By IAN WILSON
If there was a participant ribbon for qualifying for the Western Canadian Baseball League postseason, the Regina Red Sox would have a drawer full of them.
Like Cal Ripken stationed on the left side of the infield with the Baltimore Orioles in the 1980s and 1990s, the Red Sox are just always there. They’re the Iron Horse of the East Division bracket.
Since joining the league in 2005 – back when it was known as the Western Major Baseball League (WMBL) – the Red Sox have only failed to qualify for postseason action once and that was during their inaugural season.
They’ve experienced success along the way, most notably back-to-back WMBL titles in 2011 and 2012.
After losing to Swift Current in the 2010 championship final, the Red Sox cruised through the 2011 regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs – going 6-0 in sweeping a pair of best-of-five series – before taking out the Okotoks Dawgs at Seaman Stadium. With a 7-3 win over the Dawgs, Regina clinched a 3-1 series victory and their first league title on Aug. 13th.
Rob Cherepuschak, the skipper for the Red Sox, was named the WMBL Manager of the Year after the season.
“Winning a championship is so rare, so you just have to enjoy this moment,” Cherespuschak told the Regina Leader-Post newspaper at the time.
Shortstop Randy Ramirez, who clubbed a two-run homer in the final game of the series, was thrilled about his time with the Red Sox.
“This summer has been the greatest experience of my baseball career,” said Ramirez.
“This is something that has captured a piece of my heart … I’ll never forget.”
Mitch MacDonald – who won the 2010 triple crown by leading the league in batting average, RBI and home runs and is now the general manager of the Red Sox – was a member of that first championship team.
Ramirez and MacDonald had so much fun winning the championship that they decided to return the following season and do it all over again in 2012.
For the second straight year, Regina had the best regular season record in the WMBL and the Red Sox made the postseason look easy by winning nine of 10 playoff games. The repeat title was another road win in Alberta and it looked similar to what they did in Okotoks the previous summer. Regina claimed a 7-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Mavericks at Athletic Park on Aug. 15th, giving them a 3-1 series decision in the best-of-five.
“There is definitely a sense of satisfaction,” MacDonald told the Leader-Post.
“It’s a great win for this group of guys and for this franchise, the players and the management.”
The Red Sox had help during the 2012 campaign from pitcher Daniel Jones, who won the WMBL pitching triple crown with nine wins, 70 strikeouts and a 1.34 earned run average (ERA).
“We have guys here from Puerto Rico, from Florida, from across Canada, and we really bonded this summer,” said Jones, who was named the league’s top rookie and best pitcher.
“A lot of teams don’t experience that kind of closeness. We had a special group of players and a special group of coaches that made it all happen … what a crew this is.”
CHASING THE DREAM
The Red Sox made early exits from the playoffs following their championship repeat, but they made their way back to the final in 2015, where they fell victim to the Lethbridge Bulls. The Bulls swept Regina, outscoring their Saskatchewan opponents 19-3 in the series opener and then coming out on top 5-3 and 4-3 in the final two games.
Two first-round departures greeted the Red Sox in the summers after their loss to Lethbridge.
In 2018, the Queen City baseball stars put together another run for the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy. They won three of four to get by the Swift Current 57’s in the first round and then survived a series against the Weyburn Beavers that went the full five games. In the final, they faced the Mavericks. After losing the first two games, they responded with a pair of wins of their own at Currie Field to force a winner-take-all fifth game back at Athletic Park. Medicine Hat got a measure of revenge for 2012 by taking the game 8-2 and the championship in front of their home fans.
That year marked the last season that teams were playing best-of-five postseason series. With the circuit rebranding from the WMBL to the Western Canadian Baseball League, the decision was made to lengthen the regular season to 56 games and reduce the playoff format to a best-of-three standard.
The Red Sox adapted quickly to the changes. With a 41-15 record, Regina finished first overall in the 2019 regular season standings and set course for Seaman Stadium and a date with the Dawgs in the championship series. Despite putting up a good fight, the Red Sox fell 7-2 and 8-6 in an Okotoks sweep. The Dawgs roster included future major league outfielders Tristan Peters and Jacob Melton.
PLAYOFF PAUSE
The playoff dreams of all WCBL teams were put on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the cancellation of the season.
An abbreviated campaign, featuring only five Alberta teams, took place in 2021.
The halt of baseball activities seemed to also hold back the Red Sox when they finally did return to the field after the pandemic. Regina finished first in the East Division with a 34-22 record in 2022, but they were swept in the opening round by the Mavericks. They turned in a 23-33 record the season after that and lost in two quick games again to the Mavs.
