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The promotion of the Miami Marlins from D4 East gave the Indianapolis Clowns a clear path to contention. The Clowns had developed an outstanding pitching staff over previous seasons, headlined by co-aces Jason Stanfill and Aaron Cottrell, with prospect Greg Smith ready to join them; they would add former Denver ace Nate Mefford mid-season as well, as Denver fell apart in Division 1. But Indianapolis had struggled to build a solid lineup as slugger David Durica declined, and had finished second to last in runs in 2036, leading second year GM Craig Derby to go out and find bats in the offseason. A trade with Portland brought in 1B Justin Wilson, while 3B Jose Nunez arrived in another with Cleveland; Art Degon, a former independent league signing who had kicked around with Denver and Las Vegas arrived in yet another deal. Derby grabbed 2B Ken Clemons in the Rule 5 draft from Salt Lake, and a host of others - minor league deals that he hoped might pan out, anything that might bring the offense up just enough to secure that top spot.

Other teams were trying to capitalize as well. Cincinnati - back in D4 after a short, successful D3 stint had gone south in Cycle 10 - had some offense, but needed pitching behind ace Willie Rodriguez; they picked up some spare part starters. Havana planned mostly to rely on a young crop of players, but got some veteran help in DH Josh Reynolds. Charlotte continued its regular efforts to build star LF Ernesto Gonzales some lineup protection, grabbing 3B Eric Hicks and 1B Jason McCollum as free agents. Pittsburgh and Washington… mostly continued to be Pittsburgh and Washington. The Conference was clearly Indianapolis’s to lose.

Though the Pioneers had been the team that had topped out the P/R formula at the end of Cycle 10, it was the Phoenix Firebirds who had ended those three seasons on top, winning their first ever Conference title in 2036. They were the clear favorites, though they lost ace closer Bob Paul in free agency. With 2B Matt Armstrong leading an offense of competent bats, the Firebirds went out and traded prospects to San Francisco for ace Jon Sayre, the biggest splash any of their fans cloud recall the historically inept franchise making.

Behind the Firebirds were a bunch of teams with deep flaws. The Missions had a strong offense but hadn’t shown much pitching in recent years, and that was doubly true of the St. Louis Browns who had scored a division-best 758 runs in 2036 but had given up nearly as many. Las Vegas lost 81 in 2036, and no one who watched them expected much different in the coming season. The Brewers were now firmly established as the worst team in baseball, having finished last in their respective conferences in seven of the last ten seasons, with no real hope on the horizon. That left relegated Albuquerque, who had lost several solid players to relegation clauses.

The Clowns showed they weren’t joking around early, blasting through April with a 14-3 record and ending the month six games up on Washington, with others bunched up under the Senators. By the end of May, the lead had extended to nine games; then 12 by the end of June, as the Tigers and Sugar Kings established a second tier, just above .500. The Tigers made a small run in August pulling to within 9 after being 15 games out on August 20; as the Clowns hit a small skid, the Tigers went 7-3 to pull within a decade of the frontrunners. They would get as close as 8 in mid-September, but the Clowns clinched easily and finished at 94 and 60, 12 up on the second place Tigers.

The West, though, was a much more exciting race that boiled down to the Firebirds and the somewhat surprising San Antonio Missions. While the Firebirds led throughout April and May, it was never by a lot, with the Browns on their tail much of that time. St. Louis actually overtook Phoenix in early June, while San Antonio crept further up the chart, and in June 11, the three teams found themselves in a 33-23 tie. They all played essentially even with each other for another two weeks, but by the end of June St. Louis had started to fade, leaving just Phoenix and San Antonio tied atop the standings. The 51s briefly forced their way into the discussion with a nine game win streak wrapped around the All-Star break in July, while Phoenix buckled slightly, leaving San Antonio in command of the conference at the end of the month. But in August, as Arizona reached its hottest point so did its team: the Firebirds went 19-9, ending August in first with a four game lead. They maintained it until nearly the end of September, when suddenly San Antonio made its move. It closed the gap to a game on the final day of the season, and then - as the Firebirds managed to lose three straight to Pittsburgh- tied it up on the final day of the regular season, forcing a one game playoff with Phoenix.

