Wilson: Five key WCBL playoff moments

Ayden Page was phenomenal for the Regina Red Sox in the 2025 WCBL Postseason. Photo: Ian Wilson

*This article was originally published on Alberta Dugout Stories on August 21, 2025. You can read it here.

August 24, 2025

By Ian Wilson

Alberta Dugout Stories

It was a chaotic postseason in the Western Canadian Baseball League, with the slimmest of margins between the winners and the losers.

Every wild pitch seemed like a run waiting to happen and each fielding error felt like it might prove fatal to a team’s playoff chances.

Following an up-and-down regular season, the ultimate champion – the Regina Red Sox – made quick work of the Medicine Hat Mavericks in the opening round, but nothing came easy after that.

Regina’s best-of-three series against the top-seeded Saskatoon Berries went the distance and the Red Sox outscored their opponent by just one run over the trio of dramatic games.

In the championship final against the Sylvan Lake Gulls, the underdog Red Sox dropped the first game before scrapping back for two more wins on the road. During that matchup, Regina outscored Sylvan Lake by just a 17-14 margin.

And that was just the Red Sox journey. The sparks were flying across the WCBL during the playoffs, with stellar pitching performances and key at bats defining the results in the best-of-three series.

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Listen to Alberta Dugout Stories podcast about the 2025 WCBL champion Regina Red Sox here.

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Here’s a look at five pivotal moments that defined the 2025 WCBL postseason:

9TH INNING, GAME TWO, WCBL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

With two outs and Regina runners on second base and third base, Red Sox third baseman Justin Simard was down 0-2 in the count against Mickey McClaskey, the closer for the Gulls. Regina was trailing 6-4 at that point in the game and had already lost the first game of the series at Currie Field due to a double-steal in the 11th inning that brought home outfielder Michael Quick. One more strike or an out from a ball in play and the Sylvan Lake Gulls sweep the series and go undefeated in claiming the WCBL championship. After taking a ball, the right-handed hitting Simard smacked a ball sharply to the opposite side of the field where second baseman Jaden Flores dove to knock it down. Unable to track down the ball in time to throw out the hustling Simard at first and with pinch runner Sam Baker already in to score, Flores made the only play he could, which was a throw home to get the tying runner, Jory Graves. The throw came in to catcher Tripp Ray, who swung around to tag Graves but the Red Sox pinch runner slid in under Ray’s catcher’s mitt and tied the score 6-6. From there, the ninth inning unraveled for the Gulls. McClaskey walked outfielder Jordan Tucker, lost the handle on a wild pitch that moved up the runners and gave up a single to Rafael Jackson that scored by Simard and Tucker. A two-run, opposite field home run from second baseman Zayd Brannigan put the visitors up 10-6 heading to the bottom of the ninth.

The Gulls managed to respond with one more run, but the game ended 10-7 in the Red Sox favour and Sylvan Lake never recovered, dropping Game 3 by a 5-4 score and losing the final series two games to one. The at-bat for Simard turned the series on its head and helped swing the championship for the Red Sox, while haunting the Gulls and their fans as they watched the visiting team celebrate with the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy on their home diamond.

10TH INNING, GAME THREE, EAST DIVISION SEMI-FINAL

It was perhaps the wildest game in the 2025 WCBL postseason – and it ended in epic fashion. The third instalment of the opening round matchup between the Saskatoon Berries and the Moose Jaw Miller Express was a heavyweight battle and both clubs were throwing haymakers. The Berries, who set a league record with 46 regular season wins, had built what seemed like a comfortable 10-3 lead heading into the eighth inning. The Miller Express cranked out eight hits, including a three-run homer off the bat of Eduardo Saenz, and took advantage of a fielding error and a pair of wild pitches to score nine runs and go up 12-10. It seemed like a nightmare end to the season was awaiting the Berries. But Saskatoon found a way to even the score in the bottom of the ninth. Outfielder Carter Beck smacked a one-out double to start the rally and then scored on an Ethan Menard single. After Moose Jaw was able to record a second out, a Mason Roell single plated Evan Janner, who subbed in to run for Menard.

Off to extra innings we go. Following a three up, three down top of the 10th inning, the Berries started the bottom of the frame with a single from outfielder Ethan Murdoch and a walk from designated hitter Cory Wouters. Jalen Freeman loaded the bases with another single, setting up a childhood dream scenario for Beck. After running the count full, the Carnduff, Saskatchewan product belted an absolute no-doubter of a grand slam over the right-field fence to give the Berries the walkoff 16-12 win of the game, as well as the series victory. The improbable comeback of the Miller Express was wiped out by a flexing Beck bash that sent the 1,759 fans at NexGen Patch at Cairns Field in Saskatoon into hysterics.

