LAZY Baseball League

[Zwangzug]

This thread will be used for posting results from the LAZY Baseball League, and is a continuation of this.

[Yafor 2]

Yaforite Playoffs

Semifinals: Uharan Otters (102-70) vs. South Ajer Titans (89-83).

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Uharan won - not in the expected three games, but in four games (which, given the fact that it's a playoff series, is still pretty darn good). First two games were in Uharan, then moved to the capital for the last two, because that's how these series work. The first game was a blowout in Yaforite terms: a 7-0 victory for the Otters, covered by a dominant performance by Gerrin Aladan, the number-one starter in all of Yafor 2, and a pair of home runs from Uharan's top slugger Algerin Makuur. The second game was a come-back victory for the Titans, winning 3-2. The winning pitcher was South Ajer's ace (pitched in the second game due to a muscle sprain), their midseason acquisition left-hand Niorda Kaharin, who threw eight innings of four-hit, no-walk ball as the Titans beat the Otters on three sacrifice flies.

That was all for the Titans' hopes in the divisional series. The Otters, led by their three and four starters and a strong bullpen (along with national team closer Tyrius Validor) won big in the remaining two games 6-2 and 8-3. Star shortstop Arrin Jarridan was the main man for the Otters, with three home runs (all from the right side against left-handed Titans pitching) and overall going 7-10 with eight RBIs in the two games. The top of the order consistently got on base for the big sluggers throughout the entire series for the Otters and with a middle of the order like Makuur and Jarridan, the Otters managed to dominate the Titans in the final two games, both in front of Ajer fans. It was not an unexpected result.

Semifinals: N'samri Heights Fire (98-74) vs. Cirad Blaze (96-76).

Unsurprisingly, the second game went to five matches - the first two in N'samri, the second two in Cirad, and the final back in N'samri and the Blaze finally triumphed in the end. The first game was a N'samri standard victory - the most offensive side in the league going up against Cirad's ace, Sameris Delovinde. N'samri managed to get to Delovinde early - a three-run home run by Ronian Harerin in the first and a two-run double by Adahale Averen in the second were the early blows. Delovinde settled down, but it ended up being too late - despite seven more innings from him, the Blaze fell 5-3. In the second game, Cirad's offense once again woke up; on a bases-clearing double by Nshaan Terrihoran in the fourth, and then a two-run triple by Kural Minhaar in the fifth. After a shut-down bullpen effort lead by bullpen ace Farenis Teloran, the Blaze won 7-3.

It was to Cirad for the next two and the Blaze continued their strong performance, winning 3-1 on a six-inning effort by their starter, a two-inning effort by bullpen maestro Teloran and then the save for Simor Rentar. The Fire bounced right back, winning the fourth game a resounding 12-4, with a three-homer day from catcher S'taaran Amiordan, displaying some of his rare power to all fields, and then a four-hit day for Averen and third-baseman Kalin Mahataran. That set up a final, with the opening matchup of Sameris Delovinde against the Fire offense - a final game in N'samri that would truly burn bright. Delovinde was masterful, working eight innings of two-hit, one-run ball (on a home run by Harerin). The Blaze managed to score two in a sacrifice fly and, just after, a successful suicide squeeze. The bullpen worked its magic, with Rentar closing it out, and the final was set.

Finals: Uharan Otters (102-70) vs. Cirad Blaze (96-76).

The series, a best-of-seven, went to an unsurprising six, but it was the opening matchup that thrilled the nation. Uharan's superstar Gerrin Aladan against Cirad's ace Sameris Delovinde. For the second time in two series, Delovinde found himself losing the opening game. This time it wasn't due to his collapsing, but simply being out pitched. Both pitchers went the distance - Delovinde giving up one run in his eight innings and Aladan pitching a shutout in his nine (a triumphant, excellent performance to put Uharan up 1-0 in the series). The one run was scored on Arrin Jarridan's RBI double to score Jasin Onoharan. The final score a YaFoTie of baseball proportions, a 1-0.

The second game pitted the number two pitchers from each side against one another and, once again, Uharan came out on top against their home crowd in a 4-2 thriller. Jarridan continued his excellent finals, going 3-4 with two doubles and triple, and scoring two runs - the second coming on an RBI single from the Otters pitcher, Christian Ramirez. Center fielder Carlos DeSouza scored the remaining two runs for the Otters, completing his five-walk night. The Blaze could only muster slight offense, coming on a two-run double by Nshaan Terrihoran in the third inning, plating the runners on first and second. Through the series up until this point, they were 1-7 with runners in scoring position, despite having a number of runners on their team.

