WORLD SERIES GAME SIX: NAILBITER

October 15: The Yuma Firebirds were one win away from their third World Series title, but to clinch they’d have to win in enemy territory. Could they pull it off? Or would Casselton push the series to a winner-take-all seventh game? Read on to find out…

Two hard-luck losers took the mound: Tim Hudson, who was outdueled by David Price in Game One, and Chris Sale, whose offense saved him an official loss before the bullpen gave it up.

Hudson encountered early trouble, allowing two runners with two out in the first before inducing a grounder for a fielder’s choice. Yuma also had a two-out single in the second, but they got things going right away in the third. Ben Zobrist and Anthony Rendon drew walks before Hudson got Andrew McCutchen to ground into a double play. Casey McGehee stepped up and hit a chopper right back to Hudson, who saw it bounce off his glove. McGehee was safe and Zobrist crossed the plate for the first run of the game.

The Firebirds were back at it in the fourth, with Ryan Braun hitting a leadoff single and advancing on a passed ball and groundout. Buster Posey flew to left for out number two, but it wasn’t deep enough to score Braun. That left it up to Andrelton Simmons, and he came through. The shortstop hit a liner over his counterpart and into the gap. Braun trotted home, but Carlos Gomez’s throw was on the money to erase Simmons trying for two.

For Landon Bolt and the Casselton faithful, coming from behind was nothing new. They had, in fact, pulled off one of the biggest comeback jobs in the regular season by surpassing the St. Francis Kansans after being down nearly 10 games halfway into the season. But now, with no room for error, some fans were getting antsy. The Horned Toads trailed, 2-0, facing Yuma ace Chris Sale and only six more frames guaranteed.

Those fidgeting fanatics nearly let go an enormous roar in the bottom half of the fourth. Adrian Beltre pulled a double down the line to lead off before Sale wild pitched him to third. Justin Upton’s struggles continued with an unproductive five-foot dribbler in front of the plate, but Adrian Gonzalez walked to bring up big Edwin Encarnacion. The slugger just missed a fastball, fouling it straight back, then took a mighty hack at the second pitch…which took a dive just before reaching his bat. The result? A harmless grounder, a 6-4-3 twin killing that sucked the life out of the home squad and stadium.

Sale was on cruise control from that point on. The Yuma offense threatened a few times against Hudson and two relievers, but as the game entered the bottom of the ninth it was still a two-run Firebird advantage. Just three outs stood between Chris Melkonian and a third ring, and Sale was sent back out to finish with exactly 100 pitches under his belt.

A clamor started in the crowd. The heart of the Casselton lineup was due up. Two runs were all they needed, and the two hottest hitters of the series on either side, Gomez and Beltre, would step to the plate first.

Gomez saw two balls and fouled one off, then hit a sharp grounder up the middle. Gomez had a chance to beat it out with his speed, but possibly the only shortstop in the game with a cannon powerful enough to gun him down happened to be playing the field. Simmons went to his left, spun fired…IN TIME!  ONE AWAY!

Beltre, up next, swung at a 1-1 offering and dribbled it beside the mound, just out of Sale’s reach. Simmons was charging and let loose another laser, but NOT in time! Beltre was safe by a half-step, which meant the tying run would step to the plate.

But…Upton? Justin Upton? He of the 3-for-19 World Series so far, whom many experts considered the reason the series had gone this long (with just a few clutch hits in other games, Casselton may well have swept the series)? Who had K’d (by far) the most of any player (11) in this Fall Classic? Horned Toads fans groaned in anticipated frustration and searched the lineup for the next hitter, assuming Upton didn’t ground into a double play and end it right then and there.

The Casselton left fielder, feeling the immense pressure, took a ball and called strike, at which some jeered for not swinging. But then Sale made a mistake. A slider that didn’t break enough. It hung in Upton’s wheelhouse. He swung and connected. As the ball soared through the Casselton night, many long-suffering fans rose in excitement. In center, McCutchen went back on the ball. He reach the TRACK. He leaped at the FENCE…

GONE!

In an astounding turn of events, the slugger had tied the game with one swing! The house was roaring and his teammates surrounded him in the dugout! Just two outs away from a long offseason, one swing from the much-maligned player had given new life!

After the blast, Sale was pulled for Mark Melancon. The reliever got two quick outs and the game went to extra innings, with momentum seemingly on the side of the Horned Toads.

Both sides went in order in the 10^th, and Addison Reed walked back to the mound to start the top of the 11^th. Coming off three nearly perfect innings to help extend the game to this point, the righty immediately showed signs of exhaustion as Ryan Zimmerman lined a single and Chase Utley walked.

The call to the bullpen was made, and a lefty appeared. One whose name does not sit well with St. Francis fans or management, after his repeated failures in the 2013 playoffs: Craig Breslow.

Breslow was greeted with a two-on, none-out situation. Mookie Betts was first up, and the rookie reached a full count before striking out. Posey was next, and the star catcher was tired of the back-and-forth. Breslow, figuring the backstop’s legs had nothing left, offered a first-pitch challenge fastball…but Buster didn’t miss. In just a few seconds the ball was five rows back in left-center field. The crowd again went silent as Posey circled the bases and completed his three-RBI, 360-foot journey. Two more runners reached base after Posey, but Breslow escaped more damage with a double play.

Would Casselton have enough to come back yet again? After a season of ups and downs, it all came down to the bottom of the 11^th and the same part of the order as their previous rally.

Melancon, having retired five in a row after entering in the ninth, finally allowed a runner as Jean Segura lined one to right (incidentally, it was just his second hit in 22 at-bats in the series, for an even worse average than Upton). Gomez saw a pitch he liked and crushed it to center. McCutchen started back like before, reached the track and stopped, held up his glove and snagged the first out. Beltre, looking for his fourth hit on the day, hit a high chopper to third base that Zimmerman fielded cleanly and threw over for the out at first, Segura advancing. Two down, and the ninth-inning hero, Upton, was up. Two called strikes. One ball. Two fouls…and a fastball on the inside corner that froze him for strikeout number 12.

FINAL: YUMA 5, CASSELTON 2

The Firebirds were back on top of the BARB heap with the 4-2 series victory. As his team surrounded Melancon, owner Melkonian let it all spill out.

“Go Firebirds! Best managing job I ever had, considering all the injuries and underperforming players. Landon, great job. I respect the hell out of him. It could have gone either way.”

WORLD SERIES MVP: DAVID PRICE

Yes, the ace lefty earned the nod. Simmons and Posey had good numbers and clutch hits, but Price was 2-0, 0.60 with 17 strikeouts in 15 innings. He gave up 14 hits and didn’t walk a soul in two games, including a Game Five shutout (the first since Ricky Romero in 2012).

As for the Horned Toads, no one could discount their hard work in turning around a potentially-disastrous season and helping provide one of the most compelling, competitive World Series in BARB history. Many observers noted that Landon Bolt’s team had been lingering around playoff contention for years, and now that they tasted the pinnacle they were unlikely to disappear any time soon.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2014 BARB WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS, THE YUMA FIREBIRDS

WORLD SERIES GAME FIVE: PRICE BRINGS YUMA WITHIN ONE

Price was right in the Yuma night

October 13: With his second dominant start of the 2014 BARB World Series, David Price put his team on the brink of their third World Championship.

Flashback to October 8, the opening game of this series. David Price takes the mound in Casselton and pitches six strong innings for the win, giving up seven hits and one run while whiffing nine Horned Toads batters. Five days later, he was again handed the ball, this time in his home ballpark. This time, he wouldn’t need help from his occasionally suspect bullpen. Price cruised through a complete-game shutout and received an early explosion from his offense to put the Yuma Firebirds ahead in the best-of-seven World Series, three games to two.

