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Red Lions look to down Blackhawks in semis

The Westlock Red Lions ended their regular season with a win Aug. 9, sending them into the post-season with a the fourth and final North Central Alberta Baseball League playoff berth. The win means the Lions will head into their Aug.
Westlock Red Lions’ Jordan Brand lays down a bunt during a 6-0 win over the St. Albert Cardinals at Keller Field on Tuesday, Aug. 9. The Lions will now face the Edmonton
Westlock Red Lions’ Jordan Brand lays down a bunt during a 6-0 win over the St. Albert Cardinals at Keller Field on Tuesday, Aug. 9. The Lions will now face the Edmonton Blackhawks in the NCABL semi-finals.

The Westlock Red Lions ended their regular season with a win Aug. 9, sending them into the post-season with a the fourth and final North Central Alberta Baseball League playoff berth.

The win means the Lions will head into their Aug. 20-21 best-of-three final series against the league-leading Edmonton Blackhawks with a psychological advantage, and men in the dugout to back it up, said manager Adam Sawatzky.

“Anytime you end the season with a win, it ends things on a good note,” Sawatzky said.

“We lost more than we wanted to for a while, so hopefully it bodes well for us in the playoffs.”

After a string of injuries last month, the Lions tumbled from a close second in the league to fourth place, a rough patch, but still good enough to make it to the post-season.

Tuesday’s win against the Cardinals leaves them with a 12-6 regular season record. After handing the Blackhawks their first loss of the season, a 3-2 win on July 6, Sawatzky said the Lions may have just what it takes to get past the first-place contenders in the first round for a second consecutive year.

The injury-plagued Red Lions have finally received some good fortune with several players back into the lineup and ready for the post-season run and a crack at back-to-back league titles.

Though Josh Mowat is out with a torn MCL, Sawatzky and fellow pitcher Sean Beaudoin are back on the mound after recovering from a broken thumb and hamstring injury, respectively, giving the team some needed pitching depth.

“The two pitchers that [the Blackhawks] use are very good, but if we can get past them and get into some of their other arms, that’ll be an advantage. They don’t have a lot of guys that throw nearly as effectively,” Sawatzky said.

That strategy worked well for the Lions last year when they faced the Blackhawks in the 2015 semifinals.

“We split the first few games and then they tried to play another pitcher,” Sawatzky said.

After relying on pitchers Kris Johnson and Curtis Burlet throughout the year, Sawatzky said the extra help from himself and Beaudoin should give the Lions the advantage they need to control the three-game series.

“With Curtis and Kris, I think that’s one of the advantages that we have. We know the team and know who their best players are,” Sawatzky said, adding that the games will still rely heavily on group effort.

“We just execute better on both sides of the ball. That’s probably what this series will come down to is who executes better.”

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