The Cloverleafs completed the series sweep by beating the Reston Rockets 7-5 Saturday night to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Rob West lead the way with a 2 run homer and Justin Funk was strong on the mound collecting the victory.
The next action for the Leafs is Tuesday night in Neepawa where they will take on the first place Farmers. The next home game for the club is Friday, July 15 where they will be hosting the same Neepawa Farmers for game 2 of the series.
Sean Dryden struck out 19 batters as Brandon defeated Oak River 7-3. Bryan Swaenepoel hit his fourth homer of the year to lead the way for the winning side. Dryden (2-3) scattered five hits and walked four. He also hit three batters.
The struggling Brandon Cloverleafs got a much needed 7-4 win over the Ora Dental Marlins. The 7-and-9 Cloverleafs are a 1/2 game ahead of Reston in the hunt to stay out of the league basement The Marlins fall to 9-8-and-1 and lose a game on the Farmers, so they're two back. Kyle Nixon was 4-for-4 at the dish, while Jeff Neufeld was 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Andrew Johnston had a pair of ribbies.
The Cloverleafs dropped two games this weekend, one to the cross-town Ora Dental Marlins on Friday night and last night in extra innings against Neepawa. The club squandered to great pitching performances by there starters. Friday night, Kyle Nixon took to the mound tossing all 9 innings, only giving up 1 earned run. However, the ‘Leafs bats were non-existent and fell short 3-2. Sunday night, Justin Funk was on the hill. The ‘Leafs wasted another great start, Funk through 10 innings but left the game with it tied 2-2. After giving up 3 in the top of the 11th, the club tried a comeback of there own, scoring one of their own and having runners on 2nd and 3rd before Neepawa relief pitcher Jake Newberry recorded the final out and Neepawa was victorious 5-3
The ‘Leafs defeated the Oak River Dodgers 6-1 last night at Andrew’s Field. The ‘Leafs were lead by lead off hitter Brandon Lockerby who had 3 hits and scored 3 runs. Newcomer Derrick Gunderson and Jeff Neufeld each had 2 hits for the club. Justin Funk was the winning pitcher. Funk through a complete game, scattering 6 hits and striking out 9. The Cloverleafs next action is Wednesday night at Andrew’s Field when the will host the Reston Rockets.
Jamie Waddell-Hodgson had two doubles and three RBI to lead the Brandon Cloverleafs to an 8-3 win over the previously unbeaten Neepawa Farmers. The Farmers drop to 3-and-1 with the loss. Kyle Nixon (1-0) went the distance and scattered ten hits, striking out six. Kirby Hruska and Jason Rae each went 2-for-3 with a couple of runs scored. Kevin Levandosky had three hits to lead the Farmers. Losing pitcher Chris Ciochon (1-1) allowed ten hits and four earned runs in eight innings. He fanned eight.
Jason Rae and Bryan Swaenepoel hit homers as the Brandon Cloverleafs roared to an 8-1 win over the Reston Rockets. Swaenepoel is 3-for-5 with a league leading seven walks to start the season. His on base percentage is an unbelievable .846. Kevin McNeill (1-0) went the distance and fanned nine along the way. Eric Truscott (0-1) allowed seven runs (three earned) in six innings. He walked five and fanned seven. Andrew Lochhead, Aaron Tycoles, and Mitch Olson all had two hits apiece for Reston.
The Cloverleafs’ next action is Friday night when they play host to the Marlins for the teams first home game.
Last year was one of the most successful seasons in the clubs’ history. The team won the league pennant as the team with the best regular season record, then moved on to take their second straight MSBL title beating the Reston Rockets in 5 games.
2007 also provided the ‘Leafs the chance to represent Manitoba at the Canadian National AAA tournament held in Quebec City. The Cloverleafs had an outstanding tournament which was lead by solid pitching and great defence along with some timely hitting. The team captured the silver medal, losing to Quebec in the final. This was the first time that Manitoba has won a medal at this event in nearly 30 years!
