When you're hot, you're hot.
And the Investors Group Expos are definitely hot.
After a slow start to the Komox Men's Real Baseball League season, the expansion team finished their inaugural year with a flourish, winning six of their last seven games, including a five-game win streak to finish the schedule, and placed sixth in the eight-team league.
That streak included a 20-4 thrashing of the pennant-winning Daryl Robbins CGA Nationals as the Expos finished 9-12 after starting 3-11.
But the streak – in fact the entire season – did not include a victory over the Brian McLean Yankees. And which team did the Expos face in the first round of the playoffs? The third-place Yankees, of course.
Undeterred, the IG gang continued their torrid play in the post-season, edging the Yanks 6-5 in one of three games played Aug. 24 at Highland Field in Comox.
Other first-round games saw second-place Toneff Funeral Services Blue Jays edge seventh-place Edwards Avenue Athletics 5-4 and fourth-place Happy's Source for Sports Indians knock off fifth-place Mindset Wealth Mariners 7-4.
The playoffs kicked off Aug. 23 at Highland with the first-place Nationals thumping the eighth-place Fisher Realty Twins 17-1.
The league breaks for the Labour Day weekend, and second-round playoff action goes Sept. 7 at Highland Field with the Indians taking on the Blue Jays at 10 a.m. and the Expos facing the Nationals at 2 p.m.
– with a file from Kevin Dobbelsteyn