[Litty]

2034

As the only league not to include expansion teams, the East dominated the standings, with all 8 teams making the postseason. Asheville once again broke the regular season wins record going 123-27. However, due to the expanded playoff field, a number of expansion teams made the playoffs, as well as some established teams going to the postseason for the first time. The Saskatoon Winter Hawks, the relocated Regina Snowcats, went 97-53 to appear in their first postseason while expansion teams Hastings, Wichita, Bakersfield and Vancouver all gained a postseason berth.

Asheville, Saskatoon, New York, Salisbury, Charlotte, Roanoke, Richmond and Bristol all made it out of the 16-team first round. In the best of three quarterfinals, it was Asheville, New York, Charlotte and Richmond who found success. The semifinals saw Asheville beat New York in four while Charlotte and Richmond went the distance, with Charlotte walking it off in game 5thanks to Keesha DeWilliams. Despite their regular season dominance, Asheville were no match for the former champions, who took back their trophy in 4 games.

DeWilliams once again dominated in batting average, hitting .422 while also becoming one of the first players to hit 50 home runs in a season, a feat completed by 5 players this season. Roanoke’s Mary Walsh lead in home runs with 57 and RBIS with 190. On the mound, Beaver’s rookie Ada Thibodaux led in ERA (2.31) and Ks (264) while Asheville’s Danielle Giannini was the winningest pitcher with 23 wins in 30 starts. Giannini also recorded the league’s third perfect game on August 17th (Asheville v. Roanoke).

Saskatoon’s Alex Rutherford won Rookie of the Year, hitting 307 with 27 home runs. Veteran Nora Lowry won the Madeeha Baqri Award for her 21-4 record and 2.68 ERA. And Keesha DeWilliams was denied her 6th MVP title by Antonia Sargent of New York, who put up a .388 batting average and 53 home runs in her first year in the league. A special mention was given to Salisbury’s Kel Franco for breaking the hitting streak record set in 2019. Franco eclipsed the 24-game record as she hit successfully in 31 straight games this season.

2035

In the 2035 draft, Anchorage chose Austin Jerome of Wake Forest first overall. Jerome was a high-velocity late-innings reliver with a deadly fastball. She had shown that as she helped Wake Forest to a collegiate championship and had struck out 224 over the course of the 2035 season.

The East once again dominated with all 8 teams once again going through to the playoffs. Asheville continued to build their regular season dynasty as they snagged the best regular season record at 117-33. Bottom of the East was Roanoke at 77-73. Five teams from the Central made the playoffs, with Hamilton taking the division at a record of 107-43. Odessa made their first playoffs at 63-86. Finally the top three teams in the West, all with losing records, made the playoffs. This raised questions about the 16-team playoff bracket but it would be kept for the time being in order to prevent established teams from dominating at the expense of their new leaguemates. Meanwhile, as a special note, Saskatoon’s Jay Manley broke the hitting streak record, setting the new benchmark at 38.

There were no giant-killing moments in the first round or quarterfinals, bring the league to semifinals matchups of Asheville v Hamilton and Huntington v New York. However, both Asheville and New York swept in 3 games to face one another in the finals. It trophy series was a back and forth affair, with New York taking a series lead three times, only for Asheville to even things each time. This brought things to a game seven in Asheville. New York took an early lead with Nellie Carron scoring off a Marcia ‘Ma’ Davis double. However, as they had all series, Asheville tied it up as Ciara Hernandez scored from second on a deep Chrissy Davis single. New York regained the lead in the top of the second as Zelda Prat tagged up from third on a sac fly. The lead held for an inning and a half before Christy LeBlanc hit a solo home run to left-centre field to tie things at 2. The teams traded 1-2-3 5ths before New York stranded two in the top of the 6th. In the bottom of the inning, a double, an intentional walk and an error loaded the bases for Betty Wilbanks. Wilbanks, who was hitting .263 on the season but was 0-4 against New York reliever in her career. She hit the ball to deep right-centre and only stopped running when she slid into third base. She had cleared the bases and pushed Asheville out to a comfortable 5-2 lead. A Mia Galloway single brought Wilbanks home to add a fourth run and New York suddenly found themselves in a hole. The closest they came to a run after that was a two-out triple by Nellie Caron in the top of the seventh. However, after Danielle Giannini went seven innings and Park Hye-son went two to hold off any attempt at a New York comeback. Finally, Asheville had their title.

Keesha DeWilliams unsurprisingly took home the batting title once more as she hit .427. While finishing outside the top seven in home runs, she was fifth in RBIs with 145. Huntington’s Bab White led the league in home runs with 59 while DeWilliams’ teammate Kylie Lyons batted in 167 runs. Ada Thibodaux took home the ERA and Ks titles, pitching a 1.77 and 248 Ks. However, the winningest pitcher was Edna Buck with 21 wins in 28 starts.

Rookie of the Year was Portland’s Antonia Vasquez, who hit .319 with 35 home runs. Despite her low wins record, Ada Thibodaux took home the Madeeha Baqri Award while Keesha DeWilliams earned her sixth MVP title.