3RD INNING, GAME ONE, WEST DIVISION SEMI-FINAL

Joshua Tucker, a veteran pitcher with the Sylvan Lake Gulls, reached new highs in 2025. During the regular season, the lefty from Spokane, Washington passed Graham Brunner of the Okotoks Dawgs as the league leader in career strikeouts, including both regular season and playoff Ks. When he entered the postseason, Tucker was looking to do something that no pitcher has ever done in the WCBL: reach the 300-strikeout mark. He was just four short of that mark when the Gulls entered their first playoff matchup against the Lethbridge Bulls at Spitz Stadium on Aug. 7th. Tucker picked up three Ks in the first two frames before facing slugger Jack Kalisky in the third inning. With two runners on base, Tucker froze Kalisky on a 2-2 pitch for strikeout No. 300. The WCBL’s Most Outstanding Pitcher in 2022 – who also holds the single-season mark for Ks with 91 – added another four strikeouts over the next four innings in leading the Gulls to an 8-0 win in their playoff opener.

The outing got Sylvan Lake off on the right front as they made their 2025 playoff push and it was another example of how consistent Tucker has been since joining the circuit in 2022. The southpaw’s final performance of the playoffs came in Game 1 of the WCBL Championship Final Series against the Regina Red Sox at Currie Field. Tucker gave up two earned runs and struck out seven batters during a no-decision that ended in a 3-2 extra-innings triumph for the Gulls. In addition to the strikeouts, Tucker has a 19-7 overall record and two saves in 222-plus innings with Sylvan Lake. He has pitched in 46 games, including 39 starts.

9TH INNING, GAME TWO, WEST DIVISION FINAL

It was a sixth-inning grand slam off the bat of outfielder Simon Baker in the first game of the West Division Final between the Gulls and the Okotoks Dawgs at Seaman Stadium that propelled Sylvan Lake into a 6-2 lead that would turn into a 7-3 victory. From that point on, the Gulls were in complete control of the series. They went up 7-1 after two innings in Game 2 – thanks to five singles, three stolen bases and a Tripp Ray triple – and cruised to an 8-4 home win. But, when you’ve lost three straight playoff series to the defending WCBL champions, it doesn’t feel like you’ve actually won until that final out is recorded.

With Mickey McClaskey tasked with shutting down Okotoks at the end of the game, the closer struck out Kadyn Williams to start the final inning, before getting Ricardo Sanchez to pop out to second base. That left one more out. Connor Crowson – the “Crow Show” – had played the role of hometown hero during the 2024 WCBL final. In the bottom of the ninth inning in the third game of that series against Moose Jaw, Crowson belted a walkoff homer that secured a third straight championship for the Dawgs. On this night, Crowson was just hoping to keep his team’s playoff hopes alive. After swinging through a McClaskey offering, Crowson caught a piece of the next pitch off the end of his bat. It squibbed between home plate and the pitcher’s mound, where the catcher picked it up and bounced a throw to first baseman Ayden Makarus, who snagged it for the final out of the game and the series. “The Sylvan Lake Gulls have got the Dawg off their back,” said Gulls play-by-play announcer Jim Claggett.

10TH INNING, GAME ONE, EAST DIVISION FINAL

With one out in the bottom of the 10th inning in the opening game of the East Division final between the Saskatoon and Regina, Red Sox reliever Ayden Page surrendered a single to Jalen Freeman, who stole second base and then advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. With the potential winning run just 90 feet from home plate, Carter Beck ran the count full before Page tied him up for a strikeout on an inside pitch. The 5-foot-8 senior from Oklahoma then sat down first baseman Ethan Menard on three straight strikes to preserve the 7-7 tie. Page was in the midst of a marvelous four-inning outing that saw him strike out six batters and allow no walks against the top team in the WCBL regular season. The righthander was setting down the best hitters on the Berries with relative ease and his steadying presence on the mound allowed the Red Sox to pick up an 8-7 victory in 11 innings.

The Southwestern Oklahoma State University student was a true bullpen ace for Regina during their title run and he was leaned on by manager Rye Pothakos time and time again in the postseason. Page began his playoffs with a save over the Medicine Hat Mavericks and after his Game 1 win over Saskatoon, he went another 3.2 innings and allowed no runs in picking up the save against the Berries in a winner-take-all Game 3 of the series that ended with Regina claiming a 6-2 victory. During the championship series, Page took the loss in the opener by allowing one unearned run in four innings of relief work. And in the third and last contest of the series, Page grabbed his most important win: a five-inning bullpen gem that saw him yield one earned run while striking out six Gulls and closing out the game and the series. His final playoff stat line … 2-1 record, two saves, 0.46 earned run average, 21 Ks in 19.1 innings and five games.