They may be on the road for the playoffs, but Abbotsford has definitely been friendly territory lately for the Coquitlam Reds.
"We've played very well against Abbotsford over the last two years," said Reds head coach Kyle Williams, whose team has posted a perfect 8-0 record the past two seasons against the Cardinals.
The Reds hope to keep that streak alive when they play a double-header in Abbotsford Saturday to open the B.C. Premier Baseball League playoffs. The deciding game in the best-of-three series will go Sunday in Abbotsford if necessary.
Williams sees the two keys to the series for the Reds as limiting the number of walks given up and avoiding costly errors.
"We have to at least match them on free bases handed out. They're the best defensive team in the league and we can't give them extra base runners on errors," he said.
With the pitching staffs being fairly evenly matched, Williams sees the series turning on the Reds' bats.
"We have significantly better hitters. I think they are the No. 11-ranked offensive team in the league and we finished third in batting average."
The Reds' attack is led by league home run champ Max Hollingworth and Hayden Jaco, who are among five Reds hitting over .300 for the season.
Curtis Taylor brings his 7-4 regular season record to the mound for Saturday's opener, with Ryan Mose (7-3) starting the final leg of the double header. Both Mose (81) and Taylor (80) finished in the top five for strikeouts. Jonathan Keltie has been pencilled in as the starter for the rubber match, unless he is needed in relief on Saturday.
