2032
Regina opened the draft with high school phenom Victoria Miranda. The pitcher had managed a 0.60 ERA across 12 starts (9-0 in decisions) and 90.1 innings. Their first round pick from 2031, Jay Manley, hit .263 across 118 games.
At the deadline, Bristol made waves as they acquired 2030 no. 1 pick Nora Lowry from Asheville. At that point in the season, Lowry was 9-8 in 24 starts. They acquired her for the .386 hitting Brie Rogers and #55 prospect, Lorna Arellano. Bristol also acquired international free agent Lassie Wickwilder of the Cook Islands. In the standings, Hamilton lead the North while teams 1-5 in the south held the other 5 playoff spots.
By the All Star break, things had barely changed. Bristol now led the North at 34-23 and Huntington, at 32-25, had managed to break the southern monopoly, sitting in the 5th playoff spot. Asheville lead the south with a record of 41-19 with Charlotte, Richmond and Salisbury filling out the rest of the playoff spots. However, it was the north that dominated in the All Star game, with Hamilton’s Kenya Burch going 3 for 5 with 2 home runs to secure All Star MVP.
Bristol held on to win the north with a record of 75-55. Huntington (66-54) and New York (62-58) snuck into the playoffs as the 5th and 6th seeds, with Huntington holding on as they had done all season and New York taking the seeding due to a late push. Ashville took the south after another strong season, going 86-34 while Charlotte (79-41) and Richmond (74-46) filled out the rest of the playoff picture.
Bristol beat Richmond resoundingly with an 8-2 victory at Bear Park. Meanwhile, Huntington silenced New York 7-1 in their first ever playoff game. However, they proved no match for Charlotte and were beaten in four in the semifinals. Bristol and Asheville went the distance but in the end Bristol prevailed, shutting out Asheville 9-0 in game 5. Charlotte never looked out of sorts and won in five games to retain the title, becoming the third back-to-back champions in league history.
Keesha DeWilliams once again led in batting average as she continued to define herself as one of the league’s best hitters. .402 with 25 home runs and 104 RBI as DeWilliams put up more MVP-calibre numbers. Louisa Garcia lead in home runs with 40 and Huntington’s Bab White, a strong hitter in their own right, lead in RBIs with 122. Bristol’s Glenda Latimer lead on the mound with a 2.46 ERA and 154 Ks while Edna Buck and Danielle Giannini split the title of winningest pitcher with 16 wins in 24 starts.
Roanoke’s Marsha Harvey won Rookie of the Year with .269 and 10 home runs. The Madeeha Baqri Award went to Giannini with her 16-3 record, 2.50 ERA and 144 Ks. To no-one’s surprise, Keesha DeWilliams won MVP, the fourth of her nine-season career.
After breaking a bone in her elbow during the season, 2030 Rookie of the Year Ingrid Geijtenbeek retired from baseball due to the injury. Also retiring was veteran Taylor DeVos. DeVos spent her entire career in Cape Cod, playing in over 1000 games and managing a .296 batting average. A power hitter at her core, she hit 241 home runs In her career, DeVos was a 5-time All Star and 5-time Cherry Zeck award winner.
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Good times, good vibes going forwards.
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