It was in the third game where the Blaze finally broke through against the Otters pitching staff, winning a 5-0 shutout. Kural Minhaar and catcher Jorge Santa Lopez each had two-run shots against the Otters starter, who only went four innings. On the other side, Cirad managed to hold the Otters, shutting down the red hot Jarridan and DeSouza and holding the winningest team in LAZY to only three hits, all from the bottom of the order. Simor Rentar came in for his first shot at the finals and he managed to shut down the Otters in order for two strong innings and a two-inning save. This made the series 2-1 and made it look less like an Otters walkover.

The fourth game was another Blaze masterpiece. Santa Lopez had a multi-home-run day, capping a 4-5 day where he had two home runs, a double, a single, and seven RBIs. The Cirad Blaze managed to even up the series 2-2 on a 9-2 destruction of the Otters pitching staff. This time it was once again the Otters starter who imploded, removing in the third after giving up six runs in 2+ innings, including twelve baserunners. Terrihoran also had a brilliant day, scoring four times after he reached base due to three walks and two doubles. To many in Yafor 2, this signaled that the series was not only far from over, but the series would perhaps even go to seven. Uharan had yet to be tested up until this point, and many thought that this was finally the time where they would be.

And so the fifth game came, the rematch of the first, Delovinde and Aladan. Just like the last time around, Delovinde found himself over matched by the better pitcher. Aladan threw eight strong innings, once again preserving a shutout, and Sameris Delovinde took another loss, allowing two runs in seven innings. Uharan were now up 3-2 in the series due to Algerin Makuur's first hit of the series, a booming home run to the opposite field, and won the game 2-0. Tyrius Validor came on for the ninth and the save and, according to many present, was hitting the hundreds regularly with his fastball. It set up for an exciting game six as they returned to Uharan and the Blaze fighting for their lives.

It was an exciting game six. Twelve innings, a 2-1 victory on Arrin Jarridan's double, and then a single to get him to third, and then a sacrifice fly. The Otters were victorious in dramatic fashion, winning a battle of the two best bullpens in the league. The winning pitcher? Reliever Kaior Ajaran. The man of the series? Seventeen innings pitched, no runs allowed. Gerrin Aladan.

Champions: Uharan Otters (102-70)
Second Place: Cirad Blaze (96-76)
Third Place: N'samri Heights Fire (98-74)
Fourth Place: South Ajer Titans (89-83)

[Liventia]

Liventian regular season championship and LAZY playoffs
The four Liventian regular-season divisional champions (excluding interleague play), Talbott (64-44), Lox Land Island (71-37), the Desert Rock Cats (67-41) and Jesner (62-46), took part in a two-round playoff to determine the Liventian champions for the year.

The first round featured Jesner playing Lox Land and Talbott playing Desert Rock each in a best-of-five series. Jesner, which won the National Liventia Baseball Championship's Group D but failed to make the LAZY playoffs due to its poor interleague record (27-37), swept the Islanders in three games while it took Group A champions Talbott the full five games to despatch Desert Rock.

Jesner made easy work of Talbott in the best-of-seven final series, however, winning four games to one, and securing the Liventian title. While they could celebrate, they knew they had missed out on the big one. Until, that was, it came to light that Lox Land Island had selected and played three ineligible players during the regular season championship finals. The NLBC elected to eject Lox Land from the LAZY national playoffs, replacing them with Jesner.

The three teams had to regroup as they, and Group D overall champions Orean Titans (94-78; 60-48 minus interleague) would join them in a four-team single-round-robin tournament to determine the two finalists. Home advantage was decided randomly; each team would get at least one home game.

The Orean Titans visited the Desert Rock Cats (99-73) in the first playoff round-robin game, with Seb Ward (9-4, 3.67 ERA) facing off against Victor Broadbridge (4-1, 4.60 ERA). A three-run seventh from the Desert Rock Cats was enough to overcome a first-inning run allowed; an additional run came in the eighth inning to make the score 4-1. The Titans got one back in the 9th but it was not enough, with Broadbridge getting the win, going 8.0 innings and allowing four hits, three walks and just the one run while striking out ten.

