[mikev]

CRUSADERS WIN THE PENNANT! CRUSADERS WIN THE PENNANT!

2020 MBBA Champions.

I like the way that sounds.

The Crusaders beat the Des Moines Kernels in 6 games to win their first ever MBBA Championship, and now move onto the GUBA Championship, facing the Taipei Tigers.

In Game 1, California sent Luis Antonio Estrada to the mound, a bit of a risk but at the same time saving their two aces for games in which Des Moines superstar Yoriyoshi Goto would not be pitching. In the end, it wouldn't matter as Goto was injured in the second inning. Estrada pitched brilliantly for seven innings, allowing only a run in the first, then fell apart allowing 3 in the eighth. The Crusaders offense was not able to get to the Des Moines bullpen, and the Kernels took a 4-2 victory.

Game two saw the Crusaders ace Crawford Tetreault square off against Paco Martinez. The lefty turned in another fantastic performance, allowing 7 hits in 7 innings but managing to keep the potent Des Moines offense to only 3 runs. A Byron Guthrie 2-run double gave the Crusaders the lead in the first inning, and a 4 run third inning was all the scoring we needed the rest of the way.

GARICA took the mound in Game 3, looking to give the Crusaders a 2-1 lead as the series moved to California. After giving up a 2-run double in the top of the first inning, Garcia settled down nicely and held the Kernels to 3 runs over 7.1 innings. Victor Bunch gave California the lead with a grand slam in the first inning, and tacked on an RBI single in the eighth to cap off a 5 RBI night and a 6-3 Crusader victory.

Game 4 saw Estrada get shelled, giving up 9 hits and 5 runs in six innings, walking 4 and not striking a batter out. Couple that with a CGSO from Wilton (really? Wow.) and the Kernels evened up the series and sent a pretty serious message to the league that they were for real, walking to a 6-0 win.

Not to be outdone, Crawford Tetreault decided that complete game shutouts were cool, and tossed one of his own in Game 5. He allowed only 5 hits, struck out 5, and issued no free passes. Victor Bunch hit another homer, and Kenkichi Sugiyama continued his postseason breakout with a dinger of his own, and the Crusaders returned the 6-0 shutout favor as well as put the Kernels' backs against the wall, facing an elimination game against GARICA.

Trying to wrap up the series at home, the Crusaders were going to have a very tough road since Goto was pushed back and starting Game 6 to try and extend the season one more game for DM.

In the first inning, Jeff Bradford led off with a single, advanced on a wild pitch, and then took third on a Nick Woods base hit. The next two batters, Forest and Bunch were retired. With two out, Sugiyama singled to drive in Bradford. Then Bruno hit a 2-run double. Then Inigo drove in Bruno with a double of his own. Then Guthrie singled and drove in Bruno, and Des Moines had no choice but to pull their 23 year old ace. Soto grounded out to end the inning, but the Crusaders had taken a 5 run lead before Des Moines had even gotten a chance to bat.

Garcia was not as dominant as he's been, but he managed to pitch into the 7th inning and allow only 3 runs on 9 hits, and struck out 6 batters without walking any. California would add another run in the seventh, Des Moines only managed single tallies in the third and seventh. The Crusaders walked out with a 6-3 victory and the first pennant in team history.

It's a... strange feeling. This team isn't nearly as good as previous teams I've put together, but I'm not going to complain. Playoffs/crapshoot/etc, we're hot at the right time and that's fine by me.

The Next Crusade

The GUBA championship against Taipei. They've got a legit ace in Sasaki, a 40 homer hitter Torres, and a TEAM ops of .804. I'll need my pitching to stay hot to have a chance.