1958 Playoffs     

Semi-finals :

(Aug)  The Beaver-Meridians have been hit by the injury bug in recent weeks with Ed Tanner suffering a ruptured kidney whist playing against Regina at Abbotts Field. Manager Ken Nelson is also on the disabled list having suffered a broken hand against Regina whilst on the pitchers' mound ... Tanner, who spent a week in North Battleford hospital, has now been released from the hospital as of Saturday last and is feeling in pretty fair shape. (Scott McNeill, Lloydminster Times, Aug 13, 1958)

(Aug 12)  The Combines received league approval for three roster changes on medical grounds.  Pitchers Dave Kostenuk and Jim Stevens and third baseman Suge Carter, all from the Moose Jaw Mallards, replaced injured players Paul Springer, Ken Nelson and Tom Bergeron

(Aug 12)  Ralph Vold shutout the Combines 4-0 as Edmonton took a one game lead in their best-of-nine semi-final series.  Vold fanned 10 in besting Combines' Jackie BowesRoger Tomlinson of the Esks and John McLane of the Combines each had three hits.

Lloydminster 000 000 000 0
Edmonton     000 020 11X 4
Bowes and Tanner
Vold and Zubak

(Aug 12)  Williston erupted for four runs in the sixth and another four in the seventh to down the Commodores 8-3 in Saskatoon.  Jerry Adair paced the Oilers with a double and two singles.  Bill Lynn drove in three.  Ron Boone had a homer for the Commodores.  Bob Smith gave up 12 hits but went the distance for the win.

Williston 000 004 400 8 11 3
Saskatoon 010 100 100 3 12 3
Smith and Heath
Graves, Hobson (7), Bartylla (8) and Jackson

(Aug 13)  

"... One of the original hard-luck guys, Ed Tanner, should get better as each day passes.  The further the series goes, the more likely he'll get back to himself.

The doctors said that Tanner would never play ball again after he was shattered in a car accident last winter.  He fooled them though, thanks to a determined swimming program that built up his muscles again.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, he suffered a ruptured kidney in a collision on the base paths when he was reaching for a throw.

The club management was thinking seriously of having him replaced , too.  The medicos would have gone along with it, certainly, because they expressed doubts about sending him out on the field bound up in corset.

As he did last spring when president Thorpe was leery of Tanner as a physical risk, Ed talked his baseball bosses into keeping him on.

Before the series runs its course, he naturally will be keen to justify the gamble of going with him."  (Don Fleming, Edmonton Journal, August 13, 1958)

(Aug 13)  Bruce Gardner pitched an 11-inning, six-hitter while Roger Tomlinson had four hits to give the Eskimos a 3-2 win over the Combines at Edmonton.  Gardner also helped at the plate with a triple and single.

Lloydminster 010 010 000 00 2  6 1
Edmonton     010 000 100 01 3 14 2 
Griggs and Ford
Gardner and Zubak

(Aug 13)  In a strange finish, Saskatoon picked up a playoff victory by forfeit before 17-hundred fans at Cairns Field. Williston first baseman Ken Guffey was ejected from the game in the top of the eighth inning after arguing a called strike.  Guffey's departure left the Oilers with just eight players and umpire Ace Corbin awarded the decision to the Commodores.  At the time, Saskatoon was leading 11-8, but the Oilers were in the midst of a five-run rally.  Commodores had taken a 10-0 lead after three innings.  Eloyd Robinson and Ike Jackson each had three hits for Saskatoon.  Pete Estrada added a homer.  Bill Heath and a homer and double for Williston.  

Williston 000 200 15  8 10 2  * Saskatoon wins on forfeit
Saskatoon 442 001 0X 11 12 2
Barudoni, Evans (2) and Heath
Hobson, Doepker (8) and Johnson

(Aug 14)  Williston grabbed a 2-1 game lead in their semi-final series edging the Commodores 6-4 in front of 18-hundred fans in Saskatoon.  Bill Thom  held the Commodores to seven hits, including a homer by Ike JacksonBuzz Bartylla was the loser.  He gave up nine hits, fanned 11 and walked just one. 