The second game saw Ste Salley (13-11, 3.78) lead out Talbott in Jesner, who put the 19-11 Albert Sturdy (3.17 ERA) on the mound. It was the very definition of a pitchers' duel, with neither starter giving anything up for the first seven innings and some. Talbott struck first, with Jon Brayley smashing just his fifth home run of the season with one out in the top of the eighth, 389 feet on a line drive. Sturdy easily saw out the inning, but Salley was just as dominant for Talbott. Sturdy allowed a second run in the top of the ninth before being pulled, but both starting pitchers combined for 17.2 IP, 7 HA, 2 ER, 1 BB and 16 Ks. Solley went the distance in a four-hit shutout to put Talbott's record at 1-0.

The third game saw the two 0-1 teams go head-to-head, with the game played in Orean. Jesner were fronted by Arthur Hirst (5-3, 2.00), against Grant "Griff" Narborough, who held a regular season record of 6-2, 3.84 ERA. Hirst went 7.1 innings allowing three hits as he and his relief combined for a shutout to power Jesner to a 4-0 win.

The Cats visited Talbott for the fourth game, with Gavin Bradley (9-5, 4.35) up against the home side's Harry Allen (4-4, 4.94). If Talbott's first game was a pitchers' duel, this was a slugfest, as 16 runs were scored on 28 hits by both sides, with the visitors winning 10-6. Four homers were slugged, including one from Brayley, hitting his second of the LAZY postseason. Allen earned the loss after failing to hang on to a 6-0 lead from the first inning.

The Titans took on Talbott looking to get their first victory and stand a chance at qualifying for the finals, sending the 6-1 Simon Plumbly to the mound against Talbott's Oscar James, who held a record of 4-4 and had an ERA over five. Another slugfest in this one saw 24 hits being cracked out, eight by the visitors, who came back from two runs allowed in each of the first two innings with a four-run fifth. However, in the bottom of the ninth, with a runner on second, Louis Bonfield cracked a single on a liner into left, and with a throwing error on the left-fielder's part, Lee MacPherson came home to score the winning run to eliminate Orean.

Ewan Hickson (19-14, 5.47) got the nod in the final game for the Desert Rock Cats against Alex Parkins (3-5, 6.01) of Jesner. Another slugfest, with 17 runs scored on 26 hits. Jesner's Isaac Hutton hit three bombs — a solo shot in the fourth to right, a two-run dinger two innings later to right-centre that went 398 ft, and a walkoff three-run homer to left in the ninth with two outs and his team trailing by two.

This puts the standings as follows: Desert Rock 2-1, Jesner 2-1, Talbott 2-1, Orean Titans 0-3. Run differential settled things, with Desert Rock at +3, Jesner at +5, and Talbott at -1.

Jesner therefore qualifies as the top Liventian seed, with Desert Rock Cats second.

[Zwangzug]

The bracket:

Jesner/N'samri Heights Fire
102d Gray Sox/Cirad Blaze
Uharan Otters/Zwischen Bears
Desert Rock Cats/Belpub Wildcats

High seeds are listed first, and play games 1, 2 and 5 if necessary at home during best-of-5 quarter-finals. High seeds play games 1, 2, and if necessary 6 and 7 at home in best-of-7 semifinals. The final is on neutral ground (since Rennidan's been refounded!)

Quarterfinals

Jesner 9, N'samri Heights Fire 6 *
Jesner 8, N'samri Heights Fire 6
N'samri Heights Fire 7, Jesner 5 *
N'samri Heights Fire 10, Jesner 2
Jesner 8, N'samri Heights Fire 5

102d Gray Sox 9, Cirad Blaze 6
102d Gray Sox 9, Cirad Blaze 7
Cirad Blaze 10, 102d Gray Sox 7
102d Gray Sox 10, Cirad Blaze 9

Uharan Otters 12, Zwischen Bears 5
Uharan Otters 7, Zwischen Bears 5
Zwischen Bears 7, Uharan Otters 6
Zwischen Bears 10, Uharan Otters 9 *
Uharan Otters 10, Zwischen Bears 8

Desert Rock Cats 11, Belpub Wildcats 4
Belpub Wildcats 8, Desert Rock Cats 6
Belpub Wildcats 11, Desert Rock Cats 10 *
Belpub Wildcats 9, Desert Rock Cats 8

