Boulder has now claimed their second straight Goldblum Cup.

CHARLESTON, SC – Leonard Strike smashed a grand slam in the second inning that put Boulder up 5-1, and the Bunions never looked back. They went on to beat Charleston 15-7, claiming their second straight Goldblum Cup.

Unlike most of the postseason, this game was never in doubt for Boulder. They amassed a 13-0 lead before Charleston recorded their first hit. That hit did not come until the sixth inning. Charleston’s pitching was utterly torn to shreds by Boulder’s bruising offense. The Bunions tallied 18 hits and scored 15 runs from them.

Boulder’s pitching, on the other hand, was top-notch for most of the game. Things may have seemed grim when starter Steve Reynolds left the game in the first inning with an injured finger, but reliever Jacob Tinley marched in and held the Windjammers hitless for four innings. By that time, Boulder could have already popped open the champagne. Charleston, for the third consecutive game, failed to hit a home run.

No matter how it may have seemed after the Paxton Championship Series and the opening game of the Goldblum Cup, Boulder is still the dominant team in BH Baseball. Now, they perch high atop the mountain with two trophies. This team could be stretching out and reigning over a dynasty.

Boulder now leads the Goldblum Cup 3-1 and is one victory away from repeating as BH Baseball champions. For Charleston fans, however, the championship dream is dangling on a precipice. In the last three games, the Windjammers have led through most of the game but gave it up to Boulder in the seventh and eighth innings. Josh Hughett sees the problem as a strictly pitching issue. “Our lack of depth is showing,” he said. “Our starting nine is just as good as their starting nine, maybe better, but our relief is just inexperienced.”

Charleston hopes to stay alive and win Game 5 on Wednesday. A victory would send the series back to Boulder, where the Windjammers captured their only triumph of the Cup.

In the eighth inning, McElroy hit the tying home run, and he was followed later in the inning by Sergeant Carter, who crushed a three-run shot to put the Bunions ahead for good.

“It was fast-paced, high-offensive game,” Striker said of his team’s victory. “I’m glad we were able to win one of this type. Our team is far from perfect, but we made great strides toward a championship tonight.”

Charleston’s pitching, for the first time in the postseason, let them down. Their offense definitely gave them an opportunity to win by holding a 10-5 through the seventh inning, but the guys on the mound just couldn’t bottle up Boulder’s bruising batters. “We have to make some adjustments defensively,” Josh Hughett said of his team. “We can’t play like this and expect to win.”

Game 3 will be Sunday night from I.O.P. Field in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Boulder Bunions fought off a late Wichita rally to win the game and the series 10-8 on Monday evening. Wichita clearly took the mighty Boulder Bunions closer to the edge than any other team ever has. The game is now being discussed as the greatest BH Baseball game of all-time. Boulder led 7-4 until the seventh inning when Wichita put up three runs to tie the contest at 7. It was then that Jonathan Mitchell, the hero from Game 6, knocked a go-ahead home run over the wall in left field. Boulder quickly tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on a Matt Talley homer.

The game went the ninth tied at 8, and it was there that Sergeant Carter became the hero. His home run was definitely one of the most dramatic moments of all the baseball games ever played. It would seem perfectly fitting to end the season on such a note, but no, Boulder must now go ahead to the Goldblum Cup and tackle the Pierce Brosnan Champion Charleston Windjammers.

Charleston hopes to hold off Virginia and win their first divisional crown.

With Charleston’s and Virginia’s wins on Monday, the race for the Southern Division remains conspicuously close. The Windjammers (24-11) have a one game lead on the Virginia Opossums (23-12). And yet, Virginia is riding high on a late season swell, amassing an 8-2 record in their last ten games. Charleston, by comparison, is only 5-5. The remaining schedule, however, favors Charleston. They open a three game series with Baltimore (15-20), while Virginia will tangle with Eastern-leading Montreal (19-16).

