NightOwls face Bellingham Bells in first ever playoff appearance

Nanaimo will play the Bellingham Bells in a best of three series beginning Friday, Aug. 7 at Serauxmen Stadium, with the series continuing south of the border on Saturday, Aug. 8 and, if necessary, Sunday, Aug. 9.

Andreychuk reflected on a very even regular season series with Bellingham which included three games at home and three games away.

“We ended up going down there, we lost the series but we had a really big lead going into the ninth in one of those games, that’s probably the game that haunts me the most. Then we won the series up at Serauxmen so we went 3-3.”

Nanaimo’s coach believes having success in the postseason involves the same recipe as garnering wins in the regular campaign.

“We’re going to have to do the little things right and really it comes to down to starting pitching, it’s been like that all year. If we get a good start on the mound from our starters, we’ve got enough bullpen pieces to finish up the games.”

One of the key reasons the NightOwls are in the playoffs is the performance of outfielder Ethan Reynolds.

He hit a critical grand slam in the regular season finale Wednesday night, and set the league record for both the number of extra base hits with 36 and the most doubles with 29.

“He’s had the best season in NightOwls history, and I think he’s the MVP of the league…I don’t even think it’s close,” Andreychuk said.

The first pitch in the NightOwls inaugural playoff game goes at 6:35 p.m. on Friday and the team will be hosting a watch party at Serauxmen Stadium for the their road game on Saturday which also starts at 6:35 p.m.

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by Dan Marshall

NightOwls face Bellingham Bells in first ever playoff appearance

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