WORLD SERIES GAME 7

Both teams have had their chances to take control and claim the Cup. So far, neither could establish the momentum needed to put away the other. So it comes down to this. The St. Francis Kansans at the Yuma Firebirds in Game 7 of a hotly-contested 2017 BARB World Series.

Coming off a blowout loss in Game 6, you’d figure the Kansans might be in shock and struggling to get energized for the rubber match.

Not so.

The visitors had their ace, Stephen Strasburg, on the mound for the third time in the World Series. In the opener, he struck out 11 and allowed just one run while pitching into the seventh. Game 4 saw a quicker hook in an attempt to keep him fresh for a start in just this situation. He still pitched five strong frames, giving up two runs and striking out 7. Including a dominant performance in the first game of the division series, where he wiped the floor with the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels to the tune of 13 Ks and one run in six innings, the San Diego-born righty had a 2.04 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.

Needless to say, Kansans owner Scott Hatfield was bullish on his chances for a first BARB title.

Oddly enough, however, Yuma figurehead Chris Melkonian was also optimistic. He figured his offense’s familiarity with Strasburg would come out in his favor, and that by the end of the night his Firebirds would be hoisting a fifth BARB Cup in the league’s 15-year history.

On the mound for the hosts, and on full rest, was Game 3 starter Carlos Carrasco. In this situation just two years earlier, the right-hander was masterful in shutting down the New England Yankee Stompers on one hit over eight innings and scoring the only run in a Game 7 victory for the Firebirds. Earlier in this Fall Classic, however, Carrasco got rocked, allowing five runs on six hits in under five innings.

As soon as the first inning of Game 7 started, it seemed recent history would repeat itself. After a walk and a single, Cody Bellinger took a vicious cut at a 1-2 pitch…and HAMMERED the ball DEEP to right center…..GONE! St. Francis struck first in the winner-take-all contest with a crooked number before Yuma even came to bat!

At the end of one, that lead had been cut by a run – Dexter Fowler, on Strasburg’s second pitch of the night, launched a dinger of his own.

The rest of that frame passed quietly, but Anthony Rendon opened the home half of the second with a ringing double off the left-field fence. Following a pair of strikeouts, Brett Gardner took a borderline full-count pitch to put two on base. Mike Zunino scored Rendon with a seeing-eye single, and after another walk loaded the bases Joey Votto pulled a double down the line to score two more and give Yuma a 4-3 lead!

The home crowd re-awakened, Carrasco promptly allowed back-to-back doubles in the top of the third. The score once again knotted up, Carrasco was pulled in favor of Jose Quintana. The southpaw’s first offering saw the same fate as Carrasco’s final two pitches, as Justin Turner dumped a bloop on the chalk for two bases and an RBI giving St. Francis the lead.

Bellinger made it four doubles in four batters with a line drive to right-center (about 100 feet short of his blast in the first) to plate Turner and put the Kansans up, 6-4.

Unfazed, Yuma’s Rendon turned on a Strasburg fastball and parked it in the bleachers in left field with a man on in the bottom of the third. In the blink of an eye, it was back to a tie. Strasburg indeed was struggling to fool the Firebirds, and he made it only two outs into the fourth before a Mookie Betts triple knocked him from the ballgame.

The three-bagger didn’t damage the score, as Josh Hader struck out pinch-hitter Ben Zobrist to end the frame, but it was a foreshadowing of things to come. Hader pitched a perfect fifth and got the first out of the sixth before giving way to Trevor Cahill. In hindsight, maybe the Kansans should have kept the young southpaw in the game – Cahill went to full counts on each of the three hitters he faced, and he lost them all to free passes.

In came Chris Devenski, still fatigued from pitching in both Game 4 and 5, to face Betts. Mookie fell behind at 1-2, but Devenski couldn’t bury the changeup enough and the ball was ripped down the right-field line. Two runs scored, giving Yuma an 8-6 lead. Zobrist stepped up and worked the count full before getting a hold of a Devenski fastball that clearly didn’t have its normal zip. It sailed DEEP toward right. Marcell Ozuna got on his horse and leaped at the wall in an attempt to flag it down….

GONE!!

A stunning blast from light-hitting Zobrist completed the turning of the tide. After taking the momentum with a three-run first and their best starter on the mound, the St. Francis Kansans had been outgunned, overwhelmed at their own game of demoralizing quick-strike offense that carried them to 105 regular-season victories.

Three innings remained for the Yuma Firebirds to hold an 11-6 lead and become World Champions. Bryan Shaw worked a strong seventh and retired two in the eighth inning before Sean Manaea took over. Just before St. Francis’ last turn at bat, Yuma’s offense put the final nails in the coffin on a pair of singles, a double and a sacrifice fly to go up by eight runs.

With the crowd in a frenzy, ready to celebrate another title, Ryan Dull took the mound to start the ninth. Nerves got to him and he walked Kike Hernandez. Pinch-hitter Jesse Winker grounded out, and a wild pitch put Hernandez on third. Christian Vazquez came out from behind the plate to remind Dull to focus solely on the hitter with the huge lead, and Dull did just that. A grounder to first brought in the run, and then Jose Altuve chased a slider on the first pitch and hit a three-hopper directly at Ian Kinsler. The throw was in time, and the Firebirds rushed the field in celebration of their third BARB title in four years, with fireworks adding a concussive feel in the background.

FINAL: YUMA 14, ST. FRANCIS 7

Chris Melkonian glad-handed family and friends in the home owner’s box, while Scott Hatfield sat stone-faced after yet another playoff run gone awry for his long-suffering franchise.

The title was Yuma’s fifth, trailing just Santa Barbara/Frostbite Falls (seven) for most by a single team in BARB history.

MVP: Mookie Betts

Indeed, the electric outfielder was the most valuable component to Yuma’s rise to glory. He went hitless in just one game (Game 2) and stroked exactly two hits in each of the other six games. Betts hit .400 overall (12-for-30), slugged four homers among eight extra-base hits and drove in a whopping 10 runs. Votto also knocked in 10, but Betts’ average cinched the award. St. Francis totaled 15 home runs as a team in the Series and featured 10 different players hitting over the fence, but had they won Strasburg would have earned the nod. But Yuma took the title, and Betts was clearly their star.

