Now the real fun begins for the Southern Illinois Miners.

The Marion-based squad traveled by bus to the Chicago suburbs Thursday afternoon in preparation for Friday's first game of the Frontier League's divisional playoffs against the Windy City ThunderBolts.

The best-of-five series opens with games Friday and Saturday, both at 7:05 p.m. at Standard Bank Stadium, before moving south to Rent One Park for games Monday and, if necessary, Tuesday. If a fifth game becomes necessary, it would be played next Thursday in Crestwood.

Southern Illinois should feel right at home while on the road in the playoffs. The Miners had a 30-15 record in away games this season — the best mark in the league — while going 28-23 at home. Windy City went 31-19 in games at Standard Bank Stadium.

"I'm comfortable going up there or anywhere else on the road," said Miners manager Mike Pinto. "It's not like things fall apart when we're on the road. But on the other hand, we want to give our fans as many games to watch as possible."

Southern Illinois led the league in attendance for the second straight year with an average draw of 4,278 fans over 51 dates. Windy City draws just 1,777 fans per contest.

The Miners' second regular season concluded Wednesday with an 8-3 win over Gateway, giving them a 58-38 record after going 49-47 in their inaugural campaign. They finished second in the Frontier League's West Division standings behind Windy City (60-36) but claimed the first of two wild card spots.

Gateway nabbed the other and travels to Kalamazoo for the other divisional series which begins Friday.

The ThunderBolts are led by first baseman Phil Hawke, who was voted earlier in the week as the Frontier League's most valuable player, and another postseason all-star choice in shortstop Wes Long.

Hawke and Long have played in all 96 games this season. Hawke is batting .309 with 22 homers and 75 runs batted in. He has been walked a league-leading 81 times. Long is batting .331 with 11 homers and 71 RBI.

Outfielder Mike Coles, a midseason all-star pick, is batting .302 with 12 home runs, 75 RBI and 25 stolen bases. Second baseman Gilberto Mejia has swiped 34 bases and is batting .282 with eight home runs.

Windy City also has two of the top starting pitchers in the league in Ross Stout and Stephen Flake. Ross is 11-3 with a 2.57 ERA and 121 strikeouts, while Flake is 10-3 with a 4.04 ERA.

"I know they have some tough starting pitching but we'll make our adjustments and hope everything will work out," said Miners first baseman Tim Dorn. "I think we're ready to play anybody right now."

The ThunderBolts enter the postseason on a seven-game win streak and have been on a major roll since being swept at home by the Miners right after the all-star break. Windy City lost two of three at Rent One Park last week, but held the Miners to one hit in avoiding the sweep and haven't lost since.

"Obviously we're playing a team that, I don't know if you can get any hotter than they are right now," Pinto said. "They have so many weapons. Stout and Flake certainly at the top of their rotation are pretty darn good. Their lineup one through nine is very solid. Hawke and Long can burn you with the long ball. Horn and Mejia can beat you with their speed.
"We're going to have our hands full, there's no doubt about it."

The Miners have a solid starting tandem of their own in Ryan Bird, who was voted as the league's most valuable pitcher, and co-ace Chris Little, who has pitched admirably despite battling groin and oblique injuries for the second half of the season.

Bird leads the league in wins (13-3) and strikeouts (152) while holding down a 2.48 ERA. Little is 9-4 with a 2.90 ERA and 94 strikeouts. Pinto plans to pitch Little in the third game, however, and send out Brett Scarpetta (9-3, 3.81) on Saturday.

Offensively, the Miners are paced by first baseman Tim Dorn, who hit his 23rd home run in Wednesday's game and is batting .299 with 83 runs batted in. Outfielder Joey Metropoulos is batting .315 with 20 homers and 66 RBI and was named a Frontier League postseason all-star on Tuesday.

Third baseman Brandon Jones is batting .276 with 18 homers and 75 RBI. Two-time all-star shortstop Mike Scanzano is batting .256 and has missed the last five games with a hamstring injury but is expected to play Friday.

Utility player Manny Paula, acquired from Gateway in a trade for Willie Keene, has provided a late spark along with deadline additions Andre Miller and Kevin House in the outfield. House and Miller have already combined for 19 stolen bases.

The Miners attempted to re-energize some key players earlier this week and Dorn said Wednesday the team accomplished that task even if a division title slipped from their grasp.

"We had a plan coming in here to rest some guys," Dorn said. "We're trying to give ourselves a chance to win this thing and I think everyone is rested and seeing good pitches. We're ready to go on a run."

COAL BITS: Center fielder Kevin Koski, who separated his shoulder crashing into the wall last Friday, will be put on the injured reserve list and all-star second baseman Tony Roth will be activated prior to Friday's game, Pinto said. ... The Miners are the only team in the Frontier League that did not have an official doubleheader on record this season. They did, however, have to complete a game suspended by weather before starting a full game. ... One reason why Kalamazoo owns the top seed in the playoffs — the Kings were 51-0 when leading after eight innings this season. ... The Miners won more games than anyone in league, 43, when scoring the game's first run.