The Atlanta Braves should be proud of their AA brethren, who were taken to the brink in this series by Montgomery.
It came down to the last hitter, but the Atlanta Braves AA team in Mississippi has won the 2021 championship of the old Southern League.
It’s now known by the boring “AA-South” name, but it’s still the old Southern League is its heritage and that means a league dominated by pitching… a skill that was definitely on display in this final game.
The minor league playoffs were shortened this year: regardless of division or finish, the teams with the best record came together in a single, best-of-five series to determine the title.
In this case, that meant the Montgomery Biscuits against our Mississippi Braves — the Braves having the home advantage thanks to the league’s best overall record.
As we noted a few days ago, the series looked like it was the Braves’ to lose after splitting the first 2 games in Montgomery as the teams shifted to the northwest by a couple hundred miles.
That worked in our favor on Friday with a wild 11-9 victory, but the pesky Biscuits came storming back to bury the Braves 14-2 last night, setting the stage for the Sunday winner-take-all finale.
The M-Braves eked it out
The teams traded runs in the second inning today and that held up until the 5th inning when Greyson Jenista hit a solo homer to put Mississippi up 2-1.
Fast-forward to the 9th inning when Nolan Kingham came on to finish the game. After 2 quick outs and 2 strikes, he yielded a single to Ruben Cardenas.
That became a bit scary as Shea Langeliers allowed a passed ball that allowed the potential tying run to move into scoring position.
Then this happened:
WE ARE YOUR 2021 DOUBLE-A SOUTH CHAMPIONS🥳🥳 pic.twitter.com/QwZZUB6Stm
— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) September 27, 2021
If you can’t see the video, it was a pop-up to the edge of the dugout screen along third base… right in front of the waiting M-Braves. CJ Alexander had just enough room to snag it and then the celebration began.
4 Braves pitchers combined to limit Montgomery to 4 total hits and 1 unearned run with 12 strikeouts and a single walk. Alan Rangel started and did the yeoman’s work: 6 complete innings (3 hits and 8K). He gets the “W” and his team gets the rings.
Congratulations Mississippi Braves! It was a well-earned championship!