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2029 Playoffs
Divisional Round
The playoffs saw defending champions Detroit face off against Miami who were back in the post-season for the first time in twelve years while wildcard team Indianapolis faced a tough matchup with Washington, owners of the NABL’s best record. In the west surprise package Dallas would matchup with playoff regulars San Diego while Kansas City would play Las Vegas, in a repeat of the 2026 playoff matchup between the two.
Detroit came out all guns blazing and blitzed Miami Starter and 16-game winner Octavio Cortal, scoring seven times in the first three innings and chasing him from the game. The Everglades got on the board in the fourth when Pantaliao Igreja hit a solo homer off Detroit starter Rajion Samit but that was as good as it got as the Giants cruised to an impressive 8-1 victory. In game two the following night, it was Miami’s turn to score early breaking through for seven runs in the second and building an 9-2 lead heading into the seventh, with the game seemingly in the bag Miami turned to their bullpen to finish the proceedings. In an amazing finish to the game Detroit stormed back to stun Miami 11-10, the winning runs (a 2-run homer) were hit by 22-year-old RF Arthur Davie (who had batted a lowly .165 with 1HR and 9RBI in 133 regular season AB’s). After collapsing so spectacularly in game two, Miami had the look of a team who were still in shock to open game three and Detroit were not about to let them off the hook winning the game 6-3. Despite being shorthanded Detroit had shut down the NABL’s most prolific offense and were back in the EL Championship series where they awaited the winner of Indianapolis and Washington.
The Washington and Indianapolis series saw two of the top three scoring offenses in the NABL face off against each other with Washington (owners of the best record in the NABL at 100-62) the heavy favourites. It was the underdog Indianapolis Racers who used a gem of a game from starter Angel Castro (7.2 IP, 4H, 1ER, 2BB, 8K) and a late CF Manny Ramos Homerun to secure a series opening 3-2 win. Washington’s potent offense woke up in game two building a 6-0 lead after four innings but the Racers bullpen then proceeded to keep Washington off the scoreboard the rest of the way, giving their own hitters a chance to get them back into the game. Indianapolis pulled to within one in the eighth when 1B Nelson Vasquez slammed a 2-run homer, setting up a nerve wracking ninth for the home side. Washington closer David Gonzalez worked his way round two baserunners to claim the save and give the Generals a series tying 6-5 win. In game three, a back-and-forth contest saw Indianapolis come out on top while game four started well for Washington, who took the lead on a Jack Underwood two-run homer in the first, only for Indianapolis to storm ahead by the fifth. Washington put men on base in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings but failed to score any runs before Indianapolis turned the game over to veteran reliever Chuck Patrick who pitched a clean ninth to wrap up the game and send the Racers onto the EL Pennant series where they would face off against defending champions Detroit.
In the west, wildcard team Las Vegas (owners of the best pitching staff in the NABL) travelled to Kansas City to face off against the Tornadoes. It was the visiting Gamblers who took the opening game, a ninth inning homerun denying the Gamblers a shutout. Game two saw a pitching duel between Gambler’s starter Will Spencer and the Tornadoes Mark Fort, with KC holding a 3-2 lead in the ninth, veteran closer Jerry Crane dispatched the Gamblers with minimal fuss to tie the series at one. Game three saw playoff veteran Max Castle take the mound for Las Vegas while KC countered with Ronald Shockley. With neither starter at their best the lead changed hands several times in the early going and only when the bullpens got involved did LV pull ahead, eventually winning the game 7-3. Holden Willis and Jose Roa were the game four starters with both pitchers holding the offenses at bay until the seventh when 1B Arlan Bresnahan hit a solo homer to give the Gamblers the lead. Las Vegas added a second run in the eighth before turning to closer Davis Robinson for the ninth. Robinson allowed the first man to reach base before re-focusing and retiring the next three batters to put the lid on the Gamblers 2-0, series clinching win.
San Diego faced off against Dallas with the home side taking game one with a late homerun by rookie 3B Wayne Radke. Game two started much the same as game one with Dallas jumping out to an early lead, this time though Dallas starter Kurt Banks kept San Diego off the scoreboard going the distance in a four-hit shutout. Game three back in San Diego started the same as the previous two games with Dallas scoring early, this time the Mariners answered swiftly plating runs in the second and third to tie the game before taking the lead in the fifth on a homerun from second baseman Mario Cristo. Seattle starter Pedro Escobar, after struggling early settled down to keep Dallas quiet, pitching eight innings and striking out 13!! (one shy of the NABL playoff record set by Anthony Barrett in 2016) before handing over to young closer Harvey Widdowes, the young phenom pitched a clean ninth to keep the series alive. Game four featured game one protagonists Dan Rogers (SD) and Alwin Roozen (DAL) back on the mound with Roozen getting the better of his counterpart. With Dallas leading 7-2 reliever Alonso Torres worked a routine ninth to close the book on San Diego’s season and send Dallas onto the WL Pennant series for the first time since 2019.
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