The resilient, road warrior Regina Red Sox are Western Canadian Baseball League champions.
The Red Sox, who entered every WCBL postseason round as underdogs, have won their third title in franchise history by defeating the Sylvan Lake Gulls in a tight back-and-forth final series.
Regina qualified for the playoffs as the third seed in the East Division after going 29-27 through the regular season.
One of the biggest challenges facing the team was an exodus of pitching talent ahead of the postseason. Top innings eaters Blake Johnson, Colton Anderson, Kai Langford, Calvin Shepherd, David Hankins and Holden Hungerford all departed ahead of the playoffs, as did heavy hitters Jackson Syring and Jalen Seward.
The Red Sox did finish strong by going 7-3 down the stretch, including a series win over the Saskatoon Berries, who established a new high for WCBL wins in a regular season with 46. By handing the Berries consecutive losses – 7-6 and 4-2 – in early August, the Red Sox became the only team to beat Saskatoon in two straight games.
After sweeping the Medicine Hat Mavericks in the best-of-three opening round, Regina faced a heavily-favored Berries team and stunned them by winning the East Division title with an 8-7 extra innings victory in Game 1, followed by a 6-2 win in the third game.
The Red Sox fell behind in the WCBL championship series by dropping a 3-2 decision to the Sylvan Lake Gulls at Currie Field in 11 innings on Aug. 14th.
In Game 2 at Gulls Field, Sylvan Lake built a 5-1 lead early and took a 6-4 advantage into the ninth inning before chaos ensued. Down to their final strike of the game and the series, Justin Simard kept their playoff hopes alive by driving a ball to second base and legging it out while two runs scored to tie the game. Another four runs were scored after that and the Red Sox came away with a shocking 10-7 victory.
The decisive third game of the championship series saw leadoff hitter Rafael Jackson reach first base on an error in the opening frame and then come around to score following singles by Brady Bye and Matthew Fox. An error by Sylvan Lake second baseman Jaden Flores allowed Jackson to score the first run of the game.
The Red Sox added another two runs in the third inning when Zayd Brannigan walked, Fox hit a double and Bye grounded out to score Brannigan. A wild pitch later scored Fox.
Sylvan Lake tied the game in the fifth inning when Flores hit a single with the bases loaded to score a run and Brock Tijerina drew a walk to add a second score. A fielder’s choice off the bat of Michael Quick plated Ty Yukumoto to make it 3-3.
Ayden Makarus, the first baseman for the Gulls, scored on a throwing error in the sixth inning to give Sylvan Lake their first lead of the game, but Regina responded immediately in the top of the seventh inning. A single by Simard was followed by a walk to Jordan Tucker and a wild pitch advanced both runners. Rafael Jackson then hit a single that brought home Simard and Tucker and gave Regina a 5-4 lead.
Righthander Ayden Page shut the door from there. The Oklahoma native logged five innings, registered six strikeouts and allowed just one run in picking up the win. Page had a stellar postseason for the Red Sox. In five appearances, he was 2-1 with two saves, 21 strikeouts and a 0.46 earned run average through 19.1 innings on the bump.
The Regina Red Sox last won a WCBL championship when the league went by the name of Western Major Baseball League. The club took home back-to-back Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy titles in 2011 and 2012. The Red Sox have won all of their championships on the road, and in the 2025 postseason the club went 5-0 as the visiting team. They become the first Saskatchewan-based team to claim a championship since the 2017 Swift Current 57’s.
“It means the world to me. This is my 25th year in the league and my first championship. It’s not easy to win in this league,” said Red Sox manager Rye Pothakos after the deciding game.
Brady Bye was named the 2025 WCBL Playoff MVP after leading the postseason in RBI with 10. The catcher from Regina had a .333 batting average, 12 hits, two doubles, and three runs in eight games for the Red Sox.
“It’s awesome, I couldn’t feel any better right now,” said Bye after the championship presentation.
“I’m just so happy for myself, my teammates, my coaches … there’s just a bunch of joy going through me right now.”
Added Bye: “It’s been an absolute rollercoaster. That’s a really good team over there, it’s been up and down throughout the whole series, the nerves were going the whole time and now all I feel is just excitement.”
Regina dedicated their championship run to pitcher Jesse Lubiniecki. The Red Sox player died in a vehicle collision in June on his way back home from college.
Teammates wore No. 33 patches on their jerseys to honor Lubiniecki during the season.
