2017 Dixie League Championship Series

DIXIE LEAGUE – The Western League Championship Series in the Dixie League concluded last week as the Austin Bulls and the Andalusia Arrows were fighting it out for the chance to play the Lakeland Raiders in the Dixie League Championship Series.  The Raiders had sewn up their best of three series with the Hinesville Warrior in Week 13 after two consecutive wins, one of them by tiebreaker rule – a league first – to win the East and secure a trip to the League Finals, but the Western Series went to a third game.  After the Arrows won Game 1, 11-3, Austin staged a comeback in Game 2, taking a 7-4 victory to force a Game 3.  When play finished on Monday night, Coach Dan “The Polish Rifle” Mayhoff’s Austin Bulls had won the game 15-7 and have been named the 2017 Western League Champion.  They will play the Lakeland Raiders in a best of 3 championship series, set to begin Week 15, which will be a series of two first season teams in the revised Dixie League.  Lakeland was a higher scoring team than Austin, going through the Regular Season, but the Bulls have seemed to be hotter so far this post season, however, Austin still has to contend with the Western League Curse – in 6 seasons, no Western League or Division team has ever won the Championship.  Can the Bulls be the first?

For the second straight year the Pro Bowl Nominated Andalusia Arrows have made the Western League playoffs but have not been able to close the deal, even though the team led the league in many categories including the best record in the league for the 2nd year in a row.  The Western League series looked like it would be a battle of the quarterbacks, but that failed to happen for the Arrows, as Tom Brady failed to score points for the second straight week, which ultimately led to the elimination of the Arrows. There is some talk with the league office of the Andalusia franchise moving to another location beginning next season, mainly due to low attendance and stadium issues.  The league office has yet to make a determination on the move, but it will be discussed when the clubs gather at the Summer meeting.  Also on the agenda, plans are in the works to possibly extend the number of teams in the league for next season and if the league maintains its current teams then the keeper rule will be triggered for next season.

Stay tuned next week for a Game 1 review of the Dixie League Championship series and more league news…