Going into the final round vs Toyohira Fubuki, the Lobsters knew that it was going to be a tough fight. The Fubuki had a very tough pitching staff and while the Lobsters offense was one of the best in the league, they knew that the regular season doesn’t count for much in the final round. To show you how good the Fubuki were pitching going into this series, they won the last round 4-1 and in those 5 games, they gave up a total of 4 runs (2 in the loss). This also marked the 2^nd season in a row that Toyohira had made the Northern Cup Finals, losing 4-1 last year to Beaufort.

Game 1 had Paolo de Nooyer starting for Toyohira, while the Lobsters put hard throwing Juan Guerrero on the mound to start the series for them. As advertised pitching dominated this game and not just a little, but completely dominated. After 6 innings when the Lobsters took out Guerrero, there had only been 3 singles all game long and just 1 walk. Guerrero had given up 2 hits and 1 walk, while Nooyer had only given up 1 single. Going into the bottom of the 8^th Joe Johnson struck out and Nooyer was left in to face  Forest Aldridge and made his only mistake of the night which turned into a home run that just cleared the fences. Swanson and Vale closed out the last 3 innings for the Lobsters as they won 1-0. Lobsters win.

Game 2 Daniel Hernandez was facing Jose Tojeira in another game that was advertised as a pitching duel and like the previous game, it did not disappoint. In the top of the 2^nd Dean Scott took Tojeira deep to give the Fubuki an early 1-0 lead. The Lobsters answered in the bottom of the 3^rd with Likka Jarvela getting a 2 out rbi single to tie the game. The top of the 6^th had former West Virginia farmhand Rafael Durán hitting a single and driving home Ramón Clemente shortly after his stolen base. The problem for the Lobsters was, just like in game 1 all they could muster up were 2 hits. Hernandez went 8 innings with Naofumi Yamaguchi coming in the 9^th inning and shutting them down. 2-1 Fubuki win.

Game 3 on the road the Lobsters decided to go with Ryan Coyfe vs Andrés Rodríguez. Coyfe had been a reliable pitcher for the team since being called up, so they had all the confidence in him to right the ship. The first inning started out with the Lobsters getting an early lead thanks to a triple by Jarvela and a rbi 2b by Aldridge. That lead was very short lived as Coyfe gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the 1^st and then another two runs in the bottom of the 2^nd. The Lobsters did something they couldn’t do in games 1 and 2 and that was score,  in the top of each the 3^rd and 4^th innings they scored a run to cut the lead to 5-3. Entering the bottom of the 4^th, the Lobsters put in Andrew Blowey who would go 3 scoreless innings, but the team allowed him to start the bottom of the 7^th and the lead-off hitter got on-base due to an error by Francisco Lucador. That runner would end up scoring, and it would also be the run that was needed to win the game. That’s because in the top of the 8^th, Lucador almost made up for the error with a 2-run homer, but that would be all the runs the Lobsters would get as Yamaguchi came in the 9^th and once again shut them out. 6-5 Fubuki win.

Game 4 had Ricardo López vs Tsurayuki Harada in what Ian Quinn told his team was the most important game of their season. Ian said versus a team like Fubuki if you are down 3 games to 1, you might as well be down 4 games to 1 because that is what is going to happen. The Lobsters scored the first run of the game in the top of the second, but in the bottom of the 2^nd Fubuki scored a run thanks to a rare error by José Contreras. In the bottom half of the 3^rd Ashley Lammas hit a solo shot to make it 2-1 Fubuki. The Lobsters finally gave Lopez the hook in the 5^th inning after giving up 5 walks and 3 wild pitches (the pressure got to him today) and put in Jésus Canas. Jésus got out of the inning, but the next inning was not so kind to him as he gave up 3 runs, including a 2-run double to Lammas. Meanwhile Harada ended up going 7 innings and leaving with a 5-1 lead. In the top of the eighth inning another former farmhand Mauro Hernández stepped out on the mound and he proceeded to give up 2 hits, including a 2-out rbi double to Jeff Wolfe. The lead was cut down to 5-2, but that meant it would be a save situation and once again Yamaguchi would be coming in to close out the ninth. Yamaguchi came in and after got the first guy (Bill Starks) out, but then he gave up four straight hits culminating with a 3-run homer by Francisco Lucador to give the Lobsters a 6-5 lead. The bottom of the inning was a very nerve racking as Brandon Vale came in for the save but gave up a walk and a single before getting the 3 outs he needed to save the game. 6-5 Lobsters win.

Game 5 would be a rematch of game one with de Nooyer and Guerrero going at each other. The Lobsters got out to the early lead with a solo shot from Manual Salazar in the top of the 3^rd inning and then add another run in the top of the 6^th. Ian Quinn decided the 2-0 lead after 6 innings was enough and went to the pen and brought in Swanson. For the genius that Quinn is, this wasn’t one of his best decisions. In the bottom of the 7^th, Dean Scott hit a solo home run and then in the bottom of the 8^th with 1 out Swanson gave up a single to Durán. The team would then put in Brandon Vale who only faced two batters and giving up a double to Lammas and walking Hae-young Pak leaving with the bases loaded. The Lobsters would then put in Subaru Hujita who gave up a sacrifice fly to Kevin Newton and a rbi single to Scott, surrendering the lead 3-2. With the top of the 9^th coming up and Fubuki closer Yamaguchi exhausted, the fans all wondered who would come in to start and finish the 9th.  Tam Lochhead who finished the 8th, came in to start the 9th inning but he walked the first batter that he faced Bruce Schneider.  The manager decided he had enough of Lochhead and sent for Mauro Hernández to make his entrance. Mauro would then give up a base hit to Lucador and then a 2-out 2-rbi double to Aldridge who kept coming up with key hits this series. This gave the Lobsters the lead 4-3 and Hujita entered the game in the 9th and was able to close out the game. Lobsters win.

Game 6 would be a rematch of game 2, Hernández vs Tojeira. Once again it was Aldridge who got the Lobsters started with a solo home run in the bottom of the 2^nd inning, but once again that lead was short lived. Fubuki would score a run in the top of the 3^rd and another run in the top of the 4^th to get the lead 2-1. From that point on both starting pitchers cruised along both going 6.1 innings and leaving with the score still 2-1. Mauro Hernández would make another appearance and get Fubuki out of the 7^th inning with the lead. Entering the bottom of the 8^th inning with the bottom of the order up, Mauro was sent back out there, and he proceeded to walk the first 3 batters before getting the hook. After his last disastrous appearance, Yamaguchi entered the game ready to redeem himself. That did not happen as Yamaguchi allowed all 3 of Mauro’s runners to score and gave up another run himself before being take out for Elton Evison. Elton then allowed the 3 inherited runners on base to score by giving up a grand slam to Pedro Sandoval. Those 8 runs would seal the victory and the championship 9-2. Lobsters Win.

The Lobsters won the Championship, but it was a hard-fought series and even though it may have been 4 games to 1, it was anything but easy. This series could have easily been won by Fubuki if their bullpen had come been able to keep the Lobsters from scoring, but in the end that wasn’t the case. After the series finished, long-time manager and future Hall of Famer Ian Quinn announced that he was retiring. It may have cost him 1 last coach of the year, but Ian was never in it for the awards. He like teaching and he like winning, both things he did, and he did well. Congratulations to the Lobsters and Ian Quinn.