Border Baseball League 2024 Playoff Preview

An editorial preview of the upcoming best of 5 Division Final Series

WEST DIVISION FINAL
Best of 5 Series

(1) Cartwright Twins vs (2) Pilot Mound Pilots

2024 will mark the 5^th consecutive playoff season the Twins and the Pilots are going head to head in the West Division Final with the right to play for the Championship trophy on the line. The Pilots won the early matchups (2019, 2021) while the Twins have taken the last two (2022, 2023), so here’s hoping this years match up can live up to the hype! The Pilots flexed their muscles over Clearwater in the first round series, showing they could both outscore and outlast teams ultimately eliminating the blue shirts in 4 games. Cartwright got pushed by the Regals, but ultimately showed their playoff resolve putting up convincing wins when they were needed.  The Twins held the regular season advantage head to head over the Pilots taking 2 of the 3 contests. Pilot Mound did win the last match up. All 3 games were low scoring and tight with 5 runs being the most either team needed to secure the victory in any of the contests. Sign me up for this one!

Strengths

Cartwright – The depth in the regular season led to the top seed and the depth in the playoffs helped them get past a pesky Baldur squad. The Twins continually put balls in play and drew walks in their series with Baldur. Making it hard on opposing pitchers seems like a good path to success moving forward once again.
Pilot Mound – The Pilots didn’t have to rely fully on the two pillars of the regular season on the mound with 2 of the 3 wins being credited to other arms in the arsenal, so let’s give credit where credit is due. And looking a little deeper, the offence did more than hold their own to provide support.

Keys to Series Victory

Cartwright – You can quote stats from the regular season all you want, and we did that once already.  But Baldur came out and punched the Twins in the mouth in game 2.  Instead of wilting, they responded by showing their resolve and that is what has allowed them to return to familiar territory with a chance to advance to their 3^rd straight championship series. Don’t underestimate that mentality
Pilot Mound – The Pilots offence averaged 6.29 runs per game in the regular season and bumped that up to an average of 8 runs per game in their first round victory over Clearwater, despite a defensive masterpiece in a 9 inning classic in game 2. If the offence can keep pace and hit their regular season average in this series that will mean a lot to their probability of advancing to the Championship.

EAST DIVISION FINAL
Best of 5 Series

(1) Altona Bisons vs (3) Winkler Whips

Is it fair to say that the playoff switch was officially flipped for the Whips? After posting a sub .500 record in the regular season, the Whips were the first team to punch their ticket to round two and they did by posting *checks notes* 32 runs in 3 games against the Mud Hens who were competing for the top defensive team in the league. That sets the stage for what may be the best growing rivalry in the East. The defending champs against the new kids on the block, Altona Bisons who are making their first trip to the Division Finals. And if you want to score some runs, Altona is more than happy to play that game as the top offensive team in the league during the regular season and put up *checks notes* 27 runs over the final 2 games of their series with Carman. Hope those lights are ready to shine in Altona, because there may be a few extended innings the way these two offences are rolling.

Strengths

Altona – The offence got the headlines, the pitching and defence kept the Bisons in the series against Carman until the offence woke up from their slumber. Matching up with a Winkler team that averaged double digits in runs scored in round 1 may require that same performance without the bats in hand.
Winkler – The offence took the credit, the pitching only allowed an average of 3 runs per game in their round 1 sweep of the Mud Hens. So did we seriously just point out that two teams that appear to be the most dangerous offensively have some incredible strength on the mound?

Keys to Series Victory

Altona – ‘Don’t care about yesterday’ – Can we break out the cliché’s about what happened in years previous doesn’t matter? First time in round 2. Never beat Winkler in a playoff series. Hiccups versus the 4 seed Cardinals.  Who cares!  They’re here, they’re for real and if playing your arch rivals who are the defending champs doesn’t get you zeroed in on the task at hand, what will!?
Winkler – ‘We’re going streaking’ – Wait a second…. Did you just repeat a headline that was used from the first round?  Yes, yes we did.  But in order to defend the Championship from 2023, the Whips will have to win more playoff games than regular season games. So we think it’s fair to say that more of the same is required in a short time frame!