Arena Baseball League

[bestbrother]

The Off-Season (Part 3)

Draft

At this juncture the league are considering with scrapping the entry draft. The cost is out weighing the benefits to most teams, as players rarely fulfil any scouted potential due to the change from outdoor to indoor baseball. The league is also considering allow more foreign talent to join the league, which may open up the ABL to more markets.



Retirements

This may become more common place now as some of the veterans who have been around the ABL begin to hang up their cleats. Yet none may reverbarate around the league as much as the ending of 43 year old Alfredo Carcamos career.

On the field things came to a sad ending as he went 0-5 in the playoffs with Ottawa, but Carcamo will be remembered for a pair of World Series rings with Hartford. As well as winning the league MVP award in 2027 as a part of the expansion Dover Dukes.

In recent years Carcamo has been influential in setting up the ABL-PA and will lead the Union into its first phase of CBA negotiations in the next off-season.

Big Al' leaves the league as a part of the 500RBI club, spread across 4 teams, over 1100 hits and a career BA of .460, that included a pair of .500+ seasons.

[bestbrother]

The Season that was 2031/32:

The New ABL!

4 new teams, 2 new Conferences, 4 new divisions and 94 games. Its all change as 11 of the teams will hope that something else will change as they all hope to topple the 6 time Champions Richmond Liberty.

The First Month!

Out East the Blast led the way even with the loss of some of their more notable production via the Expansion draft. Their 18-11 record was good enough for a 5 game gap on Fayetteville, who held their own in the debut month.

In the North, Ottawa continued to be the prominent Canadian team in the ABL. They raced away with 22 wins to start the season, Montreal were a tick under .500, whilst Hamilton have alot to learn and will hope the old 'ABL December' will keep them in contention.

Chicago without Childress continued to be clueless as they started with a losing record. Detroit and Iowa were split by a game through November, as the Mustangs looked to make the most of a weak Central Division.

Down South, well it was no surprise to anyone that Richmond would ease ahead. Their 22-7 start was good for a 8 game lead over Dover. Kentucky with just 10 wins put up the worst months record.

Welcome to an ABL December

If the ABL will be remembered for anything when people look back on its existence, it will be how Decembers make a difference. For Fayetteville, their first December saw just 5 wins as they slid away to a miserable 18-40 record. Buffalo held the lead, but Hartford came racing back into contention to trail by just 3.

Ottawa continued to make the most of being the best in Canada, but Hamilton rallied to make a fight of it, as at 32-26 they are showing the Maroons how an expansion should be run.

Another expansion team shining bright is Detroit. They are helped by the fact that Iowa and Chicago are generally rubbish, but still, the Mustangs at 34-24 would need a dramatic collapse to miss out in the run in.

Richmond had the first ever South Division title in their pocket. A 49-9 record was good for a 24 game gap on Dover and more on the 19 win GeeGees.

Who made it?

Well 3 of the 4 division winners are well known to those who follow the ABL, Buffalo trotted to a 56-38 record in the East to go back to the post-season. They will face off with Ottawa in the Stars Conference OGS, as the Black Caps held off a late 'Crazy' surge from Hamilton, to win the division by 3 games.

In the Stripes Conference its a case of Old and New. The old being Richmond and their mammoth 75 win effort to easily win another division banner. Whilst Detroit made the most of the Central being full of trash, to win 52 games and embarrass the Hogs' and Crush.

Miscellaneous

Offensive numbers dropped dramatically as the new teams struggled to adjust and the extra games saw pitchers get back to relevance. The league saw its per game run rate drop to a smidgen over 7.

Financially the biggest problem would be faced by the 4 new franchises who all posted losses. Its not unusual for this to be the case, but it may impact their chances of competing.

Alongside this, overall payrolls again dropped as only Hamilton, Iowa and Ottawa spent over $1,000,000 on their playing staff. This will be a point of contention for the upcoming CBA talks as the players look to implement a competitive minimum salary.

Attendances saw an increase overall as expected with the new teams and expanded schedule. However even though the average attendance across the season came in at 3042 fans, Chicago struggled with roughly 25% capacity as 2046 fans turned up on average.

[bestbrother]

Statistics

Plenty of new faces this year in the League Leader lists as the improved pitching efforts saw league ERAs dip well below 3.00, as although his team continued to be dirge, Antonio Villegas (22) of Montreal would pitch a league best 2.29ERA as he won 10 of his 22 starts in just his 2nd year in the league.