Opposite Price and making his first start in the series was Tanner Roark. The rookie’s last appearance was a six-inning, one-run start in the clinching game of the division series. Roark trotted to the mound in the bottom of the first hoping to continue his great season, but early returns were disastrous. With one away, Anthony Rendon singled to left. Andrew McCutchen followed with an opposite-field double that put Rendon in position to score on Casey McGehee’s groundout. Ryan Zimmerman kept the inning going, beating out an infield single, and Ryan Braun followed with the emphatic exclamation point of a blast to left for a 4-0 lead.

Roark completed a 1-2-3 second inning, but McCutchen’s second double to right field sent the youngster to the showers in the third. Nick Vincent came on and, with the exception of a McGehee RBI single (closing the book on Roark’s two-plus inning, six-hit, five-run shellacking), shut the door for the rest of the third and the fourth inning.

Price, meanwhile, was shutting down the Horned Toads offense. He allowed one runner each in the third-through-fifth innings before encountering his first trouble in the sixth (after the Firebird offense plated another in the bottom of the fifth). Scooter Gennett led off the Casselton sixth with a single, but he was erased on a Jean Segura double play. Had the twin killing not occurred, the inning may have put the visitors back in the game. Carlos Gomez and Adrian Beltre followed with singles to right, but the frame ended when Justin Upton struck out.

The rest of the game flew by, Price retiring the side in order in the seventh and eighth. Rendon helped the Yuma cause with a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, so Price had a seven-run cushion to work with when he stepped to the slab in the ninth. Hot-hitting Gomez greeted the lefty with a double, but Beltre, Will Venable and Adrian Gonzalez went down in order.

Price had completed his shutout on 123 pitches, allowing seven hits and striking out eight without walking a batter. Contributors abounded up and down the Yuma lineup, with four players stroking multiple hits. All of that added up to the first blowout of the hotly-contested series, and it gave Chris Melkonian hope his squad would carry the momentum over and clinch the series in Casselton in Game Six.

FINAL: YUMA 7, CASSELTON 0

WORLD SERIES GAME FOUR: SIMMONS CLUTCH AS FIREBIRDS WALK OFF

Under threatening skies for Yuma, Simmons came through

October 12: Another one-run game and Yuma comeback. This time, the Casselton bullpen blew the lead and game.

The Casselton Horned Toads were just six outs away from a 3-1 lead in their first BARB World Series appearance.

A promising top of the eighth inning had netted just one run, but Adrian Beltre’s sacrifice fly was enough to hand a 2-1 lead to hard-throwing Kelvin Herrera, on for his second full inning of work.

Fortunately for a home crowd without much to celebrate through nearly two home games so far, Andrelton Simmons had other ideas. The light-hitting shortstop stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom of the eighth and took a called strike and a ball before Herrera hung a curve. Simmons put all of his listed 195 pounds behind the swing, made contact and stopped and stared, as did the crowd. The ball was arcing down toward the foul pole in left. Simmons waved his arms, ala Carlton Fisk, and craned his neck…

HOME RUN!

The solo blast just inside the foul pole at Safeco Field squared the fourth game of the 2014 World Series at 2-2.

An inning later, Simmons strode up with confidence. A man on and a man out, he swung at the first pitch he saw and grounded toward short. As Alex Gonzalez reached down to play it, the ball hit a rock and took a wicked hop to the side and through. Ryan Braun scampered to third and Simmons was safe at first. That was all Danny Valencia needed to end the game, as his fly ball down the left field line was too deep for Khris Davis to have a prayer of throwing out Braun. Series tied.

Both teams had multiple chances to keep the game from going down to the wire. The first two Yuma batters of the game reached base, but their 3-4-5 hitters went down harmlessly afterward.

Casselton came back in the top of the second and opened the scoring. Justin Upton, who was struggling at the plate (.231 in the series through four games) was hit by a pitch before advancing on a groundout and scoring on a Jay Bruce double.

Ryan Zimmerman provided the muscle to tie the game in the fourth, as he pulled a full-count, challenge fastball from Dillon Gee into the left-field bleachers. The Firebirds had a chance for more later the same inning as Buster Posey and Ben Zobrist sandwiched walks around a Simmons single. However, Gee rung up Anthony Rendon with two down to end the inning.

Yuma threatened in both the fifth and the sixth, both times putting multiple runners on base with less than two out. Gee buckled down and handled a Posey grounder flawlessly for the third out of the fifth, and Herrera successfully recorded the last two outs of the sixth with the bases loaded and the middle of the order approaching.

Casselton’s chance in the eighth was their first threat since scoring in the second. Edwin Encarnacion drew a leadoff walk against Jeff Samardzija, who was pulled for David Carpenter after Scooter Gennett followed with a single. The most questionable coaching decision of the series came on the next play, a single by Carlos Gomez. The Horned Toads’ third-base coach saw the ball trickle up the middle and, despite Encarnacion’s plodding, Andrew McCutchen’s strong arm and no outs in the frame, sent the runner. The throw was on the money in plenty of time for the first out. Beltre followed with his RBI, but Upton’s struggles continued as he struck out with an insurance run on third.

FINAL: YUMA 3, CASSELTON 2

WORLD SERIES GAME THREE: CASSELTON TAKES THE LEAD

Stroman helped his team and helped himself, but it wasn't enough

October 11: Many observers expected the host Firebirds to explode when the series shifted to Yuma, but the visiting pitching staff held off the charge at least one more day.

Coming off an eight-inning, two-run outing against Frosbite Falls in the Division Series, Bartolo Colon (derogatorily referred to as “Fatolo” by a previous BARB employer) was sent to the hill in hostile territory with the mission of giving the Casselton Horned Toads a one-game lead in the World Series. Though he didn’t stay around long enough for a decision, the aging and expanding right-hander helped keep the Yuma Firebirds offense down long enough for his team to earn their victory.

Colon had the backing of the first run of the game in the second inning. Adrian Gonzalez led off with a harmless grounder to second, but Anthony Rendon threw the ball away and Gonzalez hustled to second base before moving up and scoring on successive groundouts.

Yuma rookie Marcus Stroman was on top of his game as well, matching Colon most innings in his seven-inning stint. Stroman even helped himself in the fifth with an RBI fielder’s choice just a few batters after Colon threw away a potential groundout.

Both teams plated runs in the seventh, with Casselton’s coming on back-to-back doubles by Edwin Encarnacion and Jay Bruce and Yuma tying the game again on a Buster Posey solo blast.

The game went to the 10^th inning still tied at 2, though the Firebirds had an excellent chance to break it open in the eighth. Andrew McCutchen led off the inning with a walk and Casey McGehee singled, but Craig Stammen settled down the struck out Ryan Zimmerman before inducing a double-play grounder off the bat of Ryan Braun.

Mark Melancon had entered in place of Stroman and pitched two hitless innings, and he struck out Khris Davis to lead off the 10^th. The next batter was Scooter Gennett, who was hitless on the day. The second baseman strode to the plate looking for a first-pitch fastball, and he launched the offering to left-center to bust the tie!

Veteran Yuma wouldn’t go down without a fight. They had come back in the ninth inning of Game Two, and here in Game Three, in front of the home fans, they staged another late rally. Mookie Betts greeted new pitched Tom Milone with a lead-off single, and he took second when the ball squirted past Bruce. McCutchen flew out, but Danny Valencia drew a pinch-walk. Zimmerman worked the count full and took a mighty cut, sending the ball DEEP to straight-away center. Carlos Gomez was chasing…feeling for the wall…and then stopping short to catch the blast! Betts moved up and put the potential tying run 90 feet away with Braun at the plate. The former MVP took two balls before fouling off two pitches. Finally, Milone jammed him and popped him up. Gonzalez took in the final out, and the Horned Toads had taken a 2-1 lead in the series!

