Mormon Baseball

This past weekend resolved several of the playoff battles in the minor leagues, leaving just 4 Mormon players in active contention. Chief among these battles were two Mormons vying to play in the AAA Pacific Coast League championship. Mitch Maier, playing for the Omaha Storm Chasers, was a big part of his team’s successful bid. Maier went 2 for 5 with 2 rbis in the Storm Chaser’s loss on Saturday, but then doubled down and went 5 for 5 with a home run and 4 rbis in their 16-7 romp over the Albuquerque Isotopes to reach the championship game.

Meanwhile Stephen Parker, the other Mormon in the PCL watched from the bench as his  Sacramento River Cats first beat the Reno Aces to even up their series on Saturday, and then lost 7-4 to end Parker’s season. Their opponents, the Reno Aces, will play Maier and the Storm Chasers for the league championship starting Friday, September 14th.

Elsewhere in the minors, Blaine Howell did not pitch, but his team, the Bakersfield Blaze, won the first two games of their  5 game series against the Modesto Nuts. Another win and the Blaze will reach the California League championship that begins September 13th.

Taylor Cole, the ace of the Vancouver Canadians, watched his team lose on Saturday to even up their 3-game championship series against the Boise Hawks in the A Northwest League, leading to a final game on Sunday. Since Cole held the best record on the team, he was given the ball to start the final game, and promptly flubbed it. Cole went 3.2 innings and give up 9 hits and 7 earned runs, including one home run. Still, somehow Vancouver’s relievers held the Hawks to just two additional runs while the team scored a total of 12 runs to win the championship.

Meanwhile, Bryan Harper didn’t pitch as the Auburn Doubledays beat the Tri-City Valley Cats to even up their series. They play the rubber game of the series today. And Derek Cone also didn’t pitch, but watched his Ogden Raptors lose to and then beat the Grand Junction Rockies to advance to the Pioneer League championship against the Missoula Osprey starting September 11th.

Here’s a run-down of the remaining Mormons in the minors who are on teams that will play in the league championships:

AAA teams:

Each of the two AAA leagues have league conference playoffs, championship series, and then the champions of each league then meet in a single game AAA championship, scheduled for September 18th in Durham, North Carolina.

• Mitch Maier, Omaha Storm Chasers, Pacific Coast League, American Northern Conference Champions
  * Storm Chasers beat the Albuquerque Isotopes in a 5-game series held Sept. 5-9, 3 games to 2
  * They will play in the 3-game League championship series against the Reno Aces Sept. 14-16.
• Stephen Parker, Sacramento River Cats, Pacific Coast League, Pacific Southern Conference Champions
  * River Cats lost a 5-game series held Sept. 5-9 to the Reno Aces, 3-2

A+ teams:

Each of the two divisions in the California League play division series between the winners of each half of the season to determine the division champions. The division champions then face each other in a championship series.

• Blaine Howell, Bakersfield Blaze, California League, Northern Division 1st half winner
  * Bakersfield Blaze lead the Modesto Nuts 2 games to 0 in a 5-game series Sept. 8-12.
  * If they win, they play a 5-game series Sept. 13-17 against the South Division champion.

A teams:

Northwest League

Each of the two divisions in the Northwest League play division series between the winners of each half of the season to determine the division champions. The division champions then face each other in a championship series.

• Taylor Cole, Vancouver Canadians, Northwest League, West Division 2nd half winner
  * The Vancouver Canadians beat the Boise Hawks 2 games to 1 to win the Northwest League championship.

New York-Penn League

The winners of each of the 3 divisions in the league play a two-round championship to determine the league champion. First the division leader with the best record plays a wildcard team (best record among teams who aren’t division leaders) while the other two division leaders play each others. The winners of these two series then face each other in a championship.

• Bryan Harper, Auburn Doubledays, New York-Penn League, won the Pinckney division
  * The Doubledays are tied with the Tri-City Valleycats 1-1 in a 3-game series Sept. 7, 9 & 10.
  * If Doubledays then win that series, they play in the League Championship Series Sept. 11-13

Rookie teams

The Pioneer league finishes play on September 6th, and the winners of the 2nd half have yet to be determined.
The winners of the first half play the winner of the second half in each division to determine the division champion. The division champions then meet in a league championship.

• Derek Cone, Ogden Raptors, Pioneer League, South Division 1st half leader and current 2nd half leader
  * Raptors beat the Grand Junction Rockies 2-1 to reach the league championship. They will play the Missoula Osprey in a 3-game series Sept. 11, 13 & 14.

I will try to keep us all up-to-date with the status of these Mormon minor leaguers over the next couple weeks. Enjoy the minor league post season!