Williston 001 201 020 6 9 2
Saskatoon 100 002 010 4 7 2
Thom and Heath
Bartylla and Johnson

(Aug 15)  Lloydminster-North Battleford got home runs from Curly Williams, John McLane and Ed Tanner in notching an 8-3 win in their best-of-nine semi-final series with Edmonton.  McLane added a pair of doubles. Tanner had three hits and three RBI. Jim Stevens, a Combines' recruit from Moose Jaw, held the Eskimos to six hits, one of them a homer by Len Gabrielson.

Edmonton     100 001 100 3  6 3
Lloydminster 240 200 00X 8 12 1
Forsythe, McQuade (2) and Zubak, Waddle ()
Stevens and Tanner

(Aug 16)  A grand slam homer by second baseman Ron Boone carried Saskatoon to a 9-6 win over the Oilers in Williston.  Pete Riggs held the Oilers to eight hits before he gave way to Dick Doepker to get the final out in the ninth.   Bill Lynn led Williston with three hits including a homer and a triple. 

Saskatoon 124 000 110 9 14 3
Williston 000 220 002 6  8 3
Riggs, Doepker (9) and Johnson
Blakeslee, Evans (3) and Bach

(Aug 16)  Alton Arnold tossed a four-hitter to lead Lloydminster-North Battleford to a 6-1 win over Edmonton to square the semi-final series at two games apiece. He had seven strikeouts and only one base on balls. Curly Williams and John McLane belted homers for the Combines. (And, earned 'Kentucky fried chicken from Jim Sellers of the Dairy Freeze.  Jim gives each home run hitter on the locals a feed of his succulent chicken as recognition of their hitting prowess and the boys really appreciate the kind gesture."  Scotty McNeill, Aug 20, Lloydminster Times,)

Edmonton     000 010 000 1 4 3
Lloydminster 202 100 10X 6 6 3
Vold, Cocchi (5) and Zubak
Arnold and Tanner

(Aug 17)   Three-run homers by Jerry Adair and pitcher Bob Smith powered Williston to a 10-4 victory over Saskatoon and a 3-2 game edge in the best-of-nine semi-final series.  Eloyd Robinson and Dan Adams had homers for the Commodores.

Saskatoon 100 100 200  4 13 2
Williston 003 304 00X 10 14 2
Hobson, Popkin (4), Doepker (6) and Johnson
Smith and Bach

(Aug 17)   Curly Williams tripled and scored on John McLane's sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to give the Combines an 8-7 win before 22-hundred fans at Lloydminster.  The win spoiled a brilliant day at the plate for the Eskimos' Gary Lacomb who blasted three homers and knocked in six runs.  Wally Waddle also had a four-bagger for Edmonton.  Williams and Johnny Ford each had three hits for the Combines.  Bennie Griggs picked up the win in relief.

The locals failed to notch a homer but the controversial "catch" at the fence from the bat of John McLane was just inches away from being over.  This play saw the winning run scored by Curly Williams, who ran home from third base and the throw from the outfield got away from the catcher and rolled close to the Edmonton dugout where, in the excitement, the Eskimos' trainer picked up the ball and threw it to the catcher and Umpire Moe George, who was close at hand and saw the incident, immediately declared Curly safe with the rinning run to end one of the most thrill-packed games ever seen here.  Scott McNeill, Aug 20, Lloydminster Times

Edmonton     201 100 102 0 7 12 4
Lloydminster 002 023 000 1 8 14 4
Forsythe, Vold (6) and Zubak, Waddle (2)
Bowes, Griggs (9) and Tanner

(Aug 18)  Outfielder Al Leap drove in six runs with a pair of homers to give Williston a 12-7 victory and a 4-2 game edge in the semi-final series with Saskatoon.  Leap belted a grand slam homer in the fourth after the Commodores had taken a 3-0 lead in the top of the inning.  His two-run shot in the seventh came after Saskatoon had tied the game in the top of that inning.  Jerry Adair added a two-run homer for the Oilers in the eighth.  Adair and Zoonie McLean of Williston and Pete Estrada and Ike Jackson of the Commodores each had three hits.  

