There’s a new single-season homerun king in the Western Canadian Baseball League. Swift Current rookie slugger Jake Hiromoto broke two league records Sunday to keep the 57’s in the playoff hunt with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season. The University of San Francisco freshman tied Brooks Bombers’ Riley MacDonald’s record 20 homeruns – set in 2018 – at home Saturday against the Moose Jaw Miller Express. Sunday against the Millers, Hiromoto stepped up to the plate in the ninth inning at Ross Wells Park and smashed a two-run dinger over the left field fence to etch his name in the WCBL record book. The RBI’s were number 67 and 68 on the season, also breaking the single-season record for runs driven in – held by Kaleb Warren (Lethbridge, 2019) and William Edwards (Moose Jaw, 2025) who both had 66. Hiromoto’s bat came out of the league’s all-star break flaming hot. In nine games since the all-star game, the right-handed slugger from Honolulu, Hawaii has seven homers – including Saturday when he hit three as part of a doubleheader against Moose Jaw. Sunday’s record-breaking shot provided the 57’s some much-needed insurance to secure a 20-13 win over the first place Millers. Playoff race heats up The win also kept Swift Current in the playoff hunt. With the regular season ending next week, the 57’s (16-31) are last place in the WCBL’s East Division. Despite that they’re just 3.5 games back of the fourth and final playoff spot, currently held by the Weyburn Beavers. Moose Jaw and the Saskatoon Berries have already locked in births to this year’s postseason, leaving the other two playoff positions to be fought for by four teams. After sputtering through the first half of the season the Regina Red Sox have won four of six since terminating head coach Rye Pothakos on July 17. Regina (19-25) sits third place in the East, just 1.5 games clear of fifth. The Red Sox are currently in the midst of an eight-game road trip – including six-straight games against West Division opponents. So far Regina has three wins in five games on the trip, that concludes with two games in Spruce Grove against Energy City and one game against the Gulls in Sylvan Lake. The Red Sox will return to Currie Field Friday for a double-header against Weyburn. A weekend split for the Beavers in Medicine Hat kept Weyburn inside the playoff picture. With the Mavericks nipping at their heels, the Beavers (18-26) are just a half game ahead of Medicine Hat (19-28) for thae final playoff spot. The Beavers have not reached the postseason since 2019.
