After three years of Darkhorses domination, it appears we finally have an exciting race on our hands. With two weeks remaining in the season, the championship is very much up for grabs. Of course, the three time defending champs are one of the top contenders, but they are not running away with it like they have the last three years. Through Sunday, the Darkhorses find themselves one point out of first, trailing the Naturals. Those two have swapped the top spot several times the last couple weeks with neither team holding more than a couple point edge.
The Naturals currently hold the top spot thanks to an incredible offense that leads the league in all five batting categories. No team has ever come close to doing that before, so that will be an interesting thing to watch down the stretch. They just may need to hang onto those 50 points to win the league because their pitching staff has been a little disappointing. Their current 27 pitching points would be the lowest total ever for a league champion.
The Darkhorses are a much more balanced team. They rank third in the league in both batting and pitching points. However, their total of 76 points is quite a bit below the pace they set the last few years. The last team to win the league with fewer than 80 points was the Mavericks in 2006, but that could be the case this year.
While mostly a two team race, the Jackalope and Kings are technically still alive as well. The Kings were the story of the league in August, moving from the bottom half of the standings all the way up to second place at one point. They did so thanks to a resurgent pitching staff. They have fallen back a bit the last couple weeks and are currently 11 1/2 points out of first. No matter how things turn out, this will be a successful season for the once proud franchise that finished dead last a year ago.
Meanwhile, the Jackalope are keeping hope alive in their quest for a first DTBL championship. They are in third place, 8 1/2 points behind. However, close inspection of the standings shows several categories where they have an opportunity to pick up points. It will take an incredible two week run and will probably require the top two teams to fall back a bit, but the Jackalope are certainly still in the running.
Looking at the different categories, both the Naturals and Darkhorses are in pretty good shape with few worries about losing ground. There aren’t a lot of points to be gained either though, so I would be very surprised if either team shifted more than a couple points up or down. So with the current margin being just a single point, this is almost certainly going to wind up being one of the closest races in league history. The Jackalope have several categories where they have an opportunity to pick up points, so it will be very interesting to see if this turns into a three team sprint to the finish.
Perhaps not as exciting, the race is equally tight at the bottom of the standings. The Cougars currently sit in last place, but just one half point behind the Demigods. Meanwhile, the Mavericks, playing with barely more than half a roster, are four points out of last. The Choppers have put on a nice late season run to move up to 7th place.
Will the Darkhorses make it four in a row and tie the Kings for the most titles in league history? Will the underdog Naturals hang on to win their second championship? Or will the Jackalope put on a furious run to win their first title? Stay tuned!