By Randy Palmer
Campaign filled with parity sees Moose Jaw once again come a single win away from claiming WCBL championship
When the Western Canadian Baseball League playoffs began back in the first week of August, no one outside of the Moose Jaw Miller Express and their most diehard fans thought the local squad would have much of a post-season run.
The Express had gone through one of the most bizarrely up-and-down seasons in recent memory, posting a 27-29 record, finishing 11.5 games back out of the East Division lead and winning only four of their last 10 games of the campaign.
Fast forward a week and a half, and there the Express were, playing in Game 3 of the WCBL Final and taking the eventual champion Okotoks Dawgs right down the final inning of the final game of the season.
And while things didn’t work out as planned for the local squad — Okotoks got a walk-off home run for a 6-5 win and their third-straight WCBL championship — it was an incredible run just the same, one that Miller Express president Darryl Pisio was especially proud of.
“We’re just super proud of the guys,” Pisio said Sunday afternoon while on the drive home from Alberta. “Going into the playoffs we said to them ‘you gotta believe’. We believe in you, Moose Jaw believes in you, everyone believes in you and you can make it happen. Then they believed in themselves and did a tremendous job. It’s baseball and it can go either way sometimes, and unfortunately, it didn’t quite go our way this year.”
Even with their less-than-stellar regular-season record, the Express always had a sense they could win any game, much like every other team in the league. Such was the level of parity across the 12-team league, and especially among the eight teams that reached the postseason.
“You know what, it was a different season, but that was a testament to how the league is,” Pisio said. “On any given day anyone can beat you, and looking at the eight teams that were in the playoffs, any one of those teams could have won the Western Canadian Baseball League championship. It was anyone’s game any night, and it really shows the quality of the ball and the parity of all the teams in the league.”
That also made things interesting for the fans. The WCBL once again set an overall attendance record in no small part due to the number of close games, and the Miller Express will likely see their final numbers close to what they had in 2023, despite a host of inclement weather to start the season.
“It’s unsure right now how it will all come out, but compared to last year we’ll probably be on par,” Pisio said. “If there was something that hurt us it was the weather at the start of the season, May and June were uncommonly colder than normal. But on average, our July attendance compared to our June attendance was about 100 people difference, and then you look at August it just kept climbing from there. Then the playoff run was really good for us, and that’ll help.”
The overall community support was once again outstanding, as has become the norm for Miller Express baseball.
“Right from volunteers to the billets, the fans, our sponsors, all the support has been incredible and we can build from there,” Pisio said. “Everything we do make we try an put back into Ross Wells Park or into the community anyways, so hopefully we can do that.”
The 2025 campaign will see a changing of the guard thanks to the graduation of a host of multi-year seniors. Perennial standout outfielder Nate Mensik, pitcher Cameron Dunn, pitcher Matt Vasquez, infielder Bobby Pokorney and outfielder Joe Osborn are among 11 seniors who will be moving on to other opportunities next season.
“There are some guys who have been with us two or three years, their college career is done and their WCBL career is done, and it’s tough to see them go,” Pisio said. “At the same time, we have a bunch of guys who were here for their first year and want to come back. They fell in love with the city and loved the support, so we’ll have some good talent coming back for sure.”
That includes a crew of youngsters that will give the local squad a solid local flavour not only next season but in years to come.
“We definitely have some local guys coming up, too, some Moose Jaw and Regina guys that we’re looking forward to seeing on the field,” Pisio said. “They’re young, but they’re definitely talented and that’ll play into the coming years as well.”
For now, it’ll be a matter of stepping back after a busy summer before things quickly turn toward the another run next spring.
“We’ll start a the top with the coaches and assistant coaches and get that firmed up in the next couple weeks, then take some time for vacation, and by end of September we’ll start working on things for next year,” Pisio said. “Hopefully we’ll have another great season and take another run at the championship.”