FINAL: CASSELTON 3, YUMA 2

WORLD SERIES GAME TWO: INSTANT CLASSIC

October 9: Pitchers’ duel turns into offensive explosions as bullpens get involved.

It was destined to be another close, low-scoring game, just like the first contested in this 2014 BARB World Series. Instead, when Target Field fans left the ballpark they couldn’t stop talking about the sudden bullpen collapses on both sides.

Chris Sale and Chris Tillman matched each other nearly pitch-for-pitch through seven scoreless innings. Until the bottom of the seventh, a total of two runners reached second base. Both were Casselton Horned Toads. Both happened with two out. Neither scored. Yuma’s best chance came on Buster Posey’s long third-inning drive that Carlos Gomez snatched from the stands for a spectacular Web Gem.

The host Toads nearly pushed across some runs with the help of Ryan Braun’s stone mitt in the bottom of the seventh, but Wellington Castillo swung through a Sale changeup to strand runners on second and third.

Casselton finally gave their fans something to cheer about in the eighth. Neil Walker led off with a single, and two batters later he trotted home in front of Gomez, whose two-run blast to left all of a sudden had Craig Stammen preparing for a save situation. The righty had a little more room to work with when Justin Upton hit a solo shot to right to end Sale’s night.

Stammen had come on for Tillman after the latter came up stiff following a seventh-inning rain delay, and he quickly erased Ben Zobrist to lead off the top of the ninth. Denard Span drew a walk as a pinch-hitter and advanced to second on Andrew McCutchen’s groundout. Yuma brass was just about ready to pack it in and concede a series tie heading home when Chase Utley was sent in to bat for Casey McGehee. The veteran second baseman was one strike away from the end of the ballgame, but he stayed in and drilled a hanging curveball to the right-center field gap for three bases as Span raced around to score.

Buoyed by the clutch hit, the Firebirds following Utley put compact, efficient swings on the ball. Ryan Zimmerman dumped a single into center to pull Yuma within one and bring in lefty Tom Milone, who walked Braun on four pitches. He threw a first-pitch strike to Mookie Betts, but the rookie was expecting the fastball and split the outfielders! Zimmerman rounded third and scored. Braun, with the majority of the crowd gasping and clutching their heads in their hands, used his still-reliable speed to beat the relay and score all the way from first for a 4-3 Yuma lead!

The Firebirds, sticking with their bullpen-by-committee approach, sent Gerrit Cole back out for the last half of the ninth (after he finished the eighth for Sale). After two quick outs the home squad was almost resigned to having to play from behind in the opponent’s ballpark, but again a pinch-hitter got something started. Scooter Gennett was sent up for Jean Segura, and his dribbler by the mound was slow enough to allow him to reach. Milone, fearing Gomez’s hot bat, pitched around him and ended up giving the free pass.

That’s when Adrian Beltre stepped up for the fifth time that night. Milone got ahead in the count, 1-2. Beltre swung at the next pitch and drove it down the left-field line. Braun chased into the corner, glove outstretched…and couldn’t catch it! Gennett scored easily from second! Tie game! And Gomez was waved around! Braun to Andrelton Simmons…Simmons to Posey…

NOT IN TIME! GOMEZ SCORES THE WINNING RUN!

FINAL: CASSELTON 5, YUMA 4

An instant classic that had the home fans roaring! Already the series was shaping up as one of BARB’s best-ever!

WORLD SERIES GAME ONE: YUMA TAKES NAILBITER

October 8: The 2014 BARB World Series got off to a start expected with a matchup of the top two seeds as David Price outdueled Tim Hudson.

The two veterans faced off in Casselton, as the Horned Toads earned home field advantage at Target Field by sporting the best record in the league. Price was making his first World Series start since a forgettable four runs allowed in five innings in 2011 (though he had made starts in the playoffs every year since 2009). Hudson, despite his status as wily veteran, was making his first playoff appearance since getting shelled by Yuma in the 2004 Division Series.

The visiting Firebirds nearly struck at the start in this edition. In the top of the first, Ben Zobrist walked and Andrew McCutchen doubled to put two in scoring position. Casey McGehee and Ryan Zimmerman were retired by Hudson to end the threat.

Casselton’s best early chance came in the third, when Carlos Gomez and Adrian Beltre singled with one away. Justin Upton flailed at a two-strike pitch, however, and Adrian Gonzalez bounced harmlessly to first as Price put up another goose egg.

Yuma finally did open the scoring in the fourth. With two out and the bases empty, Ryan Braun and Mookie Betts strung together back-to-back singles before Buster Posey pulled a ball into the left field corner for a two-RBI double.

Hudson and Price settled in for another few innings after that. The home crowd got a chance to roar in the bottom of the sixth when Edwin Encarnacion sent a two-out, full-count pitch over the left field fence for a solo shot.

Yuma came right back in the top of the seventh with another two-out, bases-empty rally. Andrelton Simmons lined a base hit to right and scampered to second on a wild pitch to set up a Zobrist RBI single.

By the eighth both starters had left for the showers. Yuma set-up man Mark Melancon gave up a leadoff double to Gomez in the bottom half, and three batters later Gomez tagged and scored on a Gonzalez sacrifice fly. With runners on first and second and two away, Sean Doolittle preserved the Firebird lead by striking out Khris Davis.

The game was still 3-2 into the bottom of the ninth. Doolittle hung an 0-1 slider to Wellington Castillo, and though the catcher didn’t get all of it, he got enough to reach first base in front of the top of the lineup. The next three hitters went quietly, however, and Yuma had taken the first game of the best-of-seven.

FINAL: YUMA 3, CASSELTON 2

Price (6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 9 K) had pitched well enough to give his team an advantage in their quest for their first title since 2009. Hudson, meanwhile, gave up three runs over 6 2/3 innings and could only hope for another opportunity later in the series to give the Casselton fans a parade.

FELIX KING-LIKE--BUT MATCHED BY ROARK

Hernandez: Would four hits, one run, seven strikeouts be good enough for the win?

October 3: In his best start in months, Felix Hernandez shut down the Casselton Horned Toads into the eighth inning in an attempt to keep his Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels alive in the playoffs. His offense, however, was equally stymied by Horned Toads starter Tanner Roark. Would the series move on to Game Four, or could Casselton clinch their first World Series birth?

Coming off two short outings by their starting pitchers, the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels needed an ace performance from the hurler who had assumed that title for years. In his last 12 starts of 2014, Hernandez was a pedestrian 5-5, 4.92 as his team won the division title seemingly in spite of his pitching.

His opposite number, of the visiting Casselton Horned Toads, was righty Tanner Roark. The rookie phenom, coming off a 14-6, 2.50 campaign, was nearly the first to crack. In the third inning, Evan Longoria stepped up with two out and two on and drove a ball to the left-center field gap. With good speed on the bases Frostbite was in position to be up two runs, but left fielder Khris Davis used every inch of his arm to spear the ball just before it sailed past him to the fence.

The Squirrels put together another rally in the fifth, and this time they went on the board. Leonys Martin and Wilson Ramos reached on soft singles before Jose Reyes beat out a nubber down the line on which Martin crossed from third. As there were none out at that point, the inning could have been much bigger. But Roark turned in a clutch performance by retiring Frostbite’s 2-3-4 hitters in succession.

