Fans and players alike will be leaping in excitement for the start of the NSRBL playoffs this week, after the regular season wrapped up Tuesday night. (File photo/battlefordsNOW)

By Martin Martinson

Post-season Awaits

NSRBL wraps successful shortened season, shifts focus to playoffs

Aug 5, 2020 | 1:27 PM

Like a fastball whizzing past a stunned batter at the plate, the senior baseball season has flown by, seemingly in the blink of an eye.

The North Sask. River Baseball League (NSRBL) regular season wrapped up Tuesday night, following a whirlwind of a shortened schedule that saw teams play just eight games apiece, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While it was definitely quicker than usual, co-commissioner of the league, Kelvin Colliar said considering the circumstances, they couldn’t have really asked for a better season as a league.

“From our perspective and everyone’s perspective I think it went really well,” Colliar said. “We had a bit of rain at the start of the season that kind of slowed things down, but then the last little while here we had nothing but great weather in July to get the schedule completed. We’re also ahead of major league baseball in attendance, so we’re doing really well.”

With the regular season now in the rearview mirror, the league and its players will shift their focus to the post-season.

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However, as Colliar told battlefordsNOW, the playoffs have seen a bit of an adjustment since the league’s initial plan was first reported.

Just as the regular season was, the playoff picture will also be a bit abbreviated this year.

The original plan was to have two ‘hub communities’ act as hosts for the playoffs, but due to the latest COVID numbers throughout the region, the potential risks associated with having as many as five communities travel to one central location, ultimately posed too great a challenge for any one destination to handle.

As a result, all 10 league teams will make the playoffs, with the bottom four taking part in a one-game playoff Thursday, to get the post-season picture down to eight quickly.

The remaining eight will play each other just one game Saturday, with the winners of those games moving on to meet Sunday in the semifinals. From there, Sunday’s victors will determine the league finals.

The finals will then be a best-of-three that will run from Aug. 12 to 21.

The Battlefords Trappers and North Battleford Beavers will play each other Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Beaver Lions Stadium in the 4 vs. 5 playoff match-up. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Colliar said while it may not be ideal to play a slate of ‘one-off’ games in place of more lengthy series, it is just the latest necessary adjustment that allows the league to have a postseason and crown a champion.

“It’s a little bit different, but it’s going to produce a league championship and while I’m not totally thrilled we have just a one-game playoff for our semifinals, at the same time, we’re trying to make the most of a challenging situation and still get our playoffs in,” he said.

Overall, Colliar said if there is one perk to having the playoffs set up as they currently are, it will allow fans in several communities to continue to attend games. The attendance this season has been something the commissioner is very pleased with.

“The communities have always been really good about supporting our teams, whether getting out to watch a ball game, or financially through sponsorships,” Colliar said. “They’ve really responded to it this year as we’ve seen some good crowds, and it has provided people with some entertainment in a year where we didn’t know if there was going to be any sporting entertainment, so it’s been good.”

The Battlefords Trappers and North Battleford Beavers will play each other Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Beaver Lions Stadium in the four vs. five playoff matchup. The winner will move on to the semifinals Sunday.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1