[FuzzyRussianHat]

The Sundaland Association’s top two teams were miles ahead of their nearest foes as they got repeat league titles. Kuala Lumpur made it four straight in the Malacca League and got the top seed at 105-57. The Leopards allowed the fewest runs in Austronesia Professional Baseball at 394 and had the best record and run differential (+165). They grew their playoff streak to five seasons, as did Java Sea League champ Semarang.

The Sliders rolled at 98-64, taking first by 16 games while KL won their league by 17. Semarang made huge news in July when they acquired 13-time MVP Binh Tang from Hsinchu. The 37-year old Vietnamese IF had stayed loyal to the Sweathogs, but they were struggling with the worst pitching in APB history. In July, Tang was traded to the Sliders straight up for rookie arm Syafiq Zanggi.

Both second place spots had a close battle. In the Malacca League, defending APB champ Johor Bahru (88-74) held off Medan (85-77), and Singapore (84-78). The Blue Wings went 8-2 in their last ten to get repeat wild cards. In the Java Sea League, Bandung (82-80) was just better over Jakarta (81-81) and Depok (80-82). This saved the Blackhawks’ playoff streak, although it was easily the worst team of the six-year run.



The Demons were the SA’s top scoring team at 580 runs, but also allowed the most at 591. Depok had the Sundaland Association MVP in 1B Adam Jeminez, narrowly taking it with 14 first place votes and 291 points. Johor Bahru’s Made Daniel was a close second with 10 first place votes and 250 points.

For Jeminez, the 28-year old Filipino led in runs (97), RBI (101), OBP (.386), OPS (.972), and wRC+ (192). He added 166 hits, 11 doubles, 47 homers, .300 average, and 8.1 WAR in his fifth season starting for Depok. As for Daniel, the 25-year old Indonesian LF led in total bases (346) and slugging (.599) while adding 6.1 WAR, 49 homers, and 90 RBI.

Bandung’s Fred Pasaya won Pitcher of the Year with 22 first place votes. Kuala Lumpur’s John Gonzalez had six and was the ERA champ at 1.44. Pasaya meanwhile led in strikeouts for the seventh time in his nine-year run as a full-time starter with the Blackhawks. The 34-year old Filipino righty had 390 Ks and an association-best 0.69 WHIP, 29 quality starts, 11 complete games, and 9.8 WAR. Pasaya had a 17-8 record and 1.81 ERA over 263.1 innings.

Also notable was Craig Chia, who became only the eighth in world history to win 6+ Reliever of the Year awards. The 31-year old Filipino lefty had career bests for saves (47) and WAR (6.3) in his third season for Kuala Lumpur, posting a 1.06 ERA over 93 innings with 163 strikeouts. Chia had also on ROTY in 2035 for the Leopards and in 2029, 31, 32, and 33 for Batangas. He also became the 18^th closer in APB with 300 career saves.



Both league champs prevailed as expected in the divisional round. Semarang swept the defending champ Johor Bahru on repeat 4-1 wins. Bandung got a 1-0 win in game two, but Kuala Lumpur claimed 2-0 and 4-3 wins around it and had the built-in advantage. The Leopards earned a fourth straight trip to the Sundaland Association Championship, while the Sliders last did it in 2033. They had split their six regular season games. KL had home field advantage and an impressive 60-21 record in the Malaysian capital.

Kuala Lumpur opened with a 2-0 win in game one, getting 8.1 shutout innings with three hits and 11 Ks by John Gonzalez. The Sliders got the better of a 2-1 pitcher’s duel in game two with their runs on solo homers. The series shifted to Indonesia and Semarang claimed game three 5-1. Yuchi Jiang tossed a complete game with two hits, one run, and 10 strikeouts.

The Sliders went up 6-1 early in game four, allowing them to hold on late to a 9-7 win. They sealed it at home in game five by a 3-2 margin, the decisive blow a two-run Van Nam homer in the fifth. Semarang won their ninth pennant and ended a 20-year drought (1975, 80, 88, 90, 2001, 02, 12, 16, 37). RF Grant Cruz was series MVP going 7-20 with four homers, five runs, and 6 RBI.