The Casselton offense, meanwhile, couldn’t touch Hernandez. Through six innings only two runners reached base before two outs in an inning, and one of those was promptly picked off first. In the seventh Edwin Encarnacion notched a rare leadoff single, though he was erased by a force at second on an Adrian Gonzalez grounder. Jay Bruce made enough contact to put the ball 10 feet in from of home plate, where Ramos grabbed and fired DOWN THE FIRST BASE LINE! Gonzalez hustled to third and Bruce took second. Had the play been made, there would have been two out when Neil Walker pinch-hit and grounded out to third. But with only one away, in a home game with the lead, the defense played back and allowed Gonzalez to score.

In a tie game, both sides put together furious chances in the final few innings. Miguel Montero walked to lead off the eighth before advancing on a wild pitch and then a groundout. However, Al Alburquerque came in from the bullpen and struck out Adrian Beltre to end the inning. Craig Stammen set down Frostbite Falls in the bottom of the eight, and when he quickly retired the first two hitters in the last half of the ninth it appeared the fans would see free baseball. Albert Pujols, though, made solid contact on a first-pitch fastball for a single. At that point, Flying Squirrels manager Mike Noakes had a choice: keep Pujols and his solid base running acumen and playoff experience (over 70 BARB playoff games) in the game, or put in younger, faster Sean Rodriguez, who had only one career playoff appearance on his ledger. The choice was Rodriguez. Martin was the next hitter, and he hit a sinking line drive to right. Bruce rushed in and slid, but the ball clearly hit the grass.

Rodriguez, however, only stood on second after the play. No one was sure what happened—with two out, he should have been running on contact, and especially with Bruce going to the ground and being in no position to throw, there was little doubt Rodriguez could have reached third. Even while celebrating the potential winning run reaching scoring position, some people on the Frostbite bench, notably Noakes and Pujols, seemed stymied at the baserunning.

Rodriguez’s move was magnified on the third offering to Ramos—a wild pitch, on which the winning run would have scored. But Ramos grounded harmlessly to short and the game went to extras.

Antonio Bastardo had recorded the final two outs of the Casselton ninth, so he came back out for the tenth. Alex Gonzalez led off and engaged in a nine-pitch battle before drawing the walk. Bastardo then fell behind Davis, 2-0, and grooved a fastball that didn’t come back. The fans at Rocky Top, who had been raucous just moments before, fell silent as their team was suddenly trailing by two. The next three batters went down quietly and the Horned Toads trotted back to the field just three outs from the World Series.

Just as in the first two games, when the Flying Squirrels fell behind late their bats woke up. Reyes led off and launched the ball to right field. It carried back—BACK—Bruce leaped at the fence—AND ROBBED IT! A sure homer, brought back! One away! Mike Trout made sure his frozen rope didn’t get caught, as it stayed low to the ground and sped to the right-center field fence as he motored to third. Jason Kipnis plated Trout with an extra base hit of his own off new hurler Tom Milone, this a double to left-center. the Squirrels had pulled within a run, and with one out and a man on second they were chomping at the bit for more. Longoria, however, continued his playoff flailing (.091 batting average) by popping out to the catcher.

Bryce Harper was due up next, but right-handed slugger Wilin Rosario was sent up to face the lefty Milone. After taking two called strikes and a ball, Rosario put all of his muscle into a breaking ball and stung it in to the ground, destined for center field and a tie game, until…Milone stuck out his glove and…SNARED IT! Three steps toward first, a short throw, and the Casselton Horned Toads had clinched their first World Series berth!

FINAL: CASSELTON 3, FROSTBITE FALLS 2

As the visitors stormed the field, the home crowd simply slumped in disbelief. For the first time in BARB’s 12-year history, and in their ninth playoff appearance, the Flying Squirrels had been eliminated in the first round. Clearly not pleased with the early exit, owner Andrew Haynes vowed a multitude of changes—possibly involving the high-priced but under-performing starting rotation—for the coming season. “The pitchers didn’t live up to their salary, and they know that. We may need some new blood in here to rejuvenate for our next championship run.”

Casselton, meanwhile, was enjoying the pleasure of the sweep of the defending champions—but it meant a date with perennial power Yuma for the title.

MVP: CARLOS GOMEZ

The center fielder came up clutch in the field and at the plate, where he hit .429 with a home run and four RBI.

DEJA VU

Gomez's hot hitting continued with a big two-run blast

October 1: Casselton again got into the Frostbite Falls bullpen early, and again the Squirrels threatened late. Who would pull through this time?

Just two weeks after his first career no-hitter, Jake Arrieta took the mound in Casselton with a chance to even his team’s first-round playoff series at one apiece. Arrieta even had help that Cole Hamels didn’t get in the first game with the offense plating the contest’s first run in the top of the first when Mike Trout singled, stole second and crossed on Victor Martinez’s bloop hit.

By the time Frostbite’s next run scored off Dillon Gee, the Horned Toads had put up six and Arrieta was long gone.

With two out and two on in the bottom of the second, Khris Davis grounded a single through the right side. Adrian Gonzalez rumbled toward the plate after being waived around third. Trout fired home, and it was ON THE MONEY, AND THEN DROPPED! Wilin Rosario, not known for his defensive chops, had the ball fall out of his mitt as he turned to tag Gonzalez. The big guy scored and the game was tied, 1-1.

The next inning would be the last time Casselton scored, but they made it count. Scooter Gennett led off with an infield single before Carlos Gomez took advantage of a first-pitch Arrieta fastball and gave a souvenir to a fan in the left-field bleachers. Adrian Beltre walked on four pitches, and Edwin Encarnacion matched Gomez with a shot to left. Next was Gonzalez. The lefty also worked his count full and deposited one to right-center. Just five batters into the third, Casselton had jumped out to a 6-1 lead.

Gee, normally Casselton’s fifth starter (Horned Toads management chose not to make a single change for the playoffs in hopes their roll would stay on track), didn’t run into trouble until the sixth, when Jason Kipnis took him deep to lead off and Jose Reyes made it to second base before being stranded. The visitors put together another scoring chance in the eighth as Kipnis tripled to the vast expanses of Target Field’s alleys and trotted home on a Craig Gentry sacrifice fly.

Nick Vincent came on for the top of the ninth, Gee having completed a quality start on 109 pitches. The 6-3 lead merited a save situation, and the righty got to quick outs (Trout, Martinez) in the air before running into trouble. Evan Longoria took a full-count walk. Bryce Harper lined a single to right. First and second, the tying run at the plate in the form of Rosario. On the team for his bat, Rosario was liable to homer at any moment. The count quickly evened at 2-2. Vincent threw a sinker on the outside part of the plate. Rosario tried to pull it. He did hit it to the left side, but it was on the ground right at Jean Segura. The shortstop went the short way for the force and the victory.

Casselton had taken a commanding 2-0 lead of the best-of-five series. They only needed one more win to head to their first BARB World Series. And with an offense that put up 10 runs one night and bashed 12 hits the next, who could bet against them?

TOADS BATTER HAMELS

Eight innings, six hits, two runs allowed...and a heart attack of his bullpen's doing?

September 30: The opening game of this first-round playoff series saw the Casselton offense bat around in the first inning and put the game seemingly out of reach by the third.

The Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels had to have confidence going into the first game of their best-of-five matchup with the Casselton Horned Toads. The offense was starting to heat up at the right time and their rotation was finally turning things around. The Game One starter, Cole Hamels, had finished the regular season with a 4.67 ERA, but his final start was a solid seven-inning, two-run victory over dangerous Nor Cal. The team had hope he would be his usual “ace” self in the postseason.

