Glaciers Ice Seraphim on the Final Day.

Canberra 0.71 [1.3 – 4.7] v. Flint Hill (-0.71) [4.7 – 1.3]

Any Tornado fans who were only watching T’s game were put into a panic when the T’s came out flat for the final game of the season. Tornado hitters only batted .073, .133, .116. Brad Lord started for the T’s and got torched: 4 ip, 5 er, including 3 home runs allowed. Gabe Speier didn’t help (1 ip, 1 er) but Ronny Henriquez did, a little” 1.3 scoreless. Everyone in Flint Hill had to face the grim reality: the T’s had probably blown their title hopes into the next county.

Canberra didn’t do anything to counteract the sense of doom, but neither did they do anything to intensify it. They batted a lot better than the T’s, but barely at replacement level: .250, .308, .306. They pitched a lot better (0 ERA) but also a lot less (1 2/3 innings). It was enough to push the Tornados’ season record back below 100 wins, landing them a skoosh more than half a win behind where Salem had started the day.

Cascadia 1.02 [4.1 – 1.9] v. Salem (-1.02) [1.9 – 4.1]

Salem did not have a classic, come-from-behind-on-the-last-day-to-win-the-championship day. But they did bat about twice as well as the Tornados: .136, .156, .205. They didn’t pitch as much, but the pitching they did was pretty good: 3.3 ip, 1 er, only a 2.73 daily ERA. That put Salem only 1/3 of an inning short of the 42 an EFL team needs to avoid replacements, and left their final weekly ERA at a nice, tidy 2.41 (including the 1/3 of an inning of replacements).

With Flint Hill stumbling so badly, all the Seraphim needed to capture their first championship was to keep the Glaciers from having a stellar day. Glacier pitchers put them under pressure, completing 9.3 innings for only 2 earned runs for a stellar ERA of 1.94.

Even with that, if the Glaciers’ offense could be kept chilled, the Seraphim would get their championship. But the Glaciers did not go quietly. They thundered out a .316, .409, .711 slash line. Solid Alejandro Kirk went 3 for 5 with a double and two home runs, resulting in 6 RBI. Mercurial phenoms Ronald Acuna Jr and Elly De La Cruz each added another homer. Of the ten Glacial batters, only Edgar Quero failed to get a hit.

The Glaciers did not quite shake the league by winning the championship in their second season. But they salvaged the crown for the Tornados in probably the clearest such case in EFL history.

As a result of the top two series, Canberra moved up one notch in the draft order to pick 23. The other three teams stayed where they were Sunday morning.

Haviland 0.50 [3.7 – 2.3] v. Peshastin (-0.50) [2.3 – 3.7]

Canberra was saving itself from sliding into fifth place, but Haviland provided insurance with a strong final performance against the Pears. Strong on the pitching side, at least: 5.7 ip 1 er, including Landon Knack’s strong innings against Seattle. Not so strong on the hitting side: .167, .167, .333, in which the only real highlight was Jordan Westburg’s home run.

On the pitching side, the goat for Peshastin was Ian Seymour, who surrendered all 6 of the Pear’s runs allowed in his 3.3 innings, leaving three other pitchers to shut out the opposition over the other 4.3 innings. Pear hitters outhit their Dragon foes (.217, .265, .283) a little bit, but it was not enough.

Haviland’s win cost them two notches in next spring’s draft order, dropping them to #18 — the standings are crowded in the middle so movement is relatively easy. Peshastin, on the other hand, switched places with Boston, but did not thereby move earlier in the draft since Boston was one of the 11 MLB teams excluded from the spring draft.

Kaline 0.39 [3.3 – 2.8] v. Old Detroit (-0.39) [2.8 – 3.3]

The Drive downed the Wolverines on the season’s final day. They sent a whopping 14 batters to the plate — all of but two of them getting at least 3 plate appearances — to give them one last chance to play before the season ended. And they played well: .301, .380, .535, 11 of the 14 of them reaching base safely. Ben Rice finished the season strong, blasting the Drive’s 2 home runs. Kaline pitching wasn’t quite as sharp: 8 ip, 5 er.

But that was tons sharper than the Wolverines — or, to be specific, Brandon Pfaadt, whose 2025 finale included a 5-run first inning, plus runs in the third, and the fifth, when he was chased without getting an out, accountable for 8 tuns (7 of them earned) in his 4 innings. Even with better results from two relievers, the W’s were saddled with 6 ip, 8 earned runs, and a daily ERA of 12.00. That was more than solid hitting — .278, .372, .417 — could overcome.

This game cost the Drive two notches in the draft, dropping them to #10. The Wolverines gained one spot, and will draft at #8.

Portland 0.58 [4.8 – 1.2]. v. Pittsburgh (-0.58). [1.2 -4.8)

I am more puzzled by the Alleghenys sudden last-week collapse than anything else that happened this week. Sunday extended the puzzle. The A’s were tepid at the plate (.212, .257. 242) — but AMAZING from the mound: 21.3 ip,, 2 earned runs — that’s 0.85 ERA on the day. Edward Cabrera, Shane Smith, and Clayton Kershaw all shut out their opponents (in 5, 6, and 5.3 innings respectively) and Luis Gil wasn’t bad, either: 5 ip, 2 er.

Here’s how Portland turned what should have been a resounding win for Pittsburgh into a resounding loss:

• The Rosebuds batted much, much better: .378, .442, .676.
• And they pitched almost as well: 14.3 ip, 2 er , 1.26 daily ERA, getting 4.3 scoreless from Cole Ragans and 10 ip at the cost of 2 earned runs from a crew of 6 relievers.

Pittsburgh’s loss left them at the #7 pick in the spring draft. Portland’s win didn’t move them in the draft, either: theyre still at #6.

DC 0.13 [0.9 – 5.10] v. MLB (-0.13)

The Balk got a little redemption for a very rough week at the hands of the average MLB players. The Balk batted a little better than replacements: .176, .300, .353. They only pitched two innings, allowing 2 earned runs. They retained their spot at #2 in the spring drafts — unless there is an expansion team.

NOTE: The EFL as a league ended up above .500 against average MLB opposition, earning a .513 winning percentage and an 83.15 – 78.85 record — just a hair below the Dragons, our pivotal mid-point 6th place team.