NALB 2016 Playoffs - League 2 Series

K. Fields
2017-09-21T17:53:46-04:00
Baseball

2016 League 2 Series - Key West Corals (89-73) vs. Vancouver Wild (92-70)

Game 1: Key West 6, Vancouver 2
Game 2: Key West 5, Vancouver 4
Game 3: Key West 4, Vancouver 3
Game 4: Key West 4, Vancouver 3

Even with an injury filled season, the defending champion Key West Corals made the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years. Unlike 2015, however, the Corals are the underdogs. The road to a possible 2016 championship will start in Vancouver.

The Key West Corals opened the League Series with a 6-2 road win behind a strong effort by starter Whitney Sanders. Sanders pitched 7 ⅔ innings, allowing only two runs. Cather Matthew Loy led the offensive charge with a single, two home runs, and 6 RBI.

The Corals got another fine pitching performance in Game 2. This time it was starter Ronaldo Mijangos, who only surrendered one unearned run across seven innings. Down 5-0, the Wild staged a furious comeback. Vancouver scored 4 runs in the eighth inning but Key West’s closer, Thornton Peters, secured the 5-4 win in the ninth.

Game 3 once again showed the importance of starting pitching in the playoffs. The Corals’ starter, Jesús Martinez, was just a bit better than the Wild’s Lewis McGrew. Both pitched five innings. McGrew gave up three runs while Martinez gave up only two. Despite outhitting the opposition 11 to 7, Vancouver fell to Key West by the score of 4-3.

The Key West Corals proved to be too much to handle for the Vancouver Wild in the League Series and a sweep was the end result. Key West punched its ticket to the World Championship on the strength of a 4-3 win in the deciding game, which wrapped up the series 4-0. Key West catcher Matthew Loy, named series MVP, was instrumental in the sweep, as he mashed Vancouver pitching to the tune of a .353 average, with a .389 on-base percentage. He had 3 home runs, drove in 7 RBI and scored 4 runs.

Series MVP: C Matthew Loy (Key West Corals)