[pauwoo]

Elsewhere: Dallas & Vancouver stayed busy during our travel day, contesting the 3rd of three in Dallas before returning to Vancouver in a couple days’ time… and, in what has become a pattern, Dallas won at home again, this time by a score of 1-0, to take a 3-2 lead over the favorite in a series where the home team has won each of the contests played so far.

Mexico City Jaguars (9-5, 4-3 Away) @ Los Angeles Leopards (6-6, 2-3 Home)
Let’s be honest… there is no home field advantage in Baseball… too many variables to control, too much nuance to parse out. At this point in the series, down 3 games to our 2, there isn’t much left to say – we know what needs to be done, have an idea of how we can do it, and now just have to go out and execute up to our capabilities. Given our topsy turvy season, I’d be lying if I said I expected us to even make it this far – I didn’t. But we’re here, with a division rival standing between us and the promised land and I’ll be doggoned if these scrubs representing Mexico City are going to keep us from our destiny.

6 of 7: Ben McGillicuddy (0-0, 1.59) @ Stephen Estevez (1-1, 3.54)
Win, 3-2. We’d survive a 2-for-4, 2-run homer day from Payton Gardner and a 6-inning, 9-hit, 4 K from McGillicuddy to secure a critical game 6 win, knotting this series up on the back of Ethan Mullens’ run-scoring double during the bottom of the 5th and Don Haag’s economical, 2-inning, 13-pitch save to close this one out. Estevez fanned 6 in 4-innings of work, allowing just two runners to plate during his time on the bump, OH HONG droving in his 8th run of the post season, and Chance Bell recorded an OF assist, gunning down Payton Gardner at 2nd to all but kill Mexico City’s ill-fated, late rally attempt. It’s all knotted up at three games each, folks! This is what we play for (or at least that’s what I keep telling myself – truth is, I’m a shivering mess).

7 of 7: Randy Keramidas (0-0, 1.98) @ Ram Chen (0-0, 1.65)
Win, 3-1. With the game knotted up through the stretch and both pitchers still dealing, we’d finally break through on a 2-run DING DONG from BJ Cristoforo, who only played in 43 games with the big club this season, off Mexico City’s CL Jaden Davis to put us ahead for good as we find a way, for the second series in a row, to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. There’s not much to parse out here – Otto swiped a bag and scored, we got a critical SAC FLY from Paulino that brought in our first run during the bottom of the 4th, we secured 2 double plays, saw our 5th outfield assist of the series – this one a Mullens strike to home plate from right field that struck former Leopard, Tyler Hill, down at the plate. And just like that, we’ve got our ticket to the dance in hand and are scanning the scene for a candidate to join us in a little do-si-do.

Elsewhere: Vancouver managed to get the W in a must-win game 6, defeating the upstart Chaparrals by a score of 8-4 to force a Game 7. Pepper, in his advanced age and with his infinite wisdom, took home Man of the Match honors after going 2-for-3 with a GRAND SLAM to lead the charge for the merciless Mounties. And, because why wait… Game 7, with Merl Crawford taking the hill for Dallas while Big Burt McElheny did the same for Vancouver, was a real slobber knocker that would feature a homer for each club, 10 total runs scored, 3 double plays for the winning team, and an outfield assist on par with some of our own that we featured in that series against the Jaguars, with those hard-hearted Mounties from British Columbia breaking hearts all over the Lonestar State tonight, besting the Chaps by a score of 6-4… they’ll meet us in the World Series, will likely be installed as the favorite, and, given that Pepper features for them at 3rd, will, no doubt, cause some mixed emotions in our normally indifferent fanbase.

Record: 8-6, World Series bound, and down…
Up Next: We’ll head to British Columbia to kick of the 2081 World Series with immortality on the line.