Joel Miller of the Kindersley Raiders looks to score as he rounds first base in Game 3 of the Fertile Valley Baseball League semifinal against the Rosetown Angels on July 26 in Kindersley. An outfielder caught the ball to end the inning and prevent Miller from scoring in the Raiders’ 3-1 victory.

Clarion Staff

The Kindersley Raiders and Kindersley Stallions will lock horns in the Fertile Valley Baseball League championship for the second consecutive year.

A trend of competitive baseball has continued in the 2018 FVBL playoffs. All four playoff series so far have taken all three games to decide the winners, and the Raiders and Stallions both won their semifinals last week to move on to the league’s championship series.

The Stallions were first to punch a ticket to the FVBL final dispatching the Oyen Eagles on July 24 by a score of 8-3 in Oyen. Corson Harris started the deciding game on the mound and the southpaw continued to pitch great for the team. Harris also won two games in the quarter-final against the Outlook River Hawks.

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Oyen was fresh off a win at the Western Canadian Championships tournament in Kindersley two weekends ago, but the league’s top team in the regular season could not advance against the upset-minded Stallions squad.

The Raiders lost Game 2 of their series with the Rosetown Angels on the road by a score of 5-1 on July 24, so the teams returned to Kindersley on July 26 for Game 3 of the series. The Raiders won a tight game by a score of 3-1 to set up a rematch of the 2017 FVBL final against the Stallions.

The Stallions will hope for a different outcome to the series after losing the 2017 final to the Raiders in two straight games. In the 2017 final, the Raiders won Game 1 by a score of 6-3 and they squeaked out a 2-1 win in Game 2 of the series.

Game 1 of the FVBL final was scheduled to be played on Berard Field last night, but the score was not available in time for publication. Game 2 of the series is scheduled to be played tonight at Berard Field starting at 7:30 p.m. The date for Game 3, if necessary, has yet to be determined by the teams.

The Raiders defeated the Stallions by a score of 5-3 in their only meeting of the 2018 season, so the Raiders have won three straight meetings against the Stallions. The Stallions won both games against the Raiders in the 2017 regular season by scores of 12-1 and 3-1.

After 11 games in the 2018 regular season, the Raiders finished in second place with a record of 9-2 and the Stallions finished in fourth place with a record of 8-3. The Raiders earned their bye to the semi-finals while the Stallions defeated Outlook in a quarter-final to earn the semi-final appearance against the pennant-winning Eagles.

It should be another close series. The Raiders finished the 2018 regular season with 100 runs scored while the Stallions had 96 runs cross the plate during the season. Both teams ended the regular season with 51 runs against.

The Raiders are looking for their third FVBL championship in their sixth season in the league. The Stallions are only in their second year in the league, so they two-for-two in making the final. People could check www.fvbl.ca for more information.

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