WORLD SERIES GAME 6

Scott Hatfield could almost taste it. 14 years after taking his Delta V’s to the inaugural BARB World Series, with three more title-round appearances under his belt but no ring to show for it, his St. Francis Kansans were just nine innings away from a clinching victory. But to do it, they’d have to go through the mighty Yuma Firebirds – on Yuma’s home turf.

In the top of the first, Jose Altuve doubled but ended up stranded on third. That would be as close as the Kansans would come to a lead all night.

Rich Hill, handed the ball with a chance to make up for his extra-inning blowup in Game 4, committed an error on a comebacker on the first pitch he threw. Rattled, he left a hanger to Joey Votto. There must have been a brisk breeze blowing in from left, as the ball stayed in the ballpark for the first out. Two singles and a groundout later, however, the hosts were on top, 2-0.

Things went from bad to worse in the third, when Hill faced four batters but could not record an out.

After a Votto walk, Mookie Betts hammered a 3-0 fastball on a frozen rope apparently into the left-field corner. Actually, it was hit so hard that it carried over the fence and just inside the foul pole! The two-run bomb doubled Yuma’s lead, and got the St. Francis bullpen up and warming in a hurry. It wasn’t quick enough, as Anthony Rendon doubled and the next pitch, Hill’s last, was a grounder kicked by Altuve.

In relief came Ervin Santana. He disposed of two hitters via strikeout to put the end of the frame in view, but then fell behind Ben Zobrist. “Zorilla”, given a rare playoff start as the left fielder, lofted a fly toward right field. It continued carrying, all the way over the fence. A stunning three-run blast, taking the wind completely out of the Kansans’ sails!

The 7-0 game after three innings changed the strategies of both sides. Yuma focused on piling on more runs and extending starting pitcher Chris Sale to save their bullpen for Game 7. St. Francis, on the other hand, recognized their lost cause and also hoped to use as few pitchers as possible.

The rest of the game flew by. The hosts scored three more times in the seventh and forced another pitching change, with Rendon adding a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. St. Francis avoided the shutout with a top-of-the-ninth blast from Wilson Ramos, but they couldn’t do enough to knock Sale from the game – the Firebirds ace tossed a complete game tossed a complete-game three-hitter, with no walks and nine strikeouts.

FINAL: YUMA 12, ST. FRANCIS 1

As the Kansans trudged down to the locker room, Chris Melkonian cautiously glad-handed the guests in his owner’s suite – while the big win was refreshing after five close games, a similar performance from the 2016 Fall Classic was running through his mind. In Game 4 of that year’s Series, the Firebirds blew out the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels, 10-0…only to run out of steam and fall in seven games.

And, indeed, this year’s World Series would feature a Game 7 – the third-consecutive in BARB annals to go the distance – with Stephen Strasburg looming for the visiting Kansans.

WORLD SERIES GAME 5

With Yuma’s win in Game 4 guaranteeing the 2017 BARB World Series would at least see a Game 6 in Arizona, both the Firebirds and their Game 5 host, the St. Francis Friars, looked to beleaguered pitching staffs to pull them within one win of a title.

And, amazingly, after the teams had combined to use 26 relievers in back-to-back extra-inning games the previous two days, the finale in St. Francis was a pitcher’s duel.

Chris Devenski, who tossed three innings of nearly-perfect relief for the Kansans in relief of Stephen Strasburg in Game 4, earned the start as Rich Hill, who took the turn after Strasburg’s Game 1 outing, struggled in a late appearance to take the loss in Game 4.

Other than a two-out triple in the third, Devenski didn’t encounter any trouble through four innings. His pitch count, at 65, was a tad high, but not terrible – he hadn’t issued a single free pass. In the top of the fifth, however, it all went downhill in a hurry. Ian Kinsler opened with a single before scoring two pitches later, on a Mike Zunino double to the wall in left-center. The Firebirds sensed a possible breakout inning against Devenski, so Brian Dozier was sent up to pinch-hit for starting pitcher Sean Manaea. Devenski walked him on five pitches and was pulled from the game after throwing 77 on the night.

A double switch brought Kyle Schwarber in to catch as Trevor Cahill took the mound. Three groundouts later, the Kansans were out of the inning. They did trail, 2-0, but the possible outburst was averted and the home team was still in the game.

Gerrit Cole was inserted in place of Manaea for the Firebirds, after the young southpaw finished four scoreless innings against one of the best offenses in the league. Cole, after an injury-riddled regular season, picked up where Manaea left off with goose eggs in the fifth and sixth frames (though the Kansans did threaten with a man on third in the fifth) and remained in the game after Jesse Winker, pinch-hitting for Cahill, blasted a first-pitch moonshot to right in the home half of the seventh.

With his team leading by one, Cole recorded the first out in the eighth on a groundout. He lost J.D. Martinez on a full-count, and with left-handed prodigy Cody Bellinger looming Yuma played the matchup game with Sean Doolittle. The veteran overmatched the young hitter for the second out to bring up Marcell Ozuna, who was 0-for-3 on the night.

An O-fer so far didn’t mean Ozuna wasn’t licking his chops at the first Doolittle offering, a hanging breaking ball. The slugger didn’t miss, launching a soaring drive to left as the home crowd exploded. The Kansans, trailing since the fifth inning, suddenly had the LEAD, 3-2!

As the game moved to the top of the ninth, most in attendance figured the Kansans had the game in the bag. Kenley Jansen, one of the best closers in the league, was called upon to close out the Firebirds and send the St. Francis crowd home happy one last time in 2017.

A couple quick outs pushed Yuma to the brink, but Kinsler took a close pitch for ball four and Ben Zobrist, in a pinch-hit appearance, did the same. Two on, two out for another bat off the bench…ICHIRO! The wily veteran eyed Jansen while pulling up his right sleeve, bat pointed to the sky. First pitch…low. A called strike on the inner half and a splitter slashed foul brought the count to 1-2. Jansen came set and exhaled, then fired a 98-mph fastball toward the outside. Ichiro tried to fight it off, but he put it on the ground in fair territory…right at third baseman Justin Turner. The throw was in time, and the Kansans practiced a subdued celebration. The home slate at The Monastery was over for the year, but St. Francis was just a single win from earning Scott Hatfield his first BARB title!

FINAL: ST. FRANCIS 3, YUMA 2

WORLD SERIES GAME 4

After a barn-burner Game 3, in which 11 total relievers were used, Yuma and St. Francis had to re-assess starting pitcher availability for Game 4. The answers? For Yuma, Johnny Cueto, who threw the final inning-plus of Game 3. St. Francis turned to their ace, Stephen Strasburg – ready for action despite just three days of rest following his Game 1 shutdown of the Firebirds.