Semifinals

102d Gray Sox 10, Jesner 5
102d Gray Sox 11, Jesner 5
Jesner 6, 102d Gray Sox 5
Jesner 10, 102d Gray Sox 9
Jesner 13, 102d Gray Sox 3
102d Gray Sox 10, Jesner 7
Jesner 7, 102d Gray Sox 6

Uharan Otters 9, Belpub Wildcats 5
Uharan Otters 9, Belpub Wildcats 6
Belpub Wildcats 7, Uharan Otters 5
Uharan Otters 9, Belpub Wildcats 7
Uharan Otters 10, Belpub Wildcats 9

Final

Jesner 6, Uharan Otters 4
Uharan Otters 7, Jesner 4
Uharan Otters 6, Jesner 2
Uharan Otters 5, Jesner 4
Jesner 6, Uharan Otters 4
Uharan Otters 6, Jesner 2

Third-place series
102d Gray Sox 10, Belpub Wildcats 8
102d Gray Sox 9, Belpub Wildcats 8
Belpub Wildcats 9, 102d Gray Sox 7
Belpub Wildcats 10, 102d Gray Sox 6
102d Gray Sox 8, Belpub Wildcats 6
Belpub Wildcats 6, 102d Gray Sox 4
102d Gray Sox 11, Belpub Wildcats 4

* extra innings

[Zwangzug]

Northeast Division   W   L  Inter  Pct.  GB
Zwischen Bears       105 67 39-25  .610  --
Weegham Rainmakers   87  85 35-29  .506  18
Noh Weir Red-Tails   86  86 36-28  .500  19
Arlington Aurora     85  87 33-21  .494  20

Last season, the Bears needed a one-game playoff to advance. This season, the race was almost as close. For second. Leaving nothing to chance, the Bears were the only Northeast team to finish above .500 intranationally.

Southeast Division   W   L  Inter  Pct.  GB
Kerlagrad Dragons    103 69 38-26  .599  --
Nuel Panthers        99  73 29-35  .576  4
Logrove Dolphins     79  93 29-35  .459  24
Bassabook Grey Socks 79  93 34-30  .459  24

The Panthers had the best intranational record with seventy wins, but a repeated interleague scoreline saw the Dragons catch them up. Intranational record does have some use in this division, however, for sorting the bottom. It's a nasty fall for the Grey Socks, whose talent was just too old.

Central Division     W  L  Inter  Pct.  GB
FTC Crabs            94 78 30-34  .547  --
102d Gray Sox        94 78 37-27  .547  --
Frischberg Flash     88 84 42-22  .512  6
FTC Mustangs         80 92 31-33  .465  14

The Mustangs were eight games out last season, sort of like how they find themselves eight out of third right now. But not very much. The Flash, meanwhile, are this year's Rainmakers. Actually, they're not, they're this season's Cardarel with a 23-9 clip against Liventian and Ad’ihani teams.

The true excitement, of course, was to be found at the top. Sweeping both home series against the Flash and (far more excitingly) the Mustangs, the Crabs compiled the division's top intranational record only to see the Gray Sox chip away at their lead. But the Crabs called tails to get home-field advantage, and triumphed 3-1 to win the division. Going 94-78 in the Central should have been a good omen, except that the Gray Sox did it too and it didn't help.

West Division        W  L  Inter  Pct.  GB
Belpub Wildcats      90 82 37-27  .523  --
Hadiln Tigers        83 89 32-32  .483  7
Inver Millers        83 89 34-30  .483  7
Spenson Worms        77 95 32-32  .448  13

Again with the intranational sorting for second place. The Wildcats--second in Zwangzug last time out--led the intranational standings for the West Division but still couldn't break .500 there. Meanwhile, the Worms are the worst in the country. At least their stadium's nice...

Both division series took just four games this time around. The Wildcats' only victory would come in game two, 6 to 4, and the Bears would need a while to get the last two runs they needed to clinch. Get them they did, however, and won 5-3. Meanwhile, the Crabs took the first two games on the road. When they lost 5-4, it seemed as if home teams were in bad shape, but they won 5-1 to make the final.

Facing off for third place, and possibly a niche in the overall bracket, the Wildcats eked out a victory in game 1 and took game 2 as well. The Dragons fought back on the road, winning 6-4, but the Wildcats won both one-run followups.

