| Dragons Deliver 
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| (CBL Newswire) - Niko Jackoman of the Moose Jaw Melorist |
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The Moose Jaw Dragons won the Battle of Saskatchewan and are back in the playoffs after an off season in which the team was plagued by injuries. This is the Dragons eighth consecutive winning season and the sixth time they have reached the post-season winning the Farmers East Division title each time.
In July the Dragons were 9-12 in one run games and locked in a three way battle with Saskatoon and Regina for top spot in the Farmers East Division and so GM Torin Stefanson went out and added some proven pitchers to the bullpen to help down the stretch. The move paid off big time as the Dragons pulled away from their rivals in September and ended up winning the Division by 11 games. The Dragons final record in one run Games is 22-12 meaning that since the trade they went 13-0 in one run games. The Dragons starting rotation had an incredible season with the top three pitchers each winning at least 21 games led by Caden Sharif who also led the CBL in wins with 25. The Dragons played very well the last two months of the season and finished the campaign with 103 wins. The second best record in the CBL this season and the second best record in franchise history.
The Dragons now face the potent offence of the Kelowna Americans in the first round of the CBL Playoffs. The Dragons won the season series 7-5 and Kelowna slugger Jeovany Grief will miss the series but the Dragons aren't taking this team lightly. "They have a dangerous line-up and their pitching is improved. We will not be coasting we expect a tight series that will be fought out to the end", said Dragons pitching coach Clifton Saban.
The first game of the series showed exactly that as the Americans squeaked by the Dragons 7-6 handing them their first one run loss since July. The Dragons now must win three of the last four games against Kelowna or face a disappointing end to an otherwise stellar season.
"We want to win 11 more games before we go home for the winter," said hitting coach Marc Gakeler referring to the number of post-season victories necessary to claim a CBL Championship, "and then we will be satisfied... at least until next season starts."
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