The regular season is finished. After twenty-two weeks of slugging and clawing, we’ve carved out the first ever PCI playoff field.

Doña Ana Chihuahuas 5, New Mexico Roadrunners 5
The battle for the Land of Enchantment ended in a draw. Doña Ana swung hot, hitting .307 as Juan Soto crushed .435 with 3 homers and 9 RBI. The Roadrunners answered with their own firepower — Rafael Devers launched 3 homers with 7 RBI, and José A. Ferrer nailed down 3 saves. The Roadrunners remain the clear No. 1 seed with a bye, while Doña Ana locks into the four slot for a dangerous opening-round matchup with Michiana.

Austin Armadillos 6, Rockport RedFish 3
The Armadillos extended their win streak to 8, and closed the regular season with authority, powered by 11 homers and a .291 team average. First-round pick Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was locked in, hitting .560 with 2 homers, 5 RBI, and 8 runs scored. Rockport battled but couldn’t make up ground in runs or RBI. Austin’s second half surge earns them the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye, while Rockport also gets a bye on the consolation side.

Boerne Mutts 10, Oahu Rocketeers 1
The Mutts roared into October behind catcher Hunter Goodman, who hit .476 with 3 homers and 10 RBI in a monster week. Boerne out-hit Oahu 55–42 and racked up 6 saves, leaving the Rocketeers with no answers. Oahu heads to consolation against the Oilers, while Boerne secures the No. 3 seed and a first-round showdown with Gallagher Gulch — a clash of WSBL rivals.

Michiana Cavemen 6, Sinton Mullets 3
The Cavemen handled business, scoring 36 runs and edging Sinton in the power game. Second baseman Matt McLain carried the load, hitting .389 with a homer, 4 RBI, and 6 runs. The Mullets limped home with a .205 average, the final stamp on a season that never turned their way. Michiana claims the fifth seed and a quarterfinal clash with Doña Ana.

Denver Donuts 8, Gallagher Gulch Fat Boys 1
Denver finally found the spark they’d been missing, blasting 11 home runs and hitting .295 as their staff posted a 2.35 ERA. Ozzie Albies led the way, hitting .417 with 2 homers and 4 RBI. The Fat Boys stumbled into the postseason, salvaging only one category — stolen bases, with Corbin Carroll swiping four of their nine. Despite the lopsided loss, Gallagher Gulch clings to the sixth seed, while Denver moves to consolation play against Sinton.

Indy Integrals 6, Coastal Bend Oilers 4
The Integrals pushed hard for a postseason berth, piling up 38 RBI and clean defense behind big weeks from Cal Raleigh and Trea Turner. But the Oilers held enough categories to spoil Indy’s playoff hopes. The Integrals settle into consolation with the top seed and a first-round bye, while Coastal Bend faces the Rocketeers.

Playoff Preview

Championship Quarterfinals (Week 23)

(1) New Mexico Roadrunners — Bye

(4) Doña Ana Chihuahuas vs. (5) Michiana Cavemen
These two split their regular-season meetings: Doña Ana took Week 2 by a 7–4 margin, while Michiana answered in Week 12 with a narrow 5–4 win. Their rubber match now comes with a trip to the semifinals on the line.

(3) Boerne Mutts vs. (6) Gallagher Gulch Fat Boys
These two WSBL owners know each other well. Boerne dominated their Week 6 clash 9–1, but the Fat Boys held their ground in Week 19 with a 5–5 draw. This quarterfinal has the makings of a grudge match.

(2) Austin Armadillos — Bye

Consolation Quarterfinals

(7) Indy Integrals — Bye

(10) Coastal Bend Oilers vs. (11) Oahu Rocketeers
The Oilers swept the regular season, winning 8–3 in Week 3 and edging Oahu again in Week 13, 6–5. The Rocketeers will need to flip the script to stay alive.

(9) Denver Donuts vs. (12) Sinton Mullets
These two traded blows during the season: Denver took Week 9, 7–4, while Sinton struck back in Week 18 with an 8–3 victory. A true rubber match awaits in the consolation bracket.

(8) Rockport RedFish — Bye

Regular Season Record Book

Since it’s the end of the regular season, I thought it might be worth pausing to look back at some of the standout numbers that defined the first 22 weeks. From offensive explosions to lockdown pitching weeks to streaks that carried teams into September, here’s how the 2025 Pedro Cerrano Invitational record book reads:

Head-to-Head & Streaks

Wins

  • Most Matchup Victories: New Mexico Roadrunners, 16
  • Most Wins (Season): New Mexico Roadrunners, 139

Most Wins in a Single Week (10)

