Final Week Preview
MINK enters its final regular season week and the stakes couldn’t be higher. As of Sunday morning, eight of nine MINK teams still have realistic playoff hopes alive leading up to next week’s fast-paced postseason before everyone heads back to school in August.
As a reminder, the top three teams from each division will qualify for the post-season. The 2nd and 3rd place teams from each division will play a Wild Card game, then play a single playoff game against the 1st place team in the division. The winners coming out of each divisional round will face each other in a best 2-out-of-3 series to close out the season.
Here’s what your favorite MINK League team needs to do in order to qualify for the postseason.
NORTH DIVISION
St. Joe Mustangs
Post Season Magic Number -- 2 (A combination of St Joe wins or Carroll losses)
North Division Championship Magic Number – 6 (Combined St Joe wins or Clarinda losses)
Analysis: St. Joe has a tough road the final week as the defending MINK Champions. Five of their last seven games are on the road including five against division rivals and two against their arch rival, the second place Clarinda A’s.
Clarinda A’s
Post Season Magic Number – 4 (Combo of Clarinda wins or Carroll losses)
Analysis: Clarinda and St. Joe will go down to the wire this week playing twice in what is sure to be a high-stakes battle.
Chillicothe Mudcats and Carroll Merchants
Analysis: Chillicothe and Carroll are both sitting at .500 on the season. Chilli will finish their season taking on the top of the North with two games against St. Joe and finishing their season in Clarinda. Carroll has two fewer games to play and they have an equally tough road facing St. Joe and Clarinda to finish their season.
SOUTH DIVISION
Joplin Outlaws
South Division Championship Magic Number – 6 (Combined Joplin wins or Jeff City losses)
Post Season Magic Number – 5 (Combined Joplin wins or 3rd Place losses)
Analysis: Joplin has a LOT of baseball left this week with eight games on the schedule. Three of those games will be against the second place Jeff City Renegades. The Outlaws, who played in the Championship series last year will have their work cut out for them.
Jeff City Renegades
Post Season Magic Number – 4 (Combined Jeff City wins or 3rd Place losses)
Analysis: With only 4 games remaining on their schedule, Jeff City controls their own destiny because three of those games are against the first place Outlaws. If they can win out, they’ll grab the top crown and that huge first round bye.
Sedalia Bombers and Nevada Griffons
Post Season Magic Number -- 7 – A combination of wins and losses between Sedalia and Nevada takes the final spot.