As you might expect, Cueto and Strasburg were saddled with markedly different expectations. In a hostile environment, Yuma simply wanted a few good frames from Cueto to give their offense time to solve Strasburg. A St. Francis victory off a strong Strasburg start, on the other hand, would put the Kansans in prime position to take their first BARB title. And taking the ball this game gave Strasburg as much time as possible to rest in case he was needed for a Game 7.

After scoring just one run in almost seven innings while striking out 11 times against Strasburg in Game 1, the Firebirds seemed ready for revenge in Game 4. They jumped on the slender righty immediately, with Joey Votto doubling and Mookie Betts blasting a two-out, two-run bomb in the first. Amazingly, that was Yuma’s only threat in Strasburg’s five frames. He retired the next nine in order before a pair of singles opening the fifth, after which a double play and harmless pop-up put any more run-scoring hopes to death for the visitors.

Meanwhile, St. Francis supported their starter with a second-inning rally against Cueto that resulted in a run, and a couple of hits strung together in the fourth to knock out the right-hander and tie the game. Wilson Ramos, like Strasburg a trade pickup by the Kansans, drove both runs in with singles.

If the crowd at The Monastery was expecting another offensive outburst, they were disappointed. The 2-2 tie lasted for long after the starting pitchers were out of the game. Reliever after reliever entered and encountered trouble (only one half-inning from the sixth-inning on didn’t see a runner reach base), but still no one could break through. The hosts came close a couple times, putting runners on third base in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings, but each time the runner was stranded just 90 feet from paydirt.

Especially frustrating for Scott Hatfield and crew was the bottom of the ninth. Needing just a run to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series, they loaded the bases with one out. Brandon Morrow came to the mound for Yuma and induced a grounder from Marcell Ozuna on which Jose Altuve was retired at the plate, then Kevin Kiermaier struck out to give the fans free baseball.

The Kansans again threatened in the 10^th, with a pair of two-out singles putting runners on the corners, but Justin Turner couldn’t capitalize. In the top of the 11^th, it appeared Yuma would break through. They loaded the bases with none out against new pitcher Trevor Cahill, and the Kansans brought on ace reliever Andrew Miller. The southpaw earned a good chunk of his $9 million salary for the season with two strikeouts and a groundout from the middle of the Firebirds order.

Miller worked a perfect 12^th but was removed for Rich Hill as the top of the 13^th began. The top of Yuma’s lineup licked their chops as the wily veteran’s curve didn’t exhibit its normal depth. Dexter Fowler doubled and Votto singled, plating the first run in the game since the fourth inning. A Corey Seager walk was followed by Betts popping up a bunt, but Anthony Rendon redeemed himself from multiple errors in the playoffs with a deep drive down the right field line, safely inside the foul pole! A three-run BOMB, and a 6-2 Yuma lead!

All that was left was for Ryan Dull to finish it out, and he did just that with only nine pitches in the home half of the 13^th. In possibly the longest game in BARB playoff history, the Firebirds came away with the victory of the bullpens and drew into a 2-2 tie in the World Series!

FINAL: YUMA 6, ST. FRANCIS 2 (13)

WORLD SERIES GAME 3

Yuma and St. Francis entered the first of three games in Kansas all knotted at one win apiece. Game 3 provided one of the wildest games in BARB playoff history. Which team would take the upper hand?

Fans of the Kansans were, of course, hoping it would be their side…as was Scott Hatfield. Through three different franchises, including two expansion teams, his squad had vanquished Yuma only once in five tries – and that as the Delta V’s in BARB’s inaugural season, 2003, in a first-round set. Since then, Chris Melkonian beat Darwin in the division series in 2005 and World Series in 2007, and St. Francis in 2011 and 2014 in the divisional round.

This time would be different, right?

Not if Ervin Santana laid an egg. Which he did in the top half of the first.

The veteran righty, signed by the Kansans after going undrafted at the beginning of the season, had turned in a decent campaign (15-8, 4.70). In this start, he quickly got ahead of Dexter Fowler and induced a pop-up for the first out, but Joey Votto and Corey Seager squared up singles. A Mookie Betts double scored Seager, and after a sharp lineout by Anthony Rendon, Wilson Ramos allowed a passed ball to plate Votto. Finally, Brandon Crawford grounded through the left side to make it 3-0.

BARB’s best team at hitting home runs in 2017 came right back in the second, when Marcell Ozuna clubbed one to left center. An inning later, Carlos Carrasco gave up a single to his counterpart on the first pitch. A double and wild pitch brought the hosts within one, and Justin Turner tied the game with a sacrifice fly.

The teams traded a quiet fourth, and the Firebirds appeared to be going in order in the fifth before Seager drew a full-count, two-out walk. Betts again victimized Santana, but this time had more loft. His drive ended up clearing the left-field wall at The Monastery, giving the visitors a sudden 5-3 lead!

Sensing Santana was out of bullets, St. Francis management plugged in Logan Morrison to lead off the home half of the fifth…BOOM! Once again, the Kansans trailed by one. A Jose Altuve single knocked Carrasco from the game, and Steve Cishek walked his first batter to bring up J.D. Martinez. The slugger worked the count in his favor and smashed a get-it-in fastball. A NO DOUBT three-run bomb threw the crowd into a frenzy as St. Francis surged ahead for the first time, 7-5!

But…not for long. Lucas Giolito was the choice to replace Santana, and he allowed two singles before Josh Hader was handed the ball. The young southpaw retired the next two without a run scoring, but the dangerous Votto, despite being at a platoon disadvantage, pulled a back-up slider JUST inside the right-field foul pole. Unbelievable – ANOTHER lead change! And Yuma added to it on an Ian Kinsler single in the seventh. Just a few innings to go, and a 9-7 lead for the Firebirds!

Thanks to the Kansans’ power, said lead didn’t survive. Zack Cozart pinch-hit to open the bottom of the seventh and clocked it. 9-8. In the home half of the eighth, Kike Hernandez (!?!) grabbed a bat and launched the first pitch HE saw. 9-9!

St. Francis ended up putting a pair on with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but a double play ended the threat and the game went to extra innings.

