Around the ABL: May 21-27

• Nottinghamshire may have only had one win this past week, but that win was a doozy. On Monday, the Outlaws entered the bottom of the ninth, trailing Montgomery by two runs and facing closer Johnny Tiller. Sweetness has been lights out this season, sporting a 1.88 ERA and having struck out 32 batters in 28 2/3 innings, but he hits Emmett McSorley with a pitch and serves up a double to Marlon Bentley. After a ground ball drives in McSorley, a passed ball allows Bentley to scamper home to tie the game at four runs apiece. It would remain that score until the bottom of the 16th. Young Peter Kelly reaches on second baseman Andy Reynolds's error (the only error by either club in the game), and, with two outs, Allen Greene smashes one down the right field line. Kelly raced around the bases for the score and the Nottinghamshire win.
• Dallas arms dueled Minnesota bats in a battle of RCL division leaders. The Texans narrowly take the first game behind Jeffrey McDonald's 11th-inning home run. Berserker bats take charge in game two, scoring seven. They continue their assault again in game three: in the first inning they score five times and knock out Dallas starter Tom Chandler. Despite this start, the Texans actually come back to tie it, but Minnesota goes ahead for good on a Zach Milford solo shot in the eighth.
• Greenville and So Cal hooked up in a pair of lopsided games. Greenville demolishes So Cal in the first game, winning by a score of 12 to 1: Luis Rocha leads the 84's offense (6 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 1 D, 1 HR, 4 RBI), and Barry Yates pitches a shutout (9 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K). The Republic return the favor in game two, winning 14-2: Steve White goes three for six with a home run and six RBI.
• Eureka travelled to San Francisco in the battle for Northern California. The Earthquakes dominate the first and final games, but the middle game proves to be a tense matchup. Down by three runs, the Hornets score two in the seventh and one in the ninth to tie it. In the 12th, Jorgé Sanchez doubles, Willis Parks singles, and Gary McLernon hits a sac fly to score Sanchez, and Eureka goes on to win.
• Montreal took three of four from visiting Seattle. The fourth game features a Bandit comeback, as the Sasquatch squander a 5-1 lead in the late innings. Millard Shafer hits a two-run home run in the sixth, Greg Forrest singles home Robert Carr in the seventh, and a flurry of singles plus a Gordon Thornton sac fly scores the tying and winning runs in the eighth.
• On Saturday, division rivals Cabo and Los Angeles played until the wee hours of the morning, going 19 innings. Going into the ninth, the Evil Empire led 2-1. With the bases loaded and two outs, Cabo's Dave Carlisle doubles down the third base line, clearing the bases. The Empire strikes back in the bottom half of the inning when Charlie McKann hits a two-run home run to tie the game at four. No runs score for the next several hours. In the 19th, Víctor Rámirez mercifully singles home Carlisle and Ed Denton to win it for the Bullfighters. Stat of the night: the pitching staffs combine to throw 517 pitches.

Top Performances

• Kansas City's Brian Adams returned from the DL with a 21-game hitting streak on the line. Unfortunately, he goes hitless in his first game back. The rust disappeared two games later against Maple: Adams hits a home run and two doubles in four at bats, scoring twice and driving in three.
• On Friday, New York's Travis James held Z-Rod and the Barn Owls in check. James allows one unearned run in nine innings of work: he gives up three hits and walks one while striking out seven.
• Cristo Barbosa began the season in the Jacksonville bullpen. On Saturday, he was finally given the chance to start, facing off against the division-leading Boston Cardinals. Barbosa pitches eight innings of shutout ball, allowing only four hits and one walk.

Players of the Week

• Maple has won their last six, and Frank Powers has been a large part of the Marauders' success. He wins the TML Player of the Week: 27 AB, 12 H, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB.
• Nottinghamshire's young Danny Burris batted .563 this past week to win the RCL Player of the Week: 32 AB, 2 R, 18 H, 6 RBI. One of the league's top second basemen, he is batting .352 on the season.