The Red Sox bounced back to claim top spot in the East Division in 2024, but their 38-18 effort was negated by two close losses – 4-3 and 7-6 – to the Moose Jaw Miller Express, who made their own trip to the final against the Dawgs.
The Red Sox seemed stuck. Even when the regular season went well, it ended early when the postseason came around.
The roster produced strong individual performances and award winners. Colton Anderson was named the Most Outstanding Pitcher in the WCBL in 2024 because of his dominance on the mound. That same summer, first baseman Kody Hanna finished first in the league in RBI with 64.
DIFFERENT THIS TIME
There were no obvious signs that 2025 would yield different results than previous seasons in recent memory.
Regina finished the regular season with a 29-27 record, which was good for third place in the East Division.
One of the biggest challenges facing the team was an exodus of pitching talent ahead of the playoffs. Top innings munchers Blake Johnson, Colton Anderson, Kai Langford, Calvin Shepherd, David Hankins and Holden Hungerford all departed ahead of the postseason, as did heavy hitters Jackson Syring and Jalen Seward.
The Red Sox did finish strong by going 7-3 down the stretch, including a series win over the Saskatoon Berries, who established a new high for WCBL wins in a regular season with 46. By handing the Berries consecutive losses – 7-6 and 4-2 – in early August, the Red Sox became the only team to beat Saskatoon in two straight games. Perhaps that was the crystal ball to look into.
The Red Sox playoff opener in Medicine Hat finished in a 6-2 win for Regina, but the visitors were outhit by a 12-10 margin. The Saskatchewan squad allowed runners all night – they bent but didn’t break. Regina finished off the Mavs in the second game of the series with a 13-7 triumph, but trouble spots remained. The Red Sox lost the hits battle for a second straight game and surrendered 13 knocks to their dozen smacks. They also committed two errors. Nonetheless, the Red Sox were moving onto the second round.
Waiting for them in the East Division final were the Berries, a team that made the regular season look easy as pie. Saskatoon struggled, however, in the postseason. Their dominance turned to chaos. The Berries were stunned in Game 1 of their opening series against the Miller Express with a 6-4 loss before thumping Moose Jaw 15-6 the next game. One of the craziest games in WCBL history took place in the decisive third contest. The Berries went down 3-0 early, rebounded with 10 runs in the middle section of the game, and gave their lead back by allowing nine runs in the eighth inning. Facing elimination, Saskatoon tied the game by scratching across two runs in the bottom of the ninth. The tenth inning delivered an iconic moment – with a full count and the bases loaded, outfielder Carter Beck connected on a no-doubter grand slam that gave the Berries an improbable 16-12 victory in front of a packed and purple-clad house at NexGen Patch at Cairns Field.
The dramatic scenes continued into the first game of the series between the Red Sox and Berries. Regina struck for five runs in the first three innings and Saskatoon responded with seven of their own scores by the fourth inning. The Red Sox tied it in the seventh and the game went to extra innings with recent memories of Beck’s heroics still lingering in the minds of Saskatoon’s home crowd. In the top of the 11th frame, an error allowed the Red Sox to put runners on the corners with two out. Zayd Brannigan hit a single that scored Jordan Tucker and gave Regina the lead. A pair of singles by the Berries in the bottom half of the inning put runners on first and second, but right-handed pitcher Ayden Page induced three straight outs to shut the door, seal an 8-7 Red Sox win and give Regina a 1-0 series lead.
The Berries punched back with an 8-4 win in the second game to tie the series, setting up another winner-take-all scenario for Saskatoon.
Both teams scored a run in the first inning, and then Regina went up 3-2 in the third. Zeros went on the board in the middle stages of the game and the Red Sox put up three runs in the seventh inning when a Matthew Fox double scored Brannigan and Tucker. Catcher Brady Bye then doubled home Fox and Regina had a 6-2 lead. Thanks to three-plus innings of scoreless pitching from Page, who took over from starter Chris Spry, the Red Sox held on for the victory and punched their ticket to their first WCBL championship series since 2019.
“This is something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve been around (Currie Field) since I was a little kid … it really means the world to me to be able to go and have a chance to win it all,” said Bye, who grew up in Regina.
“If we just stay on us and everyone does their own job we’ll be in good shape.”
The Regina Red Sox will face the Sylvan Lake Gulls in a best-of-three championship final that starts at 7:05 p.m. at Currie Field on Thursday, Aug. 14th. The series will shift to Sylvan Lake for the second game at 7:05 p.m. at Gulls Field on Friday, Aug. 15th. If necessary, a third game would take place in Sylvan Lake on Saturday, Aug. 16th at 7:05 p.m.
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