The Brosnans struck first with a run in the top of the first when Baltimore’s Julius Benedict knocked in Manchester’s Jacob Hampton with a sacrifice fly-ball. The Paxtons didn’t answer until the fourth with a Mike Dunn RBI. Boulder’s own Leonard Strike brought the crowd to its feet when he hit a home run in the seventh to bring the game to a 2-2 tie. The tug-of-war contest would not end for another six innings.

Going into the matchup, it was speculated that the Paxtons were far too strong for the Brosnans, but after the all-star game, the two leagues appear to be evenly matched. This bodes well for the second half of the season, as it appears that whoever emerges from the Pierce Brosnan race will be a formidable opponent for the Paxton champions.

However it all pans out, no one can deny that BH Baseball’s first all-star was nothing short of exciting. This game is a notch in the belt for a league that is already surpassing initial expectations.

It is curious to wonder, however, whether the Pierce Brosnan League, with its assortment of teams east of the Mississippi River, can compete with the all-powerful Bill Paxton team which houses the teams out west. The Paxton League dominates myriad statistics in hitting and pitching. Critics, however, argue that most of these statistics are dominated by one team: Boulder. They go on to argue that the combined might of the Brosnan League may prove very competitive with the combined might of the Paxton League. “Simply put,” Jacob Hampton, BSBN contributor said, “the Brosnan League beats up on each other.” The all-star game, it seems, could go either way. At least the viewing public will finally see a compact version of a Charleston/Boulder match-up, a match-up that many see solidifying itself in the Goldblum Cup at the end of the season. If the Brosnan League wins the all-star, it truly makes Charleston look quite the contender for the Boulder juggernaut.

Jeff L. Horner, league commissioner and owner of the Virginia Opossums commented on the game’s importance: “This game is the premier showcase of talent that Blue House Baseball has to offer. In that respect, it is our best display of the overarching ability of our players. With that in mind, it is one of the most important games ever played in this league.”

The promises to be a battle of wits as the strong pitching of the Pierce Brosnan League battles the powerful hitting of the Bill Paxton League. It may actually turn out to be an irresistible force meeting an immovable object.

Here are the rosters for both teams:

I.O.P. Park in Charleston was sold out for Opening Day. The Windjammers won over Savannah 3-2.

I.O.P. PARK, Charleston, SC – Charleston struggled, but they won. Granted, the Windjammers are the favorites in the Southern Division, but it took them ten innings to defeat expansionist Savannah on Sunday. Josh Hughett, Spring League all-star and guitar virtuoso, knocked in relief pitcher Terry Clark to secure an Opening Day victory. Hughett went 3 for 5 with a stolen base and a RBI. First-baseman Phil Daulhausser also went 3 for 5. Grant Hughett and John Mayer, two of Charleston’s biggest weapons, however, went a combined 2 for 9.

The win marks the first time the Windjammers (1-0) have been over .500 in BHB history. “I’m proud of my guys,” Josh Hughett said. “It wasn’t easy, but we stuck it out. This win will help us in those tight contests later on.”

Aroma fans were thrilled with an opening day victory.

POINT DEFIANCE BALL PARK, Tacoma, WA – Tacoma’s Josh Zimmerman started this season the exact way he ended last: by scoring runs. The Spring all-star kicked off Tacoma’s season on Saturday afternoon by ripping an RBI in his very first at-bat. It put the Aroma (1-0) up 1-0. It would be all the lead they would need.

That doesn’t mean that they stopped scoring, though. Brian Iafratti capped all scoring in the seventh inning with a 375 foot home run that stifled any chance expansionist Los Angeles had. Tacoma routed the Fins 4-0.

For the Fins (0-1), the shut-out loss tarnishes their long-awaited debut. Los Angeles did show some signs of potential, however, as they amassed nine hits. Their lack of execution, however, was evident. “We struggled,” Ricky FIN Orr said following the loss. “This was not the way we wanted to start.”

Nichole C.K. Stevens, however was ecstatic regarding her Aroma’s performance. “We looked really good,” she said. “I sincerely hope this continues.”