IP) 21 bullpen outings.

Top Hitter: 3B Jesse Sawyer (Calgary, AB) (.276, seven, 43)

Top Pitcher: Richard Pharr (LSUS) (6-1, 2.27, 60 K’s in 44 IP) 29 bullpen outings.

First round: The Bulls first round matchup was a best-of-five series with the Medicine Hat Mavericks.

Medicine Hat Mavericks

2009 Record: 20-25, Third place West Division

Manager: Greg Morrison (Medicine Hat, AB)

The Mavs record was not stellar but they were above .500 in their last 18, including a crucial four-game winning streak to finish. The Mavericks swept a double header against Edmonton on the final day of the season to secure a playoff spot. The Mavericks are good at home (13-10) where it is now routine to find over 1,000 fans at the games at Athletic Park, but they struggled on the road going 7-15.

Top Canadians:

RHP Katlin Nunweiler (Medicine Hat, AB) (2-3, 3.75, 33 K’s in 50 IP)

RHP Eric Brown (Thunder Bay, ON) (2-3, 3.98, 48 K’s in 54 IP)

Top Hitter: OF Erik Church (Jamestown) (.331, zero, 28)

Top Pitcher: RHP John Matthews (Sacramento) (5-4, 3.51, 45 K’s in 67 IP)

First round: The Mavs first round matchup was a best-of-five series with the Lethbridge Bulls.

Edmonton Prospects

2009 Record: 18-28, Fourth place West Division

Manager: Andrew Ehling (Hutchinson)

The Prospects showed promise for much of the season but it fell apart at the end. Edmonton was in a playoff spot until they ended the season on a 9 game losing streak including dropping both ends of a double header on the last day of the season against Medicine Hat.

Top Canadians:

LHP Sheldon McDonald (Spruce Grove, AB) (1-0, 1.37, 23 K’s in 26 IP)

RHP Taylor Burns (St Albert, AB) (5-2, 3.83, 49 K’s in 54 IP)

Top Hitter: OF Eric DeBlanc (NW Louisiana St) (.361, five, 28)

Top Pitcher: RHP Alex Kreis (Jamestown) (4-4, 2.59, 64 K’s in 66 IP)

The Prospects did not qualify for the playoffs.

Central Division

Swift Current Indians

2009 Record: 27-13, First place Central Division

Manager: Joe Carnahan (Swift Current, SK)

The Indians once again won their division, as usual. They were very consistent all summer and enter the playoffs 10-4 in their last 14. Indians hitting has been very impressive, but their pitching has not been as dominant.

Top Canadians:

RHP Adam Paulencu (Sherwood Park, AB) (1-0, 2.13, 30 K’s in 25 IP) 17 outings

1B Conrad Funk (Swift Current, SK) (.328, one, 21)

Top Hitter: 2B Shawn Lee (Bellevue) (.392, three, 24)

Top Pitcher: RHP Joey Evans (Texas Wesleyan) (5-2, 2.92, 54 K’s in 49 IP) 23 outings

First round: The Indians crossed over to the East bracket as the No. 1 seed and faced the Yorkton Cardinals.

Moose Jaw Miller Express

2009 Record: 15-25, Second place Central Division

Manager: Michael Hunt (Colby)

Moose Jaw finished in a tie for the last playoff spot with Saskatoon but held the edge in the tie-breaker system. Moose Jaw was 5-12 in their last 17 but won 2 of their last 3 to sneak into the playoffs. The Millers have some good hitters but pitching was their huge downfall.

Top Canadians:

Jon Cotter (Moose Jaw, SK) (.333, one, 15)

RHP Taylor Elder (Moose Jaw, SK) (4-5, 4.70, 78 K’s in 75 IP)

Top Hitter: Jon Cotter (Moose Jaw, SK) (.333, one, 15)

Top Pitcher: RHP Taylor Elder (Moose Jaw, SK) (4-5, 4.70, 78 K’s in 75 IP)

First round: The Millers crossed over into the West bracket as the No. 4 seed and faced the Okotoks Dawgs.

Saskatoon YellowJackets

2009 Record: 15-25, Third place Central Division

Manager: Dave Riggs (Saskatoon, SK)

The YellowJackets endured a tough 2-9 start which saw them fire their manager Marty Berson. While they only missed the playoffs because of the tiebreaker, it was Saskatoon’s inability to avoid extended losing streaks that did them in.

