Sure, they and their fellow league-leading counterparts, the Moose Jaw Canucks, will have home field advantage through the weekend. And sure, they finished in second place behind the Canucks in the regular-season standings. Some of the best pitching in the league, the best hitting, all of it.
But this is the playoffs. Strange things happen. And that has Prairie Dogs coach Craig Flanagan wanting nothing to do with predictions of grandeur as they prepare for their first game Friday night against the White Butte Broncos – even after taking a commanding win over the same squad on Wednesday night.
“That’s the team we’re going to play in the first-round, and they actually kind of surprised me a little bit (Wednesday), they had a few better arms they threw against us than the first couple times we played them,” Flanagan said. “So it’s still going to be a challenge and we’re going to have to come ready to play tomorrow night.”
It would be easy for the Prairie Dogs – owners of a 14-4-0 regular-season record – and the Canucks – who finished 16-1-0 – to think it’s going to be a cakewalk to an all Moose Jaw final. But you have a pair of tough Lumsden teams lurking on the Canucks’ side of the bracket, and the third-place Regina Blue Jays on the Prairie Dogs’ side. And given how the Jays finished only a couple points back of the Dogs in the standings, one can see where the caution comes from.
“I wouldn’t look past any of the teams, we’re going to have to be ready to play,” Flanagan said matter-of-factly. “The Blue Jays are a tough team, they’ve played us well. The top four or five teams in this league gave each other good games, and I imagine it’ll be the same this weekend…
There’s nothing saying the two Moose Jaw teams are going to end up in the final, we’re both going have to play well to earn our spot.”
That competition is more than welcome after a season that saw plenty of blow-out wins for the local squads.
“That’s what you want, you want these kids playing competitive games,” Flanagan said. “They learn from tight, close, competitive games, when the tension gets higher and the pressure gets higher. They learn different ways to cope with that pressure and that’s what you want.”
The key to the weekend? The same as it is for pretty much every team out there. Pitch well and throw strikes.
“Our boys are definitely capable of getting in a really good groove and finding the strike zone, and some of the games that we didn’t play to our capabilities a lot of it had to do with our pitching and walking too many guys,” Flanagan said. “That takes you right up to the big leagues with Major League Baseball. There are lots of guys who can throw 96 miles per hour plus, but it’s the guys who can command the strike zone. That’s a huge factor no matter the level, and eliminating walks as much as possible.”
The Prairie Dogs’ first-round game will come against White Butte at 5 p.m. at Smith Diamond, while the Canucks will play the winner of the Regina White Sox and Regina Pacers at the same time at Vanstone Diamond. Semifinal times are at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Vanstone Diamond on Saturday.
The championship final takes place at 1 p.m, Sunday if no Moose Jaw teams are involved or at 3:30 p.m. if one or both are.
