The Dayton Grizzlies ate into a Knights' lead that peaked at nine games. By the end of July, it was down to five games. A 13-12 July record was Brooklyn's worst month this season. The Otters struggled and let the Firecats build an even bigger lead in July. Over in League 2, the Maples and Crusaders continue to pace the field but there is plenty of baseball left to play.

July 2025 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Quilvio Martínez (Dayton Grizzlies)
Pitcher of the Month: Paco Rivera (Nashville Firecats)
Rookie of the Month: Edwin Meister (St. Rock Mudcats)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Arturo Guerrero (Phoenix Rattlers)
Pitcher of the Month: Rey Alvarado (Vancouver Wild)
Rookie of the Month: Rich Andrews (Key West Corals)

The NALB All-Star Game was played on July 14, 2025. The League 1 All-Stars are dominated by the Brooklyn Knights, which filled 12 out of 25 spots on the roster. The Stade Maples were most represented on the League 2 All-Stars with five players.

In the annual Midseason Classic, League 1 beat League 2 by a final score of 4-2. Leading the way for the League 1 All-Stars was first baseman Steve Sherlock. "I go out there and do my best every game, All-Star game or not," the star said after his great show, going 1-for-2 in the contest.

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

W: D. Courtlandt
L: B. Fox
S: K. Hannah

The NALB Home Run Challenge was held on July 13. Dunedin's Damion Caligas and Key West's Jeff Currey were the finalists after surviving the field of eight's first two rounds. With his father pitching to him, Caligas was victorious with 6 home runs to Currey's 3 in the final round.

Also on July 13, the NALB All-Star Prospects game was played. The League 1 Future Stars defeated the League 2 Future Stars 5-4. Center fielder Rai Malvido was named the game's MVP. The 23 year old plays for the Glendale Hippos, which is the Triple A affiliate of the St. James Crusaders.

                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R  H  E
League 1 Future Stars   3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0   5  8  1
League 2 Future Stars   1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0   4  7  0

W: M. Creech
L: J. Silvers
S: R. Archunde

The Brooklyn Knights and Dayton Grizzlies are League 1's two best teams. Both are piling up wins but the Knights extended their division lead to seven games. In League 1 Division 2, the Dunedin Otters surrendered first place to the Nashville Firecats. The Stade Maples hold a precarious half-game lead over the Quebeck Sky Chiefs. They will need to keep playing at a high level if they are going to win back to back championships. In League 2 Division 2, the St. James Crusaders continue to impress. They are on pace to surpass their excellent 95-win season from a year ago.

June 2025 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Andrew Dickens (Cornfield Axemen)
Pitcher of the Month: Fernando Villazana (Dayton Grizzlies)
Rookie of the Month: Earl Brant (Las Vegas Luck)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Aramis Jáquez (Richmond Slam)
Pitcher of the Month: Ron Bourchier (Richmond Slam)
Rookie of the Month: Adolph Hoch (Quebeck Sky Chiefs)

I played Alan Wake December 2024 to January 2025 and thought it was a solid third-person action horror game. Yesterday I finished the next game in the series, Alan Wake's American Nightmare. The experience was similar in a lot of ways. However, the focus on combat was greater and the story was weaker. The premise of fighting the "taken" corrupted by darkness was still there. Alan always has his trusty flashlight along with a variety of weapons. Unfortunately, what felt like a 1.5 hour game was stretched out by making you play several scenes a total of three times under the guise of a time loop and rewriting reality. All of this is framed by Rod Serling Twilight Zone styled narration. The game was short enough that I was motivated enough to finish it. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first game, though.

Despite losing their series against the Dayton Grizzlies two games to one, the Brooklyn Knights ended May with a four game lead over their rivals. The Firecats and Otters battled for the top spot in their division all month long. Heading into June, the Otters have a one game lead. The defending champion Stade Maples closed out May with a four game losing streak but still maintained a two game division lead. Finally, the St. James Crusaders continue to impress as one of the league's best teams. A 30-19 record put them solidly in first place.

May 2025 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Dick Gosden (Brooklyn Knights)
Pitcher of the Month: Jorge Martínez (Cornfield Axemen)
Rookie of the Month: Mercutio Averill (St. Rock Mudcats)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Arturo Guerrero (Phoenix Rattlers)
Pitcher of the Month: Rhys Ritson (Washington Allies)
Rookie of the Month: Steve Sandoval (Washington Allies)

After playing The Dream Machine, I decided to try another adventure game—The Journey Down: Chapter One. Its website describes it as "a classic point-and-click saga with an Afro-Caribbean vibe." It had the feel of a LucasArts adventure game and that is a good thing. It was quite different from The Dream Machine and more in line with familiar classic titles. In addition to its visual appeal, it had solid voice acting and very nice music as well. The puzzles weren't too difficult. It involved the typical collection of items as you visit every accessible area and build your inventory. As with most adventure games, there was a good deal of backtracking to solve puzzles once new items are acquired. The number of areas in Chapter One wasn't excessively large, however, so most areas were usually only a few screens away. As point and click adventure games go, I would definitely rate this one as very good.

The Journey Down is presented as a series of chapters. I only own Chapter One of the trilogy. As with The Dream Machine, I am tempted to purchase the other chapters to see how the story ends. Instead, I think I will dig into my deep backlog of video games and choose something else to play next.

After playing The Walking Dead, it will be extremely difficult to find another adventure game I like nearly as much. Regardless, I decided to give The Dream Machine a try. The game is split up into six chapters. I currently have only the first two chapters, which are described on the web page:

The Dream Machine is an award-winning point & click adventure game about exploring other people’s dreams. It’s built by hand using materials such as clay, cardboard & broccoli. In Chapter 1 you play Victor Neff, the husband of a young couple who’ve just moved into a new apartment. While trying to get settled in you discover that all is not as it seems in the quiet, unassuming apartment building… In Chapter 2, Victor goes to confront the landlord, Mr. Morton, only to find his apartment empty. Can Victor find the elusive landlord in time and is there more to Mr. Morton than meets the eye?

I finished the first two chapters and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Its artwork was quite different, primarily using clay and cardboard to model the characters and environments. One positive was that the difficulty wasn't excessive to cause too much frustration. I'm tempted to buy the rest of the chapters to see how the story ends. I have so many other games in my library, however. For now, I am going to move on to something I already own.

The Brooklyn Knights and Dayton Grizzlies vied for the top record in their division throughout April. At the end of the month, they were tied at 13-9. The Dunedin Otters edged the Nashville Firecats by a half game for the best record in League 1 Division 2. Likewise, the defending champion Stade Maples had a half game lead in their division. NALB's best record in April, however, was the St. James Crusaders' 15-6.

April 2025 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Grayson Currall (Brooklyn Knights)
Pitcher of the Month: Tony Tamayo (Brooklyn Knights)
Rookie of the Month: Mercutio Averill (St. Rock Mudcats)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Mabon Beniniger (Vancouver Wild)
Pitcher of the Month: Eddie Rodríguez (St. James Crusaders)
Rookie of the Month: Rich Andrews (Key West Corals)