Top Canadians:

IF Scott Klassen (Saskatoon, SK) (.393, zero, 14)

RHP Dan Morari (Saskatoon, SK) (4-2, 2.49, 70 K’s in 65 IP)

RHP Jordan Rawlyk (Saskatoon, SK) (3-1, 3.05, 36 K’s in 41 IP)

Top Hitter: IF Scott Klassen (Saskatoon, SK) (.393, zero, 14)

Top Pitcher: RHP Dan Morari (Saskatoon, SK) (4-2, 2.49, 70 K’s in 65 IP)

The YellowJackets did not qualify for the playoffs.

East Division

Melville Millionaires

2009 Record: 26-14, First place East Division

Manager: Garnet Keller (Melville, SK)

The Mils enjoyed a resurgent 2009 season winning the East Division. They were fairly average for most of the summer but went on a tear going 12-2 in their last 14 games. Melville has a solid club with some dangerous bats and some good arms.

Top Canadians:

1B Josh Correia (Brampton, ON) (.380, 11, 61) Led WMBL in HR and RBI

OF Paul Lamantia (Tecumseh, ON) (.252, four, 22)

Top Hitter: 1B Josh Correia (Brampton, ON) (.380, 11, 61)

Top Pitcher: RHP Coty Saranthus (SWMS) (6-1, 0.41, 62 K’s in 44 IP) 20 outings

First round: The Millionaires were the No. 2 seed in the East bracket and faced the Regina Red Sox.

Regina Red Sox

2009 Record: 21-18, Second place East Division

Manager: Rob Cherepuschak

The Red Sox started poorly and were below .500 most of the summer but finished 8-2 in their last 10 to grab second in the division. Hitting is by far the strong point of the Red Sox but they have a couple of arms not to be overlooked.

Top Canadians:

OF Ben Van Iderstine (Regina, SK) (.338, four, 22)

RHP Jesse Pentz (Regina, SK) (0-0, 2.50, 14 K’s in 18 IP) 12 outings

Top Hitter: OF Eric McKinney (Northeastern St) (.362, six, 43)

Top Pitcher: RHP Ryan Salt (Trinidad St) (8-2, 1.89, 73 K’s in 76 IP)

First round: The Red Sox will be the No. 3 seed in the East bracket and faced the Melville Millionaires.

Yorkton Cardinals

2009 Record: 20-20, Third place East Division

Manager: Bill Sobkow (Yorkton, SK)

The Cardinals got back to the .500 mark in 2009. A stretch of nine losses in 10 games was followed up by three wins in four games to end the year. If Yorkton is going to go anywhere in playoffs, their pitching is going to take them there.

Top Canadians:

RHP Jordan Herbison (Brockville, ON) (4-3, 1.74, 46 K’s in 57 IP)

RHP Chris Cox (St. George, ON) (3-2, 2.66, 57 K’s in 51 IP)

Top Hitter: INF Andrew Haake (Nebraska-Kearney) (.261, seven, 25)

Top Pitcher: RHP Jordan Herbison (Brockville, ON) (4-3, 1.74, 46 K’s in 57 IP)

First round: The Cardinals will be the No. 4 seed in the East bracket and will face the Swift Current Indians.

Weyburn Beavers

2009 Record: 12-28, Fourth place East Division

Manager: Terry Smith

It was another rough summer in Weyburn. The hitting was okay but the pitching simply wasn’t there. A major factor though, was that the Beavers were ravaged by injuries much of the summer.

Top Canadian:

C Daniel Perron (Winnipeg, MB) (.298, one, 21)

Top Hitter: OF Riley Gavello (Missouri Baptist) (.347, one, 24)

Top Pitcher: LHP Graham Rodriguez (Chabot) (3-5, 3.15, 50 K’s in 66 IP)

The Beavers did not qualify for playoffs.

So there you have it. Another WMBL regular season is in the books and another exciting post season is underway. Here is the complete playoff bracket:

West Bracket:

(1) Okotoks Dawgs vs. (4) Moose Jaw Millers.

(Okotoks wins 3-0)

(2) Lethbridge Bulls vs. (3) Medicine Hat Mavericks.

(Medicine Hat wins 3-2)

East Bracket

(1) Swift Current Indians vs. (4) Yorkton Cardinals.

(Swift Current wins 3-1)

(2) Melville Millionaires vs. (3) Regina Red Sox.

(Meleville wins 3-1)

Conference finals

(Okotoks leads Medicine Hat 2-1)

(Swift Current leads Melville 2-0)

**All Series are 5 games**