The Giants – who finished in third place in the Rambler Park standings with a 9-4-0 record – were taken to the limit by the last-place Regina Gold at Kaplan Field in Regina, but still emerged with a 9-8 victory.
They’ll take on the Earl Grey Rockets (9-3-1) tonight in the ‘A’ side semifinal, a team they had a bit of the good and a bit of the bad against in the regular season. The two squads faced each other twice in the span of a five days at the end of July, with the Giants taking a 14-13 win in the first match-up in Regina and the Rockets rebounding with a 10-3 win at Lyle Helland Ball Diamond.
The Moose Jaw Canadians, meanwhile, received a first-round bye after finishing in first place with an 11-2-0 record and will take on the Golden Hawks in their first ‘A’-side game. The Hawks downed the Standing Buffalo Dakotas 5-0 in their playoff opener.
The Canadians had a pair of relatively close games against Golden, prevailing 3-0 on July 21 in Moose Jaw and taking a 5-1 victory on Aug. 14 in Regina.
The double knock-out tournament continues through Saturday, Sept. 12 when the tournament semifinals and finals will take place at Kaplan Field and Rambler Park in Regina.
