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2006 season

November 14, 2006

One half of the lineup for this Saturday's championship game has been set, as the Phoenix Desert Dogs clinched the East Division this afternoon with a win over the Scottsdale Scorpions. The Dogs will be going for a "three-peat," having captured the AFL championship the last two seasons.

The Grand Canyon Rafters hold a slim, one-game lead in the West Division with two days of regular season play remaining.

The other exciting race to be decided in the next two days is for the batting championship. Scottsdale's Kevin Frandsen (Giants - 2B/SS) leads the way with a .418 average, followed by the Javelinas' Yunel Escobar (Braves - 2B/SS) at .407.

Late bloomers

While fatigue has set in by this time for most AFL players, there are a few individuals that have turned it on in the last few weeks ... J.C. Holt (Braves - 2B) is a little guy that has flown under the radar for much of the season, but he's hitting at an amazing rate of .417/.478/.550. The left-handed hitter hasn't played enough to qualify for the batting title ... Richie Robnett (Athletics - OF) hit the ground running after joining the Desert Dogs to replace Travis Buck (Athletics - OF), who underwent hernia surgery. Robnett hit for a combined cycle in his first two AFL games last weekend ... Brooks Conrad (Astros - INF/OF) was raking in his first couple of weeks after replacing Hunter Pence (Astros - OF) on the Solar Sox roster. The former Arizona State player batted .478/.625/.870 in his first seven games ...

Virgil Vasquez (Tigers - P) got rocked the first time I saw him pitch this season, but he's been very effective in the last few weeks. The right-hander is 2-1 with a 2.87 ERA, with a nice 19/5 K/BB rate ... Joe Bisenius (Phillies - P) temporarily left the AFL with an injury after a bad first appearance in which he gave up six earned runs in only 1/3 of an inning. Since returning to the Saguaros roster last week, the right-hander has pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, lowering his ERA from 108.00 to 11.57.

In the stands

All-American catcher JP Arencibia, from Tennessee, was in the crowd for a few games to watch his former college teammate, Chase Headley (Padres - 3B), in action for the Saguaros.