Huntington Beach girls volleyball sweeps Alemany in CIF-SS playoffs after tough opening set

• October 19, 2023

HUNTINGTON BEACH — The Huntington Beach girls volleyball team had to come from far behind to win an extended first set against Alemany in the opening round of pool play in Division 1 of the CIF SS playoffs on Wednesday at Huntington Beach High School.

The comeback seemed to ignite the No. 3 seed Oilers, who then went on to sweep the No. 6 Warriors, 28-26, 25-16, 25-14.

Huntington Beach (28-7), which plays in Pool B, will play host to Surf League rival Los Alamitos, the No.7 seed, on Tuesday.

The Oilers swept the Griffins in their first match on Sept. 15 at Huntington Beach and came from two sets down to defeat the Griffins again on Oct. 3 at Los Alamitos.

The Warriors (23-8), who finished in second place in the Mission League, will take on No. 2 Mira Costa on Tuesday at Mira Costa.

“There’s always a concern,” Oilers coach Craig Pazanti said about his team trailing for nearly the entire first set. “But at the same time, this is a pretty veteran group. I mean, a lot of kids who have started for us for three years and I kind of give them a little bit more leeway than I would a young group. So I let them kind of find it and make their adjustment and they did a good job doing that.”

Kills delivered mostly by Havyn Rolle helped the Warriors take a 19-14 lead in the opening set.

The Oilers then went on a 6-2 run to get to within one point.

Ellie Esko’s kill tied the score for Huntington Beach and then Kylie Leopard’s block gave the Oilers their first lead at 23-22.

Huntington Beach then came within a point of losing the set twice before Haylee La Fontaine scored on a dump shot and then delivered a kill to the back row to win the first set for the Oilers.

Huntington Beach’s Haylee LaFontaine led all players with 18 kills in a three-game sweep of Alemany in the opening round of pool play in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs Wednesday, Oct. 18. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)

“Actually, after the game I went up to (Taylor Ponchak) and I said that was pretty clutch that we won (the first set),” said La Fontaine, who led all players with 18 kills. “Because if we didn’t win that, it would have been a longer game. So I think it was very important to win that first one.”

Esko and Ponchak each had 11 kills for the Oilers and Ponchak assisted on four blocks.

Setter Dani Sparks contributed to the victory with 40 assists.

Rolle, Alanah Clemente and Gabi Pulishuk had eight kills each for the Warriors.

Huntington Beach’s Taylor Ponchak had 11 kills and assisted on four blocks in the Oilers’ three-set victory over Alemany in the opening round of pool play in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs Wednesday, Oct. 18. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)

The winner of Pool B will play the winner of Pool A for the Southern Section Division 1 championship on Nov. 4 at Cerritos College.

If two teams finish in a tie, head-to-head result will be used to determine the winner.

If there is a three-way tie, the total number of sets won divided by the total number of sets played in pool play would determine the winner.

“That’s why that first-set win was important,” Pazanti said.

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​ Orange County Register 

Huntington Beach boys water polo sinks Los Alamitos’ playoff chances

• October 19, 2023

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LOS ALAMITOS — Huntington Beach water polo center Ethan Spoon compared facing Los Alamitos’ zone defense Wednesday night to another game known for its strategy.

“It’s like chess almost,” the senior explained. “We’re just trying to pick on the defense, always moving, trying to break the zone, looking for whoever is open because if they’re on me, there’s always going to be something open.”

Spoon, a UC Irvine commit with a quick release, again attracted his share of attention from the host Griffins, who were playing to keep their playoff chances alive.

Huntington Beach made enough shrewd moves, and fired in a late perimeter strike, to edge Los Alamitos 10-9 in the Surf League.

The Oilers (17-8, 3-2), ranked fifth in Orange County and tied for eighth in the CIF-SS Division 1 poll, took a 10-9 lead with 36 seconds left on an outside shot by sophomore utility Isaac Squires. They then defended a late power-play chance to sweep their league series with the No. 10 Griffins (7-14, 0-5).

