Blackburn men's league playoff preview (updated)

From Nick Bowman

The 2023 Blackburn Men's Fastball League playoffs get underway on Tuesday. There are some big changes for 2023. In light of the reduced schedule, the playoff format has been changed from double knockout to triple knockout. In addition, the Blackburn arena diamond will no longer be available in September due to renovations. As of September, weekday games will take place at Pierre Rocque and Sunday games are tentatively scheduled for the diamond in Carlsbad.

Game 1 of the playoffs will feature number 4 ranked Braves vs the number 5 ranked Goodfellows at 7 pm in Blackburn. Nick Bowman will be on the mound for the Braves and Shannon Borho for the Goodfellows. Goodfellows won the regular season series with a 2-0-1 record.

Winner of that game will face off against the number one ranked Blue Jays, led by Andy Barber Thursday in Blackburn. The game will start after the GOFL playoff game at 7 p.m. that night. 

Game 2 of the playoffs will feature number 3 ranked Rogues against number 6 ranked Bandits at 9 pm in Blackburn. Derick Bulley and Matt Cox pitch for the Rogues and Max Lalonde and Tyler Alexander pitch for the Bandits. Rogues swept the season series 3 games to none.

Winner of that game will face off against Los Caballos, led by Will Lowe in the mound. They averaged 7.5 runs per game with home runs playing a large part.

Good luck to all teams in your quest for the 2023 BMFL championship!