The Okotoks Dawgs swept their series against the Moose Jaw Miller Express, 2-1, 10-5, and 5-4. Jeff Duda (Campbellsville) pitched a four-hit complete game in the first game, struck out 11. The Dawgs trailed 1-0 going into the seventh inning, but they tied it in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Mac Sullivan (USC), and won it on the eighth on an RBI double by Jeremy Shelby (Grambling State). In the third game, Manny Kumar (Grambling State) scored the winning run on a passed ball. The Dawgs will play the Medicine Hat Mavericks in the semifinal playoff round; the series starts Thursday, August 6 at Okotoks.
The Swift Current Indians won their series three games to one against the Yorkton Cardinals. The Indians won the first game 6-5; they lead 6-0 after five innings, but the Cardinals picked up four unearned runs in the sixth to make it close. The Cardinals won the second game 2-1 (10 innings), and scored the winning run on an RBI single by John Adamson (Oregon). The Indians won the remaining games 6-2 and 8-1; John Snyder (Wayne State) and Jesse Cornelison (Missouri State) got the wins. They will play the Melville Millionaires in the semifinal round; the series starts at Swift Current on Thursday, August 6.
The Millionaires won their series against the Regina Red Sox three games to one. They won the first two games 10-1 and 7-0, and Jason Chowning (Oklahoma), Mike Scaramella (Cal State Northridge), and Matt Costa (Cal State Stanislaus) combined for the shutout in the second game. Chowning went seven innings, allowed two hits, struck out 13. The Red Sox responded with a 7-0 shutout in the third game, and Matt Mundfrom (Trinidad State JC) pitched a gem; a complete game, five hits, 16 strikeouts. The Millionaires closed out the series with a 5-3 win; James Green (Houston-Victoria) singled in the winning run.
The series between the Medicine Hat Mavericks and the Lethbridge Bulls went five games. The Mavericks forced a fifth game with a 1-0 win; Geoff Burke (British Columbia) went eight innings for the Mavericks, allowed only three hits; Brian Greene (Montreat) pitched the ninth inning to complete the shutout. The only run of the game was a solo home run by John Matthews. The same John Matthews was the starting pitcher for the fifth and deciding game, and he went six innings, allowed no runs on three hits. He also helped his own cause by going 4-4 at the plate, with a home run, a double, and four RBI. The final score was 6-1.