And finally, Bears versus Crabs. Zwischen won both the first two games 5-4, though game 2 took a bit longer. Home field advantage seemed to help the Crabs, as they won 3-2 in game 3, but the Bears won game 4 to move within one. Another 3-2 Crab win sent the series back to Zwischen...and the Crabs' momentum came with them, as they won games 6 and 7 to become Zwangzug's champions after needing a playoff to get there.

Most impressively, they are still the Crabs. This is an achievement.

[Liventia]

NLBC makes return with additional AAA tier

The Liventian National Baseball Championship (NLBC) has made its return once again as part of the Liventia—Ad’ihan—Zwangzug—Yafor 2 (LAZY) Baseball League. And this year, the NLBC has added a Triple-A level, with 16 teams (including two from Ad’ihan) affiliated to the 16 big-league teams playing in two divisions within each of two conferences.

With a majority of players playing in the last LAZY baseball season having been only semi-professionals and with the aim of bringing the NLBC back to being a fully-professional league, most teams have totally new rosters this season. Another change is in the name of Capital, which is now the City Centre Capital (where "Capital" is the team's nickname).

There remains no change to the format, however. Teams play a domestic 172-game season followed by a 64-game interleague season against teams from Zwangzug and Yafor 2. The four group winners from the domestic season qualify for the Liventian Championship playoffs in a two-round format (best-of-five followed by best-of-seven), while the four group winners after interleague play is factored in qualify for the Liventian section of the LAZY playoffs.

This season, Liventia and Ad’ihan will provide three finalists to the LAZY playoffs, with Zwangzugian authorities agreeing to rotate to two finalists. Therefore, the four teams will play a single round-robin tournament, at the end of which the best three teams (by record followed by run difference) will make the finals.

After 100 of 172 games of the domestic season, here are the standings:
Standings
Standings + team batting
Standings + team pitching

LEAGUE TOTALS AFTER 100 GAMES PER TEAM (800 TOTAL):
Batting: .266 BA (14182 for 55782), 1799 HR, 8180 R, 2981 doubles, 376 triples, 5652 BB, 10682 K, .338 OBP, .429 SLG, .767 OPS, 1195 SB
Pitching: 4.70 ERA, 473 SV, 14311.0 IP, 7477 ER, 64 CG, 65 shutouts

Meanwhile, in triple-A, proceedings have reached the all-star break — a feature found only at this level as there is no ASG at the major league level. After the season, the two group winners from each division, plus the next best two teams, qualify for a three-round playoff system to determine a triple-A champion.

[Yafor 2]

W(Y) refers to wins against Yaforite teams. L(Y) refers to losses against Yaforite teams. W(L) refers to wins against Liventian/Ad'ihani teams. L(L) refers to losses against those teams. W(Z) refers to wins against Zwangzug teams. L(Z) refers to losses against those teams. Win% is win percentage (number won over total number of games). GB is games back.

Ajer Division:

Code: Select all

Team                     Win Loss W(Y) L(Y) W(L) L(L) W(Z) L(Z)   Win%  GB
North Ajer Blizzard       98   74   61   47   21   11   16   16   .570   -
Southeast Ajer Whirlwind  83   89   49   59   20   12   14   18   .483  15
South Ajer Titans         82   90   51   57   14   18   17   15   .477  16
West Ajer Panthers        71  101   49   59   16   16    6   26   .413  27

Finally a team from the capital manages to not be terrible! Naturally, with the new playoff system (oh, we didn't tell you? We're having the top two teams from each division reach quarterfinals, not just the top team reach semifinals), an Ajer team is still the center of controversy. This time it's the Whirlwind, who come into the playoffs with the eighth seeding, despite being six games *under* .500 and 15 games back of their competitors from the north. Oh, well. Let's just savor having an actually-good team in the capital; good because of their strong, timely hitting. Outplayed their Pythag by a considerable bit; all those little stat-nerds-momma's-basement people think they'll regress.

