That focus has paid off and then some, and now they’ll be playing in the championship final on Sunday afternoon.
The only question remaining is who they’ll be facing – their cross-town rival Moose Jaw Canucks or the Lumsden Cubs, who were to meet in the other semifinal later in the day.
The Prairie Dogs opened the tournament with a 14-4 win over the White Butte Broncos in their opener at Vanstone Diamond on Friday night and followed with a 12-2 win over the Regina Blue Jays in the semifinal on Saturday morning to book their spot in the final.
“Our kids are really in a kind of aggressive swing mode at the plate, and it kind of goes hand-in-hand when you have kids around the plate,” said coach Craig Flanagan of their huge offensive output. “When you have the top teams in the standings, you know the pitching is going to be around the plate and our kids were ready to swing the bats.”
The Blue Jays came into the semifinal with a depleted pitching staff after being pushed by the Regina Buffalos a night earlier. That gave the Prairie Dogs an opportunity to take advantage of the tough situation for their opponents, and they did so even after things were close in the early going.
Regina actually took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the second, but the Dogs would put up a five-spot and follow with six more runs the following inning for an 11-2 lead. That’s where the score stood heading into the fourth, when Ronan Tonge knocked home Drayson Silbernagel with the mercy-rule invoking run.
“I give their kid credit, he battled in there and threw lots of strikes and that’s all you can ask for. But at the same time, I’m really impressed with how we’re swinging the bats right now, it’s definitely looking really good,” Flanagan said.
Silbernagel had a perfect day at the plate, scoring three runs in three trips, while Tonge, Jackson Boyle, Burke Bechard, Brady Meacher and Vaughn Brettin all scored two runs each.
Flanagan wanted no part of jinxing the Canucks and predicting an all Moose Jaw final, but at the same time expects his troops will be ready should that scenario present itself.
“There’s no guarantees that the Canucks will get there, but if they do, we’re going to see the best pitching in the league,” he said. “So I have my guys mentally prepared for tomorrow and we’ll be ready to go.”
The championship final takes place at 3:30 p.m. at Vanstone Diamond.