Spoon paced Huntington Beach with three goals despite a strong drop defense from Los Alamitos. The Oilers countered with weak-side drives, cross passes and sending a second player into center.

Huntington Beach was especially effective in responding to goals by the Griffins, netting five strikes on the ensuing possession or after-goal plays.

Seniors Mikey Trujillo and Logan Garwick each scored twice while senior Christian Hammonds added a goal and two assists.

“I think we broke it down pretty well,” Spoon said of Los Alamitos’ zone. “We’ve been studying them, breaking down film, and it paid off.”

Huntington Beach, in second place in the Surf League to Newport Harbor, appears on the bubble on whether it will be in the Open Division or Division 1 for the playoffs. The Oilers still have big matches left, including Oaks Christian on Saturday.

“We want to play at the highest level we can because that’s what we train for,” Spoon said. “We deserve it, I think. We put in the hard work.”

Los Alamitos trailed 9-7 with less than three minutes left in regulation but tied the score on perimeter strikes by Cole Francisco and Logan Colman with 2:45 and 1:13 remaining.

Francisco, another UC Irvine commit, finished with five goals with UC Davis commit Thomas Marr added three.

The Griffins had chances to force overtime and played solid defense but finished 2 for 8 on the power play.

“I was so proud of them,” said Los Alamitos coach Dave Carlson, who replaced Scott Penttila shortly before the season. “We improved every week throughout the year.”

“They’re playing really good ball right now,” Carlson added. “Unfortunately, look at our schedule (in terms of strong teams).”

Penttila stepped down because of heath reasons and to spend more time with his family.

In the Trinity League on Wednesday, Mater Dei defeated Orange Lutheran 13-9 to dim the Lancers’ playoff chances. The Lancers, the reigning CIF-SS Division 1 champion and ranked ninth in the county, fell to 7-14 overall. Teams need to be at least .500 to apply for an at-large berth.

Orange Lutheran and Los Alamitos are both headed to the Memorial Cup in San Jose this weekend.

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​ Orange County Register 

Mira Costa girls volleyball sweeps Los Alamitos to begin CIF-SS playoffs

• October 19, 2023

MANHATTAN BEACH — It had been a few months since the last time Mira Costa girls volleyball team faced Los Alamitos.

Still, the Mustangs expected the response that the Griffins showed in Wednesday’s opening CIF-Southern Section Division 1 pool play match.

“We knew just knew that’s how it was going be,” Mira Costa coach Cam Green said. “They did that in Hawaii to us, so we expected that and the idea was to stay steady, not let it rattle you because it’s easy to get rattled in that situation. We expected them to play defense, they did and I think credit to our girls, kept our heads on straight and kept the game plan in our sights and did our job.”

After that early stretch of the Griffins (31-6) staying strong on their defense and managing to dig and keep plays alive, the Mustangs (36-2) eventually took control of the set and the match for a 25-16, 25-15, 25-7 win.

The Mustangs led 9-8 in that opening set, but found some early breathing room on back-to-back kills from Chloe Hynes, which seemed to get them on track.

“They don’t need much of a crack to kind of kick it open,” Los Alamitos coach Dave Huber said of Mira Costa. “We made three or four great plays and didn’t get rewarded because they were just good enough to overcome it.

“Definitely that takes a toll on teams mentality. When you’re making a great dig or you’re blocking a ball that you think should be a point, but somehow it’s coming back even faster, that will definitely wear people down and clearly it did for us.”

Mira Costa and Los Alamitos met at the Ann Kang Invitational, the season’s opening tournament in Hawaii. The Mustangs won that best two-of-three match in two sets.

“Their speed is elite, the pace they’re able to play with,” Huber said. “We knew from August to now, they were going to be a step or two faster, so trying to speed things up on our side of the net as much as we can, but you still have to be able to play under control and that’s the hard part.”

Mira Costa’s wealth of offensive threats were on display with five players recording at least five kills, led by Audrey Flanagan’s 10. Hynes added nine. Simone Roslon had nine, Rachel Moglia seven and Brynn Shankle had five.

