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2035 Playoffs
World Series
Making their fourth appearance in the fall classic and looking for their third title were Dallas, while standing in their way were unfancied Charlotte. The Express had already seen off both Philadelphia and Chicago to reach the World Series and although Dallas were seen by many as the hot favourites they could not afford to take Charlotte lightly. In game one a David Edwards 2-run homer was all the offense Dallas required to take the series lead as staff ace Cristobal Chapa was almost perfect, striking out 12 and hurling a one-hit shutout, his only blip a fourth inning single surrendered to SS Jamie Henson. The following night both sides came to play, in a topsy-turvy game with momentum swinging from one team to the other the hometown fans left the happier, as a late 2-run blast from Alfonso Sosa (his second of the night) capped a wild Dallas comeback. The Express, despite a big game from veteran LF Stephen Thomas (3H, HR, 4 RBI) were left to rue missed opportunities as they let leads of 2-0, 4-3 and 5-4 slip on the way to losing a heartbreaker. Back home in the comfortable confines of the Carolina Dome, Charlotte used a Stephen Thomas grand-slam to storm into a big lead and cruised the rest of the way, taking game three in a landslide to cut the series deficit to one game. Things were all knotted up the next night as David Reyes controlled the Dallas offense for much of the contest while the Express used homeruns from Broderick Hill and Brandon Townsend to build a 5-0 lead, the Mustangs plated a couple of consolation runs in the 9th to make the score respectable, game five continued the trend of the home team winning with Greg Bailey and the Express besting Dallas ace Cristobal Chapa in a closely fought game to surprisingly put Charlotte on the verge of winning it all. The series moved back to Texas for the final act with Charlotte in the driving seat, game six saw Dallas build a comfortable 6-0 lead behind the pitching of Jason Cashan, however once he left the game the Charlotte batters found the Dallas bullpen much more to their liking cutting the Mustang lead to one, only the timely introduction of closer Luis Lagunas secured the win and set up a game seven showdown. The visitors drew first blood in the finale when C Nicholas Tate slammed a 2-run first inning homer, the home fans didn’t have to wait long for a reply as the Mustangs levelled the game in the bottom of the first and went ahead in the third. The two teams swapped runs in the fourth before Express 1B Broderick Hill tied the score with a fifth inning homerun. With both teams turning to their bullpens a series of relievers kept a lid on the scoring until the top of the ninth when visiting catcher Nicholas Tate slammed his second homer of the game putting Charlotte on the brink of becoming world champions. With his team holding a slim 6-4 lead Express closer Justin Babbitt took the mound and calmly retired the heart of the Dallas lineup to send the visiting fans into a frenzy and bring to a close one of the most remarkable seasons in NABL history.
2035 Playoff Recap
Divisional Series
EL: Charlotte 3-1 Philadelphia, Chicago 3-2 Washington
WL: Dallas 3-2 San Jose, Oklahoma City 3-0 Sanfrancisco
Championship Series
EL: Charlotte 4-0 Chicago
WL: Dallas 4-1 Oklahoma City
World Series
Charlotte 4-3 Dallas
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