Dreams of a provincial championship are still dancing through the heads of the Prince George Grays.
The Grays (1-1) earned a 4-3 win Saturday over the Burnaby Bulldogs (0-2) at Citizen Field to keep their playoff chances alive in the 2012 B.C. Senior Men's championship. Prince George was up 4-1 with only three outs to go in the final inning but the Bulldogs earned three walks and a free pass on a dropped third strike, scoring a pair of runs to make for some shorter fingernails in the home side's dugout.
A day after giving up five runs in one-third of an inning lefty Curtis Sawchuk was given a second chance on the mound for the Grays when he was called upon to earn the final two outs. The 21 year old struggled but managed to pick up the save after striking out the Bulldogs final batter.
"It was good coming back out here and finding the zone again," said Sawchuk, who has a 35.00 ERA in a total of one inning of work. "I had a rough go [Friday] night but to come out and contribute to the team like I did was good, it got me back on the page."
Sawchuk replaced Jon Bourassa on the mound for the Grays in the seventh inning. Bourassa pitched one and one-third innings in relief of starter Jesse Dill.
As the Grays' starter, Dill produced a masterful effort on the hill, striking out six Bulldogs while allowing just one run on two hits and three walks to pick up the win. In five innings of work Dill had a 1.40 ERA.
"There's nothing more you can ask from the guy," said Sawchuk. "He filled up the strike zone all night. He did his job and I like helping him out any way I can."
Offensively the Grays were led by shortstop Jay Cook at the plate. Cook was 3-for-3 and circled the bases for three runs. He led off with a solo homerun - his second of the tournament - in the bottom of the first and also bunted and had a single.
"You can't get the guy out with anything right now," said Sawchuk. "His bat's hot and that's the way we like it."
Garrett Belanger had the Grays other run as part of a two-run fourth inning when he and Cook had back-to-back bunts to earn their trip around the bases.
The loss eliminates the Bulldogs from playoff contention in Division 1 but they'll have the opportunity Sunday to play spoiler when they meet the undefeated Kamloops Sun Devils (2-0) in the 10:30 a.m. game. The Sun Devils have already clinched a playoff berth.
The second playoff berth in Division 1 will go to the winner of Sunday's 8 a.m. game between the Grays and defending provincial champion Victoria Mavericks (1-1). After a 3-0 win over the Bulldogs the Mavericks lost 1-0 to Kamloops on Saturday.
In Division 2, the Kelowna Jays (0-2) are eliminated while the Nanaimo Coalminers (1-1) still have a chance to clinch a playoff spot with a win in their final game. The Langley Blaze (1-0) and Trail Orioles (1-0) were playing the late game Saturday night.
Playoff format
There are four playoff contests with two games Sunday at 6 and 8:30 p.m. and two games Monday at 9:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
It's a double elimination format so if two teams finish the round robin at 3-0 they'll meet Sunday with the winner advancing to the final game and the loser receiving a second life in Monday's early game. If only one team finishes at 3-0 that team advances straight to the final.