Ashley Repetti and Kaia Herweg had seven kills apiece for Los Alamitos.

“The fact we’re using our middles a lot more, changes everything,” Green said. “Credit to our middles, they’ve worked really hard to get to the point where they’re a big factor in every match and I think that’s a gamechanger and changes the way (setter) Charlie (Fuerbringer) can set the game. I give Rachel (Moglia) and Brynn (Shankle) a lot of credit for that.”

This is the second year of the pool play format for the Division 1 playoffs. The winners of Pool A and Pool B after three matches will meet in the final, Nov. 4 at Cerritos College.

The Mustangs, who are the second seed in Pool B, will continue pool play Tuesday against No. 6 Alemany.

Seventh-seeded Los Alamitos will face Surf League rival and third seed  Huntington Beach.

Last year, Mira Costa won its pool, but lost in the finals against Sierra Canyon.

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​ Orange County Register 

ALCS: Jose Altuve, Cristian Javier help Astros regroup, beat Rangers in Game 3

• October 19, 2023

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Baseball Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas — Jose Altuve homered, Cristian Javier worked into the sixth inning of another solid postseason start and the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers, 8-5, on Wednesday night, closing to 2-1 in the American League Championship Series.

Texas lost for the first time this postseason after a 7-0 start. Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer was gone after four innings in his first outing in more than a month after recovering from a strained shoulder muscle.

Javier set a franchise record for the defending champion Astros by extending his postseason scoreless streak to 20⅓ innings. His streak ended in the fifth when rookie Josh Jung hit the first of his pair of two-run homers.

A 26-year-old Dominican right-hander known as “El Reptil,” Javier limited the Rangers to two runs and three hits over 5⅔ innings in his second win this postseason. Ryan Pressly, the third reliever, worked the ninth for his third save of the playoffs, inducing Jung’s game-ending, double-play grounder.

Martín Maldonado, the catcher wearing reptile-skin spikes in reference to his pitcher’s nickname, and Yordan Alvarez both had two-run singles for the Astros.

Jung hit his second two-run homer in the seventh for the wild-card Rangers, who played only their second home game this postseason. They swept Tampa Bay and Baltimore – the AL’s top two teams in the regular season – to get to their first ALCS since 2011 and their first postseason series against their instate AL West rival.

Game 4 is Thursday night and Game 5 will be Friday afternoon. The Astros have won 17 of their last 20 road games, which includes their two wins at Minnesota in the AL Division Series and a record-setting series at Globe Life Field in early September, when they homered 16 times and outscored Texas 39-10 in a three-game sweep.

Philadelphia, which got swept in three games at Globe Life Field to open this season, has a 2-0 lead in the NLCS, which resumes Thursday afternoon in Arizona.

The Rangers had trailed after only one of the previous 64 innings this postseason until a three-run second that put Houston ahead to stay.

Alvarez was hit by an 89 mph cutter on his left foot to start that frame, struggling Kyle Tucker walked and Mauricio Dubón loaded the bases with a single. Alvarez came home as Scherzer bounced a wild pitch off Jonah Heim’s mitt and Maldonado, the No. 9 batter, followed with his big hit

Altuve, who went deep five times in that September series, homered leading off the third. José Abreu doubled on the first pitch in the fourth and scored a single by Dubón for a 5-0 lead.

When Scherzer got to the dugout and stopped on the steps after those consecutive Ks, there was a brief conversation with Manager Bruce Bochy, who at one point motioned toward the Rangers’ bullpen in right-center.

The 39-year-old Scherzer, a trade-deadline acquisition from the Mets, gave up five runs and five hits. In his only postseason start for New York, he allowed seven runs and seven hits, including four homers, in 4⅔ innings in a 7-1 loss to San Diego in the NL Wild Card Series last season.

Scherzer was dealing with forearm tightness six weeks ago when he allowed seven runs – all on three homers – over three innings in the Astros’ 12-3 win that wrapped up that September series. He threw 5⅓ scoreless innings six days later, on Sept. 12 at Toronto, before going on the injured list because of the shoulder strain.

