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2014 – Playoffs
In the Eastern League the best of five Divisional Round pitted the Cleveland Corsairs against the Philadelphia Independence and the Washington Generals against the Miami Everglades. While in the Western League the Oklahoma City Outlaws drew the Phoenix Eagles and the Houston Stars went up against Sanfrancisco Gold.
The Corsairs took game one in their series in a surprise result, the status quo was returned for the rest of the series though, as Cleveland dropped three straight to a superior Philadelphia team and lost the series 3 games to 1. The Miami vs Washington series pitted two power hitting offenses, Miami lead the league in Homeruns with 193 while Washington were 5th (180). However, the expected fireworks didn’t materialise as Washington’s bats were silenced by the Everglades pitchers and the series ended in a 3-0 sweep.
Over in the west, the top scoring Gold took on the Stars, the second-best defensive team in the league. Defense topped the Offense, as Houston took the series in a 3-0 sweep. By far the best series of the divisional round was played out between Oklahoma City and Phoenix. The Outlaws, paced by the best pitching staff in the majors, took the first two games but came unstuck in games 3 and 4 allowing the Eagles to tie the series and force a deciding game five. OKC had Ace Juan Delgado on the mound in the finale and he pitched a gem. Delgado shut the Eagles offense down allowing just 3 hits scattered over eight innings, the Outlaws behind Delgado’s superb outing, ran out 5-1 winners in the deciding game.
The best two teams in the east, Miami and Philadelphia faced off in the best of seven series for the Eastern league Pennant. In the end it was the depth of Philadelphia’s pitching staff that proved the difference in a hard-fought series. Miami’s hitters were kept off balance through all six games as the Independence prevailed 4-2.
In the west, the best two defensive teams squared off, with Houston taking on Oklahoma City. The series was, as expected, closely fought and went the full seven games. Ace pitcher, Juan Delgado, was not available for OKC in the decider, and with Houston able to call on 18 game winner Manuel Garcia, the Stars crept over the line 4-3 to take the Western League Pennant.
The Inaugural World Series matched the 92-win Houston Stars against 90-win Philadelphia Independence. Both teams relied heavily on quality pitching and defense, while their offenses were middle of the pack. The first six games went to the home team and so the series went to a seventh and deciding game in Philadelphia’s Freedom Field. A packed house witnessed a back-and-forth struggle with the home side leaving a number of men on base throughout the game. This came back to bite them as in the top of the ninth, Houston second baseman Curt Dwyer hit a 2-out 2-RBI single to right field giving the Stars the lead. Closer Jesse Jones sat down the Philadelphia batters in order to save the game and win the World Series for Houston.
2014 Playoff Recap
Divisional Series
EL: Miami 3-0 Washington, Philadelphia 3-1 Cleveland
WL: Houston 3-0 Sanfrancisco, Oklahoma City 3-2 Phoenix
Championship Series
EL: Philadelphia 4-2 Miami
WL: Houston 4-3 Oklahoma City
World Series
Houston 4-3 Philadelphia
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