When the Bowling Green Hot Rods and Peoria (Ill.) Chiefs met for a three-game series May 7-9 at Bowling Green Ballpark, neither side knew it was a preview of the Midwest League Championship Series. Yet here the teams are, set to do battle when Game 1 of the five-game series begins in Peoria at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Like Bowling Green, Peoria swept through the first two rounds of the playoffs, but the Chiefs got to that point in a little different fashion – earning the franchise’s first trip to the Midwest League Championship Series in 16 years. Peoria was the wild-card winner in the first half and finished 76-63 in the regular season – the third-best record in the Western Division – before sweeping the two teams that finished in front of them in the postseason.

While both teams have changed since the Hot Rods took two out of three from Peoria four months ago, Peoria manager Chris Swauger said the backbone of his team is still there.

“I think the biggest change is the guys have done a much better job identifying what they are good at, sticking to their strengths and kind of shoring up the weaknesses in their own individual games,” Swauger said. “I think our guys have just developed. They have 100 more games under their belt at this level and I think that is an invaluable thing, especially for young players.”

Peoria’s postseason run was a bit of a surprise after a tough finish to the regular season, when the Chiefs lost six straight. Swauger said that stretch may have been cause for alarm outside the clubhouse, but he still had faith in his team heading into the postseason.

“To be fair we were playing some pretty good teams,” Swauger said. “We put up a game or two where we didn’t really perform that well, but I think that ended up being kind of invaluable because it gave our guys a perspective on what it is going to take to compete against good teams and what we were running out there wasn’t going to be good enough. I think our guys saw that in live action … and I think that was really good for our team in what we were trying to accomplish.”

Peoria scored at least five runs in three of its four postseason wins, a return to form from the regular season, when the Chiefs finished second behind the Hot Rods in the Midwest League with a .267 team batting average. While both teams have shown offensive prowess, Swauger said he thinks this series will come down to pitching.

“The pitching is going to be challenged, but I think pretty much the key to every series is going to be pitching,” Swauger said. “Winning and losing baseball is usually determined on the mound. These are two pretty decent offensive clubs, but – and I think if you talked to (Bowling Green manager Craig Albernaz), he would argue that the real meat and potatoes of his team is his pitching staff and I would say the same about ours. I think it is going to be fun to compete against those guys because we do stack up similarly.”

Peoria will turn to Johan Oviedo in Game 1. The right-hander was roughed up by the Hot Rods on May 7, allowing six runs – three earned – in 3 2/3 innings, but he is 7-3 in his last 10 starts, including six shutout innings in a win against Quad Cities to open the postseason.

“We were really pleased that we could line up to get our guy that has been here all year, and has really been the shining example of development, in Game 1,” Swauger said. “He’s been here all year. He’s consistently gotten better. We are really happy that he is going to get the opportunity to go first for us and we expect him to keep doing what he has been doing.”

Swauger said Bowling Green presents a big challenge, but adds the teams are so evenly matched that he fully expects this series to go the full five games.

“They are a good team in all phases,” Swauger said. “There is a reason they have been the best team in the league all year. They can hit a little bit, but I personally think their biggest strength is on the mound. They have a lot of good arms, a lot of guys that they run out there that know what they are doing. They have power arms in their bullpen. They are just a good, solid team and I have nothing but respect for Alby and his staff, the job they have done with those guys there.

“It’s going to be a good challenge. It’s going to be a lot of fun matching up with those guys because clearly they have been the best team all year. If you are going to do something special you want to do it against the best and that is what they are.”{&end}