It didn’t happen. Hamels didn’t make it out of the third inning against host Casselton, the team with BARB’s best won-loss record during the season.

Landon Bolt’s Horned Toads were facing somewhat of the opposite with their starter, Bartolo Colon. The aging veteran had turned his season around after a trade to Casselton, going 7-3 with a 2.60 ERA and three shutouts after posting a 3.70 ERA with New England. His final start of the regular season, however, was a dud: four innings, eight hits and four runs allowed to the Carolina Wildcats.

Colon started the game by allowing a single to Mike Trout, but after Jose Reyes flew out Victor Martinez grounded into an inning-ending double play. The next pitch Colon threw would have a lot less pressure behind it.

Jean Segura led off the bottom half of the frame against Hamels and grounded out. Carlos Gomez was next and laced a base hit to left field. Adrian Beltre walked and the Horned Toads aggressively attempted a double steal. Frostbite catcher Wilin Rosario, not known for his defense, slung a perfect throw to Evan Longoria to catch Gomez for the second out.

After that attempt, Hamels lost his control. He threw four consecutive balls to Justin Upton after being ahead in the count, 0-1. He then hit the corner for a first-pitch strike to Adrian Gonzalez before grooving a pitch the slugger hit just hard enough to skip by Jason Kipnis and into right field, scoring Beltre. Edwin Encarnacion’s at-bat happened the same way: first pitch strike, second pitch seeing-eye RBI single to right field. After a walk and two more singles the Horned Toads held a 5-0 lead. They completed batting around with Segura grounding into another out.

The Flying Squirrels hardly gave Hamels a chance to catch his breath and stop his head from spinning, as they saw only eight pitches against Colon in the second. Frostbite manager Mike Noakes allowed Hamels a few more hitters, and the disastrous results continued. A single, double, single and double play plated three more runs, and after finishing the second strong. The lefty was mercifully pulled after giving up a couple more line drives in the third, and with a third of the game down the Horned Toads held an 8-0 lead.

Tim Lincecum was brought in to mop up and save the bullpen, and he did his job with four and one-third innings. Two more runs crossed, however, to give Casselton a 10-0 lead into the eighth.

Colon was still under 100 pitches when he trotted back up the hill to face the bottom of the Frostbite order in the eighth, and they finally put a dent in his armor (though, to be fair, “bottom of the order” hitters aren’t typically named Albert Pujols and Wilin Rosario). Pujols pulled a single through the left side to lead off, and Rosario launched a rocket that still might be rising over the left-field bleachers.

It came down to the top of the ninth, Toads with an 8-run lead. Tom Milone was called on to replace Colon at the start of the inning…and he failed to record a single out. Bryce Harper lined a single. Evan Longoria walked. Jason Kipnis singled to load the bases and Craig Gentry earned an RBI and a bruise when Milone nailed him in the leg. After Pujols dumped a single to left for another run Craig Stammen was brought in. He was greeted by Rosario’s line-drive single to plate Kipnis, drawing the first boos from the home crowd. Many of the crunch-time veterans in the visiting dugout were smelling blood, having cut the lead to 10-5 and having the bases loaded with, still, nobody out and the lineup turning over for Trout.

The star outfielder failed to come through, however, watching a called third strike go by in a full count. Reyes, though, picked up for him and re-started the merry-go-round with an infield single to pull the Squirrels within “slam range” at 10-6. Martinez, the ninth batter of the inning, pulled the ball down the line, but not very hard, and Gonzalez stabbed the ball and trotted to the base for the second out as the Flying Squirrels’ seventh run crossed the plate. Now down by three and with two on the basepaths, Noakes was confident his boys could tie it—or more. Harper drew a walk to load the bases and bring up Longoria. The third baseman fouled off two pitches, took a ball and fouled another…then watched as a Stammen fastball caught the black on the inside. STRIKE THREE, CASSELTON HOLDS ON!

The 10-7 victory allowed their fans and ownership to exhale with relief. In their second-ever playoff appearance, the Horned Toads had rushed out to a big lead en route to a 1-0 series lead. Could they extend their lead in Game Two with #5 starter Dillon Gee facing newly minted ace Jake Arrieta? Stay tuned!

GOOD, BAD AND UGLY AS YUMA ADVANCES

Ryan Braun drove in four runs and hit one of four home runs as the Western champion Yuma Firebirds put an exclamation point to their playoff series with St. Francis, using their pitching depth to dispatch the Kansans in four games.    

St. Francis won the opener in extra frames and seemed poised to return to the World Series after Stephen Strasburg’s outstanding outing, but Yuma won the next three contests to earn their seventh Series berth.   The details?   Read on:

GAME ONE:   ST. FRANCIS AT YUMA

Strasburg, in fact, represented the ‘good, bad and the ugly.’   The good: a personal-best 12 K’s in Game One, and a single playoff series mark of 17 strikeouts.   The bad:   manager Jason Varitek left Strasburg in the game in the seventh having already thrown over a hundred pitches with two runners on.   Anthony Rendon hit a game-tying two-run double that knocked Strasburg out of the game, letting David Price (17-12, 2.68 in the regular season) off the hook despite surrendering ten hits.

The result was emblematic of the young right-hander’s career: already carrying the label of an ‘ace’, St. Francis’s best pitcher on paper couldn’t quite get that one key out when he needed it.  He is beginning to acquire the dreaded label ‘.500 pitcher’ after a regular BARB season that saw him only go 12-12 with a 3.45 ERA despite toiling for the best offensive club (BARB-leading 864 runs) in the loop.

Fortunately for Varitek in this contest, the Kansans were able to rally late, as Michael Cuddyer doubled off David Carpenter (0-1, 9.00) in the top of the 10th to give St. Francis a 3-2 lead, with Fernando Rodney (1-0, 0.00) finishing a second inning of shutout ball for the win.   But the rest of the playoffs would not augur well for Varitek’s future with the ballclub.

GAME TWO: ST. FRANCIS AT YUMA

Things started off well for the Kansans in this game, as well, as Aramis Ramirez drilled a one-out fastball from Yuma starter Chris Sale (14-7, 2.95) with a man aboard for a 2-0 lead after just half an inning.   Ramirez, a backup much of the year behind the sidelined Pedro Alvarez, was a key part of St. Francis’s impressive depth in the regular season and would hit .416 overall in the playoffs.

Varitek, having lost confidence in Clay Buchholz (13-8, 3.45) late in the season, had elected to give veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (12-12, 5.14)  the start despite Dickey having been dumped from the rotation in mid-season.   With two out, a runner on and a base open, Varitek opted to let Dickey pitch to Buster Posey with the light-hitting Andrelton Simmons behind him.  Posey made Varitek and the Kansans play by hitting a game-tying blast, effectively keeping Sale in the game after the lefty had looked shaky early.

As it turned out, Sale was one of Yuma’s best assets on offense. 

The lefty hit a one-out double in the third, then singled to reach with one out in the fifth.   Underrated (and former Kansan) Ben Zobrist turned on a Dickey ‘heater’ with Sale aboard to launch a second two-run blast, and a 4-2 Yuma lead.   Sale (1-0, 3.00) would end up going all the way, not allowing another hit after veteran Adam Dunn’s solo shot in the seventh, to hang the loss on Dickey (0-1, 7.50).


Yuma had tied the Series at home, and would now need to win at least one road game to advance to the Series.