Northern Division:

Code: Select all

Team                     Win Loss W(Y) L(Y) W(L) L(L) W(Z) L(Z)   Win%  GB
N'samri Heights Fire      98   74   63   45   16   16   19   13   .570   -
Satiran Boars             92   80   55   53   20   12   17   15   .535   6
Chelmar Flame             90   82   56   52   16   16   18   14   .523   8
J'kar Ice                 74   98   50   58   14   18   10   22   .430  24

Borrrrinnngggggg. N'samri do the same bloody thing as last year. Thankfully, there's actually a bit more competition in the rest of the division, as Satiran and Chelmar battle it out for the second spot, and are actually involved in the race for quite a while. N'samri still have the best hitting in the league, but some excellent players are developing in the rest of the north, especially in Satiran, who brought up a little twenty-year-old shortstop who proceeded to wow the league with his hitting. They'll be going to the playoffs, too.

Eastern Division:

Code: Select all

Team                     Win Loss W(Y) L(Y) W(L) L(L) W(Z) L(Z)   Win%  GB
Uharan Otters            108   64   71   37   17   15   20   12   .627   -
Kiera Breeze              92   80   60   48   15   17   17   15   .535  16
Pylos Winter              72  100   47   61   13   19   12   20   .419  36
Uhari Cutters             70  102   39   69   18   14   13   19   .407  38

Okay, there's something utterly beautiful about the defending champions of LAZY totally destroying the record for games won. Seriously. Uharan absolutely destroy the league, and, unlike last year, dominate interleague as well - clearly showing that they're the best club side in the world. Kiera, meanwhile, actually win a fair number of games en route to being the highest-seeded second-place-team. Needless to say, the other two teams in this division need some help. As amusing as it is to read "38 games back", it's also saddening, considering no team in Zwangzug lost 100 games. Our side of LAZY is awfully top-heavy, isn't it?

Western Division:

Code: Select all

Team                     Win Loss W(Y) L(Y) W(L) L(L) W(Z) L(Z)   Win%  GB
Cirad Blaze               94   78   54   54   21   11   19   13   .547   -
Cardarel Gazelles         92   80   58   50   18   14   16   16   .535   2
Indigar Horsemen          91   81   60   48   15   17   16   16   .529   3
Darigeris Wildfire        65  107   41   67   12   20   12   20   .378  29

Closest division in the league and again it's a o-2-3 games back ranking. Indigar get shafted and those from the southern city (yes, we don't understand the geographical alignment of this league either) protest at the absence of a wild-card position. Yeah, like that's ever going to happen. Good luck with that. Anyway, to anyone who says that there's no parity in the Yaforite side of LAZY; pttbth. Cirad manage to advance, if barely, and Cardarel even more slightly. Good teams, but can they overcome the juggernaut from Uharan?

Quarters:
(1) Uharan Otters (108-64) vs. (8) Southeast Ajer Whirlwind (83-89)
(2) N'samri Heights Fire (98-74) vs. (7) Satiran Boars (92-80)
(3) North Ajer Blizzard (98-74) vs. (6) Cardarel Gazelles (92-80)
(4) Cirad Blaze (94-78) vs. (5) Kiera Breeze (92-80)

Well, that's a bloody great draw for the defending champions, isn't it? If they don't sweep, something is wrong. Interesting matchup for the second-seeded team, as it's an interdivisional rivalry. Also, anyone else notice that three of the second-place teams have records of 92-80? That should be a good reason for continuing this new playoff system; don't want all of these teams to be ignored, right? Still, a series of very intriguing match-ups - indeed, all of them are intriguing except for the first match-up.

Quarters Results:
Uharan Otters 4 - 0 Southeast Ajer Whirlwind
N'samri Height Fire 1 - 4 Satiran Boars
North Ajer Blizzard 4 - 3 Cardarel Gazelles
Cirad Blaze 2 - 4 Kiera Breeze

Okay, so they did sweep. Good. Meanwhile, upsetville! Satiran easily overpowers N'samri; awesome defense neutralizing the high-powered Fire attack. North Ajer work a marathon against Cardarel, each game working to be a marathon in and of itself. They're not the best team in the league, but they're quite possibly the most determined. Kiera win in six games against Cirad in a bouncy series, characterized by wide swings of momentum. Two lower seeds advance to the next round, so this should be interesting to see.

Semis:
(1) Uharan Otters (108-64) vs. (5) Kiera Breeze (92-80)
(3) North Ajer Blizzard (98-74) vs. (7) Satiran Boars (92-80)

Another interdivisional rivalry, this time for the top seeds. North Ajer takes on a very determined Satiran team in what should be a very close series; an older, but strong team taking on the young guns who just defeated their older siblings. I'm excited to see how this will turn out.

