Red Sox capture third WCBL championship with two straight wins over Gulls

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on August 19, 2025.

sports@medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

The WCBL’s Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy will have some Saskatchewan fun this winter.

The Regina Red Sox captured the Western Canadian Baseball League crown on Saturday, beating the Sylvan Lake Gulls 5-4 to win the finals 2-1 and raise the franchise’s third championship.

It’s their first title win since 2012, the second of back-to-back championships by the Red Sox. They are the first Saskatchewan-based team to claim a championship since the 2017 Swift Current 57’s, the first East division team since those same 57’s.

Regina trailed the Gulls 1-0 in the best-of-three series with a 3-2, 11th inning loss Thursday. They were down to the final strike of the season on Friday, trailing 6-4 in the ninth inning. Infielder Justin Simard kept their playoff hopes alive by driving a ball to second base, legging it out as two runs scored to tie the game. Regina tallied another four runs for the 10-7 win, forcing Game 3.

They led Sylvan Lake 3-0 through three innings Saturday before the Gulls responded with a three-run fifth inning to tie the game. The Gulls scored in the sixth for a 4-3 lead before Regina scored twice in the seventh, holding on for the 5-4 win.

“It means the world to me. This is my 25th year in the league and my first championship. It’s not easy to win in this league,” Red Sox manager Rye Pothakos told the WCBL.

Catcher Brady Bye was named the 2025 WCBL playoff MVP, leading the postseason in RBIs with 10. The Regina product had a .333 batting average with 12 hits, two doubles and three runs scored in eight games en route to the championship.

“It’s awesome, I couldn’t feel any better right now,” Bye said.

“I’m just so happy for myself, my teammates, my coaches … there’s just a bunch of joy going through me right now.”

The finals was the only series the Red Sox had to play comeback in. They swept the Medicine Hat Mavericks in the first round and won Game 1 against the Saskatoon Berries before beating the WCBL leaders in a decisive Game 3.

Regina dedicated their championship run to pitcher Jesse Lubiniecki, a Red Sox player who died in a vehicle collision in June on his way back home from college. Regina wore No. 33 patches on their jerseys to honour Lubiniecki during the season.

With files from the WCBL.

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