Because of the head to head record, the game was to be played in the desert. What unfolded was a tight pitchers duel, with San Antonio starter Billy Smith throwing seven, allowing just a singly unearned run. Phoenix starter Jonathan Ring, meanwhile, opened with four no-hit innings striking out three. But Ring had been visibly bothered coming off the mound that inning, and was replaced by Jonathan Schaeffer; it was later announced that Ring had ruptured a tendon in his right index finger and was done for the season, whether that season lasted five innings or five games. Schaeffer pitched well, but so didSmith, and in the top of the seventh it was Schaeffer who blinked: an RBI triple by Jesus Rivas tied it up. The game entered the ninth in a 1-1 tie, and Schaeffer worked around an error to send it to the bottom of the inning. Star CF Brandon Murrell was a defense-first player who had hit just .264/.351/.406 on the season, but he was speedy, so when he led off by drilling a ball into the right-center gap it was clearly trouble. Murrell rounded second and dug for third, making it ahead of the throw and giving the Firebirds a huge opportunity. An intentional walk to Fred Levang brought Steve Heinemann to the plate; Heinemann had struck out more than 20% of the time in 2037, so San Antonio was hoping to K him and look for a double play to escape. They got the first two strikes on fouls, but Heinemann took the third offering and lofted it deep to right. It settled into the RF’s glove just shy of the warning track, but his throw was ornamental - there was no chance to get Murrell, who crossed the plate as his teammates streamed from the dugout and the fans exploded in celebration of Phoenix’s second - and second consecutive - Conference title.

Division 4 Championship Series

Phoenix took the field in Indianapolis aware of the mountain they would be forced to climb: Indianapolis had won 94 games behind a pitching staff and defense that had been stingier than the next best team by almost 90 runs. The good news for Phoenix was that they were the next best team: the Firebirds pitching staff, led by Sayre, had improved even from 2036’s strong season. And Phoenix had, by a good margin, the better offense, scoring 705 runs to Indianapolis’s 627 while leading D4 in homers and walks. But any day you have to face Aaron Cottrell is a tough day, and Indianapolis’s big lead at the end of the season meant he was rested and ready.

Cottrell, 27, had been coming off a tough 2036. Tough for him meant a 2.90 ERA and 3.50 FIP, with an uptick in homers and walks to go along with them. But he’d come to Spring Training with fire in his eyes, and it didn’t leave all season. Cottrell was the best he’d ever been in 2037, throwing nearly 250 innings and allowing just 7 homers while striking out 245. He led in wins with 18 and ERA, an even 2.00 despite a .310 BABIP. His 2.52 FIP and 67 FIP- both led D4, as did his 7.8 WAR. He was the best D4 had to offer, and the voters recognized it, giving him the Pitcher of the Year and the MVP - the second straight time that had happened in D4 and just the third ever in the NABF (not counting Ryan Little, who accomplished it from both sides of the ball).

So, naturally, Cottrell bombed. Phoenix got two off him quick after a Murrell single, a walk, and another single loaded the bases. Craig White singled, bringing in two before Alfredo Vega struck out to end the threat. That could have been chalked up to a long layoff, and sure enough Cottrell settled in, allowing just a hit and a walk over the next three while Indianapolis took a 3-2 lead on a Robert Tanksi homer in the third.. But in the fifth, Phoenix came out swinging their third time through the lineup. The suddenly deadly Murrell doubled, and scored on another double by Fred Levang. Matt Armstrong walked, and Nate Wilson singled, loading the bases. Cottrell go Heinemann looking, but Craig White once again delivered, this time clearing the bases with a double into the left center gap. White scored on a Vega single, and that chased Cottrell. Matt West doubled off reliever Tom Newell, scoring one, but Vega was pegged at home keeping the score at 8-3. Indianapolis tried, and came close, adding a run in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the sixth, but couldn’t get that one last run across as Phoenix’s bullpen came in and struck out seven over the last 3 ⅔ innings, allowing just a single hit. Phoenix took a 1-0 lead, on the road, against the best pitcher in the Division - things were looking up.