GAME THREE: YUMA AT ST. FRANCIS

With the series tied, Yuma would send impressive rookie Marcus Stroman (5-3, 3.16 in 16 starts) to the hill.   Meanwhile, St. Francis manager Jason Varitek was in a quandary: start Buchholz, who had moved down the pecking order with several poor starts late in the season, or start Tyson Ross?  Ross had begun as a swing man in St. Francis’s bullpen, but had been a mid-season revelation (8-1, 3.24 ERA in 15 starts) when added to the rotation.   But a sore arm had meant that Ross had not pitched regularly for nearly two weeks.

Varitek went with his veteran, and while Buchholz only allowed one run, he looked shaky doing it.   After his 70th pitch of the ballgame was tagged for a double leading off the fifth, and already trailing 1-0, Varitek pulled the slight-framed, visibly-laboring Buchholz.  Ross was summoned, and while effective (3.2 IP, just one run) into the ninth, his early appearance meant that both starters would be unavailable the rest of the series.

Still, the Kansans got back into the ball game.   Stroman finally faltered in the eighth,  nursing a 2-0 lead after a solo HR from Andrelton Simmons had doubled his cushion in the seventh.   Pinch-hitter Grant Green grounded meekly to Simmons, but after a one-out single from St. Francis SS J.J. Hardy, CF Jacoby Ellsbury launched a no-doubt bomb into the alley in RF, tying the ballgame at 2-2, shifting the advantage to the home club.

In the top of the 10th, that man Ben Zobrist worked
a one-out walk for the Firebirds with LaTroy Hawkins (0-1, 6.75) pitching.   Varitek called on his best reliever, Koji Uehara, to finish the frame.   Anthony Rendon hit a slow roller to Hardy to force Zobrist, but Danny Espinosa’s strong-armed relay was just a bit too late to nip the athletic Rendon at first.   With two out, that brought the left-handed CF, Andrew McCutcheon, to the plate.  Arguably Yuma’s best player (.305, team-leading 25 HR and 109 RBI), why would anyone pitch to him with the oft-injured Casey McGeehee behind him?

But pitch to him is what Uehara and Varitek did, and McCutchen made them PAY.  In the playoff’s pivotal moment, McCutchen smashed a liner that carried, carried, CARRIED the other way OVER THE WALL in left, a 4-2 YUMA LEAD.   All that remained was for Mark Melancon to work his third inning in the bottom of the 10th, and after allowing a soft single to Hardy, Melancon got Ellsbury to ground into the hole.....where Andrelton Simmons, as if it was routine, picked it and retired Ellsbury by a full step.

YUMA had won, 4-2, in extra frames to take the lead in the playoffs!

GAME FOUR: YUMA AT ST. FRANCIS

At this point, the cold realities for St. Francis were this: they lacked the pitching depth of their foe, and they had to win to force a fifth game.  Yuma would bring on its fourth proven starter, Jeff Samardzija (12-7, 4.16), knowing that if they lost they would go back home, and have a rested David Price to start their fifth game.

St. Francis, meanwhile, could’ve started Travis Wood (18-5, 3.17) or swing man Jon Niese, both of whom would’ve been fresh.   But the Kansans were well aware of Yuma’s tremendous record in the regular season against southpaws: the Firebirds were an incredible 34-8 against lefty starters.   But if not a lefty, who?   Macho as ever, Varitek chose to bring back Strasburg  on short rest.   As with his decisions to pitch to Posey and McCutcheon when he didn’t have to, this would come back to haunt the Kansans.

This was the “ugly” for Strasburg: Rendon and McGehee singled with one down in the top of the first, and after Ryan Zimmerman singled in Rendon, there was really no place to put Yuma LF Ryan Braun.   Strasburg’s get-ahead ‘heater’ was LAUNCHED, a three-run bomb, and after just a half of a frame, Yuma led, 4-0!

That was pretty much the ballgame and the series for St. Francis, which played very poorly the rest of the way.   Strasburg, to his credit, righted the ship for three more innings, in which the Kansans scratched out three runs against Samardzija to narrow the lead to 4-3.  But Varitek’s macho philosophy met its end in the fifth, perhaps lulled into confidence by the way his young ace kept piling up the strikeouts.   Strasburg (0-1, 7.15) walked Zobrist to open the inning....but he fanned Anthony Rendon on a full count.   They intentionally walked McCutchen this time to get to McGehee, and dispatched him on three pitches.  That brought up Zimmerman and pitch #79...the last of the night for Strasburg.   Zimmerman JUMPED on the first fastball he saw and hit it over the wall, several rows back, a three-run bomb and a 7-3 Yuma lead.

In the St. Francis owner’s box, a soft oath was muttered but you could’ve heard a pin drop.   The Kansans were effectively done at that point.   Andrelton Simmons would hit another solo shot and later draw a bases-loaded walk (owch) from R.A. Dickey in long relief.   Ryan Braun would add an RBI double, and even singles hitter Casey McGehee would get into the act with a rare HR off Jon Niese.   Veteran Jason Frasor would pitch the final two innings for Yuma to save their pen, and get Ellsbury and pinch-hitter Dioner Navarro for the last two outs.

SIMMONS EARNS MVP HONORS

The FINAL:   YUMA wins, 11-4, and advances to the Series....and ST. FRANCIS, licking its wounds, could only regroup after more than a hundred wins ended in ashes.  





The MVP of this four-game affair?   Clearly, it was SS Andrelton Simmons.

Not only did he homer twice and drive in key runs, but it was his spectacular defensive play that bailed out his club time and time again in the first three games whenever the Kansans were threatening to have a big inning.

Yes, the vaunted Kansan bats didn’t do much against Simmons or the Firebirds.  St. Francis, minus left-handed power hitters Chris Davis and Pedro Alvarez, wasn’t able to manage much on offense in the series.   Jose Bautista, who went deep seven times in the final two weeks to help the Kansans clinch their third playoff berth in four years, was remarkably ineffective against Yuma’s pitching, having just three singles in 17 trips.   In all St. Francis scored 12 runs and hit a pedestrian .234 en route to their playoff exit, and back to the drawing board.

“The disappointment is real,” said GM Scott Hatfield.  “This was the best club we had ever put together, and after reaching the World Series last year, we felt this was our best shot to win it all.  From this year’s draft, we were ‘all win’ to win.   I feel bad for the St. Francis fans, who have supported us with record attendance.  But we have to tip our hats to the other playoff clubs, including Yuma, for making it a challenge and a goal worth aspiring to.   St. Francis has won more than two hundred games this year, but we came six wins short of our goal for 2014.  We are going to lace ‘em up this spring and get after it, just like the last two years.”

ONE DIVISION UNSETTLED

For the first half of the 2014 BARB campaign, the Casselton Horned Toads struggled to stay in hailing distance of the St. Francis Kansans. A nearly three-month long hot streak, however, took Landon Bolt’s charges to the brink of clinching on September 26.

On June 30, Casselton was 49-32 and trailing St. Francis by 11 games after the Kansans sped to a 60-21 record in the first half. While Scott Hatfield has been agonizing over his team’s “collapse” (42-36 with three games to play in the second half of the season), the Horned Toads have been almost as hot as St. Francis in the first half. A 56-23 record since July 1 brought them to a final series at home against the Brownsville Cutters.

Rookie sensation Tanner Roark (14-6, 2.50 ERA) took the hill with his team’s magic number at 2. His opponents, the Cutters, were fighting the ’62 Mets (or ’03 Boise Brawlers) for a record in futility at 40-119.

John Danks, the Brownsville starter, lasted just four-plus innings. He allowed four of his five runs in the first, when Edwin Encarnacion blasted a three-run homer after Justin Upton’s RBI double.

If St. Francis fans were watching, all hope drained out after the Cutters stranded two in the top of the third. Roark finished six innings, allowing three hits and striking out six against one walk. Nick Vincent and Craig Stammen completed the 8-0 victory.