Javier was done after rookie Evan Carter’s hard two-out liner to right in the sixth, a ball that sailed over Tucker’s head to the wall after being misplayed into a double by the Gold Glove finalist. Hector Neris then replaced Javier, and the inning quickly ended with a defensive gem.

Left-fielder Michael Brantley, a 36-year-old five-time All-Star who returned in August after missing 14 months with a shoulder injury, sprinted more than 80 feet to make a diving catch in the gap and take an extra-base hit away from Adolis García.

That still wasn’t the best defensive play of the night.

Alvarez got robbed of what would have been his seventh homer this postseason on a 416-foot drive to straightaway center leading off the sixth, where Leody Taveras made a leaping catch with his arm extended beyond the wall.

LOT OF ZEROES

Javier’s 20⅓ innings passed Joe Niekro’s 18 innings for the longest scoreless streak in Astros history, for starters or relievers. It is the second-longest MLB scoreless streak for a starter in his first postseason starts, behind Christy Mathewson’s 28 innings from 1905-11.

FIVE TEAMS

Scherzer became the second pitcher to start for five teams in the postseason following appearances for Detroit, Washington, the Dodgers and the Mets. David Wells started for Cincinnati, Baltimore, the Yankees, Boston and San Diego from 1989-2006.

More to come on this story.

​ Orange County Register 

Few men are safe on USC’s floundering offensive line

• October 19, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Sometimes, the best explanation is the most simple one, and Josh Henson eventually started listing so many calamities he started to make himself laugh.

What, a question was posed to offensive line coach Henson on Wednesday night, were the most glaring issues jumping out from his unit in Saturday’s game against Notre Dame? Well, they were losing too many one-on-one battles in the running game, Henson responded. There were communication errors. There were technique errors.

“So, uh, not a very good performance the other night,” Henson chuckled, a veteran of the Big 12 and SEC who rarely sugarcoats. “I don’t, I can break it down, talk about it, whatever. We weren’t good enough.”

Last week, after some inconsistency in pass protection against Arizona and acknowledgment that the pocket folded on quarterback Caleb Williams a couple of times, Henson said areas of improvement were “always the same old things – it’s not this crisis thing.”

Well, the alarm’s sounding now.

USC allowed 13 pressures against Notre Dame, Williams trying to survive in a pocket crumpling against a five-man rush like Han Solo trying to stop the trash compactor in “Star Wars,” his normally-deft improvisation falling flat in front of a jeering Notre Dame audience. It was the most uncomfortable Williams has looked all season against pressure; he forced throws, certainly, that led to a career-worst game and three interceptions, but the line did him no favors.

“We’re putting him in bad scenarios too often,” left tackle Jonah Monheim said Wednesday, “and we’ve got to execute better and be better for him there, because we know that if we can give him time and we do our jobs, he’s the best player in the country.”

Issues with the pocket, Henson said, were mostly due to technique. The ability to set your hips and replace your hands. But technique needs to improve quickly, and drastically, or else a sinking ship will only plunge further; No. 18 USC (6-1 overall, 4-0 Pac-12) welcomes No. 14 Utah (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) to the Coliseum on Saturday knowing the Utes boast a fearsome front that ranks tied for sixth in the FBS in sacks.

“The little things that you don’t see when you’re not playing as good competition, they start becoming big things, when you play good people,” Henson said Wednesday.

After a handful of admirably clean games to start the year, little things started to sprout around USC’s sloppy win against Arizona State, when the line allowed 11 pressures and 10 hurries, according to Pro Football Focus. That was masked, as usual, by Williams’ brilliance in a five-touchdown game.

There was no masking the struggles on Saturday. And with transfer guards Emmanuel Pregnon and Jarrett Kingston pushed back all too often, center Justin Dedich’s ongoing issues with penalties and right tackle Michael Tarquin benched two weeks in a row, USC’s staff has “talked position moves with every spot,” Henson said, outside of solid-as-a-rock Monheim.

