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Season closing in
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With the Northwest League regular season ending with just 11 games left and a .438 win percentage, the defending champion Boise Hawks find themselves in an uphill climb.
But, the Hawks are only three games back of the East Division leading Tri-City Dust Devils, after taking two of last three from the team just above them, the Spokane Indians.
The remaining games for the Hawks are all against East Division teams, against whom Boise has a 12-9 record. After a six game stretch versus Tri-Cities (three on the road, and beginning Tuesday, three at home), the Hawks will play three at home against the Yakima Bears, and finish the season with a three home game series against Spokane.
With all of Boise’s remaining games against teams above them in the standings, the Hawks see the perfect opportunity to take the division lead. The only problem is, when Boise plays Tri-Cities, Spokane takes on Yakima, who sits at the bottom of the ladder with a .375 percentage and 24-40 record. (That is still a little better percentage than the KC Royals, if you’re wondering.)
When the Spokane series comes up for the Hawks, Tri-Cities plays Yakima. Only the three games Boise gets against Yakima will yield head-to-head match-ups between the two teams ahead of the Hawks.
So, Boise fans have to become Bear fans if we’re to have a chance at repeating. That’s not too much to ask, right?
After the team survived a morning fire in their Vancouver hotel on Aug. 23, that destroyed six units (all players and staff escaped with no injuries or damage), the Hawks have been playing inspired baseball, winning three of their last four.
If they are to move on to the Northwest League Championships Sept. 8-12, they’ll have to keep it up during the coming homestand.
The nine game home stretch begins on Tuesday, Aug. 30, at 7:15 p.m., and promotions galore sprinkle the season’s end.
There are two 12 Ounce Tuesdays (Aug. 30 and Sept. 6), with Pepsis and Coors products one dollar each; a Buck Night featuring $1 hotdogs, popcorn, and peanuts (during select innings); fireworks on Friday, Sept. 2 (along with batting helmets for the first 1,000 kids through the gate); and the first 1,000 fans on Saturday, Sept. 3, will receive Hawks bobbleheads. Tickets are only $2 at the box office every night.
Micah Sullivan
Arbiter Staff