The Kansans were playing host as well, but they had to face the Carolina Wildcats, who were already knocked out of postseason contention despite their 94 wins. Scott Kazmir was in control for his entire six innings, giving up only one hit and one walk as his team built an early lead.

Jon Niese only lasted 2 2/3 as his arm stiffened up during an hour-plus rain delay. He might not have been long for the contest anyway, as he gave up three runs on five hits in the outing.

Carolina held the 3-run advantage into the sixth inning, when Pat Neshek, who had come on for the last out of the fifth, fell apart. After striking out Adam Jones, Neshek gave up a solo homer to Nelson Cruz. Joe Mauer and Jose Altuve singled and doubled, respectively, and Dee Gordon stung a single to right to score both.

Carolina eventually added a final run and four relievers finished off the Kansans in a two-hit combined masterpiece.

The Wildcat win officially clinched the Central division for Casselton, as the Horned Toads are three games up with two to play.

It also means Casselton, with 105 wins, will be the top seed in the BARB playoffs. St. Francis is the wild card, and because the two are from the same division they won’t play each other in the first round. Casselton will play the East winner (Worcester and Frostbite Falls are tied with two games to play) and West champion Yuma gets St. Francis.

CASSELTON CLINCHES; WILDCATS WIPED OUT

September 18: Landon Bolt’s team was assured a playoff spot with their victory over Brownsville (making 100 on the season) and a Carolina loss to St. Francis that capped a wild few days of play that included crooked numbers and a no-hitter.

It’s almost a tradition in Bullard Alternative Reality Baseball: the league’s fourth-best record sits out of the four-team playoffs because the top two are from their same division. This time, however, it was the Carolina Wildcats of the BARB Central Division, not a team from the usual “Division of Death”, the East, which received the short end of the stick.

For much of the last few months, the Casselton Horned Toads have been charging the St. Francis Kansans, who had been expected to run away with the Central for the first half of the season. Casselton even caught and passed St. Francis just a few days before clinching, before the Kansans started picking up their play again. The two teams even played a two-game series, their last against each other, on the 16^th and 17^th (a split; St. Francis won, 4-1, behind Travis Wood before Casselton lambasted Shelby Miller for 11 runs in four-plus innings as Tim Hudson pulled a “Maddux”—complete-game shutout on less than 100 pitches).

The Horned Toads and Kansans went their separate ways to attempt to take the division crown, as St. Francis traveled to Carolina and Casselton went to Brownsville.

Anthony King’s squad was hanging on to its last thread of playoff hopes. Casselton’s magic number to clinch at least the wild card was two, meaning a combination of two Casselton wins or Carolina losses locked it up. in this all-important division game with the Kansans, lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu took the ball for the Wildcats against Bud Norris. Neither starter pitched well; Norris exited after four and a third innings having allowed nine hits and five runs, Ryu gave up six runs in 5.2 innings pitched.

The Kansans put up four in the top of the first on the strength of a Marlon Byrd three-run blast and added one in the fourth. Carolina’s Nick Markakis laced a two-run double as part of a four-run fourth, and they tied it in the fifth. The sixth, however, marked the downfall of the Carolina season. Ryu got two quick outs (on five pitches) before a 20-foot dribbler allowed Salvador Perez to reach in front of Jacoby Ellsbury’s double to left-center to end the pitcher’s night. Brett Cecil entered and promptly threw a wild pitch for one run before a single brought in another. It could have been worse, but Jayson Werth was gunned down at home to end the inning after yet another base knock.

To make matters worse for the Wildcats, Nelson Cruz was tagged out attempting to steal home to end a promising situation in the bottom of the inning. One wonders if Pat Neshek’s patented windup confused the plodding slugger.

The score remained 7-5 until the eighth, when St. Francis hit five singles before Jed Lowrie capped the scoring with a two run jack. The five-run frame all-but sealed the game and left Carolina’s slim postseason chances to Brownsville to keep alive.

Across the country at Cockerton Field, the hapless Cutters (39-112, already assured of the first pick, pending expansion, in the 2015 draft) sent Drew Hutchison to the mound against Chris Tillman. After just a few minutes, the television would be shut off in the Carolina locker room as players slumped out the door.

The reason? Casselton scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back. Three doubles and a Jay Bruce home run were the big hits. The second began with more of the same—Scooter Gennett got a hold of one to lead off and Hutchison was given the hook. Kyle Farnsworth, Matt Belisle and Jonathan Broxton ALL threw pitches in the frame, and with seven innings left to play the Horned Toads held an 8-1 lead.

Brownsville hacked away at the Casselton advantage, slowly, scoring a run in the third and the sixth, but three more Toads crossed the plate in the seventh to put the game away.

The 12-6 win meant Landon Bolt’s charges were returning to the postseason for the first time since they were edged out in the first round in 2010.

PLAYOFFS NEARLY SET

Three teams have clinched playoff spots. The fourth will be the East Division champion. At this point, it is likely the top two records will come from the Central. If that holds, the Central champion will face the East winner, with West-titlist Yuma hosting the wild card winner. If the season ended today, it would be Worcester @ St. Francis and Casselton @ Yuma. A lot can happen in the final week-and-a-half, though. The Central can flip-flop, and the four teams in the East are within four-and-a-half games of each other and all mathematically alive.

SPEAKING OF THE EAST…

Worcester, Frostbite Falls, Brooklyn and Nor Cal have all had legitimate chances to take control, but none has run away with the division. As it stands, the Eliminators hold a half-game lead over the Flying Squirrels, with the Moabs four off the pace and the Pirates over-.500 but a half-game behind Brooklyn.

Brooklyn visited the Pirates on September 17^th, and the two had quite the see-saw battle. It was rather mundane into the bottom of the seventh. Eric Caskey’s Moabs built a 7-1 lead after the top of the seventh inning and sent Sonny Gray out for the bottom half. Five hits and a pitching change later, the dust settled and the scoreboard showed a one-run game. Gray was pulled after Devin Mesoraco crushed a grand slam, and Drew Storen allowed one more across. A Wil Myers two-run jack in the eighth gave Brooklyn some breathing room, but Storen, Soria and Neftali Feliz gave it right back and more in a three-run bottom half.

Those eight runs over two innings pushed the game to extra frames. In the top of the 10^th, though, momentum swung permanently back to Brooklyn. Vic Black, already with two innings of work under his belt, recorded two outs but left with the bases loaded. Having used seven pitchers already, Nor Cal management went to starter Madison Bumgarner. Veteran speedster Rajai Davis was sent up to the dish to replace Rougned Odor in the pressure situation, but his bat did more of the talking than his trademark wheels. The “Mad Bum” grooved a 2-1 curveball and Davis sent the ball to left field. Yoenis Cespedes went back…BACK…GONE! Rajai Davis (?!) had hit a GRAND SLAM to suck the air right out of The Coliseum!

After Davis’ homer, two more Moabs scored in the 10^th. Feliz allowed two runners but closed out the 15-9 victory.

September 16: Arrieta shines

Both the Moabs and Pirates were still chasing Matt Caskey’s Worcester Eliminators, as were the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels. Frostbite was the closest, and on September 16^th Jake Arrieta continued his resurgent second half in grand fashion to pull his team closer to the top.

Arrieta, installed in the rotation at mid-season, had experienced his struggles with the rest of the Squirrel rotation during the dog days of summer. (Felix Hernandez, in fact, was so consistently bad that fans could almost read “Bernandez”, as in “Larry” on the back of his jersey.) Arrieta, and the team, had turned it around in September and were making a final push for a chance to defend their World Series title.