But Cottrell wasn’t the only ace Indianapolis had. Nate Mefford wasn’t well liked around the league, and had basically forced a trade out of Denver by dogging it once it became clear the Bears were headed for the D1 cellar. But he came to Indianapolis and relit the fire. Mefford, at 34 already in third place on the all-time K list and likely to overcome Malcolm Bush for first in 2038, had always been a strange pitcher: without a devastating fastball, he relied on a tricky sinker and the Federation’s nastiest changeup to get his outs. He walked a lot of batters. He gave up a lot of homers. His ERA and FIP often hovered just a step better than league average. But man could he strike people out: four seasons with over 300 K’s, more than any other pitcher, and a 12.01 K/9, one of the highest career marks in the game. And while the Firebirds had gotten to Cottrell, they simply couldn’t touch Mefford: the 34 year old went 8.1 allowing just a single hit and walking four while striking out 11 on the way to a 4-0 Clowns win. Jon Sayre had started for Phoenix, also striking out 11 over 8 innings of work, but allowing all four Indy runs.

Jason Stanfill took the hill for Indianapolis in Game Three, and though he wasn’t as effective as Mefford he was effective enough. The Clowns clobbered Joe Waybright and two Phoenix relievers, putting up four in the fourth, one in the fifth, and two in the sixth, then adding two for good measure in the eighth on a Rob Tanski two run shot. While Phoenix put up four of their own against Stanfill in the fifth, that’s all they would get, and Indianapolis took a 2-0 series lead.

What happened next struck observers speechless. Francisco Rosado was the definition of journeyman; Phoenix, where he’d arrived after a midseason pitching depth trade with Sacramento, was the 34 year old’s sixth organization. He’d had a couple of decent, even good years with Denver, but had mostly been a league average lefty, sometimes as a starter and sometimes in relief. He collected his check, and he was a pending free agent.

And he threw a no-hitter.

While Phoenix’s hitters hung seven runs on Kenny Hiller and the Clowns pen, Francisco Rosado threw the game of his life: the only no-hitter ever thrown in a Championship Series. He walked two, and a runner reached on an error, and that was all as he struck out 11 and was lifted off his feet by teammates while the crowd roared louder than they had ever done. The stadium shook that night in Phoenix.

While it would make a great story to say that the win spurred Phoenix to two more and the franchise’s first championship, that’s not what happened. Game 5 was an extra-inning affair, a tense, taut matchup as Phoenix tied up the game at five on a line drive single by Fred Levang in the bottom of the ninth with one out. Phoenix came close again in the 12th, putting Levang on third before a Heinemann strikeout ended it. In the top of the 13th, Robert Tanski - a thorn in Phoenix’s side all series - doubled. David Durica struck out for the second out, but Jose Nunez snuck a 1-2 groundball through the 5-6 hole to give the Clowns a 6-5 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Chris White led off with a fly ball that looked right up until the last minute like it might repay the favor, but it was caught, and Greg Smith struck out Vega and West to end the game and send it back to Indianapolis with the Clowns a win away.

They got that win in Game 6, a relatively drama-free game after the previous two, as Phoenix got two quick runs off Mefford before Indianapolis scored four, in part on another homer by Robert Tanski, who would unsurprisingly be named series MVP. The Clowns made it 5-2 in the sixth, and though the Firebirds started to put something together in the ninth, they got only one off an RBI double by Heinemann. Indianapolis closed it out at home, as the crowd cheered and Phoenix was left once more without a trophy.