Semis results:
Uharan Otters 4 - 2 Kiera Breeze
North Ajer Blizzard 4 - 3 Satiran Boars

Kiera managed to take two games from the Otters! Wow! Also, North Ajer are apparently incapable of not winning in seven-game series as what was predicted to be incredibly even proved to be so. Two extra-inning games, in fact, as the Boars took the Blizzard to the edge of competition, but the latter managed to outlast another team. They'll be very tired for their match-up with the best team in the league, but the way they're playing, they might just win.

Third place match:
(5) Kiera Breeze (92-80) vs. (7) Satiran Boars (92-80)

Two underdogs. I don't know who to support.

Third place match result:
Kiera Breeze 4 - 0 Satiran Boars

And it's a LAZY international playoffs position for tiny Kiera! This will be a huge boost to the small town which is most often called an exurb of Chelmar. They're easily one of the better teams in the league, with solid pitching, an excellent bullpen, and a rigid combination of pop and speed. They easily defeat the Boars, who looked awfully tired from their marathon against North Ajer. I guess everyone can sit back and wait for the final series, then.

Final:
(1) Uharan Otters (108-64) vs. (3) North Ajer Blizzard (98-74)

Bet this series goes to seven games.

Final result:
Uharan Otters 4 - 1 North Ajer Blizzard

Guess not.

Champions:
(1) Uharan Otters (108-64)

Borrinnnngggg. The best team in LAZY, the best team in Yafor 2, with the best Yaforite player as their captain, take a short period of time and utterly dominate the season and the playoffs. To many Uharan fans, it might actually be a let-down if they don't win the international league (although that's even more of a toss-up than these playoffs). Spoiled brats. I wish my team was as good.

[Liventia]

NLBC season finishes
The NLBC has announced that beginning next season, the 16 teams will play in a single division together, playing 108 games a season. The top two teams would qualify for the best-of-seven finals, while the top two or three teams, once interleague is factored in, would qualify for the LAZY playoffs.

But, for this season, the four-division method is still in use:

Standings
		NLBC		Inter		Total
Team		W	L	W	L	W	L	 PCT	GB
Neverend 	105	67	33	31	138	98	.585
Folenisa	103	69	21	43	124	112	.525	14
Talbott		84	88	37	27	121	115	.513	17
Bede		80	92	23	41	103	133	.436	35

Gulp Mountain	99	73	39	25	138	98	.585
Orean Shockers	97	75	34	30	131	105	.555	7
Grand Island	85	87	30	34	115	121	.487	23
Lox Land Isl	78	94	34	30	112	124	.475	26

Desert RC	91	81	29	35	120	116	.509
Pardbo		90	82	30	34	120	116	.509	-
Cyclonesville	85	87	23	41	108	128	.458	12
Dover		68	104	29	35	97	129	.411	23

Jesner		83	89	33	31	116	120	.492
Orean Titans	80	92	32	32	112	124	.475	4
City Centre	72	100	35	29	107	129	.453	9
Barrier Island	76	96	24	40	100	136	.424	16

The only difference in standings between the NLBC season and the full season is that the City Centre Capital, 72-100 in NLBC play, overtake Barrier Island (76-96). There is a tie in Group 3 following interleague, resulting in a single-game playoff between Pardbo and the Desert Rock Cats at the Rock Cats' stadium. Desert won the playoff 4–2.

As the teams making the NLBC playoffs are the same teams who will battle for the LAZY spots, the NLBC playoffs, plus a third place best-of-three, will serve as LAZY qualifiers.

In the semifinals, Neverend disposed of defending NLBC champions Jesner in a sweep, while it took Desert four games to overcome Gulp Mountain. This meant that Neverend would face Desert — two teams with identical records — for the championship in seven games, while Jesner would battle Gulp Mountain for a chance to retain their LAZY third place.

Game 1:
Third place: Jesner 3 @ Gulp Mtn 5
Finals: Desert Rock Cats 4 @ Neverend 2

Game 2:
Third place: Gulp Mtn 8 @ Jesner 4 (Gulp Mountain wins series 2–0 and qualifies for LAZY)
Finals: Desert Rock Cats 3 @ Neverend 1

Game 3 finals: Neverend 3 @ Desert Rock Cats 9

Game 4 finals: Neverend 6 @ Desert Rock Cats 8

Congrats to the Rock Cats, who sweep Neverend in four games to win the NLBC championship!
The NLBC's three LAZY representatives are: Desert, Neverend, Gulp Mountain.

