With two of their key players on the shelf at the most critical time of the season, the rest of the Okanagan Athletics will need to summon up some postseason magic this weekend in 91大黄鸭.
The undermanned A鈥檚 are playing host to the five-team championship tournament beginning Friday at Elks Stadium.
Already carrying one of the league鈥檚 sparsest rosters, the A鈥檚 will be without arguably their best all-round player, Cole Van Every, along with starting third baseman Mason Glowacki.
The 18-year-old Van Every, who led the PBL in strikeouts (86) this season while batting .337 and providing defensive stability in the infield, broke his ankle last weekend in Game 3 of the A鈥檚 playoff series in Victoria. Glowacki will miss the provincial tournament with a concussion.
Still, with just 13 players on the roster, head coach Evan Bailey said his club can鈥檛 afford to dwell on its less-than-enviable position.
鈥淲e have to move past it, we really don鈥檛 have a choice,鈥� said Bailey, the Athletics鈥� head coach and program director. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty untimely for us, a tough situation for the guys but they have to go out and play. I think we鈥檙e resilient, I鈥檓 not worried about the guys morale. But we鈥檙e facing teams with 22-man rosters, so it鈥檚 going to be a challenge. But as we know in baseball, anything can happen.鈥�
Okanagan will be joined by the four winners of last weekend鈥檚 first-round PBL playoff series鈥欌�攚ho also happen to be the top four teams from the regular season鈥攊n the Langley Blaze, Abbotsford Cardinals, North Shore Twins and Victoria Mariners.
The A鈥檚 open up the provincial tourney Friday at noon at Elks Stadium against the Mariners.
At 3 p.m. Abbotsford takes on North Shore, followed by the Langley Blaze who will meet the winner of the A鈥檚-Victoria matchup.
Adding to the challenge this weekend is the double-knockout format, putting pressure on both the A鈥檚 and Mariners鈥攖he fifth- and fourth-place teams鈥攖o get out of the gate fast. Only one team will.
鈥淭he double-knockout makes it tough, it鈥檚 never been used before,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淏asically, if we lose our first game, we have to then win five in a row. That鈥檚 not what you want to be facing.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always been a round-robin format in the past, giving you a little bit more room for error,鈥� he added.鈥淏ut, it is what it is. We have deal with it the best we can.鈥�
Okanagan had a chance to bump Victoria from the postseason picture in the quarterfinal round last weekend, but the hometown Mariners earned their way into the PBL finals with a 2-1 series win over Bailey鈥檚 club.
The PBL championship will be decided Sunday, with the finals at 2 and 5 p.m., if necessary.
The A鈥檚 won their only previous PBL title in 2012.
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