So it was that Arrieta took the bump opposite Johnny Cueto, coming back from his own befuddling season-long struggles, in the second of a three-game series in Massachusets.

Frostbite came away with a win in the first game, 5-3, behind Cole Hamels. Arrieta followed suit and began mowing down Worcester hitters from the beginning, retiring the first eight batters while gaining offensive support from the bat of Evan Longoria in the form of a second-inning solo shot. However, the defense of Longoria, typically very good, was to blame for the first Worcester runner, as he kicked a two-out grounder by Justin Morneau in the third. He did field Jason Heyward’s ground ball cleanly to end the inning.

Frostbite added another run in the fourth. Bryce Harper led off with a double and advanced to third on a Longoria fly-out before scoring on an Albert Pujols grounder.

Arrieta, meanwhile, was still retiring Eliminator after Eliminator. He retired the side in order in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. Still the only Worcester baserunner was Morneau on the error, and the home crowd was getting antsy. They had a chance to cheer with one away in the eighth when Jonathan Lucroy’s can of corn was muffed by center fielder Craig Gentry, but Jason Kipnis got in the way of Chris Johnson’s liner to end that frame.

The vaunted Worcester bullpen had shut the door on Frostbite after Cueto’s seven innings, so it was up to Arrieta to protect the 2-0 lead. Morneau struck out, the 10^th K victim for Arrieta. Heyward worked the count in his favor, but his line drive was speared by Kipnis. That left it to Hanley Ramirez, the leading hitter on the team (.349). Down in the count at one ball and two strikes, Ramirez was jammed and dumped a three-hopper in front of Arrieta. The pitcher, clearly fighting off nerves, steadied himself and fired to first to complete his masterpiece, a NO-HITTER over the division leaders!

The lanky righty had thrown 118 pitches and allowed just the two runners on errors while striking out 10. His win and a well-pitched game by Hernandez the next day completed the sweep and pulled the Flying Squirrels within a half-game of Worcester with 10 to play! In addition, it was the first no-no in Frostbite Falls history.

CENTRAL TEAMS THE STORY IN THE STRETCH

There will be three teams that win more than ninety games in the Central this year. 

 No, that's not a typo. A division long ill-regarded for its up-and-down ways will no doubt compile more wins than either the vaunted East or the Yuma-dominated West, and will place two teams in the BARB postseason. It is even conceivable, at this point, that either St. Francis or Carolina could lead the league in scoring, win 99 games . . . and yet miss the playoffs!

 Yes, that's right, that's how dominant the Central has been, and especially impressive the incredible hot streak of the . . .

CASSELTON HORNED TOADS:

At one point, Landon Bolt's charges were nine games behind Central-leading St. Francis. But over the last five weeks of BARB play, Casselton has gotten huge mileage out of scrap-heap free-agent signee  Bartolo Colon.

The burly veteran is 6-1 with a 1.27 ERA in eight starts, including three shutouts...as red-hot as you can imagine a portly senior citizen to be. Another grandpa-to-be, 39-year-old Tim Hudson, has been at least comparable, adding a shutout and three wins to improve to 14-9. Casselton has ridden their veteran starters hard to avoid turning too much to their pen, and so far the formula has worked: despite losing Brad Ziegler, Sergio Romo and now Glen Perkins, the club has collected 40-plus saves from their bullpen-by-committee as they enter the final two weeks of play.

As a consequence, the red-hot Horned Toads have three times run up winning streaks of eight or more games, and in the second week of September, caught the Kansans and, for the first time in over a year, led the Central Division with ten games to play.   After fading in the final month of the 2013 campaign and finishing just four games behind St. Francis, this fabulous stretch drive run has the Horned Toads on the cusp of not just making the playoffs, not just winning the Central, but perhaps winning more than 100 games and leading the entire loop in victories.   Amazing!

ST.FRANCIS KANSANS:

The former Friars, meanwhile, have suffered terribly on the injury front. IF Michael Cuddyer spent a second stint on the DL, 3B Pedro Alvarez has been fitted with a walking boot and will likely miss the rest of the season.

Most galling of all: likable team HR leader Chris Davis (36 bombs, 99 RBI) was suspended from the rest of the 2014 season when he failed a drug test for an unauthorized stimulant, Adderall. 

While Commissioner Andrew Haynes suggested that Davis might qualify for post-season action, Kansans owner Scott Hatfield was less sanguine. "We can't count on Chris," Hatfield brooded. "We're disappointed in him. The team misses him, but we have to go on without him." St. Francis, faced with a loss of Alvarez and Davis's left-handed power, swung a deal to acquire the soon-to-retire slugger Adam Dunn. Dunn, spotted almost exclusively against right-handers as a DH, has so far had a positive impact, hitting six homers in limited duty, while RF Jose Bautista gamely played both 1B and 3B to help paper over some of the lineup holes with so many players on the mend. So far, the Kansans have staved off total collapse, and remain neck-and-neck with the hard-charging Horned Toads. But anything could happen!

CAROLINA WILDCATS:  

No club has been more impressive in terms of its offense in the second half. Josh Donaldson (.294, 30 HR, 98 RBI) and Yasiel Puig (.336, 33, 113) have been unstoppable with the bat, more than making up for the loss of Carlos Gonzalez. The Wildcasts won their franchise-record 85th game last week and are easily on pace for more than ninety wins, and their top three starting pitchers (Scott Kazmir, Jordan Zimmerman and James Shields) could match up with any club in a short series. 

Their problem? A ragtag bullpen, stretched beyond its limits by injuries to starters Homer Bailey and Hyin-Jin-Ryu. This is a club that will probably have more wins than any club in the East when it's all said and done, yet miss the playoffs. No doubt, based on the second half, they have to be favored contenders for 2015.

Taking all this into the conversation, it might be said that the Central is the toughest division in the 2014 BARB season. The Central's top four teams average 83 wins as of Sept. 12th in BARB, compared with the East (75 wins) or the West (73 wins). What makes this especially strange is that Yuma, Worcester and Frostbite Falls all collected more than 100 wins in the 2013 season, and with just twelve games left in the schedule it is doubtful that any will reach that mark again. In fact, neither the Eliminators and Squirrels are likely to exceed 90 wins. Is this what PARITY looks like?

FIREBIRDS FIRST TO CLINCH

With relatively-little fanfare, the Yuma Firebirds knocked off Worcester on Game Day 145 behind eight strong innings from Mat Latos (5-6, 3.23) to improve to 92-52, and in the process clinch another Western Division title.  The traditional power in the West, Yuma has now won eight divisional titles and will qualify for the playoffs for the tenth time since the founding of BARB in 2003.

Yuma's strength: pitching, pitching and more pitching.   The Firebirds lead all of BARB with a 3.17 staff ERA.   Their starters have compiled a league-leading 23 games, and while their bullpen is not as spectacular as Worcester's group of strikeout artists, they've been effective: 18 wins, 40 saves, and an overall team record of 77-2 when leading after seven innings.


On the down side, injuries or slumps on the part of Joey Votto, Nick Swisher, Ryan Braun and Andrelton Simmons have depressed a once-potent offense, which heads towards the post-season with only one player (Andrew McCutchen) having an All-Star quality season, and thus an offense that is merely in the middle of the BARB pack.   And, speaking of Latos, word has come down that tendinitis will likely the force the big right-hander to the sidelines for the playoffs.   No doubt Yuma feels comfortable with its pitching depth, with hot rookie Marcus Stroman (4-3, 3.77) and capable Jeff Samardzjia (10-7, 4.58) around to pick up for aces David Price, Gerrit Cole and Chris Sale.