  • Rockport RedFish vs. Sinton Mullets (Week 21)
  • Michiana Cavemen vs. Austin Armadillos (Week 6)
  • Coastal Bend Oilers vs. Doña Ana Chihuahuas (Week 17)
  • Boerne Mutts vs. Oahu Rocketeers (Week 22)
  • Gallagher Gulch Fat Boys vs. Sinton Mullets (Week 5)

Winning Streaks

  • Longest Winning Streak: Austin Armadillos, 8 straight (Weeks 15–22)
  • Current Winning Streak: Austin Armadillos, 8

Batting Highlights

Runs

  • Single Week: Michiana Cavemen, 61 (Week 15)
  • Season Total: Doña Ana Chihuahuas, 748

Home Runs

  • Single Week: Michiana Cavemen (Week 15) & New Mexico Roadrunners (Week 20), 21 each
  • Season Total: Boerne Mutts, 232

Runs Batted In

  • Single Week: Rockport RedFish, 62 (Week 1)
  • Season Total: Boerne Mutts, 789

Stolen Bases

  • Single Week: Gallagher Gulch Fat Boys, 15 (Week 1)
  • Season Total: Michiana Cavemen, 141

Errors – Best

  • Single Week (0 errors):
    • Austin Armadillos (Week 20, 4th time this season)
    • New Mexico Roadrunners (Week 5)
    • Gallagher Gulch Fat Boys (Week 18, 4th time this season)
    • Sinton Mullets (Week 13, 3rd time this season)
    • Michiana Cavemen (Week 22, 3rd time this season)
    • Indy Integrals (Week 22, 3rd time this season)
    • Denver Donuts (Week 17, 2nd time this season)
    • Coastal Bend Oilers (Week 13)
    • Oahu Rocketeers (Week 17, 2nd time this season)
    • Rockport RedFish (Week 14)
  • Season Total (Fewest Errors): Denver Donuts, 36

Batting Average

  • Single Week: Boerne Mutts, .342 (Week 9)
  • Season Total: Indy Integrals, .266

Pitching Highlights

Wins

  • Single Week: Boerne Mutts, 10 (Week 15)
  • Season Total: Austin Armadillos, 101

Saves

  • Single Week: Gallagher Gulch Fat Boys, 10 (Week 9)
  • Season Total: Gallagher Gulch Fat Boys, 112

Earned Run Average (ERA)

  • Single Week: Michiana Cavemen, 0.95 (Week 3)
  • Season Total: Gallagher Gulch Fat Boys, 3.22

WHIP (Walks + Hits / Innings Pitched)

  • Single Week: Sinton Mullets, 0.69 (Week 13)
  • Season Total: Gallagher Gulch Fat Boys, 1.08

Strikeouts per Walk Ratio (K/BB)

  • Single Week: Gallagher Gulch Fat Boys, 11.80 (Week 4)
  • Season Total: Gallagher Gulch Fat Boys, 3.73

The bracket is set. Byes earned, matchups locked, and three weeks left to crown a champion. Good luck to all.

To close this week out, it’s only fitting to give the last word to the man who’s been around this game longer than anyone else in the PCI — and also one of the finest writers I know. Willie B. Lakey has been involved in fantasy baseball since 1984, when he founded one of the nation’s first leagues, the WSBL. That league ran for 41 years and served as the inspiration for the model we use today in the PCI. Lakey’s weekly sports report is also the inspiration for this very newsletter.

I leave you with a Faulkner-esque Review of the Gallagher Gulch Fat Boys by our very own Bard of Baseball:

An enduring and strenuous season teases its followers like a fresh-baked pecan pie in a bakery window mocks those looking in who are on diets and truly believed they would succeed this time. And even those who do accomplish more than most, teams that met their appointed schedules and prospered with regularity in March and April while displaying a pristine hurling of the spheroid well into the warmer months of June and July all while in possession of just enough offensive prowess to be a force for others to look upon with trepidation. But then came August, arriving with repeated wicked news on the injury front that was as thick as blood-sucking mosquitos in Bridge City, Texas at dusk following an afternoon of soaking rain.

James Joyce, Joseph Conrad, Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare, indeed, even the Almighty His Self would be hard-pressed to write a tragedy of such proportions, one that begins with a protagonist coming out of retirement and looking for one more dash to glory on a journey that instead turns as lonely as the silhouette of a big man trudging along an empty street with a fog shrouding the few lights that can be seen. The worst of the best, the best of the worst, what did it matter? It’s like having a daughter doomed to spinsterhood, a son destined to become a door-to-door cosmetics salesman.

And yet I, a weak and weary creature, still choose to believe that somehow, someway, even sinners like me can attain greatness by vanquishing all for the ultimate title. I knew what I was doing when I got involved half a calendar ago with this consortium of blood-thirsty competitors that was still a kind collection of humanity, and knowing it could all come to an end in miserable and gloomy fashion, like watching an aged Willie Mays stumble while in pursuit of a lazy fly ball….