CHAMPIONS! RED SOX TAKE WCBL TITLE
By Mitchell Blair
It wasn’t easy, but the Regina Red Sox are coming home from Sylvan Lake with the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy as they won their first league championship since the 2012 season and third overall with a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Gulls Saturday night.
As it was the entire series, Game 3 was a back-and-forth affair that was not decided until Ian Montz flagged down a flyball off the bat of Simon Baker in centerfield with two men on base to preserve the victory.
Regina got the early jump on Sylvan Lake starter Matthew McKenzie in Game 3 as Brady Bye, who was named the playoff MVP, laced a single to score Rafael Jackson who had reached on an error. That lead got stretched to 3-0 in the 3rd inning as Bye drove home Zayd Brannigan on a groundball out with Matthew Fox scoring moments later on a wild pitch.
The Gulls fought back to tie the game in the 5th and the lead in the 6th, but in top of the 7th Justin Simard led things off with a single. He moved to 2nd on a Jordan Tucker walk and after a wild pitch moved both men 90 feet, Rafael Jackson brought them home with a base-hit to give Regina a lead they would not let go of thanks to another outstanding pitching performance from Ayden Page.
Page came into the game to replace starter Chris Spry in the 5th inning and like he has done throughout the playoffs, the senior from Southwestern Oklahoma State shut the door striking out six in five innings of work to record the victory.
As mentioned, Bye, who is one of several local players on the team, was named the playoff MVP after registering 12 hits in eight games while driving in 10 with an average of .333.
For Montz, it is his second championship as he was a member of the LSU-Shreveport Pilots team that went 58-0 enroute to an NAIA national championship, Several other players on that team also played for the Red Sox at one point this season before leaving to pursue other baseball opportunities.
The victory ends a season that started with heartbreak as Regina-born pitcher Jesse Lubiniecki was tragically killed in an auto accident in Montana as he was returning to the Queen City from college. All season long, players had Lubiniecki’s 33 on their jersey to remember their fallen teammate.
