The Brooklyn Knights caught fire in July, winning 21 out of 25 games. That vaulted the Knights back into first place with a 10 game lead over the Mudcats by the end of the month. The other three divisions are all extremely close. No division leader has more than a 2.5 game lead. One very notable injury occurred in late July. Tyler Stivers, ace starter for the Mudcats, had to call it a season because of shoulder inflammation. He went to the disabled list with a 14-1 record, and a league leading 2.02 ERA and 141 strikeouts. His loss dealt a serious blow to St. Rock’s playoff hopes.

July 2016 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Jonathan Grandberry (Cornfield Axemen)
Pitcher of the Month: Aaron Patterson (Brooklyn Knights)
Rookie of the Month: Yvon Chouinard (Luisville Beasts)

League 2
Batter of the Month: MacMorris Holter (St. James Crusaders)
Pitcher of the Month: Lowie Zuydam (St. James Crusaders)
Rookie of the Month: Luís Oliuares (Vancouver Wild)

An impressive seven Brooklyn Knights players were named to the League 1 All-Star team. The starting pitcher for League 1 was the Mudcats’ Tyler Stivers. The Maples’ Robert Givens got the start for the League 2 All-Stars. The game was completely dominated by the League 1 All-Stars. Pitching had the edge for most of the game. League 1 put a couple of runs on the scoreboard in the third inning. League 2 tied the game in the fourth thanks to back to back homers from Morris Brown and Adelmo Porcayo. Each team scored another run to force extra innings with a 3-3 tie. League 2 went ahead for good when Roy Dabbs tripled to lead off in the twelfth inning. Pete Porter followed with an RBI single and League 2 went on to win 4-3. The Vancouver Wild’s catcher, Morris ‘Piglet’ Brow, was named the player of the game.

                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12   R  H  E
League 2 All-Stars   0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1  0  0  1   4 10  0
League 1 All-Stars   0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0  0  0  0   3  8  2

W: S. McGruder
L: K. Hannah

The Mudcats won two out of three games against the Knights at the end of June to pull ahead of Brooklyn by a game. After losing José Arisa for the season in May, the Knights suffered another major injury in June. Starter Porfírio Portio will miss the rest of the year after partially tearing his ulnar collateral ligament. The Dunedin Otters played well enough to take over the division lead from the Nashville Firecats. In League 2, the Allies and Crusaders maintained their respective division leads.

June 2016 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Lariel Gómez (Brooklyn Knights)
Pitcher of the Month: Juan Miranda (Dayton Grizzlies)
Rookie of the Month: Clive Thoma (Las Vegas Luck)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Sancho Alguirre (Phoenix Rattlers)
Pitcher of the Month: Nicholás Sanalria (Phoenix Rattlers)
Rookie of the Month: Chet Swinney (Richmond Slam)

Brooklyn played losing baseball in May, going 14-16 as injuries took their toll. The Knights finished the month in a tie for first place in the division. By far the biggest loss was starter José Arisa, who ruptured his ulnar collateral ligament on May 27. He will require surgery and will miss the rest of the season. Thus far, no team is running away with its division. The largest lead is currently held by the St. James Crusaders, ahead of the Phoenix Rattlers by a mere three games.

May 2016 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: John Edwards (Nashville Firecats)
Pitcher of the Month: Tyler Stivers (St. Rock Mudcats)
Rookie of the Month: Luís Vergel (Cornfield Axemen)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Yuan Li (Key West Corals)
Pitcher of the Month: Robert Givens (Stade Maples)
Rookie of the Month: Chet Swinney (Richmond Slam)

Despite putting star pitcher Porfírio Portio on the DL, the Brooklyn Knights managed to end April in first place with a narrow one game lead over the Dayton Grizzlies. The biggest story of the season so far, however, has to be the stellar play of the Washington Allies. Washington’s 22-4 start was by far the best in the team’s history. The Allies also swept the individual player of the month awards.

April 2016 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: John Edwards (Nashville Firecats)
Pitcher of the Month: Chun-hua Zhou (Dayton Grizzlies)
Rookie of the Month: Christian McMorris (Cornfield Axemen)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Victorio Zavaca (Washington Allies)
Pitcher of the Month: Kid Wilson (Washington Allies)
Rookie of the Month: Zavier Silva (Washington Allies)