The first Yuma batter was Brandon Crawford. He singled, but strayed too far from the bag on a pitch to Kinsler; Ramos threw behind to nail him diving back in. That was all Yuma could do; they needed Johnny Cueto to toss a scoreless bottom half to have a chance.

Cueto, after his ninth-inning troubles (including a walk), went to a full count on Adam Duvall before disposing of the slugger with a solid breaking ball. However, Hernandez didn’t see a strike before trotting down the line. Ramos came up and saw three pitches outside the strike zone. He got the green light from the third base coach… and it was the perfect decision. A fastball piped down the middle, but The Buffalo blasted it high and deep to left…JUST disappearing over the fence! The Kansans mobbed Ramos at the plate as The Monastery rocked and roared! A game-ending blast from the late-season acquisition had put St. Francis ahead in the series, 2-1, with two games remaining at their place. Would this be the year of the Kansans?

FINAL: ST. FRANCIS 11, YUMA 9 (10)

WORLD SERIES GAME 2

After a late blast to steal Game 1 in thrilling fashion, the St. Francis Kansans looked to stun the Yuma Firebirds with two wins in Arizona and a decided advantage to begin the 2017 BARB World Series.

It wouldn’t be easy – on the hill for the hosts was their ace, towering southpaw Chris Sale (18-4, 2.86 in the regular season). Unavailable for Game 1 thanks to a divisional series that went the distance, Sale worked a quick first inning but was stung by a first-pitch homer off the bat of Marcell Ozuna in the second. He also allowed a base runner on an error by Anthony Rendon in the third but worked around it to keep the deficit at one.

St. Francis also started a lefty, this the mercurial Rich Hill. Perfect through two frames, Hill quickly lost the handle in the third. Brandon Crawford singled the opposite way and advanced a base when Brett Gardner dumped a single to right. Christian Vazquez, starting behind the plate in place of light-hitting Mike Zunino, waited on a curve and laced it to the wall in right-center to score Crawford. After a pop out, Joey Votto closed the book on the inning with a single 15 feet off the right-field line to plate both remaining runners for a 3-1 Yuma lead.

That was all the Firebirds would muster. Could they hold off powerful St. Francis?

Well, yes...and no.

Sale settled down and remained in the game into the top of the seventh, when his 86^th offering of the game turned into a souvenir thanks to Didi Gregorius. It was just a solo shot, bringing the Kansans within a run. Bryan Shaw then came on and finished the frame with the lead intact.

Things got interesting in the final two innings. Shaw hit Justin Turner in the eighth but promptly induced a double play to end the inning. In the ninth, a single and a walk put two on with none out and caused Jose Quintana to earn the call from the Yuma bullpen. His 1-1 to Zack Cozart was bounced straight to Ian Kinsler. The second-sacker flipped casually to Crawford, followed by a laser to first. Double play! The tying run, however, had advanced to third.

Despite the southpaw on the mound, Kansans management decided to send up a left-handed pinch hitter for weak-hitting Kevin Kiermaier. Jesse Winker, a late-season call-up who drove in two runs in two plate appearances in the regular season, took two balls from Quintana before called and swinging strikes. The fifth pitch was smashed…RIGHT AT Votto. The Canadian snagged Winker’s laser and trotted to the bag, ending the game to even the Series at one.

FINAL: YUMA 3, ST. FRANCIS 2

Another close one, but this time the Kansans couldn’t sustain a rally long enough to push across the tying run. That meant the World Series would shift to St. Francis for a guaranteed three games. If either team could sweep at The Monastery, they would clinch the BARB crown.

2017 BARB WORLD SERIES GAME 1

Finally, the 15^th iteration of the BARB World Series. Featuring the two division winners from the 2017 regular season, both with extensive playoff histories, this year’s Fall Classic shaped up to be a good one. It did not disappoint.

Thanks to their BARB-record 115 wins in the regular season, the Cactus division champion Yuma Firebirds held homefield advantage for the World Series over Grapefruit title-winning St. Francis. Of course, with 105 wins on their resume, the Kansans were no slouch.

With a long history in the background between the most dominant BARB team of recent vintage (Chris Melkonian’s charges were appearing in their fourth-straight Classic, with four titles all time) and a perennial bridesmaid (Scott Hatfield has taken his team to 11 playoff appearances in 15 years, with five consecutive postseason berths under his belt but nary a pennant), this year’s World Series got off to a scintillating start.

Stephen Strasburg, who struck out 13 in his start in the division series, got the call on full rest for the visiting Kansans…and he showed he was still on his game. The slender flamethrower struck out three in the first two innings before running into trouble in the third with a single and walk by Yuma, but he induced a Joey Votto ground out to get out of the jam before striking out the side in the fourth.

The St. Francis offense only rapped one hit in the first five frames against Firebirds lefty Sean Manaea, but it happened to be a leadoff blast in the third by Adam Duvall, 15 rows deep in left field.

Yuma chose more of a small-ball approach to tie the game in the fifth. Brandon Crawford doubled and then advanced on a fly out before scoring on a seeing-eye single off the bat of Ian Kinsler.

Zack Cozart replicated Duvall’s feat in the sixth to put the Kansans back on top, and their lead remained 2-1 into the eighth when Mookie Betts brought the game level again on a solo blast.

It appeared the game would at least go to the bottom of the ninth, or even extra innings, in a 2-2 tie. St. Francis put a man on in the top of the ninth, but Marcell Ozuna was lingering on first with sidewinding Steve Cishek mowing down Kansans hitters.

Until Duvall.

That’s right, the powerful outfielder HAMMERED a 1-1 offering again deep to left, clearing the fence with room to spare! Just like that, the visitors had a 4-2 lead!

That was all Kenley Jansen needed. Despite a Crawford leadoff hit, Jansen finished the home half of the ninth scoreless as St. Francis took Game 1 of the World Series on the road in Yuma!

FINAL: ST. FRANCIS 4, YUMA 2

DIVISIONAL ROUND: FROSTBITE FALLS VS ST. FRANCIS, GAME 3

With their backs against the wall of an 0-2 deficit and smarting from a pair of contests that had seen their power mostly neutralized, the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels returned home with one thought in mind: support their pitching with big flies, extend the series to four games and give the defending world champs a shot at returning to the World Series.

