The 18+ division championship starts tomorrow at A diamond at 7pm and the schedule is as follows (also posted under the 18 division playoffs division schedule:
Wed, Aug 12th - 7pm - Ducks vs Mets @ A Diamond Thu, Aug 13th - 7pm - Mets vs Ducks @ A Diamond Sat, Aug 15th - 3pm - Ducks vs Mets @ A Diamond Sun, Aug 16th - 3pm - Mets vs Ducks @ A Diamond (if necessary) Tue, Aug 18th - 7pm - Ducks vs Mets @ TBD/A Diamond (if necessary)
The Mets reached the championship by knocking out the Bombers (who won the previous 3 championships in a row), with an incredible playoff series performance by the young Mets player Jaylen Cuevas, who in the series had two wins in a single day (pitched a continuation and a regular game), a save in game 1 and in the continuation game he pitched he also had a game winning hit. The veteran Mets team added some youth and have reached the 18 championship for the first time since 2019 (when they beat the Ducks to win their 5th championship). The Mets and Bombers are tied with 5 championships each (league records), and Mets are looking to stand alone with 6. With a great pitching staff including the Conroy brothers and Cuevas, and long time Mets players John Fiorita, Greg Jette, Dan Ciarmiello, and others, the Mets are poised for a good championship run.
The Jim Bonaparte led Ducks team went 18-1 in the regular season with an incredibly stacked team pitching and hitting, but started off down 2-0 to the upstart 4 seed Huskies team who were playing with a lot of energy and passion. The Ducks lost a heartbreaking game 2 vs the Huskies after having a 7-1 lead in the 7th inning, where the Huskies scored 7 to win in a walk-off 8-7. Then in game 3 the Ducks were down 4-0 in the 5th inning, and that is when Ducks reverted to regular season form and exploded on offense, winning game 3 8-5 and then coming back to win games 4 and 5 decidedly to win 3 in a row (which they also did in the semis 2 years ago against the Mets). Brian Hoffman and Steve Martino accounted for around 10 hits each in the series, and Ducks stormed back and look to keep the momentum going in the finals. Spencer Brown pitched 10 shut out innings in the series also, while Dino and the other Ducks pitchers kept them going while their backs were against the wall, and Cy Young candidate Dan Jones rebounded from a rare below average start in game 1 to pitch strong in game 5. Mets vs Ducks is a rematch of the 2019 championship series, and as always, it should be a good one.
I hope people from the league from all divisions will come out to support the 18 division and watch two great teams battle it out, it would be great to see people support the division even if they are not directly involved in it, for anyone who appreciates good baseball. Hope to see everyone who can make it come out to the A Diamond tomorrow and this week to watch two great teams face off.