Looking forward to the 2008 season. The team is very optimistic and excited to get things going. The team will be lead by their strong pitching with the likes of Sean Dryden, Kyle Nixon, Justin Funk, Kevin McNeil and Darcy Sidhoo returning to give the ‘Leafs an extremely strong pitching staff. Funk is returning from a knee injury that saw him miss the 2007 season, Sidhoo is returning for his second year with the squad and McNeil is returning after coming off a successful 2007 season which he won the Manitoba Junior Player of the Year Award. These three combined with the clubs ace and mainstay, Sean Dryden, and Kyle Nixon, who pitched great for the team last year, has the team looking very good on the mound.
The club will be relying a lot on the “young kids” this year. Curtis Brolund, Andrew Johnston, Jeff Neufeld and Garrett Popplestone will be counted on a lot this year to provide solid innings in the field and good at-bats at the plate. The “kids” are pretty busy this summer with High-School, AA midget, AAA midget and Popplestone with Manitoba Youth Team commitments, and the team wishes them well with all their other teams.
Veteran returnees include Jamie Waddell-Hodgson, Kirby Hruska, Bryan Swaenepoel, Jason Rae and Rob West is returning after a couple years off. Lyle Wright will be managing the team again along with Gord Nixon who returns for his second year as coach.
Finally, we would like to thank all of the fans who come out and support us, THANK YOU. As well we would like to thank all of the businesses and business owners who have supported us throughout the years. Without your support we would not be able to put our product on the field. So on behalf of the players and executive THANK YOU for supporting local baseball and we are looking forward to a great 2008 season.
| G | W | L | T | P | |
| Farmers | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 24 |
| Marlins | 20 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 21 |
| Dodgers | 20 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 20 |
| Cloverleafs | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 18 |
| Rockets | 20 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 17 |
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 | Final | Cloverleafs (1) | at | Reston (2) | L |
| Friday, May 23, 2008 | Final | Cloverleafs (9) | at | Oak River (3) | W |
| Wednesday, May 28, 2008 | Final | Cloverleafs (8) | at | Reston (1) | W |
| Friday, May 30, 2008 | Final | Marlins (11) | at | Cloverleafs (2) | L |
| Sunday, June 1, 2008 | Final | Cloverleafs (8) | at | Neepawa (3) | W |
| Sunday, June 8, 2008 | Final | Oak River (1) | at | Cloverleafs (6) | W |
| Sunday, June 15, 2008 | 7:00 pm | Marlins (2) | at | Cloverleafs (1) | L |
| Friday, June 20, 2008 | 7:00 pm | Marlins (3) | at | Cloverleafs (2) | L |
| Sunday, June 22, 2008 | 7:00 pm | Neepawa (4) | at | Cloverleafs (2) | L |
| Tuesday, June 24, 2008 | Final | Cloverleafs (0) | at | Neepawa (1) | L |
| Friday, June 27, 2008 | Final | Reston (2) | at | Cloverleafs (3) | W |
| Sunday, June 29, 2008 | Final | Oak River (4) | at | Cloverleafs (1) | L |
| Wednesday, July 2, 2008 | Final | Cloverleafs (5) | at | Reston (3) | W |
| Wednesday, July 3, 2008 | Final | Cloverleafs (2) | at | Neepawa (7) | L |
| Friday, July 4, 2008 | Final | Cloverleafs (2) | at | Marlins (5) | L |
| Friday, July 8, 2008 | Final | Cloverleafs (7) | at | Marlins (4) | W |
| Wednesday, July 9, 2008 | 7:00 pm | Oak River (5) | at | Cloverleafs (2) | L |
| Friday, July 11, 2008 | 7:00 pm | Cloverleafs (7) | at | Oak River (3) | W |
| Friday, July 14, 2008 | 7:00 pm | Reston (2) | at | Cloverleafs (5) | W |
| Friday, July 15, 2008 | 7:00 pm | Neepawa (7) | at | Cloverleafs (4) | L |