Buffalo saw last years Pitcher of the Year Jason Hulbert once again impress, this time back up by 20y/o Tony Rivas who debuted with a 14-3 record and 2.70ERA.

At the plate Richmond saw Lorenzo Picos record the leagues sole .500+ season, whilst off-season additions Aaron Potoroff and Matt Hinrichs would combine for over 200 of the Liberty scoring. Kevin Gomes had a down year, posting his worst numbers yet by barely breaking .400 and 50RBIs in what is a contract year for the superstar.

[bestbrother]

One Game Shootout:

Stars Conference
Ottawa Black Caps @ Buffalo Blast

It turned out to not be the best advert for the ABL but the drama was off the scale as the Blast came through with a 12th inning walkoff win, sneaking past Ottawa 2-1 to reach a 2nd straight World Series.

Buffalo backed by a stunning Tony Rivas pitching effort, would win thanks to an error as veteran Willie Gonzalez would rue his play at 2nd. The Blast can also thank a 5 inning relief effort by Lorenzo Colon, another stud young pitching prospect, as he 1-hit the Black Caps to finish the tie.

Stripes Conference
Detroit Mustangs @ Richmond Liberty

Thanks for turning up, thats all you can say about the Mustangs as they strode into Richmond riding a debut season high, before scampering away with tails firmly between their legs.

23 runs, 26 hits read the Richmond score line, whilst Detroit would have 8 errors, 2 more than their final hit total! For Richmond it was a case of stat-padding. Picos and Potoroff cranked in 4 runs a piece, Gomes came to life with 3, whilst winning Pitcher Javier Fraticelli not only went 7 strong, but also drove in 3 runs of his own.

This sets up a repeat of last years World Series, with Buffalo coming to Richmond to try and achieve the impossible!

[bestbrother]

Arena Baseball World Series

Buffalo Blast @ Richmond Liberty

Buffalo blew it (once more) their 4th World Series loss and 2nd straight. This time heart ache came in the form of a walk! Thats right, Elias Valdez would walk Matt Hinrichs with the bases loaded and handed the title right back into Richmonds hands.

Neither side saw any of their stars come to dominate the game, infact only 4 Buffalo hitters made meaningful contact on the night. Yet Richmond once again had enough and when Casey Gerber came to the mound, he ensured a 7th straight Championship for the club with 2 innings of no-hit pitching to earn the win.

The future is bright for Buffalo, but right now Richmond have their number and are the outright best thing to exist in the ABL.

[Sizeman21]

What is a geegee? Some type of horse?

[bestbrother]

Originally Posted by Sizeman21

What is a geegee? Some type of horse?

Yeah im not sure if you use that term in the USA, but in England a GeeGee is a horse... normally what children would say tbh. Same for a GingGing, thats a Guitar!

You might say you are going to the GeeGees if you are watching the Horse Racing for example

[bestbrother]

League News

Problems Ahead!

It has been one success story after another for the ABL in its 12 year existence, yet as we head into the 13th, it appears that will be unlucky for some as dramatic news came out of the league.

The Chicago Crush have announced that they will cease to exist as of March 1st 2032.One of the biggest markets the league have tried to exploit has been one of its biggest lows. The Crush have spent money, tried different approaches but at the end of it all been barely able to remain competitive on the field, whilst haemorrhaging money off it.

Last year saw the franchise post its worst ever accounts, whilst attendances dwindled to barely 2000+ per game. It proved to be a perfect storm in which the Crush have been unable to navigate.

This news appeared to come as a shock to the league who have released a brief statement stating their disappointment, but there will need to be adjustments made to the league in order to accommodate the loss of Chicago.

Later this month the league will face another challenge in terms of agreeing its first CBA with the ABL-PA. Yet more money is expected by the players, but with 3 teams already struggling (excluding the now defunct Chicago Crush), there could well be rough waters ahead as the ABL hopes to steady their ship.

[bestbrother]

League News

Re-Alingment

With the league going through a transition, the ABL announced its new structure ahead of the upcoming draft.

The loss of Chicago has dealt a blow to the league and its hopes of remaining relevant in a big city market. Chicago had projected heavy losses this year as they had large contracts such as Ryan Gill to fulfil, so the owners pulled the plug on the Crush after 12 years in the league.

