The Boise Hawks will try to carry their momentum from the end of the regular season into the first game of the Northwest League playoffs Monday night.

Boise hosts the Tri-City Dust Devils in the opener of the East Divisional Series at 6:45 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. Game 2 and Game 3, if necessary, will be played at Tri-City. The Hawks’ box office will open at 10 a.m. Monday.

The Hawks won five of their final six games to clinch the second playoff spot in the East Division.

“They’ve been real upbeat and real positive,” first-year manager Mark Johnson said. “It’s almost like they got some new life.”

One player who has given the Hawks some added life is first baseman Ryan Cuneo, who joined the team with 21 games remaining in the season. Since then, he has batted .347 and earned Northwest Player of the Week honors.

“He’s been incredible,” Johnson said. “He’s been a huge anchor in the middle of the lineup.”

That has helped take the pressure off other batters such as all-stars Rafael Lopez and Paul Hoilman and 2010 second-round pick Reggie Golden.

Golden went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs as the Hawks clinched a spot in the postseason in their regular-season finale Saturday. He hopes to do more of the same in the postseason.

“We’re going to play our butts off and continue to play like it’s our last game,” he said.

Boise will start a hot pitcher in Game 1. Jose Rosario (6-3) won his last five starts as he lowered his ERA to 3.53.

The Hawks had just one day off to prepare for the postseason, but Johnson is confident his players will be ready to compete against the Dust Devils, who finished atop the East Division after each half of the season.

“They battled all year. There are a lot of good competitors on this team,” Johnson said. “They’re excited, and I am too.”

The Vancouver Canadians and Eugene Emeralds will be starting their West division series Monday as well, with a 2:05 p.m. start in Vancouver, British Columbia.