The Ohio Juggernauts climbed into a first place tie with Bellagio in the Mays Division with Cannon’s just a game behind. Over the in the Williams Division, Shoreline has a narrow lead for the division but is also just a game behind Bellagio and Ohio for the top spot overall. Arizona and Merrimack are just three games back, forming a verifiable huddle muddle for playoff jockeying even though the playoffs are still about 100+ games away. As hoped for and expected, the Premier Conference is a donnybrook.

Ohio continues to bulk up for the long haul making several early deals to fortify the roster, including 33 HR JD Martinez, CF TJ Friedl and more. The trading season warmed up quickly far before the trade deadline as teams have quickly realized that for playoff spots — and to avoid relegation — every game counts. It’s never too soon to bring in reinforcements.

The early story line of Ancaster seizing control of the National Conference continued as the Royals pushed its division lead to a dozen games. Nobody else is close to the stunning 37-11 record. Ancaster is almost unbeatable at home with a .900 win clip. Headed into games against the upper conference, the Royals will learn how they match up for a potential automatic playoff position as the top National Conference team that is almost already locked down. The rest of the National Conference is as locked into battle as the Premier. The youthful Galesburg Wizards continue to lead the DiMaggio Division, paced by league leader in HRs, Nolan Gorman with 22. Tuscany, after a horrid start has creeped back into contention a game behind the Wiz, despite a disastrous .333 record on the road and a 6-16 record in one-run games. Wassau and San Francisco are just 2 and 3 games back of the Wizards respectfully. Oolitic has gotten back into early contention leveling its record at .500 and jumping over Space City for second place, way behind Ancaster but still in contention for the play-in tournament.

All of this is to say, it’s early… really early. And we don’t much, if we know anything at all. There is even time for teams to catch Ancaster—despite its 12-game lead— for #1 overall in the National.

On the flip side, Hebron waived the white flag after a disastrous month and started to fire sell in prep for the shame of relegation but a revenge tour in 2025. Montana, built from day 1 for 2025 also sold off some more parts to bolster the hope of “wait till next year” in Montana. Tuscany of all teams worried fans with signs of an early sell off, sending its best power hitter, JD Martinez to Ohio for picks next year. Did the slow start take the life out of a team that had plans on the #1 seed and promotion?

“Not at all,” said GM Scot Sabatini. “We are still in it to win it… but just too many RH Sluggers with a lot of Ks have held us back. Let’s see what the kids Ryan Noda and Mat Wallner can do. Besides, the trade deadline is still a couple of months away. We gotta plenty of time to buy… this wasn’t a sale as much as a repositioning.”

Sounds good, but fans were less impressed with a stadium wide thumbs down and zerbet wave the night after JD was sent off.

Never a dull moment in the Champions League! On to Block Three.