A series-opening statement by the Swift Current 57's in game one of the WMBL championship series against the Edmonton Prospects.

Game one saw a 13-7 win for the 57's carried highlighted on offense by four home runs and 18 hits at the plate, chasing Prospects starting pitcher Erik Sabrowski after three innings.

What a night it was on the offensive side of things for the left side of the infield for the 57's. Shortstop Brett Esau was in home run derby-form, going 3-5 with a two-run shot in the second inning, along with a solo homer in the fifth. Not to be outdone, and doubling his regular season home run total in the process, third baseman Riley Campbell went 4-6 with two solo home runs, along with an RBI single in the game.

"I'm just taking what the pitchers give me. They gave me two inside fastballs today and I got my barrel to the ball," said the University of Toledo product. "I'm not going to lie, the ball is kind of looking like a beach ball right now, but you never know - that could change in a split second so I'm just going to keep it simple at the plate and just continue to try and hit singles up the middle."

The starting pitching started the series in fine form as well, as Matt Michalski performed steadily on the mound to the tune of seven innings of work, giving up one run on five hits while striking out four batters - although giving up a rare five walks in the game.

The 6'5" native of Mansfield, Texas says the team's heavy-hitting performance, with six players recording multi-hit games, certainly helped him to settle in and pound the strike zone early.

"It's great - that makes it pretty easy to just go out and throw strikes and get ahead in the count," he said. "I walked a couple people, but when you get ahead on offense like that, it's pretty easy to pitch."

Michalski's exit after seven provided a moment of hope for the visiting Edmonton Prospects, as a rare rough outing from the 57's bullpen saw a six hits and six runs in the eighth inning. Trey Taylor was charged with four earned runs over one-third of an inning, while James Smith came in for the final five outs, giving up the final two runs of the ball game. The outing for Taylor was just the second time all season giving up more than one earned run.

Headed into game two, and looking to keep the foot on the gas, Dustin Wells will get the start for Swift Current, after pitching a scoreless sixth inning in the fifth and final game against the Weyburn Beavers last Friday.

Game two gets under way tonight at Mitchell Field at 7:05 p.m.