[Zwangzug]

A new seeding system for the playoffs valued seeding above overall record, and didn't directly consider country of origin. It worked fine until it came time to pair #4 vs. #5; the Zwischen Bears and Neverend had both amassed 105 wins. Fortunately, they had to play each other, so it didn't really matter. Also fortunately for Zwischen, despite losing the coin toss, their not-playing-as-many-games as Neverend was realized and accounted for before proceedings began.

The 1 vs. 8 series was a rematch of a Yaforite-league semifinal which the Uharan Otters had won 4-2. With only five games in the first round, however, there was less room for error.

Uharan Otters 7, Kiera Breeze 2
Uharan Otters 10, Kiera Breeze 5
Kiera Breeze 10, Uharan Otters 3
Kiera Breeze 10, Uharan Otters 9
Uharan Otters 9, Kiera Breeze 6

Despite enough tens for, um, three top-ten lists, the Breeze couldn't shake up the Otters enough to advance.

An erratic Paul Eckhart punctured a Gulp Mountain batter early in game 1, and the Crabs didn't really climb back.

Gulp Mountain 5, FTC Crabs 3
FTC Crabs 4, Gulp Mountain, 2
Gulp Mountain 7, FTC Crabs 2
Gulp Mountain 6, FTC Crabs 3

And if there's one manager whose mouth is wide open enough from ranting to gulp a whole mountain down...

North Ajer Blizzard 5, Desert Rock Cats 1
Desert Rock Cats 6, North Ajer Blizzard 5
North Ajer Blizzard 4, Desert Rock Cats 3
North Ajer Blizzard 7, Desert Rock Cats 4

Damerin Kaldoris is an aggressive runner for a Yaforite. He probably purloined some bases, but might have been shot out once in a while too.

Zwischen Bears 4, Neverend 3
Zwischen Bears 6, Neverend 3
Zwischen Bears 7, Neverend 2

So Neverend's playoff run, um, ended just as quickly as it could have.

Into the semifinals...

Zwischen Bears 6, Uharan Otters 4
Uharan Otters 16, Zwischen Bears 4
Zwischen Bears 11, Uharan Otters 3
Zwischen Bears 11, Uharan Otters 9
Uharan Otters 9, Zwischen Bears 5
Uharan Otters 8, Zwischen Bears 2
Uharan Otters 15, Zwischen Bears 5

A rematch of last season's quarterfinals saw Uharan march onwards. In the seventh inning of game six, Keigenbey was hit by the ball and thrown by the catcher. Whatever that means.

North Ajer Blizzard 9, Gulp Mountain 5
Gulp Mountain 7, North Ajer Blizzard 4
North Ajer Blizzard 8, Gulp Mountain 5
North Ajer Blizzard 5, Gulp Mountain 4 (tied 3-3 after nine, multiple extra innings)
Gulp Mountain 8, North Ajer Blizzard 3
North Ajer Blizzard 5, Gulp Mountain 4 (tied 4-4 after nine, multiple extra innings)

The incompetence on the Zwangzugian end of inputs was so widespread as to probably affect all other parties equally. Under time pressure, Zwangzug's scorers squelched their yearning to do anything but rule it an error and move on.

The third-place series was a sweep with three extra-inning games. Not the sort of series you see every day.

Zwischen Bears 4, Gulp Mountain 3 (extra inning)
Zwischen Bears 7, Gulp Mountain 6 (extra inning)
Zwischen Bears 7, Gulp Mountain 6
Zwischen Bears 8, Gulp Mountain 6 (extra inning)

An exhausting series for the bullpens. Luckily for Stephen Kilbourne, he got a life when he bunted in Game 1.

The final was a rematch of the Yaforite-league finals. The Otters had won that in five games...

Uharan Otters 11, North Ajer Blizzard 6
Uharan Otters 7, North Ajer Blizzard 6
Uharan Otters 14, North Ajer Blizzard 13
North Ajer Blizzard 10, Uharan Otters 8
North Ajer Blizzard 9, Uharan Otters 8 (extra innings)
Uharan Otters 14, North Ajer Blizzard 5

Aaaand the Otters win. Say what you will of Uharan; perhaps we're sick of them, but no one can deny that they have reached fame's cupola.