[Ruwisc]

Week 19: October 3-14

The final week of the 2021 season. How will our heroes finish out the season?

Round 37:
....Nokelto 2-3 National - 1-7, 1-8, 11-4, 1-2, 10-8(10)
...Akashemo 2-3 Sh.Eagles - 2-3, 1-2, 5-4(11), 0-7, 7-2
.A.Canaries 2-3 Cheshek - 7-4, 2-10, 8-3, 4-7, 1-9
.....Semyof 1-4 A.Spirits - 6-2, 3-10, 1-4, 3-9, 6-8
.....Hokrof 2-3 Keleri - 11-5, 5-2, 1-10, 3-5, 3-6
...Pasataki 3-2 Fampalo - 4-1, 9-7, 6-3, 2-3(10), 3-6
.....Lutrul 3-2 Kepmem - 6-3, 10-5, 4-5, 7-11, 4-1
.....Kupore 0-5 Amnanache - 1-2(11), 1-3, 1-3, 5-11, 1-2(12)
Mighty Oaks 3-2 Sitache - 4-6, 7-2, 2-6, 10-8(10), 10-7
.......Muni 0-5 Tsapna - 1-3, 1-5, 1-7, 0-8, 2-7


Tsapna 5, Muni 1: finally, there is the loss that consigns Shunna Municipal BC to relegation. Muni have been here since 2016, and overall have spent more time in the EL than outside of it, so I'm figuring they'll be back before too long. Their star hitters will all probably opt out using their relegation clauses, though - CF Solo Sipet, 1B Nerutsok Uchotsela, LF Kiosho Shipeyo will probably latch on with new EL teams. Sipet in particular seems like he could be the most coveted free agent. Tsapna, Keleri, and the Spirits all will likely be looking for a new CF this winter.

Round 38:
.....Tsapna 5-0 Lutrul - 6-3, 10-2, 7-4, 8-4, 3-2
.....Kepmem 3-2 Nokelto - 2-4, 15-2, 5-4, 5-7, 7-5
..A.Spirits 4-1 Muni - 4-3, 9-3, 1-2, 11-9, 8-3
....Cheshek 3-2 Akashemo - 4-1, 3-0, 7-2, 0-1, 2-5
..Amnanache 3-2 Hokrof - 4-1, 2-3(10), 6-0, 4-1, 7-8(14)
....Sitache 2-3 A.Canaries - 5-6(11), 8-0, 9-6(10), 2-3(10), 2-12
....Fampalo 1-4 Semyof - 1-7, 7-8(10), 5-4, 1-3, 3-5
..Sh.Eagles 3-2 Kupore - 5-0, 1-2, 5-3, 10-3, 0-7
.....Keleri 2-3 Mighty Oaks - 6-5(10), 2-6, 3-2, 3-10, 6-7
...National 1-4 Pasataki - 3-4, 7-11, 7-3(10), 5-8, 2-5


Sitache 8, Aroketsil Canaries 0 and Fampalo 5, Semyof 4: on consecutive days, the second and third relegated teams were confirmed. In this case, both were teams promoted from the 2L in 2020. Semyof should probably be better than this, given their history (seven championships) but they aren't. The Canaries have been relegated immediately all three times they've come up to this level, we just happened to watch this one.


Standings:.......W..L
x- Mighty Oaks.130 60
-- .....Tsapna.123 67
-- ..A.Spirits.115 75
-- .....Keleri.109 81
+1 ..Amnanache.106 84
-1 ....Fampalo.104 86
-- ...Pasataki.103 87
-- ....Cheshek..99 91
-- .....Kupore..94 96
+1 ..Sh.Eagles..94 96
-1 ...Akashemo..93 97
-- ....Sitache..87 103
-- ...National..86 104
+1 .....Kepmem..84 106
-1 .....Lutrul..83 107
-- .....Hokrof..83 107
-- ....Nokelto..81 109
--------------------
R- .....Semyof..79 111
R- .A.Canaries..78 112
R- .......Muni..69 121

Amazingly, Tsapna won their last 23 games in a row to make the final title race look quite close. The Oaks really ran away with it.

Semyof ties the all-time record for most wins by a team relegated from the EL, originally set by the Ransu Shockers in 2017, then tied by Wikyats Athletic in 2020 (i.e., last year). The Aroketsil Canaries set a new record for 19th-place teams with 78 wins, beating the 2017 Shunna Eagles' 76-114 mark. Parity at the bottom of the EL is fairly strong, as evidenced by only having 8 teams actually finish above .500.

In the next post, we'll do pro/rel from the lower leagues, then a stats deep dive before getting into offseason stuff!