Saskatoon 000 300 310  7  8 3
Williston 000 600 42X 12 13 2
Hobson, Bartylla (4) and Jackson
Barudoni, Evans (8) and Bach

(Aug 19)  Lefty Bruce Gardner stopped the Combines on seven hits and he aided his cause with a run-scoring triple as Edmonton thrashed Lloydminster-North Battleford 10-2 to even the best-of-nine semi-final at three games each.  Eskimos scored seven runs in the first three innings and coasted to the win. Gardner fanned eleven and walked four.  Esks playing-manager Wayne Tucker had the only homer.  Suge Carter had three hits for the Combines. 

Lloydminster 010 010 000  2  7 9
Edmonton     124 002 10X 10 10 2
Kostenuk, Griggs (3) and Tanner, Ford ()
Gardner and Waddle

(Aug 20)  Williston punched out 14 hits to win a berth in the Western Canada Baseball League final with a 9-5 win before 22-hundred fans at Saskatoon.  Oilers took the best-of-nine series five games to two. Ken Guffey had two triples and a single to pace the Oilers.  Mike Castanon had two hits and drove in three.  Pete Estrada of the Commodores had the only homer.  Bill Thom pitched a six-hitter for the victory.

Williston 100 400 103 9 14 4
Saskatoon 202 001 000 5  6 2
Thom and Heath
Riggs, Hobson (4), Graves (9), Doepker (9) and Jackson

(Aug 20)  Lloydminster-North Battleford moved to within one win of a berth in the final with a 6-4 win at Edmonton.  Combines, trailing 2-1 scored two in the eighth on John McLane's single to take the lead.  Lloydminster-North Battleford added three in the ninth, two scoring on Leon Wilson's double.  Suge Carter had three hits for the Combines.  Jim Stevens, with help from Dave Kostenuk in the ninth, picked up the win.  Don Biasotti had two hits and drove in a pair for Edmonton.

Lloydminster 001 000 023 6 14 2
Edmonton     200 000 002 4 11 5
Stevens, Kostenuk (9) and Carter
Vold, McQuade (9) and Waddle

(Aug 21)  Gary LaComb had another big night at the plate to give the Eskimos a 7-6 come-from-behind victory and another life in the semi-final series.  LaComb belted two homers and two doubles good for four runs batted in.  His second homer came in the seventh with two men aboard as Edmonton scored six times to erase a 5-1 deficit.  Tom Satriano also homered for the Esks while Bennie Griggs, playing first base, and Leon Wilson had circuit blows for the Combines. Wilson drove in three.  The game was called after eight innings because of darkness.

Edmonton     000 001 60 7 9 2
Lloydminster 300 101 10 6 6 0
Cocchi, McQuade (7) and Waddle
Arnold, Kostenuk (7) and Carter

(Aug 22)  A run-scoring double by Monte Bond in the third inning proved to be decisive as Lloydminster-North Battleford advanced to the Western Canada Baseball League final with a 4-3 win over Edmonton in the ninth and deciding game of their semi-final series.  Both teams had scored three in the first inning.  A pair of doubles, two singles and an error led to the three Edmonton markers while the Combines came right back to tie in their half of the inning on five walks and a hit batsmen.  Bennie Griggs picked up the win with 7 2/3s scoreless innings of relief.  Edmonton had a chance in the 9th with two men on and hot-hitting Gary LaComb at the plate.  LaComb bounced the ball toward the hole between short and third but Curly Williams made a backhanded stab and fired to second to retire the side.   Eskimos out hit the Combines 12-7.  Wayne Tucker had three hits while Don Biasotti and Ralph Vold each had a pair. Edmonton ace Bruce Gardner made the start despite coming down with a slight case of the measles early in the day.  He failed to get out of the first inning. 

A screaming drive that looked labelled for a sure hit by Gary LaComb was snapped up by Curly Williams who, still off-balance, made the throw to second baseman Art Stone to force Len Gabrielson and so end the final inning with the sweetest victory (4-3) ever scored at Sportsman's Park going to the joyously happy Beaver-Meridian players and 1500 deliriously enthusiastic fans who gloated over the exit of the Eskimos after a thrill-packed series that went the full nine games and each and very game was thrill-packed, as the fighting qualities of both teams was put to the test in each contest.  Scott McNeill, Aug 27, Lloydminster Times

Edmonton     300 000 000 3 12 0
Lloydminster 301 000 000 4  7 1
Gardner, McQuade (1), Vold (8) and Waddle
Bowes, Griggs (2) and Ford


Final series :

(Aug 24)  Williston exploded for six runs in the 7th inning to down Lloydminster-North Battleford 9-4 in the opening game of the Western Canada Baseball League's best-of-nine final.  Bob Smith went the distance for the win, his third of the playoffs.  Catcher Bill Heath had a double and two singles to pace the Oilers.  Jerry Adair socked three singles.  Suge Carter and Curly Williams each had two hits for the Combines.