Redshirt sophomore Mason Murphy has played considerably more snaps than Tarquin at right tackle the past couple of games, and he appears the most likely candidate to shift into the starting lineup, Henson saying that a decision would be made after Thursday’s practice but that Murphy had “obviously played more the last two games.”

At some point, however, the talent cupboard runs dry, Henson pointing to walk-on Killian O’Connor as the next-best backup performer in practice.

USC has built its current line largely through the transfer portal, recruiting exactly two linemen rated as four-stars or better across the last four recruiting classes: freshmen Elijah Paige and Micah Banuelos, both of whom have played sparingly this year. Pac-12 foes Oregon and Washington have signed eight and six, respectively, in the same timeframe.

And if technique can’t improve across the last half of 2023 – the first major test coming with Utah – it might come time for USC to starkly re-evaluate its approach to building a program up front.

“We’ve had our moments this year,” Henson said. “We’re hoping to have more.”

​ Orange County Register 

Aces close out Liberty for 2nd straight WNBA title

• October 19, 2023

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer

NEW YORK — A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces secured their place as one of the greatest teams in WNBA history.

The Aces became the first team to repeat as champions in 21 years, getting 24 points and 16 rebounds from Wilson and a defensive stop in the closing seconds to beat the New York Liberty, 70-69, in Game 4 of the Finals on Wednesday night.

“It’s not easy, as you know. This is what it’s all about,” Wilson said. “Not a lot of people get to do it. To be short-handed and win is amazing. It makes the win that much better. It’s hard to get back to the Finals to win again.”

The Aces joined the Sparks (2001-02) and the Houston Comets (1997-2000) as the only teams in league history to win consecutive titles.

Las Vegas did it without starters Chelsea Gray and Kiah Stokes, who were both sidelined with foot injuries suffered in Game 3. Gray, the 2022 WNBA Finals MVP, was constantly in the ear of her teammates during timeouts and shouting encouragement from the sideline. Las Vegas was also still missing veteran Candace Parker, who had foot surgery in late July.

“We’ve been facing adversity all season, playing without different players. … We have some professional fighters,” said Alysha Clark, who was pressed into the starting lineup Wednesday. “To weather the storm of everything we went through, to show up every single day. To be in this moment right now and do it together, it speaks volumes about us, our chemistry.”

Coach Becky Hammon said this was the closest team she has ever been around. The entire team attended the postgame news conference and cheered every answer, especially those by Wilson, the Finals MVP, who finished third in the regular-season MVP balloting.

With the score tied at 64, Las Vegas scored six straight points, including the first four by Jackie Young, to go ahead 70-64 with 1:26 left.

Courtney Vandersloot hit a 3-pointer on New York’s next possession, then stole the ball from Kelsey Plum, which led to Sabrina Ionescu’s foul-line jumper to get the Liberty within one with 41.7 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession, Las Vegas worked the shot clock down before Hammon called timeout with three seconds left on the shot clock. The Aces got the ball to Wilson on a lob, but Breanna Stewart blocked the shot, giving New York one last chance.

After a timeout with 8.8 seconds left, the Liberty got the ball to Stewart, who was double-teamed. The ball swung over to Vandersloot in the corner, but her shot missed badly, setting off a wild celebration by the Aces at midcourt.

“It’s a play we’ve ran before, get the ball to Stewie’s hand,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. We got it where we wanted to, but didn’t make it.”

Vandersloot finished with 19 points and Betnijah Laney added 15 for New York.

Hammon said before the game she would be “throwing the kitchen sink at (the Liberty), see what sticks, see what works.”

The Aces rotated defenses, which stymied New York after the Liberty scored 23 points in the first quarter.

“I think they were throwing whatever defense they had at us and make sure it’s ugly,” Stewart said. “Sometimes we lost our flow and ball movement.”

Hammon started WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Clark and Cayla George in place of Gray and Stokes. Clark did a stellar job on her former Seattle Storm teammate Stewart, holding her to 10 points on 3-of-17 shooting. George had 11 points.

