Millers set for playoff matchup

Despite stumbling down the stretch in the regular season, the Moose Jaw Miller Express are hoping to make some noise in the post-season.

The Millers will open up the Western Major Baseball League's 2018 Playoffs when they travel to Weyburn to take on the top-ranked Beavers on Tuesday night.

Moose Jaw went 1-7 against Weyburn during the regular season, but the Millers heading into the series confident that they can play with the Eastern Division champs.

"We have a really good starting pitching rotation, a solid bullpen, so if we can manufacture some runs, we'll be in good shape," said Millers second baseman Blake Gallagher, who won the team's MVP award on Monday.

Some key departures early in the month left the Millers shorthanded and contributed to the team's struggles over the final month of the regular season.

The Millers finished with a 23-25 record, while the Beavers rode a hot start to a 37-11 mark and their first division title.

However, the Millers have had players step up in different roles, like pitcher Markus Gregson, who stepped in a position player role and hit .433 with two home runs in eight games.

Mitchell Robinson, the Millers' two-time pitcher of the year, has also been seeing time in the field recently, posting a .250 average with two home runs.

Outfielder Brooks Benson has also been swinging a hot bat down the stretch with three of his five home runs this season coming in the final nine games of the regular season.

While the Millers may not have had the success that they were hoping against the Beavers in the regular season, Gallagher feels that they can match-up well with them.

"Our record over the course of the year hasn't really shown what we can do against them, I feel like we match-up pretty well against them," he said.

The Millers and Beavers hit the field for Game 1 of the best-of-five first round series on Tuesday night at Tom Laing Park. First pitch is at 7 p.m.

Game 2 goes on Wednesday in Weyburn and then the series shifts to Ross Wells Park here in Moose Jaw for Game 3 on Thursday.