To that end, the Squirrels would have to win a matchup of staff win leaders: Julio Teheran (15-7, 3.76) had led the defending champs with 15 wins in the regular season in his fourth year in Frostbite’s rotation, and would be matched with Ervin Santana (15-8, 4.70), a free agent plucked off the scrap heap who had paced the Kansans.

Santana’s win total belied his chief weakness against a club like Frostbite Falls, however: namely, that he had led his ballclub with 38 home runs surrendered, the fourth-highest total in the league. So it was no surprise that, leading off the bottom of the first, last year’s Series MVP would touch them all against the veteran, as Mike Trout popped a 1-1 pitch down the left-field line, JUST FAIR, for the game’s first run-----and, notably, the first long ball in the series for the Squirrels:

FROSTBITE FALLS 1, ST. FRANCIS 0!

LONG BALLS THE THEME

So, the Squirrels had a blast and a lead, but Teheran had shown a propensity for giving up big flies as well (28 in the regular season), and it took no time for Cody Bellinger and the Kansans to answer in the top of the 2nd. J.D. Martinez took a full-count pitch for ‘ball four’, and when Teheran bounced a curve ball, was given credit for a stolen base on the very next pitch. Bellinger popped his fourth circuit shot in three games to put two on, erasing Frostbite’s brief edge.

But THAT only lasted until the bottom of the second, when the Squirrels got another leadoff HR, this time off the bat of Paul Goldschmidt, to tie the game at 2-2. AND, when Jason Kipnis added another solo shot in the 4th, the third blast allowed by Santana, the lead changed again in favor of the home team! NOW, with a 3-2 lead, they needed to just get another frame out of Teheran, and let their bullpen-by-committee mix and match the rest of the way.

The only problem with extending Teheran? The fact that, in addition to giving up a pair of long balls, he had walked four and already thrown 80 pitches entering the fifth. To make the plan work, he would need to be economical. Altuve cooperated, popping up a

0-1 change to shallow left, a can of corn. But Justin Turner (a .636 hitter in the Series!) stayed back on Teheran’s next change, pushing a 1-1 pitch up the middle under Teheran’s glove and past a diving Andrus. That brought up J.D. Martinez, who had worked Teheran to a full-count walk earlier in the game. The player dubbed ‘Kong’ by agent Scott Boras took a close 2-2 pitch to wring another full count out of Teheran, and the next pitch, the hurler’s 91st of the ballgame . . . .

CLUBBED!

Off the end of the bat, arcing like an easy fly, but carrying, carrying, GONE! A two-run HR, another lead change, and the end of the road for Teheran:

ST. FRANCIS 4, FROSTBITE FALLS 3!

Alex Colome relieved Teheran, and the momentum of the game had clearly moved in favor of the visitors and their BARB-leading bullpen. Santana (1-0, 5.40) worked a solid fifth, and then a parade of arms were brought forward to anesthetize the slugging Squirrels: Lucas Giolito worked a perfect sixth against the middle of the lineup, Andrew Miller set down Andrus and a pair of pinch-hitters in succession, and Kenley Jansen, BARB’s top closer in the regular season (7 wins, 26 saves, 124 K’s in 89 frames) was brought in to start the eighth. Clearly, if he was performing, this would be a six-out save situation.

Mike Trout wasn’t going quietly! He doubled over the head of Kevin Kiermaier to start the frame, giving the trio of Sanchez, Harper and Longoria a gold-plated opportunity to tie the frame with a runner in scoring position. Just get a hit! But Sanchez fanned on three pitches, and, with Trout leaning at second, Harper DRILLED a ball up-the-middle that Altuve snared running to cover the bag, and doubled off Trout to end the inning, the defensive play of the series and a dagger in the hearts of the Squirrels!

To make matters worse, in the top of the ninth, Altuve hit the first pitch he saw from Pedro Baez over the left-field wall, an insurance run and a 5-3 St. Francis lead. While Brad Boxberger came in to prevent further damage, the Squirrels would need to get some offense from the middle of the order in Jansen’s second inning of work. With one out, Paul Goldschmidt raised their hopes, going deep to right with no one aboard, narrowing the Kansans lead. It was their fourth boundary belt of the contest, after hitting none in the first two games. But, as owner Andrew Haynes ruefully remarked, “All solo shots.”

So it was that the game ended with a whimper and an exclamation point: a soft fly to medium CF by Kipnis, and then pinch-hitter Justin Bour fanning on three straight cutters! A six-out save for Jansen, a three-game sweep for the red-hot Kansans, and a trip to the World Series:

ST. FRANCIS 5, FROSTBITE FALLS 4!

CO-MVP’S?

How to decide who best deserved honors? Was it Steven Strasburg, who set a playoff record with more than a dozen strikeouts in Game One? The clutch hitting and defense of Jose Altuve? The big cleanup bat of J.D. Martinez?

In the end, none of the above, as journeyman IF Justin Turner, finally a regular, saw his 7-for-11 streak partner with the 4 HR of rookie 1B Cody Bellinger to take home MVP honors in almost fairy-tale fashion, as seemingly every break had gone in favor of the Kansans, who compiled a 2.33 ERA, hit .299 and slugged .607 for a convincing sweep. They would now take their storybook season to the next stage, and play in just their second World Series in nine seasons!

DIVISIONAL ROUND: BROWNSVILLE VS. YUMA, GAME 5

A winner-take-all Game 5 to advance to the World Series, between BARB’s winningest team and a talented but overlooked wild card. What more needs to be said?

The setup: Yuma, at home, starting righty Carlos Carrasco, who is no stranger to big games. Lest we forget, in Game 7 of the 2015 BARB World Series, Carrasco was handed the ball against the New England Yankee Stompers. All he did in that contest was toss eight one-hit innings, with one walk and eight strikeouts…while scoring the only run of the game after a third-inning single. The Firebirds won their fourth title that day on the back of Carrasco’s performance.

On this day, however, he’d have to up his game. His opponent, Brownsville ace Corey Kluber, had pitched very well in Game 2 but didn’t factor into the decision thanks to a bullpen meltdown. The pitcher who came out on top would likely propel their team to a title round tilt with either St. Francis or Frostbite Falls.

Unfortunately for Yuma, Carrasco wasn’t at his best in this must-win. The Cutters jumped on him right away in the first, with A.J. Pollock doubling and Aaron Judge drawing a four-pitch walk. With one out, Manny Machado singled to plate Pollock, and Judge came across on a Mark Reynolds groundout.

