Crunch Time for Boise Hawks

Well, we’re in to the home stretch of the Northwest League Baseball season. With 17 game left (probably 16 by the time I get it posted), in the Western Division, it’s all over, Salem-Kaiser Volcanoes are headed for their second straight divsion title in the West and back to the Championship Game. The Eastern Divison,  now that’s something else.

The Spokane Indians lead by 1 1/2 games over the Boise, with the Tri-City Dust Devils and Yakima Bears each 3 1/2 games back with 17 games to go.  All teams are under .500 right now, which means whichever team faces Salem in the Championship won’t be favored, but getting there is half the fun.

I’m going to focus on the Hawks. What do they need to do the next 16 + games to win. This series they’re playing with the Vancouver Canadians will be key as will be their series with Yakima following it. They need to keep the division race close. They don’t want to be any more than 2 games out after they’re done with Yakima. The Spokane Indians will come to Boise for a 6 game series from August 28-September 2nd. If the Indians are leading by more than two games than the Hawks really have got to win five of six to stay alive. While, it’s doable, I’d much rather the Hawks cut the Indians lead down to 1 and then win 4 of 6.

Both teams have got to play well from here on out to avoid a run by Yakima or more likely Tri-City.

Looking at the scoreboard as I’m writing the post, Spokane looks to hold onto at least their 1 1/2 game lead as they’re beating Everett, 6-1 in the 7th,  but the Hawks don’t look to give ground with  a 5-3 lead over Vancouver, meanwhile the Yakima Bears are being beat by the Volcanoes 5-1 in the 9th and will fall 4 1/2 games back, and the Dust Devils are tied with the Eugene Emeralds 1-1. Go Hawks!