The second-place Victoria Mariners and sixth-place Victoria Eagles enter the first round of the B.C. Premier Baseball League playoffs this weekend.
Both clubs are in a best-of-three series, looking to advance to the BCPBL final four championships in Whalley from Aug. 1 to 4.
The Mariners host the White Rock Tritons with Games 1 and 2 at noon and 2:30 p.m. at Henderson Park on Saturday, July 26. Game 3, if necessary, is noon on Sunday.
The Eagles are off to North Vancouver to face the North Shore Twins, 1 and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, and noon Sunday if necessary.
Until Wednesday night the Mariners and Eagles were set to play each other but unfavourable weather forced an abrupt end to the BCPBL schedule and moved the Mariners from third to second.
The Mariners set a new franchise record with 34 regular season wins as they wrapped up the season with a doubleheader sweep of the White Rock Tritons on Sunday, 7-1 and 5-4.
The defending league champion Eagles came a win shy of tying their previous win record (27) and instead ended the season tied with the same record as the fifth-place Vancouver Cannons 26-22. The Eagles split a pair of games with the North Shore Twins on Tuesday, winning 3-2 and losing 12-0.
It’s been an emotional season as Mariners player Zack Downey succumbed to non-Hodgkins lymphoma in June at just 18 years of age.
That same week pitchers Erik Skuja of the Eagles and Chris Fougner of the Mariners threw no-hitters, Skuja against the Langley Blaze and Fougner against the Parksville Royals.
The July 25 print version of this story incorrectly states the Mariners will face the Eagles at Henderson Park. The News regrets the error.
reporter@vicnews.com