Re-Alignment saw the Central and South divisions merge into one 5 team setup. The top 2 teams will move forward to play in the Stripes Conference OGS round. Alongside this, the schedule has been reduced to 84 games, accounting the the loss of Chicago.

Draft

Further news saw the league announce that this year will be the final amateur draft. Financially the teams saw the draft as an expensive gamble, with many of the picks failing to make the grade and switch from outdoor to indoor baseball. The ABL remains open to restarting a draft system, but this year will be the last class to enter the league.

CBA

Another blow to the owners came in the form of the opening of CBA talks with the ABL-PA. With the league hitting a financial brick wall, the last thing owners needed was to guarantee a higher minimum salary, yet Alfredo Carcamo ensured that an increase would attract a higher level of player from foreign shores and in turn improve the league quality.

Carcamo pushed for and got a league minimum starting at $40,000, whilst also blocking the owners attempts to include a league wide salary cap. The initial CBA will last 3 years as both sides will use this to gauge the relevance to the league and its teams/players. It will be seen as a victory for the players, whilst the owners can keep the sport going without any threat of a strike shortened season.

[bestbrother]

The Off-Season

Hirings/Firings

Fayetteville announced a change at the top, 1 year after joining the league. They moved on the Chicago Sporting Directer Chih-tui Xiong after the Crush wound up. Its unsure how well the Freedom will do following this change, but they will hope for any improvement on the sub-20 win season they suffered in their debut.

Awards

Stripes Arena MVP - Lorenzo Picos (Richmond Liberty)

Kevin Gomes is finally toppled as his teammate Lorenzo Picos walked away with this years award, hitting a career best .512, whilst driving in over 65 RBIs for Richmond. Picos continued his efforts in the post-season and deserves the plaudits.

Stars Arena MVP - Willie Gonzalez (Ottawa Black Caps)

Gonzalez would make the error that ended the Black Caps season against Buffalo in the playoffs, but his regular season performances rolled back the years as he collects his 2nd MVP award, 12 years after his first.

Stripes Arena Pitcher of the Year - Mike Kates (Richmond Liberty)

24 year old Mike Kates came of age this year to rack up 11 wins and a career best 3.71ERA as he comfortably slipped into a full time starters role. Kates who was drafted in the 2028 2nd round by Richmond and is a rare success story of development.

Stars Arena Pitcher of the Year - Antonio Villegas (Montreal Maroons)

22 year old Dominican Antonio Villegas is a bright light coming out of the depths of Montreals woes. The 6'4' hurler has a startling fastball and his league record 2.29ERA stunned observers as he defied the odds.

Stripes Conference Arena Skipper of the Year - Jonathan Gonzales (Richmond Liberty)

75 wins, a 7th straight Championship. The superlatives will go on forever. What Jo-Go' and his Liberty team have achieved is unlikely to ever be matched. Its just a case of how long will this dynasty last before someone else finally steps up.

Stars Conference Arena Skipper of the Year - Ezequiel Barba (Buffalo Blast)

Barba has done alot for the Blast, making the playoffs in all but one of his 8 years at the helm. The 46 year old Venezuelan has come as close as anyone in stopping the Liberty, but will hope he can get over that hump as his young team starts to mature.

Draft

Trades / FA Agency

An early trade saw the Hamilton Crazies add runs and experience in the form of 39 year old Matt Hinrichs. Hinrichs just had a career best 94RBI in Richmond, but the Liberty decided to cash in to get 18y/o Ricky Ochoa from the Crazies.

The plucking of talent that had left Chicago would prove competitive. First to sign elsewhere would be career Crush man Tim Kilpatrick. At 35 he had driven in 670 runs whilst with the Crush, earning him a big pay day with Ottawa 3yr/$500k.

Ryan Gill, who is 78 hits away from becoming the first 1500 hit man in ABL history, also saw his Chicago contract torn up. He would wind up back in Richmond, where only a couple of years earlier he had a 100+ RBI year in helping them win at Championship. The Liberty have given the veteran another 1 year deal and hope he can repeat his numbers once more.

Richmond didnt stop there, they also added former league MVP Danny Solano to their ranks. Solano is 3rd in career RBIs with 725, as the 35 year old becomes another veteran joining the Richmond behemoth in order to collect a ring before they call it quits in the ABL. His $192,000 per annum deal makes him the 3rd highest paid player in the league, behind team mate Gerber and the famous Dirk Hostetler of Hartford.

