The Standard Hill Lakers are NSRBL finals bound. (Submitted photo/Standard Hill Lakers)

By Martin Martinson

Stage is Set

Standard Hill advance, will meet Wilkie in NSRBL finals

Jul 29, 2022 | 10:28 AM

The stage is now set for the North Sask River Baseball League finals.

The Standard Hill Lakers defeated the top-seeded Macklin Lakers 11-1 Wednesday night on their home field at Silver Lake to advance to the league’s championship series against the Wilkie Brewers.

Marking the team’s fourth trip to the finals over the last seven years, the Lakers will be looking for their first title since 2019, and a bit of redemption following a heartbreaking Game 3 defeat in last year’s finals series on their home diamond to Kindersley.

Veteran catcher with the team, Brant Franks, said it’s an opportunity they’re hoping to make the most of this year.

“I’d say our ball club has had the potential to go to the final each of those last seven years and our record is 1-2 in the finals, so I guess we’re hoping to change that here against Wilkie,” Franks said. “We’ve got a great fan base out at Silver Lake and a lot of fan support, so it would certainly be pretty huge to be able to do it again.”

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The Lakers feature a number of the same players from lengthy playoff runs of the past, including former two-time NSRBL MVP, Brett Harrison and Garry Pauls, who led the way in their clinching victory over Macklin with a grand slam home run.

Standard Hill outscored their Macklin counterparts by a combined 17-3 margin in their ‘all-Lakers’ semi-final series sweep, and enter the final with a perfect 4-0 record overall this post-season.

The team will face a Brewers team also undefeated through the opening two rounds of the playoffs at 4-0 after Wilkie cemented their trip to the finals with a 6-5 victory over the second-seeded North Battleford Beavers earlier in the week.

Game 1 of the league finals is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 11 in Wilkie, following a slight pause to allow teams to prepare for senior baseball provincials, August 5-7 weekend. The full schedule once determined will be available here.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1