The Estevan Tap House Wolves and the Carlyle Cardinals were the top teams in the Saskota Baseball League all season, and ultimately the league final came down to those two squads.
The Cardinals, who were the second-seeded team in the league’s revamped playoffs, swept the top-ranked Wolves in two straight in the best of three final to win the Jack Harbourne Memorial Trophy. Carlyle took Game 1 6-1 on Aug. 17 at Lynn Prime Park in Estevan, and then won Game 2 9-6 the following night at Lions Park in Carlyle.
The championship was the first for the Cardinals since 2016.
Player-coach Brent McLean said the Cardinals had strong pitching and good team defence throughout the year. They added top pitcher, Kody Rock, who has professional baseball experience, and a few U18 players whose minor baseball season was cancelled due to COVID-19, but everyone else has played for the Cardinals in the past.
McLean wasn’t surprised to see the Cardinals facing the Wolves in the playoffs.
“I would have been shocked if they weren’t in the final … so I was pretty sure that we’d face them if we got there,” said McLean.
The Wolves and the Cardinals were tied for the top record in the league during the regular season at 8-1-1, but the Wolves were awarded the top seed on a tie-breaker because they won the lone regular season meeting between the two teams – a 15-10, come from behind decision in Estevan in late July.
Both teams had perfect 4-0 records in the playoffs entering the final. The Wolves swept their crosstown rivals, the Southeast Firebirds, in the first round, and then they did the same to the Oxbow Chiefs in the semifinals.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, swept the Kipling Royals and the 2019 champions, the Carnduff Astros, en route to the final.
Normally the league would have the bulk of its playoffs contested during the Harbourne tournament at Kenosee Lake in July, but that didn’t happen this year, because of crowd restrictions associated with COVID-19.
“We liked it (the new playoff),” said McLean. “It was something different. Ever since I’ve started playing, we’ve always had the Harbourne Tournament, and there was good and bad with that. We certainly enjoyed the format this year, and the result ended up being good for us, so we certainly can’t complain.”
He expects there will be some discussions at the league level about the format and whether to keep using it in the future.
Also for this season, the league had just a 10-game regular season that was played in a month. Normally it would be closer to 20 games, spread out over a two-month span.
“We got going, and we played two or three games every week. It took seven weeks for the whole season (including the playoffs) to take place, so it was pretty quick. It felt like we played lots of ball in the short time we did.”
Crowds were excellent throughout the league during the season, too, he said.
McLean admits he had pretty much written off having a season, so it was a pleasant surprise to be able to play in 2020.
“I think it was good for the community, and all of the communities that are part of the league,” he said.
