The Mudcats went on a terrible slide in August. Leading the division by two games at the beginning of the month, St. Rock ended August six and a half games out of first place. Although the Knights played excellent baseball in August, the Mudcats’ 11-18 record was mainly to blame for ceding the division lead. The Luisville Beasts had no problem holding onto first place, extending their lead over the Nashville Firecats to nine games.

The tightest race continues to be in League 2 Division 1. The Corals currently lead but the Sky Chiefs are only two games back while the Allies trail by three and a half games. The Richmond Slam have all but wrapped up a division crown with a thirteen game lead.

August 2014 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Martin Swader (Dunedin Otters)
Pitcher of the Month: Bernard Gastelu (Brooklyn Knights)
Rookie of the Month: Connor Duck (Luisville Beasts)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Alonso Martucci (Key West Corals)
Pitcher of the Month: Porfiro Quiñones (Washington Allies)
Rookie of the Month: Fortunado Guedaz (Quebeck Sky Chiefs)

After starting July with a 12-5 record, the Knights finished the month losing five out of its last eight. Brooklyn’s starting pitchers succumbed to injuries. Portio, Tamayo, and Arisa were each sent to the DL. Arisa is out for the season. St. Rock maintained a two game lead over Brooklyn. Injuries have plagued the Firecats all season. In July, Nashville surrendered its lead to Luisville.

The Sky Chiefs and Corals continue to battle. They are tied for the division lead. Richmond has a healthy seven game lead over Phoenix.

July 2014 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Hooks Goetz (Brooklyn Knights)
Pitcher of the Month: Terrence Steinman (Nashville Firecats)
Rookie of the Month: Mabon Beniniger (Dunedin Otters)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Tony Rodarte (Richmond Slam)
Pitcher of the Month: Marcos Amaya (Phoenix Rattlers)
Rookie of the Month: Jacob Tibbits (Phoenix Rattlers)

Bris Clark started the game for the League 1 All-Stars. Mario Torralbo was named the starter for the League 2 All-Stars. Despite the absence of Travis Araoz and Dacey Rager due to injury, League 1 scored early and often. They tallied seven runs in the first five innings on the way to an easy 7-2 victory. After only hitting two home runs all year, Brooklyn’s Blas Ramos surprisingly hit a solo blast in the fifth inning. It was Nashville’s Paul Lyons, however, who had the biggest hit of the game. His two run homer in the fourth inning helped put the game away and he was named the player of the game.

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

W: J. Farrell
L: M. Torralbo

The votes are tallied and the players have been chosen for the 2014 NALB All-Star Game. The St. Rock Mudcats and the Brooklyn Knights each contributed eight players to the League 1 roster. The Key West Corals and the Richmond Slam are well-represented on the League 2 roster with six players from each team. The All-Star Game will be played on Tuesday, July 15, 2014.

League 1 Pitchers:

SP José Arisa (BRO)
SP Marcos Delgadillo (LV)
SP Noriaki Momotami (SR)
SP Ossie Muñiz (LV)
SP Tyler Stivers (SR)
SP Tony Tamayo (BRO)
MR Joe Farrell (SR)
CL Bris Clark (BRO)
CL Sergio Delgado (SR)
CL Jesús Montufar (LUI)
CL Joe Pendarvis (COR)
CL Paul Thompson (LV)

League 1 Fielders:

C Dacey Rager (NSH)
C Ben Stamp (SR)
1B Travis Araoz (SR)
1B Hsiao-lou Yeh (BRO)
1B J.R. Singleton (DAY)
1B Paul Lyons (NSH)
2B Flavio Marquez (BRO)
3B Hooks Goetz (BRO)
3B Marvin Marini (BRO)
SS Lariel Gómez (BRO)
LF Chris Lee (NSH)
LF Miguel Gaytán (SR)
CF Robert Ostrom (DAY)
RF Dan Kelly(NSH)
RF Manuel Montaya (LUI)
RF Blas Ramos (BRO)

League 2 Pitchers:

SP Dan Eckenrode (QUE)
SP Cory Gregory (SJ)
SP Paul Gutierre Jiménez (RMD)
SP Porfiro Quiñones (WSH)
SP Whitney Sanders (KW)
SP Mario Torralbo (KW)
SP Kid Wilson (WSH)
MR Roberto Farinas (PX)
CL Pat Allen (WSH)
CL Stokley McGruder (PX)
CL Chris Nelson (VAN)
CL Thorton Peters (KW)

League 2 Fielders:

C Ted Pollet (STD)
C Matthew Loy (KW)
1B Gus Manuel (STD)
2B Edmundo Ovelha (RMD)
2B Marc-André Lavoie (QUE)
2B Norberto Salguero (PX)
3B Carlos Galicia (RMD)
3B Kurt Johnson (KW)
SS Hsiao-lou Yuan (SJ)
SS Chick Veras (RMD)
LF Alonso Martucci (KW)
LF Marcel Langlois (VAN)
LF Tony Rodarte (RMD)
CF Jordan Blanchard (STD)
RF Mark Huff (STD)
RF Carlos Tejera (RMD)

Brooklyn rebounded from an awful May going 17-10 in June. St. Rock was even better, however. The Mudcats went 20-7 for the month and took over first place with a two game lead.

Nashville and Richmond remained atop their respective divisions. In League 2 Division 2, Quebeck took the division lead, bumping Key West to second place.

June 2014 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: John Edwards (Nashville Firecats)
Pitcher of the Month: Jose Smith (St. Rock Mudcats)
Rookie of the Month: Connor Duck (Luisville Beasts)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Marc-André Lavoie (Quebeck Sky Chiefs)
Pitcher of the Month: Pat Allen (Washington Allies)
Rookie of the Month: Kurt Johnson (Key West Corals)