It's been an incredible year for the Senior Carillon Sultans, and coming off a hard fought semifinal series, the group believes they have what it takes to win it all, with the finals against the West Winnipeg A's starting on Tuesday.
Building on playoff success
Player/Manager Nick Wall says the series leading up the finals was great for getting the team prepared for what it'll take to get to the top of the mountain against the A's. "The games last week in that round were super exciting. The first one, we won 4-3, it was super close. Austin Friesen pitched the complete game. It ended up being 4-1 into the 7th, they scored a couple, had the tying run on third base, but we got the third out. A little too intense for my liking. That next game, game two, it was a total team effort, and we won 11-2. Every guy, one through nine, everyone had a hit. Linden Meilleur pitched a compete game, it was a total team effort. We didn't commit an error in the whole series. Our defense played awesome, so it was great."
Pitching and defense the difference
It's a quick answer when talking about where Wall feels the most confident in his ball club right now. "Pitching and defense," he says emphatically. "We're really deep, we have three or four guys that we have total confidence in when it comes to throwing. If we play defense like we did in the last series, we'll be successful."
Winning it all would mean a little more
Winning with this group would be special, according to Wall, and it's something that has been discussed. "We talk about it a lot, we've never won together. There's a lot of different age groups on this team, but no one's won together, heck, a lot of us have never won anything. So, it's a super exciting time to try and win this league."
Opposition homework
The West Winnipeg A's are a formidable opponent, says Wall, but the Sultans have had some success against in them throughout the season. "We've played them four times this year and split, so we're 2-2. They are super strong offensively. They have so many guys that can hit the ball, they're a very scary lineup from top to bottom. They have a couple of very, very good pitchers, and good defense. They've won the last two league championships, the last two provincial championships, and they won Western's last year, meaning they were the best team in western Canada last year, so they're a very good team."
Teamwork
A big positive from Wall's perspective, is that the group is fully bought in, and they're all pulling the rope in the same direction, and that's to win. "It's fun. We are just having a blast. We talked about it as a group, everyone is laid back, having fun, but we all take it very seriously. After games, we just hang out. The guys couldn't be more excited for this and we're in a really good place as a team."
Schedule change for the better
Game 1 of the best of 5 series is set for Tuesday, and Wall is looking at it as an advantage. "Tuesday, Koskie Field, 7:30 p.m. that'll be our home game due to the schedule change, and then Wednesday and Thursday is at Charleswood Park. That first game, when I got the schedule change, I thought it was great that we can play that first game at home. I'm hoping we can push things to game four, game four in Steinbach would be an awesome place to win it."
Can't do it alone
Wall says the team couldn't have done this alone. "Southwood Ventures, they've been super great for us and they've basically funded our whole season. We wouldn't be where we are now without them, so we can't thank them enough."
The Senior Carillon Sultans vs the West Winnipeg A's for the league championship starts Tuesday at Koskie Field.