The Okotoks Marauders face a mountainous challenge in round-one of the playoffs. Okotoks meets the number-two seed Calgary Mountaineers when the RMLL Jr. B Tier I South Division semifinal kicks off this weekend in the Stampede City. “We match up pretty well against those guys,” said Marauders head coach Don Haynes. “I think we’re going to be good in that series. We’re kind of peaking at the right time.” Rewind one summer ago facing the exact same scenario as underdogs playing a Calgary team in round one of the RMLL post-season and they came out victorious. Okotoks pulled off the upset in dispatching the number-two ranked Calgary Shamrocks in 2017, the team’s first ever playoff series. What’s been done can be done again. “Everybody elevates their play in playoff, every team,” Haynes said. “You’ve got to take a big step forward and play hard out there.” Adding to the dramatics is the fact the Shamrocks are provincial hosts this season and have automatic qualification. That means the team to come out of the Marauders and Mountaineers clash will also be through to the provincials. “For us, that’s a really big series,” Haynes said. “First time as an organization we would get to go to provincials. I’m pretty excited, there is a lot on the line.” On paper the series should be a relatively close encounter. Calgary (10-10) took two of three in the season series, though the Marauders (7-13) took the most recent meeting in early June by a 10-8 score. The Marauders have played better ball of late, closing the season with an 11-9 victory over the Olds Mavericks on July 15 on the strength of a sock-trick from Cody Bomersine. The latter’s return to prominence and the addition of talented rookie lefty Safo Arthur, who played most of the season with the Okotoks Junior A Raiders, have given the Marauders bench boss a lot of options out of the front gate. “It’s huge to see Bomer have a breakout game today because last year he was such a huge part of our playoff,” Haynes said. “As far as Safo goes, the guy is a freak athlete. “I didn’t think we were going to get him back. If the Minto wasn’t in Calgary this year, we definitely wouldn’t have had him back. It was the fact the Raiders were loading up for Minto. He was playing really well up there. “A guy that can beat guys one-on-one is huge out there, it takes a lot of attention from other guys.” At the other end of the floor, Okotoks has seen sophomore netminder Brendyn Kendall continue to shine as the owner of the best save percentage numbers in the South Division. Defenders such as Ben Lutzko, Liam Bell, Luke Welton and others have made big impacts in keeping opposition chances to a minimum. “When we have our full lineup those guys are unbelievable back there,” the coach added. The best-of-three RMLL series gets underway July 20 at the Acadia Rec Centre. Okotoks plays host to Game 2 the following afternoon at 2:30 p.m.. If necessary, Game 3 would be back in Acadia. For full schedule information go to rockymountainlax.com