[bestbrother]

The Season that was 2032/33:

The Problem Season!

It was hashed together at the last minute and in the end financial difficulties plagued alot of teams as the ABL almost found itself a laughing stock as not every team finished their schedule, leaving the Stripes Conference in disarray.

How it began..

Richmond took advantage once more in a weakened Conference and a 5-team division, as they won 15 of their opening 21 fixtures. Iowa held up to record the only other winning record in the division, whilst problems mounted for the GGs as their losses mounted and the team saw attendances dip below what they need to break even.

The Stars Conference saw the East Division split the lead between all 3 teams, as at 12-12 December would be crucial once more. The North again saw Ottawa take hold of things, their 16-8 record good for a 6 game lead over the rest.

All to play for..

Out East we still had a tight race as December did see Buffalo move ahead of Fayetteville by 2 games, but even the DBs of Hartford were alive at 23-30.

Ottawa slightly improved their position, going 33-20 to move 7 clear of Hamilton as Montreal once more left themselves in a hole.

Richmond continued to dominate, their 31-13 record the best of the ABL, Iowa with 28 wins stayed close, but the rest had alot to answer for as interest begins to wain for those teams with nothing left to play for.

Where it went wrong?

The season came to a premature end in the Stripes Conference. Teams at most played 69 games, others like Dover 66, 18 games short of a complete season. Why? Well it all boiled down to Detroit, Kentucky and Dover all blaming financial reasons in either not hosting or attending series within their division.

Those 3 teams had nothing to play for and in the end called in their seasons in order to save money and hopefully their status in the ABL. It proved to be a huge embarrassment for the league and there is likely to be punishments for all 3 teams, but questions have to be asked about the viability of the expanded setup.

Richmond in the end won the division and will face Iowa in the Conference OGS as the Hogs' impressed with 41 wins. In the other less dramatic Conference, regular contenders Buffalo and Ottawa won their respective divisions as a rethink may well come into place after the shambles that was 2032/33.

Miscellaneous

Financial problems are plaguing the ABL. Kentucky are all but insolvent, the Iowa Hogmen are losing money faster than they can count, whilst Detroit saw a drop of just under 80000 fans in overall attendance.

Run numbers again dropped, this time to a league worst 6.1 per game. The scheduling problems can account for some of this, but it is an issue as the ABL promotes itself on the fast paced scoring version of Baseball.

[bestbrother]

One Game Shootout:

Stars Conference
Buffalo Blast @ Ottawa Black Caps

A repeat of last years Conference OGS but this time in Canada, but the scoreline stayed the same as Buffalo scored 2 in the 1st, Ottawa scored 1 in the 1st and that was it!

Lorenzo Colon pitched a solid 6 innings with 4Ks to collect the win, after his impressive showing last season. Whilst Kilpatrick the Black Caps big off-season acquisition did go 3-4 but was unable to put Ottawa over the hump.

Buffalo are now in their 3rd straight World Series, can they break the Richmond hoo-doo?

Stripes Conference
Iowa Hogmen @ Richmond Liberty

Iowa pushed and pushed hard but the Liberty experience once again paid off with a late rally to edge past a despondant Hogs' 5-4. Ryan Gill proved to be a key player as he paid off his big contract going 3-4 with 2RBIs, whilst MVP Lorenzo Picos would lead off with 2 hits and an RBI.

Interestingly the Liberty used Casey Gerber at 3rd for tonight, he went 2-4 as Jo-Go kept things fresh and interesting for his superstar team.

[bestbrother]

Arena Baseball World Series

Buffalo Blast @ Richmond Liberty

Its happened, sound the alarm! Some may say this title will have an aster-ix against it due to the problems with the Stripes Conference, but the fact is, both teams turned up for 9 innings of indoor baseball and the Buffalo Blast came out on top.

In the end it was a convincing way to end the Liberty dominance. Buffalo driving the stake into Richmonds hearts with a 5-run 7th, but it will be the pitching performance of young Tony Rivas that will be remembered from tonight.

Rivas held the Liberty to 4H off his 8IP as the 21 year old, put on a show to shut down everything and anything that Richmond had. There was no where to hide for the 7-time reigning Champs and its Buffalo who can finally celebrate, even though the ABL enters yet another difficult off-season.

[bestbrother]

Statistics

Apologies, wrong order!