BROWNSVILLE 2, YUMA 0

Kluber wasn’t great, either, though he managed to work his way around three walks in the first two frames and another following a single and error in the third. But in the fourth, with two out and the bases empty, Brandon Crawford singled and Ian Kinsler put a charge into one down the left field line to tie the game in a flash. The Cutters bullpen began to heat up, but things happened so quickly that no one was ready to relieve Kluber before Yuma took the lead. Mike Zunino doubled, one of only two hits for him in the series, and the backstop labored around third to score just ahead of the throw on Dexter Fowler’s single.

YUMA 3, BROWNSVILLE 2

The Yuma joy was short-lived as Jose Quintana, in his second inning of relief, gave up a single to start the top of the sixth and, two batters later, a pinch-hit, full-count blast off the bat of Michael Taylor. The little-used outfielder (.240/9/26 in 104 AB during the regular season) had swung the momentum in favor of the visiting Cutters with just a few innings remaining.

BROWNSVILLE 4, YUMA 3

Kluber was still in the game after a perfect fifth, but walking Brian Dozier on four pitches in the home half of the sixth proved his undoing. Immediately he was removed for Carl Edwards with the bottom of the Yuma order waiting to hit. Edwards did his job with a little help. Dozier was nabbed by new catcher Tyler Flowers while attempting to steal second, Crawford struck out and Ben Zobrist grounded out.

What transpired the next inning was sure to have Brownsville talk radio up in arms for weeks. Even with the threat of left-handed hitting Joey Votto and Corey Seager due up in the seventh, Cutters manager Bruce Bochy refrained from warming up a southpaw. Edwards, after 13 pitches cleaning up the sixth, issued a four-pitch walk to Fowler to open the seventh…and was left in the game. He threw three balls to Votto, one being a wild pitch to move Fowler into scoring position as the potential tying run, but got help as the Canadian reached for ball four and grounded harmlessly to third.

Even after a pair of 3-0 counts, Bochy trusted Edwards without a matchup option warming up. Against Seager, the trust was betrayed. The slender righty again fell behind, this time 2-1. A backdoor curve attempt was left over the heart of the plate, and the hearts of the visiting fans were ripped out and shredded as Seager connected for a drive over the right field fence.

YUMA 5, BROWNSVILLE 4

Christian Vazquez, in only his fourth at-bat of the series, added an insurance run for the Firebirds with an eighth-inning solo shot.

Brownsville refused to give up, getting handed two runners on a walk and an error against Bryan Shaw in the ninth. Scooter Gennett grounded out for the second out, but both runners were in scoring position and hulking Judge stepped up. Wily veteran Johnny Cueto, banished to the bullpen for the playoffs, earned the call from Yuma management. The two stars battled to an even count, 2-2, before Cueto rocked back and fired a laser above the letters. Judge took a CUT…WHIFF! The rookie looked toward the sky and rolled his eyes as the Firebirds rushed the field, dreadlocked Cueto having escaped the jam to secure Yuma’s fourth-straight World Series berth.

FINAL: YUMA 6, BROWNSVILLE 4

With the best record in the league, the Firebirds were assured of hosting the winner of the other divisional series to kick off the World Series, and they celebrated into the night. In the other clubhouse, reporters pressed for answers on Brownsville’s bullpen management throughout – some positing the Cutters may have actually won the series in a sweep or four games had different choices been made in that department. Nonetheless, the loss closed the book on what might have been Brownsville’s best-ever season, and the front office turned their thoughts to the possibility of building on the success in 2018.

DIVISIONAL ROUND: FROSTBITE FALLS VS ST. FRANCIS, GAME 2

After surrendering four home runs in the opening game of the series, two to rookie Cody Bellinger, the visiting Squirrels would turn to second-half revelation James Paxton (10-3, 2.36) in a marquee matchup of southpaws, vs. St. Francis’s Rich Hill (12-6, 2.94 ). A win would tie the series and guarantee two games at home for the visitors, whereas a loss would hand the Kansans a commanding lead.

To that end, Frostbite Falls tweaked their lineup a bit, allowing veteran backup C Nick Hundley to receive Paxton, rather than starter Gary Sanchez, based on Hundley’s numbers against lefties. And Paxton was definitely up to the challenge, coming out of the gate with great stuff. But the second hitter in the bottom of the first, 2B Jose Altuve, pulled a 2-2 pitch over the wall in left, the fifth circuit shot of the series for the home team, good for an early lead:

ST. FRANCIS 1, FROSTBITE FALLS 0!

HILL, PAXTON DOMINATE

Given a lead, Hill was effective, retiring the first seven he faced, including Hundley. It was Paxton himself who broke the string with a two-out free pass in the third, but Hill pushed a rising fastball over the bat of Mike Trout to end that threat. Other than a leadoff walk in the fourth to Paul Goldschmidt, Hill was in control and after five frames had six strikeouts, and no hits allowed!

But after Altuve’s first-inning rocket, Paxton had been if anything more dominant! Other than J.D. Martinez, who twice doubled with two out, Paxton had the Kansans lineup unable to locate his two-strike slider, and he racked up the strikeouts: two in the 1st, three in the 4th, and at least one ‘K’ in every frame but the third.

This kept things a one-run ballgame going into the middle innings, and it was here, for the first time, that the Squirrels found life in their bats. After Paxton struck out to start the top of the sixth, Trout ended the no-hitter with worm-killer that Hill couldn’t snag, and Goldschmidt followed with a dying quail over short to put two runners on.

A shocking play kept Hill in for an extra hitter, though: with Evan Longoria at the plate, both runners attempted to advance on a ball in the dirt, but Wilson Ramos somehow grabbed it and whipped it to second to nail Goldschmidt, who might have slid too far! Yet, on the play, Trout advanced to third, and Hill made his first real mistake, leaving a flat curve over the plate. Longoria drilled off the left-field wall, a double, and Trout trotted in with the tying run! Though Hill retired the left-handed hitting Bryce Harper to escape further damage, you could see Scott Hatfield shake his head in the owner’s box. The right-handed Trevor Cahill had been ready, but the club had elected to stay with Hill because of a baserunning gift, rather than play the percentages:

ST. FRANCIS 1, FROSTBITE FALLS 1!

