By JOE McFARLAND

And then there were six.

After a 36-game regular season, the Canadian College Baseball Conference season comes to a head this coming weekend with its championship weekend.

For the first time in league history, only the top six teams are making the trek to Lethbridge following the expansion to nine clubs.

It was a battle to the end with a handful of slots in the standings still up for grabs heading into the final weekend, including the last two playoff spot, which were eventually taken by the University of Calgary Dinos and Vancouver Island University Mariners.

They will join the Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs, Okanagan College Coyotes, University of Fraser Valley Cascades and Edmonton Collegiate Hawks when action gets started on Thursday morning.

Let’s take a look at how each team got here and some of the big players to watch heading in:

#1. PRAIRIE BASEBALL ACADEMY DAWGS

It didn’t take long for the Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs to set the tone in the CCBC, rattling off six straight wins to start the season.

They went on to win 10 of their first 12 games and didn’t really look back throughout the season, finishing a league-best 25-11.

The Dawgs’ ability to win games in a variety of ways is what set them apart, with some high-scoring victories, some slug-it-out grinders and some outstanding pitching performances along the way.

They were led offensively by veteran Nate Garth, who finished second in the circuit with 11 home runs on the season and tied for fourth in runs batted in with 38. PBA also got strong performances from Will Turner (who finished third in batting average at .431) and Declan O’Kane (who hit seven roundtrippers).

On the mound, Sean Bavis was a top-five finisher in the CCBC in wins (tied for first with five), strikeouts (tied for fourth with 47) and earned run average (fifth at 3.78), as the Dawgs had the second-best team ERA (5.44)

“The older guys and I have been talking about winning a championship for a while now and we thought we had a pretty good shot last year but fell short in the playoffs,” O’Kane said. “It would be awesome to get one for Hub (head coach Todd Hubka) again and the coaching staff, as they have waited a while since their last one (2017).”

#2. OKANAGAN COLLEGE COYOTES

The returning champions were also very strong coming out of the gates this season.

The Okanagan College Coyotes looked unstoppable early on, losing just three of their first 20 games before hitting some rough terrain in the latter half of the spring to finish the season 23-13.

If there’s one thing we’ve all come to learn, head coach Geoff White knows how to get his team to step up when it matters the most, having won four championships since 2018.

The Coyotes had a pair of four-game winners on the mound with Carter Mossop and Ryan Powers, with the latter finishing sixth in the league in strikeouts (46) and third in ERA (3.60).

Offensively, the Coyotes were led by catcher Nick Sauve, who paced the CCBC with a .455 batting average, adding three dingers and 24 RBI while Coleman Kawaguchi was his usual strong self with a .348 average to go along with five homers, 28 RBI and 12 stolen bases.

“Winning a championship would mean all of my hard work and the team’s work that we’ve put in would pay off,” said the senior Sauve. “All the friendships I’ve made and all that has been great and we all want that second ring this year.”

#3. UNIVERSITY OF FRASER VALLEY CASCADES

They didn’t make it easy on the Coyotes for second place in the conference heading into the World Series.

The University of Fraser Valley Cascades needed to win both games of a season-ending two-game set against OC to move into a tie, but fell short in the finale with a 7-5 loss.

However, it was another solid campaign for the 2024 CCBC champions as they finished with a 22-14 record in a season that ended with 12 wins in their last 17 games.

A likely candidate for the league’s most valuable player, Keegan Drinkle, was a powerhouse offensively, finishing second in average (.441), tied for fifth in homers (seven) and tops in RBI (59), for a Cascades team that had the top team batting average (.328), most stolen bases (154) and produced the most runs (361).

Mathew Picheniuk paced the team in wins (four) and strikeouts (38), with the Cascades leading the conference in team ERA (5.38).

“We have a young team, but to come out on top, it would be really nice for all the hard work to pay off and to walk away with something,” said UFV utilityman Wyatt McKeen. “At the end of the day, we just have to work hard and we’ll get there.”

#4. EDMONTON COLLEGIATE HAWKS

It was their best regular season in franchise history.

Now the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks would like to keep the good times rolling as they head towards Lethbridge.

The team had an up and down first half of the season before a couple of winning streaks propelled them into a playoff spot that they didn’t relinquish.

As has been the case since the program’s debut, the Hawks will be leaning on a strong pitching staff that features Logan Colville (who was tied for first in wins with five), Lucas Webber-Kitching (second in strikeouts with 59) and Nick Backstrom (fourth in strikeouts with 47).

It was a record-setting year for first baseman Caedyn Colford, who set the CCBC mark for homers in a season with 12, to go along with a .297 average and 42 RBI.

“It would mean a lot to win a championship,” Colford said. “Growing up in St. Albert, we always came so close and we finally won provincials in my senior year. It’s such a great feeling and I want to get back there and keep adding wins.”

#5. UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY DINOS

A rough and tumble start to the season didn’t detract the University of Calgary Dinos from grinding out a playoff spot by the end.

After going 6-11 in their first 17 games, the Dinos seemingly turned the tide with a doubleheader sweep of PBA on April 22 to finish the year with a 17-19 mark, clinching a playoff spot during the final weekend.

Veteran starter Ethan Webster led the league in strikeouts (65) while outfielder Jacob Carlson was among the leaders in batting average (.420).

Two-way player Colin Baxter was a workhorse for the Dinos this season, going 4-2 with a 4.24 ERA in eight starts while batting .363 with a home run and 28 RBI in 30 games at the plate.

He’s hoping to help the team claim their second championship, as he was part of the first in 2022.

“It was a lot of fun and I will never forget that moment of winning it,” Baxter said. “But I want to win it again so bad. It’s ‘win’ and there’s no other option.”

#6. VANCOUVER ISLAND UNIVERSITY MARINERS

It’s been 16 years since the Vancouver Island University Mariners last hoisted the CCBC championship.

And it almost looked like they might be destined for another year of waiting after starting the year 10-18 before rattling off six wins in their last eight games, including a four-game sweep of the Hawks.

They are hoping to ride that wave of momentum into the CCBC World Series, led by the veteran duo of Trevor Nicoll (.396 with a homer and 28 RBI) and Alex McLauchlan (.299 with seven roundtrippers and 29 RBI).

On the mound, veteran KJ Jones had another solid spring going 3-3 with a 4.62 ERA and 43 strikeouts in nine games.

“It would be amazing to win a championship,” said veteran catcher Tyler Olfert, who sported a .263 average with eight RBI in 18 games. “We have a lot of seniors this year and it would be unreal to go out and win one for them in their last year.”

The Canadian College Baseball Conference World Series gets started on Thursday, May 21 with a champion set to be crowned on Sunday, May 24.