Lloydminster 001 100 002 4  9 4
Williston    010 011 60X 9 14 6
Bowes and Tanner
Smith and Heath

(Aug 25)  Ken Guffey drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth as Williston edged the Combines 5-4 for their second straight win in the best-of-nine final series.  Guffey, who also drew four walks, was the key figure in a triple play executed by the Oilers in the seventh.  Suge Carter led off the Combines' seventh with a single.  Johnny Ford walked.  Guffey grabbed a liner off the bat of Curly Williams, stepped on first to double up Ford then threw to Jerry Adair, covering second, to catch Carter.  Combines had taken a 3-0 lead in the first on a two-run double by Williams and a run-scoring single by John McLane.  After the Oilers had scored in the bottom of the first on Bill Lynn's single, Williams homered in the third to give Lloydminster-North Battleford a 4-1 lead.  Williston scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and eighth to tie.

Lloydminster 301 000 000 4 8 2
Williston    100 110 011 5 9 1
Stevens, Kostenuk (9) and Tanner
Evans, Blakeslee (9) and Heath

(Aug 26)  Steve Bach's 11th inning homer gave Williston an 8-6 come-from-behind victory over Lloydminster-North Battleford and a 3-0 stranglehold on the best-of-nine final.  Jerry Adair had belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. Pitcher Bill Thom also homered for the Oilers.  

Lloydminster 000 030 300 00 6  9 2
Williston    000 200 112 02 8 12 1
Arnold, Griggs (9) and Tanner
Thom, Blakeslee (11) and Heath

(Aug 27)   Jerry Adair smashed a two-out homer in the top of the ninth inning and the Oilers held on to tie Lloydminster-North Battleford 5-5 in a game called after nine innings because of darkness.  It was Adair's fourth hit in five trips to the plate.  Bennie Griggs had a two-run triple for the Combines.

Williston    100 300 001 5  9 2
Lloydminster 050 000 000 5 10 2
Barudoni, Blakeslee (8)
Griggs and Tanner

(Aug 28)  Right-hander Bob Smith tossed a two-hit shutout as Williston beat Lloydminster-North Battleford 3-0 to take a 4-0 game lead in the final series.  Smith had a perfect game with two out in the eighth.  Monte Bond broke the spell with a single.  Smith struck out just one and issued two bases on balls.  Bill Thom, playing left field, homered for the Oilers.  Jerry Adair had three hits.

Williston    002 100 000 3 10 0
Lloydminster 000 000 000 0  2 2
Smith and Heath
Stevens and Tanner

(Aug 29)  Lloydminster-North Battleford remained alive in the final series battling Williston to a 4-4, 14-inning draw.  Ed Tanner's two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth erased a 4-2 Williston lead and sent the game into extra innings. Suge Carter also homered for Lloydminster-North Battleford while Bill Health blasted two homers for the Oilers.  Both pitchers, Bob Blakeslee and Jackie Bowes went the full 14 innings.  Right fielder John McLane saved the Combines with a sparkling catch in the 12th. 

Williston    000 200 101 000 00 4 11 0
Lloydminster 100 010 002 000 00 4  9 2
Blakeslee and Heath
Bowes and Tanner

(Aug 30)  Williston scored twice in the opening frame on doubles by Bob Imlay, Mike Castanon and Jerry Adair and that was enough as the Oilers won 2-0 and claimed the championship of the Western Canada Baseball League.  Oilers won the best-of-nine final 5-0, with two tie games.  Bill Thom pitched a five-hitter for Williston, fanning four.  

Williston    200 000 000 2 12 0
Lloydminster 000 000 000 0  5 2
Thom and Heath
Arnold, Kostenuk (2) and Tanner

Right after the game, Jerry Adair and Bill Thom left by plane to join the Baltimore Orioles.