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Sports

Rascals Playoff Preview

The defending league champions will take on Southern Illinois in the best-of-five Western Division championship series beginning at T.R. Hughes Ballpark on Wednesday.

The River City Rascals completed the most successful regular season in the history of the Frontier League with an 11-5 win at Gateway on Sunday night.    

The Rascals finished 68-27 with a winning percentage of .716, slightly better than Windy City, which posted a 68-28 (.708) mark in 2007.

This record-setting summer will go down as the best in the 13 year history of the O'Fallon franchise.    

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Now, comes the tough part.    

River City, the defending league champ, will take on Southern Illinois in the best-of-five Western Division championship series beginning with Games 1 and 2 Wednesday and Thursday at .    

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Those landmark victories are nothing but a memory as the Rascals set about trying to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since Windy City in 2007 and 2008.    

"We can't take any of these 68 wins into the playoffs with us," said River City outfielder Stephen Holdren. "They don't mean much now. It's a brand new season."    

Holdren was recently chosen as the league MVP. He finished fourth in the 12-team loop in homers (21), RBI (84) and batting average (.332). The 28-year-old flirted with the Triple Crown most of the summer.    

Holdren, like his teammates, enjoyed the regular season. But it won't mean much if the Rascals don't win the championship.   

"Most people think if we don't win it all, the whole year has been a bust," said ace right-hander Josh Lowey, who was selected as the Frontier League Pitcher of the Year.   

Lowey (11-2, 2.44 ERA) will start Game 1 against Southern Illinois ace David Harden (7-5, 2.91).   

River City manager Steve Brook feels his team will carry its roll into post-season play. The Rascals finished 10.5 games ahead of Southern Illinois (58-38) in the West. They clinched the regular-season division crown Aug. 28.   

"Back in early August, we said we were going to try and maintain a playoff atmosphere as best as we can for the remainder of the (regular) season," Brook noted. "I think the guys did a good job of maintaining that push."   

On paper, River City remains heads above the rest of the field. Brook's squad led the league in home runs (107), runs scored (569) and hits (907).   

But games aren't played on paper. Last season, River City finished 6.5 games behind Southern during the regular season, but knocked off the Miners in five games to win the division title series.   

This time around, all eyes are on the record-setting Rascals.   

"If I had to choose, I'd want to be the team that everyone is looking at," said Holdren. "We just have to go out and do the things that got us here.    

If we do that, we'll be fine.    

River City won eight of 12 games against the Miners this season including five of the last six.    

"We match up well with them, it should be a good series," said Brook.   

Holdren is one of many of the Rascals' offensive weapons. Infielders Chris McClendon (.332), Joash Brodin (.300), Logan Parker (.282), Bobby Burk (.272), Doug Sanders (264) have all turned in fine campaigns. McClendon battled through a pair of late-season stints on the disabled list due to a hamstring injury. Burk has 17 home runs and 58 RBI out of the No. 9 spot in the batting order.   

Outfielders Chad Maddox (.282) and Jareck West (.275) have made large contributions. Maddox has 13 home runs and 56 RBI.   

Catcher Danny Sawyer hit .253 and handled the pitching staff with aplomb. He also stole a team-high 22 bases.   

Lowey has 114 strikeouts in 129 innings. Zack Sterner (10-3, 3.04) will start Game 2 followed by mid-season acquisition Preston Vancil (1-0, 4.50).   

Brook will use Don Lisi (8-2, 3.69) and Zach Roberston (9-4, 4.50) in middle and long relief. The River City bullpen is loaded from both sides with righty Derrick Miramontes (9-2. 2.21 ERA) leading the way. Miramontes has 17 saves.   

Southern Illinois, which has been bothered by injuries all season long, is missing two key members of its starting rotation. Shawn Joy (6-4, 3.92) will start Game 2. Former River City right-hander Ryan Zink (7-6, 5.33) is the leading candidate for the Game 3 start.   

The series will shift to Rent One Ballpark in Marion for games Saturday and Sunday. Game 5, if necessary, will be played Monday at T.R. Hughes Ballpark. All games in the series are set for 7 p.m. except Game 4 on Sunday, which starts at 5:05 p.m.   

The Joliet Slammers (56-40) won the East title and will face the Lake Erie Crushers (51-44) in the division championship. Lake Erie defeated Traverse City 3-1 in 10 innings on Sunday to nail down the final playoff spot.    

The division series winners will face off in the best-of-five championship series beginning Sept. 14-15. The Rascals, should they get past Southern, will host the first two games of the series. A fifth and deciding game, if necessary, will take place Sept. 20 in O'Fallon.

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