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“Just knowing what she likes to do. And just locking in and making sure that I don’t give that to her,” Clark said of guarding Stewart. “I’m so proud of this team.”

This was the first close game of the season between these teams. The four regular-season matchups were all blowouts with the closest contest being a nine-point win by New York on Aug. 28. The first three games of the WNBA Finals were also routs, with New York winning Game 3, 87-73, to stave off elimination.

Game 4 was so tense that Ionescu was seen vomiting into a trash can during a timeout midway through the fourth quarter, shortly after she hit a 3-pointer to get the Liberty within 60-58. Ionescu stayed in the game after the timeout.

STAR-STUDDED CROWD

Once again, New York drew dozens of celebrities to the game, including basketball royalty Sue Bird and Dawn Staley – the South Carolina coach who loudly cheered on her former star player, Wilson. The two embraced in a long hug after the game. Also in attendance were Liberty Ring of Honor members Vickie Johnson and Sue Wicks, and actors Jennifer Connelly, Issa Rae and Jason Sudeikis.

HOW SWEET IT ISSSS

The @lvaces are your 2023 #WNBA Champions #WNBAFinals | @YouTubeTV pic.twitter.com/bvyQ1jRt9e

— WNBA (@WNBA) October 19, 2023

A’JA TOO CLUTCH AND DAWN STALEY IS LOVING IT pic.twitter.com/y6uxqQaWTr

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 19, 2023

THE FINAL SECONDS THAT CROWNED THE @LVACES BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPS pic.twitter.com/YhlV9rCzYb

— WNBA (@WNBA) October 19, 2023

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Wednesday, Oct. 18

• October 19, 2023

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Scores and stats from Orange County games on Wednesday, Oct. 18

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

WEDNESDAY’S SCORES

BOYS WATER POLO

SURF LEAGUE

Newport Harbor 11, Laguna Beach 6

GIRLS TENNIS

SAN JOAQUIN LEAGUE

Pacifica Christian 17, Tarbut V’Torah 1

FREEWAY LEAGUE

Fullerton 18, Buena Park 0

CRESTVIEW LEAGUE

Canyon 10, Villa Park 8

NONLEAGUE

St. Margaret’s 11, JSerra 7

FLAG FOOTBALL

Woodbridge 38, Irvine 0

Newport Harbor 14, Edison 12

Pacifica 13, Kennedy 7

​ Orange County Register 

Hoornstra: Here’s how to fix 5-day layoff for MLB’s top-seeded playoff teams

• October 19, 2023

When Major League Baseball and the MLB Players’ Association compromised on an expanded 12-team playoff field, it came with a rather consequential side effect: five days off at the end of the regular season for the two best teams in each league.

That downtime didn’t stop the Houston Astros from beating the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series, but it did seem to neuter the Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles in their respective series. They combined to go 1-9 in the division series round after each team won at least 100 games in the regular season.

In the aftermath of their losses, it was interesting to hear the principals from each team try to reconcile their regular-season dominance with their postseason faceplants.

“I mean, we thought we did everything possible during the delay, recreated things the best we could,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said shortly after his team was eliminated by the Philadelphia Phillies.

“We tried to simulate a lot of at-bats Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, because there’s no question that five days off affects hitters’ timing,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said at his annual end-of-season press conference on Tuesday. “Now if getting enough at-bats leading up to that keeps that timing in place, obviously we didn’t do a good enough job.”

The Dodgers opened one of their three intrasquad games to fans and reporters. Of the 11 pitchers who faced their teammates that day, all 11 saw action on a major league mound during the 2023 season. The quality of pitching the Dodgers’ hitters faced during their five-day layoff wasn’t an issue. Neither, perhaps, was the quantity of at-bats they took.

From the press box at least, the problem appeared to be one of intensity.