The Kansans went quietly in the bottom of the 6th, and in the 7th sent out enigmatic Ken Giles to hold the fort down. But former Kansans SS Elvis Andrus walked, and ‘That Man’ Nick Hundley, only catching because of a lefty starter, hit a solid single off the right-handed Giles to put two on. Giles fanned Alex Bregman, but then walked pinch-hitter Nick Willams on a full count to load the bases. Giles yielded to Cahill, and the Squirrels got the matchup they desired, using left-handed slugger Justin Bour off the bench to pinch-hit for Paxton.

Bour . . . . .NEARLY dialed ‘8’, hitting a long ball that CF Kevin Kiermaier had bounce off the wall to corral. An EASY ‘sac fly’ that missed being a grand slam by a fraction, Andrus coming in to score the go-ahead run. Rookie Josh Hader, who had already warmed up four times in this series, was finally brought in, and it was a spot: summoned to retire Mike Trout with two runners on. But Hader got Trout to roll an 0-2 breaking ball to Cozart, who went the short way to force Williams to get out of the jam. But the game was now the Squirrels to lose:

FROSTBITE FALLS 2, ST. FRANCIS 1!

Yet things would not last for the Squirrels and their ‘bullpen-by-committee’. Slow-working Pedro Baez fanner Kiermaier, but gave up an infield single to Wilson Ramos (!), and when pinch-hitter Adam Duvall slowly grounded to short, pinch-runner Kike Hernandez was able to avoid the force play, Duvall out at first.

That brought up the left-handed hitting Didi Gregorius pinch-hitting for Zack Cozart. Gregorius hit a roller JUST between short and third, which kept rolling to short left! Hernandez, with the play in front of him, never looked at Keon Broxton in left, and rounded third! Broxton’s throw was . . . .well up the line, and Kike’s ‘daring dash’ with two out had paid off. A series of improbable plays, beginning with Ra0mos’s infield hit, had allowed St. Francis to tie the ballgame:

FROSTBITE FALLS 2, ST. FRANCIS 2!

Adam Ottavino came on bail out Baez, and while he fanned Altuve, the fatigue was still showing on a Squirrels club that had been forced bite and claw its way past its wild card matchup with Brooklyn. Meanwhile, the rested St. Franchis pen frustrated the visitors: Chris Devenski worked a 1-2-3 eighth with Kenley Jansen (BARB’s top closer in 2017) ready and waiting.

That brought up the bottom of the eighth. Justin Turner, previously hitless, worked a full-count walk against Ottavino, and J.D. Martinez laced the first pitch he saw into left to put two runners on. That brought up Cody Bellinger, who had drilled two bombs in the opener, who would . . . MAKE IT THREE IN THE SERIES, a big fly over the wall in deep right, a three-run shot, and the first real ‘breathing room’ for either side in the game. Ottavino (0-1, 20.25) retired the next three straight, but screamed in his glove as he walked off the mound, knowing he had put his team in desperate circumstances entering the final inning:

ST. FRANCIS 5, FROSTBITE FALLS 2!

The well-rested Jansen, perhaps amped up, allowed a walk to Andrus, his former teammate, but then fanned pinch-hitters Gary Sanchez and Jason Kipnis in quick succession, before a harmless ground ball from Nick Williams rolled to Altuve, who pegged it to Bellinger . . . GAME OVER! Devenski (1-0, 0.00) had the win, Jansen the save, the Kansans had taken the second game and would take a 2-0 Series lead on the road to Frostbite Falls.

Frustratingly for the Squirrels, their lineup of stars had so far been unproductive compared to the 6-HR onslaught of the Kansans, led by three off the bat of their rookie 1B. Someone (Jake Arrieta? Julio Teheran?) needed to put a lid on that, and someone (anyone) in their lineup needed to find THEIR home-run swing if they were going to get back into a series against St. Francis’s nine.

DIVISIONAL ROUND: BROWNSVILLE VS YUMA, GAME 4

Needing a win to stay alive, the Brownsville Cutters exploded and excited the home crowd…until a stunning late implosion. Could they survive and send the series back to Yuma?

Explode, the Cutters did. Facing Yuma ace Chris Sale, Javier Baez got things started with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the 1st. After a single and a pair of strikeouts, Jedd Gyorko got into the act with a two-run shot for a 3-0 Brownsville lead.

After Yuma plated a run on a Corey Seager double down the line in the 3rd, the hosts went back to work. With Aaron Judge aboard after an infield single, Gyorko launched his second two-run blast. Next up was Michael Taylor, who also pulled the ball into the left field bleachers. In the span of three turns at bat, Brownsville had scored six runs against the southpaw Sale, and the third would be his last inning of work.

Yu Darvish, on the mound for the Cutters, hadn’t been too successful keeping the Firebirds off the bases in the first three innings, and his issues spilled over into the 4th. Brandon Crawford, who had lasered an opposite-field double with one out, scored easily on an Ian Kinsler ground ball up the middle. With two out, pinch hitter extraordinaire Brian Dozier was called upon, taking Sale’s place. Proving the fables true, Dozier put on a massive upper cut on a 1-1 Darvish slider. The soaring drive seemingly didn’t come back to earth (in reality, it landed at the top of the Cockerton Field bleachers). When he finished his trot, Yuma had pulled within two.

With the ballgame close, Baez got back to work in the bottom of the 4^th. Behind in the count at 0-2, Baez shortened up and lined a single to center. He then stole second base and took third on a deep fly out from Manny Machado. A Judge double presented an easy opportunity for Baez to waltz home, and the lead was extended to 7-4.

From there, it was almost all Brownsville. Two runs scored off Gerrit Cole in the fifth, both coming on a bases-loaded single from Baez. Cole, relegated to a mop-up role for the playoffs, continued to eat innings and save the bullpen for an impending Game 5…but in the process he allowed a pair to cross in the Cutter 6^th, the final of those on a single by the opposing RELIEF pitcher, Cam Bedrosian.

Fast forward to the top of the 9^th. Brownsville, cruising with an 11-4 lead, tossed Fernando Salas on the mound. Surely the seasoned reliever could handle a seven-run advantage, right?

RIGHT???

WRONG.

In what must have seemed a nightmare for the fans in attendance, Salas couldn’t find the plate after inducing an Anthony Rendon groundout to open the frame. Crawford got ahead in the count before singling. Kinsler walked on four pitches, as did pinch-hitter Nomar Mazara. Ben Zobrist grabbed a bat to hit for Cole, but he didn’t need it. A 3-1 offering skipped off the dirt, forcing in a run. Dexter Fowler fell behind 0-2, saw Tyler Flowers fail to stop a breaking ball for a run-scoring passed ball, then fouled off four pitches while taking three more balls for another free pass.