Lorenzo Colon continues to be a dominant figure in ABL pitching as he collects the Triple Crown that included a 1.95ERA as he won 11 of his 21 starts.

Kevin Gomes led the league in BA again but a sign of the times may be in there being no .500 hitters in this years statistics. Whilst veteran Marcos Trujillo may be in contention for the MVP award with his .480AVG and 80RBI.

Interestingly Edwin Gelmetti became the first ABL hitter to score 3 home runs! 2 of those came with Iowa, but his 3rd came in Canada with the Crazies and at just 31, there is time for a few more yet!

[bestbrother]

League News

The ABL experiment is slowly beginning to feel the effects of its over reaching ambition. Following the loss of Chicago last year and then the mess up this year with its schedule and subsequent financial distress casued, the league announced it will be reducing back down to 10 teams, just 2 years removed from its 4 team expansion.

Sadly the Kentucky GeeGees have been put on hold, which essentially means they are dead. The ABL decided that the losses racked up by the Kentucky club are unsustainable and have closed their doors.

The GeeGees ownership accepted this fate without dispute, the realisation that running an ABL franchise would be such a financial burden had left them less than enthusiastic to continue to underpin an annual deficit.

This reduction to 10 teams will bring the league back into a 2 division setup and the removal of the ill-fated Conference structure. Full details are likely to follow as the league hopes to overcome last years embarrassment over the incomplete schedule.

Kentucky leave the league with a 60-100 record over their 2 seasons and with their official status as being put on *hold*, there may be hope for the GeeGees to return once stability resumes in the ABL financial market.

[bestbrother]

The Off-Season

Retirements

F-Rod, or Pigpen as he was known has finally given up his ABL duties, probably a few years too late, but still notable for ABL fans. Fernando Rodriguez was one of the original players and pitchers who took the game to opposing hitters as the ABL found its footing.

After back to back 2nd place finishes in Arena Pitcher of the Year voting (22 & 23), he would finally crack the code in 2024 winning the award as he led the league with a 3.04ERA and 99Ks. Sadly for the Venezuelan, that high saw soon saw a downturn in his fortunes.

F-Rod did pitch well out of the bullpen for Richmond in the next 2 years, but he would then feature in just one more season on the mound for the Liberty as injuries and loss of form saw him sidelined as Richmond went on their way to 7 straight Championships.

However for all that disappointment, F-Rod will have a place in ABL folklore for that early period of dominance and leaves the league with a career 3.04ERA, 500+Ks, 39 wins and 3 World Series rings.

Awards

Arena MVP - Sean DeJohn (Iowa Hogmen)

Arguably the strangest award ever yet in the ABL as DeJohn beat Kevin Gomes into 2nd place thanks to a 60RBI, .472AVG effort. It wasnt spectacular but no hitter really was, so 29y/o DeJohn etches his name into the ABL history books.

Arena Pitcher of the Year - Lorenzo Colon (Buffalo Blast)

21 year old Colon took things to the next level this year as the league suffered a down tick in offense and Colon made the most of that by pitching to a record 1.95ERA as he won 11 games en route to his first Championship in Buffalo.

Arena Skipper of the Year - Ezequiel Barba (Buffalo Blast)

It had to be, a fully deserved win this year for Barba as the league chose just one winner ahead of returning back to a solitary format rather than the Conference setup. Barba finally got one over the Liberty to take the Blast to the top.

Trades / FA Agency

Richmond finally lost their crown as the ABL dominant force in a 7-1 humbling to Buffalo. Now they are facing another crisis as 4 of their stars all prepared to test free agency.

Luckily Ryan Gill chose to remain with the Liberty, signing a 2 year deal that will take him to 40 and earn him best part of $400,000 for the privilege.

Another player who chose to give it another year in Richmond was Casey Gerber. The leagues most well known pitcher chose 1 year at $100,000 to remain at the only club he has known. It was less than expected, but the 34 year old is on the decline and took a discount for all that the Liberty had done for him.

However 2 players would take their chances elsewhere. Most notably would be Steve Healey as the 39 year old made the move to Iowa to play out his remaining days in the league. Healey who is well on his way to 800 career RBIs, has been instrumental in the Richmond dynasty and will be forever remembered by the Liberty franchise.

Finally Aaron 'Chump' Pottoroff who has only been in Richmond for 2 years, notably for his 1st year 110RBI effort, goes back to Buffalo as the Champs' look to strengthen on what they have already built.

