Regardless of whether they win or lose their playoff series this weekend in Victoria, the will be in mix for the 2018 championship.
As the host team, the A鈥檚 have an automatic berth into the season-ending tournament, Aug. 3 to 5 at Elks Stadium.
Still, head coach Evan Bailey said the Athletics would prefer to earn their way into provincials, as opposed to backing in and adding an extra variable to the mix.
鈥淚f we lose, a fifth team would get in, instead of having four, and that鈥檚 not what you want,鈥� said Bailey. 鈥淲e want to win and be playing well heading into the last weekend.鈥�
The A鈥檚 and Mariners will meet in a best-of-three first round series, with Games 1 and 2 set for Saturday in Victoria. Game 3, if needed, would go on Sunday morning.
鈥淣o matter who you play, you鈥檙e going to have to play well to get out of the first round,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淚n these three-game series, it鈥檚 often a matter of what you can do in a six-hour span.
鈥淚t鈥檚 whoever is the best team that day, so there鈥檚 minimal room for error,鈥� he added. 鈥淵ou can throw everything that happened before out the door.鈥�
With nine wins in their last 10 games, no team finished the PBL regular season on a bigger upswing than the Athletics (30-18.)
In fact, no PBL club was better over the final 2 1/2 months of the regular season. After stumbling out to a 5-12 start, the A鈥檚 hit their stride, ripping off a 25-6 record to finish out the campaign.
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Based largely on the depth their pitching staff鈥攏ot to mention having a solid offensive and defensive game鈥擝ailey said the 2018 version of the A鈥檚 is among the most capable teams he鈥檚 coached.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been playing really good baseball down the stretch and that鈥檚 what want, to be peaking going into the playoffs,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e feel like we have a really good chance. We鈥檙e deeper on the mound than in past years, and our veteran leadership is really solid.鈥�
The A鈥檚 finished off the PBL regular season last weekend, taking three of four from the North Shore Twins (31-17) at Elks Stadium.
In Saturday鈥檚 opener, Jackson Borne had three hits and two RBIs in a 4-3 Okanagan win. Adam Sarafinchin picked up the win in relief.
In Game 2, the Twins rebounded with a 12-5 win.
On Sunday morning, Sarafinchin singled home Marcus Strother with the winning run in the eighth inning as the A鈥檚 prevailed 3-2.
In the series finale, Cole Van Every delivered two hits and three RBIs in a 5-2 A鈥檚 victory. Sarafinchin (5-2) earned his second win of the weekend, once again in a relief role.
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