Today’s schedule of games relevant to the playoffs (all times Central):
St. Cloud at Alexandria, 1:05 PM
Mankato at Waterloo, 3:05 PM
Wisconsin at La Crosse, 4:05 PM
Duluth at Thunder Bay, 5:05 PM
Green Bay at Eau Claire, 6:05 PM
We’ve arrived to the final two days of the Northwoods League regular season. Here are the scenarios.
North Division
Thunder Bay Border Cats (+ 1/2 game, vs. Duluth for 2)
Thunder Bay’s magic number is two. They’ll clinch today with a win against Duluth and an Alexandria loss to St. Cloud. They are currently tied with Mankato for the race for home field advantage in the North Division playoffs. With one win, one Mankato loss and one Alexandria loss, Thunder Bay will clinch the second half title and take home field advantage in the North. In this scenario, game one would be in Mankato on Tuesday and games two and three would be in Thunder Bay Wednesday and Thursday.
Alexandria Beetles (- 1/2 game, home and home with St. Cloud for 2)
Alexandria can lose a game and still win the half, but realistically they need to beat St. Cloud twice. If they do that, all they’ll need is one Thunder Bay loss to Duluth. If this happens Alexandria will host Mankato on Tuesday for game one of the Division Series.
Mankato MoonDogs (- 1 game, at Waterloo for 2)
Mankato has already clinched their playoff berth by winning the North Division title in the first half of the season. Although it is now very unlikely that they will win both halves, it is important for Mankato to outplay Thunder Bay in the final two days to assure home field advantage in the Divisional Playoffs. Assuming Mankato, Thunder Bay, and Alexandria all don’t go 0-2, Mankato will need a better record than Thunder Bay in the final two games to have the opportunity to host two home games in the first round. If Alexandria wins the half this will become irrelevant. If all three go 0-2, home field between Thunder Bay and Mankato will be decided by a coin flip. This is because both tiebreakers would be tied (head-to-head 4-4, and intradivision 30-18).
South Division
Wisconsin Woodchucks (+ 1 1/2 games, at La Crosse for 3)
Wisconsin and La Crosse resume a game today that is tied 5-5 in the eighth inning. Following that the teams will play their regularly scheduled games today and tomorrow. If Wisconsin wins one game they will knock La Crosse out of the race. If Wisconsin wins two or Green Bay loses one then Wisconsin will clinch.
La Crosse Loggers (- 1 1/2 games, vs. Wisconsin for 3)
La Crosse doesn’t control their own destiny but they control most of it. They can put themselves in first place by winning all three games against Wisconsin. If this happens and Green Bay loses at least one game against Eau Claire then La Crosse will win the Second Half South Division Title. If they lose just one game their playoff hopes will vanish.
Green Bay Bullfrogs (- 1 1/2 games, at Eau Claire for 3)
Green Bay is also completing a suspended game today. Eau Claire leads 5-3 in the third inning. Their second game will be a seven inning contest. Green Bay needs to win all three games agasint Eau Claire the next two days to have a chance. If they do this and La Crosse beats Wisconsin at least twice Green Bay will be the South Division Champion.
South Divison Second Half Champion
Whether it’s Wisconsin, La Crosse, or Green Bay, the South Divison Second Half Champion will have home field advantage over First Half Champion Madison. Game one on Tuesday will send Madison on the road. The Mallards will host game two on Wednesday and will head back on the road Thursday if necessary.
You can also listen to the scenarios on today’s “Daily Recap”.