Around the ABL: September 21-30

The regular season has ended! Several playoff races were decided in the final days. Let's get to it!

September 21: Nottinghamshire 5, New York 6. Down by one with two outs in the ninth, Marvin Bowman ties the game with a solo home run. In the 10th, Herman Campbell singles in Pat Haynes for the walk-off win. The Mafia go on to sweep the Outlaws, putting them three games back of Dallas with six games to go.

Anthony Shelton

September 21: San Francisco 7, Maple 10. The Quakes take an early lead, scoring four in the second, but the Marauders roar back, powered by home runs from Frank Powers, Michael Anderson, and two from Anthony Shelton. Maple moves into a tie with San Francisco.

Vic Jennings

September 21: Mile High 2, Las Vegas 7. The Jokers clinch the Sparky Anderson Division. Vic Jennings triples and scores in the first, then doubles in two runs in the sixth. Bob Magee (14-8) pitches 6 1/3 innings. The Professor allows two runs, only one earned, while striking out seven.

September 22: Dallas 5, Ann Arbor 1. Eric Waddell hits a two-run home run and Ryan Erickson adds a solo shot. Peter Klein (12-7) allows one run over 6 2/3 innings, and Dallas regains the division lead.

September 22: San Francisco 4, Maple 6. Things go from bad to worse for San Francisco. Not only do they lose the game and the division lead, ace pitcher Ray Lester (19-4) suffers an injury and leaves the game in the fifth inning. Doctors later diagnosis him with a torn meniscus: he will be out for the rest of the season.

Rich Bussell

September 23: Dallas 11, Ann Arbor 2. Dallas sends ace Rich Bussell (20-4) to the hill, and he shuts out the Barn Owls for eight innings en route to his 20th win. The Texans score seven in the first two innings, and Jeffery McDonald goes 4 for 4 with two doubles and four RBIs.

September 24: Seattle 14, Montgomery 1. Steve Frend hits a grand slam in the third inning, and the Sasquatch clinch the Bobby Cox Division.

September 24: Maple 0, South Carolina 1. Aaron Nelson pitches 7 2/3 shutout innings, and September call-up Fernando Guzmán hits a solo home run. The Bombers not only win this game but go on to sweep the Marauders, and Guzmán homers in four consecutive games.

September 25: New York 2, Ann Arbor 6. The Barn Owls eliminate the Mafia. Tony Ross (15-11) pitches seven innings and allows two runs. Pinch-hitter Clarence Wauchope and Michael Frost hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh.

September 26: San Diego 4, Montreal 5. Stanislav Izyurov hits a pair of two-run homers, the second comes in the eighth and ties the game at five. In the 12th, George Pennington singles, steals second and goes to third when Jason Clemons throws the ball into center field, and scores on a Frank Moyer single. Montreal clinches the wild card.

Roderick Gray

September 27: Minnesota 21, Montreal 9. Will Johnson hits a three-run homer in the first, and Roderick Gray goes 4 for 6 with two solo home runs and a double. The Berserkers pound out 28 hits and clinch the Tony La Russa Division.

September 27: Jacksonville 1, Cabo San Lucas 0. Iván Ortiz hits a solo home run in the second, and Raymond Lewis (8-15) pitches his best game of the season, throwing eight shutout innings. Cabo falls two games back of Los Angeles with three to go.

September 28: New York 4, Dallas 7. Ryan Erickson doubles in two runs as Dallas scores four in the seventh. With the win, Dallas clinches a tie for the Tommy Lasorda division title. The Texans fans stay at the ballpark to await the final score of the Ann Arbor game.

Leslie Whitney

September 28: Nottinghamshire 5, Ann Arbor 2. Leslie Whitney goes 3 for 5, and the Outlaws play spoiler. Whitney, only 21 years old, bats an amazing .412/.478/.537 in his first 95 plate appearances. Ann Arbor's loss clinches the division for Dallas.

Emílio Guerrero

September 28: Mile High 4, Kansas City 6. Emílio Guerrero goes 3 for 4 with two home runs, and the Tornadoes beat the rival Mustangs. Kansas City goes on to win the first three games of their four-game series, leaving the season series between the two teams tied going into the final game.

September 28: Los Angeles 3, Boston 2. Nine-hole hitter Dan Blankenship doubles in two runs, and Kent Rose (9-8) allows one run over eight innings. The Empire clinch a tie for the wild card.

September 28: Jacksonville 9, Cabo San Lucas 5. Dan Smith hits a grand slam, but the Jacks come back. Don Beasley goes 4 for 5 with three RBIs. Cabo's loss clinches the wild card for the Evil Empire.

Orlando
Bustamante

September 29: San Francisco 3, South Carolina 9. Orlando Bustamante and Gunner Smart hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth. (Odd fact: all five home runs in the game are solo home runs.) The Quakes' loss gives the Marauders the Billy Martin Division. San Francisco loses 16 of their final 20.

September 30: Mile High 1, Kansas City 0. Jake Green scores a run in the first when he races home on an António Gómez wild pitch. Gómez (9-11) gets the hard-luck loss, allowing just the one unearned run and striking out nine over eight innings. Manuel Ruíz (15-11) pitches eight shutout innings, and Mile High wins the season series with arch-rival Kansas City, 11-10.