The Yorkton Yankees have moved one step closer to winning the 2015 SESBL playoff title after sweeping the Canora Supers from the playoffs with an 8-4 road win at Canora鈥檚 Al Sapieha Field on Wednesday, July 22.
The two teams played to a pair of scoreless innings to open the game before the Yankees found the scoreboard twice in the top of the third inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Yorkton added a single run in the fourth for a 3-0 advantage before exploding for five runs in the fifth inning to take a commanding eight run lead.
Canora battled valiantly in their half of the fifth inning plating four runs of their own to make it 8-4, but it just wasn鈥檛 enough as the Yankees buckled down defensively the rest of the way to double up the Supers 8-4 in the Game Two victory to win the semi-final series two-games-to-none.
Matt Poier picked up the series clinching win for the Yankees going five innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and three walks while veteran hurler Dave Morari came in to the game in the sixth inning to silence the Canora bats the rest of the way. 鈥淗e (Morari) hasn鈥檛 thrown a lot here and we鈥檝e had some weeks off between games so he definitely needed to get some work,鈥� offered Yorkton鈥檚 player/assistant manager Mark Jacobs, continuing, 鈥淚t was good to see him come in and get those last six outs to finish off the series because he鈥檚 going to be a guy that we will be counting on for the rest of the playoff run.鈥�
Jacobs added that the combined efforts of Poier and Morari, as well as Game One pitchers Logan Calanchie and Darren Wandy, were huge in securing the series victory. 鈥淵ou have to keep Travis Mentanko and Phil Sobkow in the yard if you want to beat Canora, so you have to pitch to them carefully and make sure they can鈥檛 get extended on the ball and our guys did that,鈥� mentioned Jacobs. 鈥淚 mean, Mentanko is just such a great hitter that even if you make a great pitch he鈥檚 still able to hurt you in a big way.
鈥淧hil, same way. He hit one to the wall there and so they鈥檝e definitely got a lot of power in the lineup and thankfully our pitchers were able to keep them in check for the series as best they could and it led to us winning.鈥�
The Yankees now await the winner of the other SESBL semi-final series between the Russell Bulls and an as-of-yet unknown opponent due to a delay in the SESBL quarterfinal series between Willowbrook and Langenburg.
