When it comes to their spot in the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League finals, the Kindersley Stallions earned it by taking care of business last week against the Wilkie Brewers. Wilkie entered the playoffs with the top record in the league after an impressive regular season that included a 3-1 win over the Stallions in Kindersley back in June, but they could not get the job done as they were swept away at Berard Field in Kindersley last week after dropping a tight contest in Game 1 at home 6-5.

Game 2 was a tempting match-up going in with the west central connections and regular season result; but the Brewers were not able to cool down the Stallions hot bats as both games resulted in an exhibition of hits for the horses. The game was taken handily by the Stallions 9-1, an effort that included a big home-run from Stallions star hitter and team MVP Dylan Flasch.

READ: West Central Skirmish At Hand in Round 2 of NSRBL Playoffs

Flasch finished second in MVP voting for the league this year behind a near unanimous decision in Lloydminster Twins standout Jaydon Gartner, a talented player and pitcher who faced off against Cooper Olson and the Standard Hill Lakers Monday night in Game 3 of their semi-final series. The game was hard fought and resulted in a 5-4 win for the Lakers, meaning that when the Stallions take the field for the NSRBL finals it will be up north at Silver Lake against the Standard Hill Lakers.

The Stallions should get their first taste of a complete NSRBL experience next season after two years of an altered league, but for now a post-season match-up against one of the league's best teams in Standard Hill, and specifically duo in Cooper Olson and Brock Harrison is in order.

(Left-NSRBL Co-Commissioner Kelvin Colliar; Right-NSRBL Top Batter and Standard Hill Team MVP Brock Harrison)

A series schedule for Kindersley @ Standard Hill is expected soon from the league as they work around both teams participation in Senior AA Tier 2 Provincials this weekend in North Battleford.

One of the league's commissioners Kelvin Colliar seems to be happy with what the Stallions have brought to the league, as the NSRBL is one with a lot of history that has expanded in the past. Not growing out, but rather getting Kindersley back in the fold was a move that really helped fill the leagues geographical area back out.

“I think we pretty much cover the area. The Stallions when they came in the league, the Kindersley Raiders were in about 8-10 years ago, so this is Kindersley coming back into the league,” explained Colliar.

In speaking with him and his NSRBL co-commissioner Troy Sack, they praised Standard Hill’s ability as a team to hit the ball while at the same time noting Kindersley’s excellent pitching. Sack in particular was excited to see the Stallions move onto the finals so early in their NSRBL tenure, as they were going to face a premier team either way in the Twins or Lakers.

“It will be good ball to watch that’s for sure,” said Sack.

With provincials upcoming the co-commissioner Colliar referenced the leagues recent track record in provincials, and it looks like NSRBL teams have a good chance to take the Tier 2 crown again this year among the other draws. Macklin is being joined by Unity in Senior AA Tier 3 Provincials in Davidson, and the Meadow Lake White Sox will be competing in Tier 4 out of Hanley.

Back with Tier 2, Pool “A” of the draw in North Battleford will see the Cabri River Rats coming up from the south side to join Wilkie, Lloydminster, and Kindersley as NSRBL hopefuls, with Standard Hill and a combination of North Battleford teams opposing them along with the Parkland Pirates in Pool “B”.

August is set to see some exciting baseball around the province, and Game 2 between Standard Hill and Kindersley at Berard Field (whenever it may be) is setting up to be west central’s last sporting spectacle of the summer. Follow the link below for a recap of the already completed playoff series that got us to this point:

SCOREBOARD: NSRBL Playoffs