Fleet Conference
Cuban Stars West (91-71) v Pittsburgh Crawfords (89-73)
Best of seven, West with home-field advantage.
Tough races for both clubs means they'll be primed for this. The Crawfs have to cope with the absence of key infielder Cesar Hernandez, who won't be back this season, while the West will dearly miss pitcher Jesse Houston, who should be back in time for the World Series should they make it through. That's a fairly even swap. Pittsburgh will need to contain the CSW big bats to have a chance here, one would think.
The home side wins the first five games in a real arm wrestle, sending the series back to Nashville with the West needing to continue this streak to prevail. It doesn't work out that way, as the Crawfords knock them out with a strong 5-0 win behind Louis Dula to book their spot in the big decider for just the second time and keep alive their dream of a maiden EL title. Edgar Wesley adds to his highlight reel with the MVP nod.
Weldy Conference
Detroit Motown Stars (94-68) v Homestead Grays (89-73)
Best of seven, Motown Stars with home-field advantage.
What a fascinating match-up this is, with the MoStars looking to become the first EL club to achieve a threepeat and the Grays also looking for their third title. An absolute showcase for the league with two marquee players in Shohei Ohtani and Cristobal Torriente doing battle alongside a host of big names. Queries over the fitness of Smoky Joe Williams and Roy Campanella cancel each other out, but there's no doubt Detroit's chances are helped by the fact that Homestead is without Carlos Zambrano. All the same, this is a blockbuster akin to a heavyweight title fight.
The clubs swap wins the opening two games in Detroit but then the Grays win the next two at home including a huge comeback victory in Game 4 to take control of the series at 3-1 and finish off the unexpectedly flat MoStars with a shutout win behind ShoTime to claim a huge scalp and progress to the WS. Manny Machado is named series MVP.
