By Jesse Hardacre
Alberta Grizzly 3 – Palm Springs Power 3
In the first game of the day on auxiliary field #1, The Power were looking to win and have a share for first with A’s while the Grizzly were looking to secure a top 6 seed. The Grizzly’s Kelton Caldwell and the Powers Victor Ferrante each hit solo Home Runs but this would end in a 3-3 tie. The Grizzly finished the season as the number 7 seed with a 6-7-2 record and are forced to play in the feed in round on Thursday while the Power at 10-4-1 secured the #2 seed and will play on Friday.
Washington Blue Sox 1 – Oregon Lumberjacks 9
In the second game at auxiliary field #2, The Lumberjacks had an early 1-0 lead but The Blue Sox Reggie Lawson tied it with a solo Home Run. The Jacks would put up 5 runs in the 3rd including a solo HR by Brad Gerig to cruise to a crucial 9-1 win that would jump them up to 3rd place in the standings with a 6-5-3 record while the Blue Sox fell to 4-8-2 and last place in the standings.
Palm Springs Chill 3 – Toronto Rush 4
The first game in the stadium featured a fun back and fourth battle between the Chill and Rush. The Rush went ahead 2-0 early and had a chance to blow the game wide open but Manny Gasper lined into the first triple play ever recorded in CWL history. The Chill took than momentum into the top of the 3rd by scoring 2 runs to tie the game. Both teams added a run as it was tied at 3 going into the bottom of the 7th when The Rush would get a walk off error when Tyler Caserta hit a grounder to short stop to bring home Gasper from 3rd. With the 4-3 victory, the Rush improved to 7-8 and earned a top 6 seed to play Friday while the Chill fell to 5-9-1.
BC Bombers 1 – Coachella Valley Snowbirds 7
In the second game of the day in the Stadium, The snowbirds jumped out early in the game with 5 runs in the 2nd inning and didn’t look back as they defeated the Bombers 7-1 behind stellar pitching from Birds starter Kyle Redinger who pitched 4 innings and allowing no runs. The Snow Birds improved to 6-9 but will be the #8 seed in the playoffs while the Bombers fell to 4th place with a record of 7-7-1.
Canada A’s 1 – Midwest Haymakers 12
The final game of the day in stadium and last of the CWL regular season saw the first place A’s up against a red hot Haymaker team that was looking to improve their playoff seeding. They did just that by scoring 12 runs on 12 hits scoring early and often. Brandon Tierney had a 2 RBI triple in the 3rd while Conner McCain had 3 hits to lead the impressive offensive outburst that jolted the Haymakers to a 12-1 win and much coveted top 6 seed while securing an extra day off. Starter James Threw was impressive in 4 innings of work allowing just the one run. Haymakers finish the season 7-8 after starting 0-6 while the A’s dropped to 11-4.
Tomorrow, February 11th will feature no games as all teams will have a workout day in preparation for the CWL playoffs. (Open to the public)
February 12th CWL Wild Card Playoff Schedule:
The #7 seed Alberta Grizzly vs the #10 seed Washington Blue Sox at 10:00 am – Stadium
The #8 seed Coachella Valley Snowbirds vs the #9 seed Palm Springs Chill at 12:30 pm – Stadium
Also, Thursday is out-of-towner’s day at Palm Springs Stadium which includes $2 admission for all fans with an out of state ID.
