September 25. 2022 Edition

Oh how interesting it is. Coming down to the wire with the last sim of the season on deck. It’s a free for all in both the Races and the Chases.

Races

With all of the Sovereign League division leaders having that cool looking x beside their names, all eyes are on the Wild Card race. And oh what a race it is. The Bakersfield Bears who have been hibernating all season long, has been shot out of a cannon to take sole possession of the 3rd and final Wild Card spot. They’ve won the last 10 out of their last 12 games including series wins against the Shin Seiki Evas and the Yuma Bulldozers. Add a series win over Kalamazoo and a sweep of Reno and the Bears now control their own destiny. They only have a .5 game lead over the Duluth Warriors and the Okinawa Shisa. The Palm Springs Codgers are right there at 2 games back but will need some help. Kalamazoo made a late run but at 4 games back it’s too little too late.

It isn’t going to be easy for Bakersfield. With 6 games left on the schedule they play Palm Springs for 3, which is a huge series, and Desert Hills division champions the Aurora Borealis come to town for 3 games. All 6 games are at home which could help.

Duluth also finish with 2 home series’ and an away rain date. A 3 gamer with Kalamazoo, a 3 game series with Fargo and a rain makeup game with the Canton Longshoremen. The Warriors are 8-15 for the month of August and 25-40 since the all-star break. If they are gonna break their slide the time is now.

Okinawa has the Niihama Ghosts for a 3 series and 4 games to close out  the season with the Crystal Lake Sandgnats.  With the Sandgnats tied with Aurora for the best record in the Sovereign League and home field advantage, they can’t afford to rest players and put that in jeopardy. So Okinawa will most likely being going against their starters throughout the series.

Palm Springs on the other hand has an interesting road ahead with an outside shot to steal that last spot in the playoffs. The Codgers face Bakersfield for a big 3 game series and Yuma in Arizona for 3 games. Yuma has a Wild Card spot sewn up and is in position to rest starters. All eyes will be on that Bakersfield series.

The Tempe Knights have a shot at punching their ticket to the playoffs for the first time since 2013. Their magic number is 2. With 7 games remaining 4 of those are against Aurora and 3 against Reno who has given them fits.

Who’s going to ask that pretty girl to dance and drive off with her in their hotrod and whose gonna be left sitting on the sidelines watching them drive off into the sunset saying, “maybe next year”.

Chases

Batting Champion:

Both Aurora’s OF-River Pope and Canton’s OF-Gabriel Martinez have caught fire here on the home stretch. Pope leads Martinez by .001 going into the last week of the season. Pope boasts a .346 avg with Martinez hitting .345. While these two slug it out for the batting championship Shin Seiki’s 2B-Matsusuke Hamada came back into form after an off year last season. Hamada is hitting at a .333 clip and is in a distant 3rd.

Home Run King:

With Shin Seiki’s OF-Ryozo Takeuchi back in the lineup, does Reno Zephers 2B-Ramon Leach have to worry? He might. Leach only has a 2 home run lead over Takeuchi who can hit them in bunches. Leach has 40 bombs on the year with Takeuchi sitting at 38 the crown is very much up for grabs. Don’t count out the Warriors SS-Andres Hernandez who sits at 37 taters. Crystal Lakes 1B-Wilson Munoz also sits at 37 but is out for 2 weeks with an intercostal strain. Not good with the playoffs just around the corner.

RBI Crown:

Crystal Lakes SS-Juan Hernandez has this crown all but sewn up the RBI Crown. Hernandez has 137 RBI’s on the year. The Evas Takeuchi is next in line with a 115 ducks. It would take a miracle, never seen before to catch him. The Bulldozers OF-Jarrod Ricks is in a close 3rd with 114 RBI’s.

The Flying Shoe:

Duluth’s OF-Joe Kenny is trying to run away with the Flying Shoe award with 55 stolen bases on the season. He’s opened up a decent gap between himself and runner up Aurora’s OF-Mike Hale who has 48 swipes. The Ghosts OF-Roman Suarez has a firm grip of the 3rd position with 45 thefts.

The Oscar Meyer Winner Award:

We have a 20 game winner ladies and gentlemen. Crystal Lakes Francisco Robles was the first pitcher in PEBA to reach the 20 game mark in 2022. Congrats to the 32 year old lefty out of Portland, Oregon. He captured number 20 in style as he shutout Canton 4-0. He went 7.1 innings, giving up 7 hits on 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Aurora’s Michel Provost is next in line for the magic 20 win mark. At 19 wins it looks like he will face Tempe’s Bartolo Esquivel  to try and capture his first 20 win season of his career. 4 pitchers are tied with 17 wins. Palm Springs Miguel Cantu, Crytal Lakes Manuel Corona, Yuma’s Gunner MacGruder and Shin Seiki’s Yakamochi Suitani.

Strikeout King:

Aurora’s Provost and Duluth’s Julian Thomas are tied at 199 in the strikeout race. Aurora’s Arturo Jimenez trails them with 195. With Jimenez working out of the pen as of late, his hopes to hang this award on his fireplace is slim. It appears both Provost and Thomas will have one more start before post season begins. Provost will go up against Tempe and Thomas will battle Fargo to settle the score.

Fireman Award:

Duluth’s closer Julio Gonzalez has a firm grip on the Fireman award for the most saves. He has 39 on the year. Trying to make chase is struggling Tempe closer Raul Cruz who has 36. Aurora’s Bryant Burris is in the 3rd spot with 35 saves and is on fire which is appropriate for this award. He has closed out 5 of his last 6 games which includes 4 saves and 1 win. He could chase em down.

There are some good chases to settle in this final week but the big story is the Wild Card race. This will be the funnest week of the year to watch for sure. Will Bakersfield continue to stay hot and close the deal, will Duluth recover in time to take back their ticket to the dance that they held onto for most of the year, or will Palm Springs take it from both of em or will Okinawa muscle it from all of em. Can Tempe punch their ticket to the playoffs. A ticket they haven’t seen in 9 years. Who’s your money on?

We’ll catch that can of corn in the next edition of Races and Chases.

Good night everybody