Half of the Dodgers’ players wore white jersey tops, the other half blue, but occasionally a blue player would bat for the white squad. Some innings lasted three outs, some four, others five. A smattering of fans in the lower deck of seats in left field helped fill the air with noise. By the end of the game, you could hardly blame fans for focusing more on two screens above the bleachers showing the Arizona Diamondbacks’ wild-card game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Taking a baseball player out of the routine he performs 162 times a year is anathema to intensity. From the beginning of April until the end of September, there are only game days or non-game days. One brings a degree of intensity. The other does not. There’s simply no way around that.

“Our goal next year is to win the division and have those five days off again,” Friedman said. “It’s two years into this (postseason) format. We don’t concern ourselves too much with what’s optimal, what’s ideal. It doesn’t really matter. It is what it is. For us, it’s about how to operate the best we can within it.”

Here’s an idea for the two top-seeded teams in each league: Fill your five off-days with practice games. Keep the number of at-bats and quality of opposing pitchers high. Only next time, make sure it’s a game of consequence for one of the two teams on the field.

How?

As it turns out, Oct. 2-7 wasn’t a game day for nearly every professional baseball team on the planet. That includes the champions of each of the four independent “partner leagues” of MLB: the Atlantic League, the American Association, the Frontier League and the Pioneer League.

The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks cut it close. On Oct. 1, they defeated los Caimanes Barranquilla, the top team in Colombia’s professional league, to close out the Baseball Champions League Americas tournament in Mexico. The next day, they flew home.

How practical would it have been for Fargo-Moorhead to divert its journey through, say, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Baltimore or Houston for a few days? Very, said Joshua Schaub, the commissioner of the American Association.

“We’re more than willing to get on a plane to play an MLB team,” he said.

An American Association team typically travels “29 or 30 people” on a road trip, Schaub said. He estimated it would cost no more than $15,000 to fly them all into any major airport. That’s pocket change for an MLB team.

The caliber of competition in the AA isn’t entirely major-league quality, but it’s not far off. Fargo’s leadoff hitter was Dillon Thomas, who as recently as last season was in the major leagues with the Angels. There are a few pitchers in the league who can touch 100 mph, Schaub said, “but usually they sit 92 or faster.” Control isn’t such an issue that hitters would be left ducking for cover.

Want the independent ballers to raise their intensity for an exhibition game? Invite scouts. Schaub said there were 52 in attendance at the Baseball Champions League Americas tournament.

“Guys play their (butts) off to get picked up by a scout in attendance,” he said.

The Atlantic League postseason also ends just in time for MLB’s wild-card round. The league selects players to an All-Star team too, but unlike the American Association they don’t stage a game – practically begging for an excuse to get the All-Stars on the field. This season, Atlantic League teams could have filled a pitching staff with 10 former major leaguers from their season-ending rosters.

“Having a member of the Atlantic League play an exhibition game or series against an MLB club preparing for the postseason would be a concept that we would be very willing to discuss,” Atlantic League president Rick White said. “There could be a number of options, whether a current club or a collection of top players, and the logistics would need to be worked out. But as a concept, we would be open to the idea. I can promise you that any collection of the Atlantic League’s top players would certainly be a worthy opponent for any club preparing for the postseason. Of course, any such discussion would be subject to the approval of Major League Baseball.”

To participate in a three-game exhibition series after the regular season, the current Collective Bargaining Agreement only requires that players get permission from their team and the commissioner. Staging an early-October series against a team full of indy ball opponents with something at stake, in theory, should not be a tough sell to players. It was the Players’ Association who first raised concerns about the effects of a five-day layoff during CBA negotiations before ultimately agreeing to an expanded 12-team postseason.

Four independent “partner leagues” and four postseason teams struggling with a five-day layoff seems like a perfect marriage. Of course, no marriage is perfect. The caliber of play in the Frontier and Pioneer leagues isn’t as high as the American Association or Atlantic League. The specifics would have to be ironed out.

Even if the exhibition games don’t perfectly simulate a game-day experience for the major league players, it should raise their level of intensity by a notch. Given the limitations of a 12-team playoff field, that should be the goal of every team facing the blessed curse of a five-day layoff.

​ Orange County Register