CARNDUFF - The Carlyle Cardinals will look to win their fifth straight Saskota Baseball League championship this weekend in Carnduff.
The league's Jack Harbourne Memorial Tournament runs from July 26 to 28. The Cardinals, who had the best record in the regular season at 13-0-1, will be in the same pool as the No. 4 Oxbow Chiefs (9-5), the fifth-ranked Estevan Tap House Wolves (7-5-2), and the No. 8 Southeast Diamondbacks (3-9-2).
The Diamondbacks qualified for the tournament by defeating the Kenosee Cubs (5-9) in a play-in game Tuesday in Kenosee Lake.
The other pool will feature the No. 2 Carnduff Astros (10-4), the No. 3 Weyburn Sun Devils (9-4-1), the No. 6 Arcola Threshers (6-8) and the seventh-ranked Redvers A's (5-8-1). Teams in each pool will play a round robin.
The Moosomin Badgers (3-10-1) and the Kipling Royals (3-11) missed the playoffs.
The tournament opens Friday with the top four seeds hosting playoff games: the Diamondbacks at Carlyle, Estevan at Oxbow, Redvers at Carnduff and Arcola at Weyburn. All four games start at 6:30 p.m.
The attention then shifts to Carnduff for the games on July 27 and 28. The round robin will happen throughout the day on the 27th and continue into the morning of the 28th.
The top two teams from each pool then advance to the playoffs. The semifinals are at noon and 2 p.m. on Sunday, and the final is at 4 p.m.
This year marks the first time Carnduff has hosted the Harbourne. The tournament was held at Kenosee Lake for years, and it was in Estevan in 2022 and 2023. Carnduff also has the option to host the tournament next year.
The Astros won the Harbourne Trophy in 2019, and are the last team prior to the Cardinals' recent run to capture the championship.
SaskToday.ca will have updates during the weekend.