After all of that, the score was still 11-6. But with Joey Votto stepping up, and Seager and Mookie Betts behind him, Bruce Bochy had to be roused from his nap on the end of the bench. The bullpen heated up as Votto worked the count full before a seeing-eye single to center to plate an additional two Firebirds.

One out, two hits, four walks, six runs on 36 pitches? Yeah, that was it for Salas. Seager, representing the potential tying run, was the first to greet Will Harris. The youngster wasted no time in driving the ball up the middle to score Fowler. Betts? Just a first-pitch single down the left field line. Votto, across the plate. Seager, to third base. A huge advantage for the home team had crumpled in a matter of minutes, and just a few more hits would put their season on the brink. Remember, Brownsville needed a win to keep the series alive.

The next hitter was the only one who had made an out in the frame. Rendon, with the full force of his boisterous dugout behind him, was confident he would get the hit to tie the game – or take the lead. He went ahead, two balls and a strike, then swung all-out at a fastball!

But the ball slowed and dropped. It was a changeup. Rendon’s eyes bulged as the ball hit the bottom half of the bat and skidded right to Harris. The veteran spun and calmly delivered the ball to Gyorko covering second. Rendon’s speed put pressure on the play, but Gyorko was accurate to first for the final out as the Cutters fans gasped a collective exhale.

FINAL: BROWNSVILLE 11, YUMA 10

A game which appeared in hand since the early going turned into a nailbiter, but Brownsville prevailed against the battle-hardened Firebirds to send the series to a fifth and deciding game at Yuma, with the winner advancing to the BARB World Series.

DIVISIONAL ROUND: FROSTBITE FALLS VS ST FRANCIS, GAME 1

After using a pair of one-run victories to edge the Brooklyn Moabs in three games, the Cactus Division wild card-winning Frostbite Falls went on the road: to Kansas, where the surprising St. Francis Kansans had emerged as Grapefruit Division champs with a dominant stretch drive.

This was the fifth straight trip to the postseason (and sixth overall in nine campaigns), but it was unfamiliar territory for St. Francis GM Scott Hatfield to earn a ‘bye’ as a divisional champion, and it definitely lent his club an advantage over the visiting Squirrels, who had been forced to burn James Paxton, Julio Teheran and Jake Arrietta in their nail-biting contest with the Moabs.

As such, Frostbite Falls GM Andrew Haynes would send out swingman Lance Lynn (8-4, 5.08 in 37 games) to match St. Francis ace Steven Strasburg. Originally drafted by Hatfield at the end of the 2008 BARB draft, the often-brittle righthander pitched too well down the stretch for the Kansans to pass up, and he was a perfect 3-0 in six starts down the stretch to help Hatfield and Company win their first divisional title!

But that was then, and when Strasburg had trouble controlling the zone in the top of the first, Mike Trout (BB) and Gary Sanchez (soft single) reached to begin the game. But Strasburg, finding his stuff, bookended a long fly from the bat of Evan Longoria with a pair of strikeouts (Harper, Goldschmidt) to escape the drama.

That brought up the powerful Kansans lineup, which had led the Grapefruit Division with 976 runs in the regular season, and Lynn (0-1, 18.00) was in trouble from the word ‘go’. Didi Gregorius hit a 2-1 pitch into the RF corner that Harper had to leap at the wall to corral. With one out, Jose Altuve lined a double where neither Harper or Trout could get to it. Justin Turner hit a 1-1 flare over Kipnis’s glove to add a second runner, and J.D. Martinez CRUSHED a 2-2 offering for a 3-0 St. Francis lead. Bellinger just got under an 0-2 offering that landed in Harper’s mitt. Hard contact, from five straight hitters. Lynn finally put the string to bed by getting Ozuna to nub an easy one-hopper to Longoria, but the damage was done:

ST. FRANCIS 3, FROSTBITE FALLS 0!

STRASBURG DOMINATES

Given a lead, Strasburg dialed up the heat against the bottom of the Squirrels lineup. Reddick chased a 3-2 to end the second, blew cheese past Lynn and Trout to start the third, and struck out the side on just ten pitches in the fourth. By that point, the Kansans had done it to Lynn again: a sharp single from Altuve to lead off the bottom of the third, an absolute BOMB from Justin Turner to score both of them, and a solo shot from Bellinger!

With a six-run lead, Strasburg (1-0, 1.50) became, for all purposes, unhittable. He fanned Trout and Sanchez to end the fifth, and struck out the side AGAIN in the sixth. In all, St. Francis fans hung 13 silhouettes of the state of Kansas above the left-field bullpen (K’s . . . . get it?), as dominant a pitching performance in any BARB post-season.

To add insult to injury, the Kansans added another run when they loaded the bases in the fifth off Tyson Ross, in relief of Lynn.

Frostbite Falls finally got a run of its own in the top of the seventh. Strasburg, having thrown 96 pitches, was allowed to start the frame, but Elvis Andrus lined a 2-2 pitch that fell in front of Kiermaier. The Squirrels managed to eke out a run against St. Francis’s middle relief with a sac fly to get on the board, but Cody Bellinger answered with a second solo HR in the bottom of the inning to take any momentum away.

After that, it was all St. Francis’s pen on display: in quick succession, Trevor Cahill, Chris Devenski and Andrew Miller all put on shutdown innings, with the game ending when pinch-hitter Justin Bour grounded a tailor-made double-play ball: Altuve----to Gregorius---to Bellinger----GAME OVER:

FINAL: ST. FRANCIS 8, FROSTBITE FALLS 1

It would be difficult to imagine a better start for the host Kansans: Justin Turner went 4-for-4 with a bomb, Altuve doubled twice, Martinez started it all with a first-inning blast, Cody Bellinger (2B, 2 HR) scored three of the club’s runs. Meanwhile, Strasburg just handed the ball to the league’s best bullpen (25 wins, 51 saves and three arms with 100-plus K’s in the regular season!)----and the five arms combined for 15 K’s!

The next game would also be at The Monastery. If the Squirrels were going to even the series, they would need a big game from their surprising lefthander, James Paxton(10-3, 2.36), in a marquee matchup with baffling southpaw Rich Hill (12-6, 2.94). Stay tuned!