[bestbrother]

League News

The 14th season of ABL play is due to begin and confirmation of this years structure is as follows:

Stars Division
Hartford Dark Blues
Buffalo Blast
Ottawa Black Caps
Montreal Maroons
Hamilton Crazies

Stripes Division
Richmond Liberty
Dover Dukes
Fayetteville Freedom
Detroit Mustangs
Iowa Hogmen

The season is scheduled for 90 games, with the top 2 from each division advancing into the OGS seeded 1 thru 4. After 2 seasons of disruption, the ABL is hopeful that they can return to the good days with a stable season on and off the field.

[bestbrother]

The Season that was 2033/34:


And then there were 10...

10 teams, a stronger financial position (hopefully) and a chance for the ABL to get back on to its feet. The opening month of the new look league started with familiarity.

Richmond took the Stripes Division by the scruff of the neck, winning 19 of 25 as they and Dover held the divisions only winning records. Elsewhere the Stars Division had a tighter feel to it, Buffalo and Ottawa held slender winning records at 13-12, but no team was more than 3 games out and going into December it was all cards on the table.

The month that was...

December. Thats right if there is anything that we expect here, is to expect nothing and everything. For the first time in what feels like forever (in Montreal at least), the Maroons went into the change of the year with a winning record and at 30-24 a division lead that saw them 6 games up on Hamilton.

Richmond continued some sort of normality for the league by winning 41 games through the opening 2 months of the schedule, chased down by Iowa and Fayetteville as they looked to play for a potential #3 seeding.

January brings...

Well it brings what we all expect. Richmond win another division banner, this time their 67-23 record was good enough for a 19 game gap on the rest... yet that rest was 3 teams! Thats right, 3 teams in the Stripes Division would win 48 games and a reliance on head-to-head records saw Iowa come out on top as they can thank a 5 game winning streak to nudge ahead of Fayetteville and Dover.

Buffalo would also win another division, they would lose their final series in Montreal but had enough to top the Maroons by a single game. Thats right, Montreal have done it! One of the original expansion teams have been through the ringer, 9 years of losing baseball finally comes full circle as the Maroons do enough to clinch a playoff place on the back of 48 magnificent wins.

Miscellaneous

The league had its best financial return, ticket prices were up, attendance numbers increased and although there remains long term financial doubts, caused in part by the CBA and the increase in team payrolls as every team sat on a player spend of $1,000,000+, led by Richmond and their $1,500,000 total.

Run numbers are going North once more, but pitchers again hold their own as strikeout numbers continue to increase with more heat coming from the league hurlers.

[bestbrother]

Statistics

Aaron Pottorff proved his worth after signing with Buffalo by taking the batting title with a .511 season. The 5th time he has hit for .500 + in his lengthy career.

A new face on the block is Dover's Claude Polidori as the Venezuelan who joined Dover on their expansion into the ABL, chased in a league high 98RBIs, as he now totals 586 as just 30 years of age.

Casey Gerber deserves a shoutout once more, this time not just for his pitching where by he became a starter once more for the Liberty, winning 10 of his 19 starts and striking out 92 batters. He also slapped a home run... the 34 year old burned his legs around the bags to stun onlookers and ensconce himself even further into ABL lore.

[bestbrother]

One Game Shootout:

Montreal Maroons @ Buffalo Blast

With no seeding protection and a straight 1-4 system in use, Montreal would face Buffalo in their first ever playoff matchup.

Come the end of 9 innings, it would be the Champs' who wound up with egg on their face.. thats right, Montreal had done what no one ever believed they could and made the World Series.

It all came down to a dramatic 9th inning where DH Justin Wojcik would dribble in a single to bring home what would be the winning run. Then to add to it all, 16 year old Carlos Gonzalez would come in at the bottom of the 9th to get the final 2 outs and stun Buffalo in the wildest of fashion.

Iowa Hogmen @ Richmond Liberty

Iowa had little chance here and so it proved as even with ex-Liberty man Steve Healey in their lineup, the Hogmen would be chased for 18 hits and 10 runs as Richmond made a 9th straight World Series as they looked to get back on top.

Kevin Gomes, Ryan Gill and Josh Maniscalco would combine for all 10 runs, with the latter driving in 5 as his first year at Richmond takes him back to the World Series that he won last year in Buffalo!