NL Division Champ Series

Vancouver Mountain Lions (1) vs. Fargo Tides (5)

In a season with dominate teams, poor teams, and little parity, the Mountain Lions stood out as the kings of the regular season. Sporting the second best offense in the NL and the best pitching staff, the Mountain Lions proved that you can be dominate in all aspects of the game in the salary cap era.

Gene Gaetti, Fernando Rodriguez, and Rey James provide a modern day "murderers' row" on offense. There's simply no pitching around this squad nor are there any weaknesses. Vancouver can easily blast out and score seven or eight runs against any pitcher, regardless of his merit.

The question is, with Josh Clancy AND Sticky Sadler, out for the season, who steps up and becomes the leader of the staff? Will it be Adam Jorgensen, who's shown promise the last few seasons? Perhaps. Or perhaps Vancouver will need to turn to vendors in the stands.

Fargo beat New York in four games in round one due to a balanced offensive attack and a solid pitching staff. Now, they'll try to do what nobody could do in the regular season--beat Vancouver.

Center Fielder Roosevelt Flood didn't play much in the previous series, seeing only time as a pinch runner. Can he be a factor in Round 2? Team captain Fernando Trajano will also need to be more of a factor in Round 2. He was virtually invisible against New York, driving in only one run.

Just like Round 1, Fargo will rely heavily on two starters: Carmine Sandberg and Howie Ramirez. If they don't collect two wins out of their starts in this series Vancouver wins the series. If they do collect those wins Fargo wins the series. Sandberg did his part in Round 1, pitching an absolute gem in Game 1--allowing only one run in a complete game win. He'll get a shot to do it in round two, as he'll be the starter in Game 1.


AC Prediction: Vancouver in five

Kansas City Bushleaguers (2) vs. Salt Lake City Primetimers (6)

The defending champs go into the series coming off a by week, healthy, and ready to do battle. Benito Beltran takes to the hill to kick of the series. Beltran was solid this year posting 18 wins. Mac Perry who is just getting back from a sprained rotator cuff, should go in the second game for the Bushleaguers.

Offensively, Kansas City doesn't have any real difference makers, but they are balanced and hit for a high average (.279). Expect a different hero every night with Mac Engle or perhaps Woodie Elliott stepping up for clutch singles with men on. With the state of the pitching staff in Kansas City, they'll only need to post four runs per game to win.

The Salt Lake City Primetimers are looking to make the NL Championship Series an all NL North affair. After knocking off a higher seeded Montgomery team, the Primetimers look to slay the giant of the Dream League. Moises Lopez pitched well against Montgomery in Game 1, though he didn't get run support or the win. His playoff experience will be key against Kansas City.

Buddy Douglass will be key for the offense in this series. In Round1 he went 5-20, but two of those hits were home runs. His five RBI in the series were key to the Primetimers' win, and he'll need to produce in spades this series.

AC Prediction: Kansas City in five