[ArquimedezPozo]

Coming into the season, the biggest story was the El Paso Sun Kings. The franchise that couldn’t lose was predicted to have another winning season, and seemed primed for a dynastic run. Young leadoff hitter and left fielder Joe Rison had established himself over the previous two years as an electrifying presence, a 60 steal threat with outstanding on base ability and an emerging leader. Catcher Mike Kepler, himself only 27, was coming off the first MVP season by any catcher in NABF history as well. The club had also made a splash in the free agent market, picking up RF Eduardo Garcia, a former MVP and probable Hall of Famer coming off an amazing season with his Philadelphia Athletics; the Sun Kings were hoping he might prove the difference between a Conference title and a seventh D1 Championship.

The Denver Bears had won four straight D2 West titles and a D2 Championship, and were now playing in the Senior Circuit for the first time, but concerns swirled: Clemens Young and T.J. Hardcastle, who had been the drivers of Denver’s offense, were getting older, with Hardcastle about to enter his age 38 season, and ace Nate Mefford had looked far more hittable in the last couple seasons.

In the East, the biggest question mark was the Tampa Tarpons, who had come storming through Division 2 during Cycle 10 and had buzz around them as a contender in D1. Tampa had a deep lineup headlined by the insanely fast T.J. Carcone (closing in already on the NABF all-time triples record) and a strong rotation. The Athletics, too, were a question mark: the defending champs had a bad offseason, losing star player Garcia without adding much. They still had ace Steve Romano, but Garcia had been the anchor of that lineup, and more holes appeared without him.

The early weeks of the 2037 season produced a couple of surprises in the East. While most commentators saw Tampa and New York as favorites, the early leader was Chicago: Kyle DuBell looked like his old self, with a .919 OPS and three homers in April as Chicago jumped out to a solid lead. By the second week in May, though, they began to cool off. Tampa and New York filled that void, and by the end of May were locked in a heated battle for first, with Philadelphia and Brooklyn behind them. NY catcher Matt Wood was in the middle of a career year as well, homering 14 times combined between May and June. But a 16-11 June vaulted the surprising Dodgers to first place, as 1B Carson Prince - after a difficult 2036 - looked like the slugger that had taken the 2035 MVP again. New York and Tampa were tight on their tails, though, occasionally slipping into first before Brooklyn came back. Tampa launched a surge in September, and drew to within a game of Brooklyn with two games to play, but couldn’t convert, and Brooklyn secured the D1 East for the second time in three seasons. But Tampa announced itself as a major D1 player, and look to be ready to go in 2038.

In the West, it was a different story: a pure dogfight between the two pre-eminent powers of the conference, the Sun Kings and the surprisingly strong LA Angels. Los Angeles hadn’t finished above 4th place since 2032, but here they were neck and neck with the preseason favorites; in fact, LA held first place for more than half the season, taking over in early June before El Paso caught up at the end of September. The last few weeks saw the lead flip back and forth, but in the final days El Paso went up for good. Joe Rison was spectacular in those weeks, fueling talk of an MVP (though Matt Wood remained the favorite).

Division 1 Championship Series

The 2037 D1 Championship opened in El Paso, yet again. Brooklyn started their ace, two time Pitcher of the Year winner Jason Blanche, who had had a solid year, though not one of his best. El Paso, who had been forced to use ace David Matthews down the stretch, opened with Pat Templin. At first, it seemed El Paso would rout: the club scored four off Blanche in the first, the killer blow coming on a two run single by Eduardo Garcia. Garcia had fallen short of expectations over the regular season, but delivered here, much to the delight of the El Paso crowd. But Brooklyn came back, with three in the third on a three run shot by young LF Gary Murray. El Paso pulled away a bit more with a one run sixth, though, and coming into the 8th it was a tough climb for Brooklyn. In the 8th, though, Templin was lifted for reliever Ryan Ratliff, who promptly hit Keither Howard to put a man on first. Ratliff got a strike on SS Matt Williams, but he lined the next one down the line in left, an easy double to put Howard on third. Mike Ivanir popped out, though, and though Howard scored on Murray’s groundout to short, a promising rally looked like it could end a run down. Then Carson Prince happened: he took Ratliff’s first pitcher and blasted it 402 feet over the wall in right center, and Brooklyn had a lead they would protect. The Dodgers took Game 1.

Game 2 had far less drama. David Matthews got the start for El Paso and was flat-out brilliant, spinning a complete game four-hitter while striking out 11. The biggest hit of the game came when Mike Kepler tripled in the 6th, scoring two and making it 3-0 El Paso; Matthews had only needed the one run the Sun Kings had given him in the first, but those additional two must have felt like a dozen to the Dodgers. El Paso added another as 1B Ralph Carter drove in Kepler, and the Sun Kings waltzed to a Game 2, 4-0 victory.

That would prove to be the high point. Back at Ebbets, the Dodgers feasted on El Paso’s subpar pitching: while the Sun Kings had scored an incredible 890 runs over the regular season, they ranked next to last in runs allowed, giving up 761. While Brooklyn’s pitching held, Dodger bats dismantled the visitors over the next three games by a massive 25-2 margin, with the series ending in an 11-1 laugher. Carson Prince, who homered three times, batted .421, and drove in 8, was named series MVP. The crowd in Brooklyn partied deep into the night that night: Brooklyn’s only previous D1 title had been 16 years earlier, also against El Paso. They had won that series in Texas, making this the first time the hometown crowd had ever seen their team hold that trophy aloft. It was a hell of a feeling.