Border Baseball League 2019 Playoff Preview

An editorial preview of the upcoming best of 5 Quarter-Final series

WILD CARD GAME
(8) Killarney Lakers vs (9) Clearwater

One game to save your season.  What’s more exciting than that?  It gets even better when the two teams playing split their season series, had the exact same differential in runs for and against during the season and had to have the home team determined by a coin flip.  Scoring runs will be the key for Clearwater.  Having scored the fewest among any teams in the league this year.  Having said that, they managed to put up 13 in two games with Killarney.  The Lakers offence will be tough to control however, averaging 10 runs a game over the final 3 games of the regular season.  If you’re looking for a prediction on this game  …. Maybe you should just put it to a coin flip.

QUARTER FINALS
Best of 5 Series
(1) Pilot Mound Pilots vs (8) Wild Card

Whoever comes out of the Wild Card game has a tall task in front of them.  They’ll be taking on a Pilots team that just recently claimed it’s 3^rd regular season title in the last 4 years, lost only twice during the entire regular season and boast what may be the most balanced line-up in the league.  Oh, and by the way, a pitching staff led by Anthony Friesen who went 11-0 this season.  The Pilots did go 4-0 against the two teams battling in the wild card game, but if you look at the scores, one swing of the bat could change a lot in those games.  Defeating this team three times in five games seems like a tall task, but that’s why they play the games.  Isn’t that right Tampa Bay Lightning fans!?

Strengths

Pilot Mound – Pitching would seem to be the strength of the club, until you look at what the offence did.  With 11 players batting .300 or better and a team batting average of .314, keeping this team off the board may be a bigger challenge. 
Wild Card – TBD

Keys to Series Victory

Pilot Mound – ‘Keep it coming’.  Three regular season titles and a league championship in the last four years.  Very few teams can boast that type of success in the ultra-competitive Border League.  Just keep doing what you’re doing, it’s obviously working.
Wild Card – There is a reason the Border League has the hardware it does over the last decade.  The league is deep in talent.  Surviving a wild card game may be just what the doctor ordered for a team heading into a series like this.

(2) Morden Mohawks vs (7) Altona Bisons

It’s back to that familiar spot for the Morden Mohawks.  After claiming their first regular season title last year, the Mohawks are back to finishing 2^nd.  That may not be a bad thing, all four of their league titles came from entering the playoffs as the 2^nd seed.  They’ll be facing the new kids on the block, the Altona Bisons.  They may have been roughed up in their two meetings with the Mohawks, but the Bisons were coming on strong at the end of the regular season.  If you’re looking to make a statement in your first year back in the Border League, what better team to do it against than the defending Provincial champs?

Strengths

Morden – Led by Home Run and RBI champion Manny Lantigua (his .478 average wasn’t enough to garner the triple crown!), the Mohawks offence paced the league with just shy of 9 runs a game.  Coupled with the league’s stingiest runs against average, the Mohawks have multiple weapons to try and earn their victories.
Altona – In the playoffs, it isn’t about how much you win or lose by, it’s if you win or lose.  The Bisons seemed to be able to rise to the occasion, posting victories over defending league champion Baldur, knocking off Killarney to avoid the Wild Card game, and handing the Pilots one of their two losses on the season, and their only loss in Pilot Mound.

Keys to Series Victory

Morden – ‘Make them earn it’.  Knowing you can score runs and your pitchers can get outs makes it easy to go out and play with confidence.  Avoiding the mistake that gives the opposition those extra opportunities would be the final ingredient for success.
Altona – ‘Big game hunting’.  When you look at quality wins, the Bisons were among the league leaders.  Altona has more than enough game changers to make this series a nail-biter, and they’ve proven that they’re more than capable of winning when the chips are pushed all-in.

(3) Winkler Whips vs (6) Carman Cardinals

If you’re looking for offence, this might be the series for you.  Both of these squads topped 110 runs scored over 16 games this season and looked to be hitting their stride coming into the playoffs.  Both teams suffered disappointing first round exits last season and are primed and ready to do some damage in 2019.  The Cardinals and Whips posted identical 5-3 records at home, with the Whips earning the higher seed with stronger play on the road.  You can bet the stands will be packed for these games as both teams are known for their strong support at home, and it isn’t exactly far to go for a road game.

Strengths

Winkler – Led by the league’s batting champion Travis Penner (.525 average), the Whips will swing with anyone. Add to that their aggressive baserunning and you’ve got a recipe for an explosive offence.
Carman – Kevin, Tim and Brent Dunn combined to throw 90 2/3 of the teams innings, allowing only 51 earned runs over that stretch.  When you’re trying to slow down a potent offence, it’s nice to know you have pitchers who can get it ‘Dunn’. (Bet they’ve never heard that pun before).

Keys to Series Victory

Winkler – ‘Keep it consistent’.  They’ve hit double digits in run scored 5 times this year.  They’ve also scored 4 or less 5 other times.  Don’t use up all the offence in one game!
Carman – ‘We’re going streaking’ - The Cardinals enter the playoffs with 6 wins over their final 9 games.  When you consider they owned both a 6 game losing streak and 4 game winning streak within 16 games, means they’re a little streaky, and they did win their final two games of the regular season….!

(4) Cartwright vs (5) Baldur

We seem to be doing this every year now don’t we?  For the third straight year these teams will face off in the Border League playoffs.  Cartwright ousted the Regals 2 years ago.  The Regals downed the Twins in last years semi-finals.  So I guess this will be the rubber match.  They won’t exactly be strangers when they meet.  They went head to head in 2 of the final 3 meetings of the regular season, and if you guessed that they split the season series, you’re absolutely right.  Separated by a single game when the dust settled this will be must see playoff baseball with a spot in the semi-finals on the line.

​Strengths

Cartwright – Depth.  The Twins had 5 pitchers throw 12 innings or more this season.  They have the arms to play a lengthy series.  Somebody will always be ready to shut down a rally and keep the game close.
Baldur – They may have lost a couple of more home games than they’re used to this year.  But playing in Baldur is never easy. If they can steal one on the road, it may just be enough as they can be counted on to hold serve on home field.

Keys to Series Victory

Cartwright – ‘Next Man up’ - The Twins found a consistency this year that would seem to show how dangerous they can be.  Multiple pitchers who can get the job done combined with a batting lineup that has showed it can score runs.  You just never know who the hero is going to be.
Baldur – ‘It’s What we do’.  Name the only Border League team to win a league championship entering the playoffs as a 3^rd seed or lower.  Yup, the Regals.  They know how to get it done.