Regina Red Sox win WMBL championship

For the first time in franchise history, the Regina Red Sox are the Western Major Baseball League champions.

The team beat the Okotoks Dawgs 7-3 on Saturday to win its best-of-five series three games to one.

The Red Sox got all seven runs in the 6th inning, while the Dawgs scored once in the 5th and twice in the 8th. Braden Keathley was the winning pitcher in the game played in Seaman Stadium before a crowd of 3,678.

A long time coming

It was a seven-year journey to the big win, according to Red Sox general manager Bernie Eiswirth.

"We made the league final last year, so we knew we were very close," Eiswirth said. "So we made a couple of subtle changes and did what we had to do to get the team to win it all."

The team has come a long way since its six-win and 30-loss standing in its first year, he said.

"We were a long ways away then, but ever since then we've made the playoffs every year, " he said. "Certainly, it's always been a goal and now we've attained it."

The championship title could help the team attract more top players for next year, Eiswirth said.