Ikari Dreams Dashed in Game 7

[Ghosts]

Maine, USA - 10 October, 2032

Yuji Yamashita knew something was off. Whether it was something in the air, some misalignment of the stars, or just plain bad luck, he had no idea. The moment the otherwise sure-handed Darius Freeman committed his team's second error and aided the Maine Lobsters in scoring four unearned runs was not revelatory, but just confirmatory to the 22-year-old. "Bad karma," Yuji insisted, and "not anyone's fault." Yamashita would go on to insist that if any one person were to be blamed, it should be him, since he failed to get out of the third inning. Short outings are not something the youngster is accustomed to, having averaged over 6 innings per start in his time in AA. He also shrugged off the idea that the stage was too big for him, noting that he didn't feel any different than in his four previous postseason starts, where he went 3-0, giving up just three runs - just that the day did not favor the Warriors. He may have a point: his teammate, Errol Marque, who just last season posted a 1.89 FIP in 32 appearances for none other than the Maine Lobsters, also struggled. The pair gave up a combined 12 runs (8 earned) as the Maine Lobsters heaved the Great Northern Cup for an astounding 10th time in the the league's 26 year history.

Credit must be given to that organization and it's steady stream of powerful talents. DH Tynan Stuckey (5.2 WAR), 2B Jorge Villa (3.6 WAR), CF Alfredo Guzman (3.7 WAR), and 1B David Lawson (7.5 WAR) must be acknowledged for incredible seasons that elevated the Lobsters offense to #1 overall in batting average and hits as well as #2 or #3 overall in most every other category. Even those feats, however, pale in comparison to the Lobsters pitching, which finished #1 overall in 9 of 10 categories. With a postseason rotation that included Sebastiaan de Roode (4.9 WAR), Monzaemon Nakashima (5.6 WAR), Fernando Garcia (6.9 WAR), and newcomer to AA Seiichi Sakaguchi (6.8 WAR in A ball), the lone category they did not win was BABIP, which many consider a partial measure of luck. The Warriors, on the other hand,  won only one category overall (OBP). A particularly strong nod must be made to Sakaguchi, whom made his first career AA appearance by starting game 7 of the championship. He went 5.2 innings, holding the Warriors to 2 runs on 4 hits, striking out 11.

Still, the Warriors believed they had a chance to win right until the end. Catcher Nolan McMahon, an American from East Cleveland, Ohio, and another newcomer to AA, thought it was just a matter of a few bad bounces. "I think we take that game four times out of five," McMahon stated coolly. "In the end we lost, but we know we belonged there and proved that by taking down Hamilton and Toyohiro." When asked about his plans after the loss, McMahon deadpanned, "I think some of the boys and I are going to go get thrown out of the local Red Lobster. I hope they know how to a make a decent burger."