Batavia Muckdogs 109-60 vs. Chattanooga Lookouts 110-59

Batavia wins NLCS 4-1

Game 1 – In a thrilling opener to the National League Championship Series, the defending champion Batavia Muckdogs edged their Aaron Division rivals, the Chattanooga Lookouts, 4-3 in extra innings on October 11, 2025, at Comerica Park. The Muckdogs, who posted a stellar 105-57 regular-season record, overcame early deficits and a key injury to steal a critical road victory in this best-of-seven showdown between two of the SWBA’s top teams. Chattanooga, the division champions with a 106-56 mark, appeared poised to take control multiple times but couldn’t hold leads against Batavia’s resilient lineup. The game featured back-and-forth drama from the start. Batavia grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second on Gabriel Moreno’s RBI double that plated Nate Lowe, but the Lookouts answered in the third with a two-run single from Riley Greene to go ahead 2-1. After Jose Caballero exited with an injury in the third (prompting a defensive shuffle), Batavia tied it in the fifth via Richie Palacios’ RBI groundout, then surged ahead 3-2 in the seventh on Trey Sweeney’s go-ahead single. Chattanooga’s Paul Goldschmidt delivered a clutch double in the bottom half to knot the score at 3-3. The decisive moment came in the 10th, when Mickey Moniak lined a single to score Jose Ramirez for the go-ahead run after a steal of second. Kenley Jansen slammed the door with two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win, while Clay Holmes took the loss after allowing the extra-inning tally. Moreno, with his early double and key contributions throughout, was named Game MVP in a contest that lasted 3 hours and 27 minutes under cool night conditions. This victory gives the Muckdogs a 1-0 series lead, setting the stage for what promises to be an intense battle between these powerhouse franchises in the SouthWest Baseball Association playoffs.

Game 2 – ​The Chattanooga Lookouts tied the National League Championship Series with a decisive 4-0 victory over the Batavia Muckdogs in Game 2 on Monday night at Comerica Park. In a pitcher’s duel that leaned heavily toward the home side, veteran left-hander Jose Quintana delivered a masterful performance, shutting down the potent Batavia lineup over six innings to earn the win​.​ ​The crafty Colombian southpaw scattered just four hits while walking one and striking out five. He ​d​idn’t allow any runs and kept Batavia’s high-powered offense — featuring stars like Kyle Schwarber, Jose Ramirez, and ​N​athaniel Lowe — off balance all evening. The 3​6-year-old Quintana improved to ​2-0 in the postseason with the gem, relying on his varied arsenal to induce weak contact and timely strikeouts. “Quintana was outstanding,” said Lookouts manager ​Donald Ward after the game. “He set the tone early and gave us exactly what we needed in a big spot.” Opposing him was Batavia ace Chris Sale​ (18-6 regular season), the lanky lefty who battled through six innings but absorbed the loss. Sale surrendered seven hits and four earned runs while fanning seven without issuing a walk. ​H​e fell to 0-1 in the series, as Chattanooga capitalized on key mistakes and timely hitting. The Lookouts struck first in the second inning. Ketel Marte singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch from Sale. Riley Greene — the rising star outfielder — then ripped a double off the wall in right field to plate Marte for the game’s first run, giving Chattanooga a 1-0 lead. The third inning proved decisive. After a leadoff flyout, Brenton Doyle singled up the middle. Paul Goldschmidt followed with a sharp single to put runners on the corners. Marte delivered again, lacing a double down the left-field line that scored both runners and extended the advantage to 3-0. The two-run knock highlighted Marte’s clutch postseason play and put Batavia in an early hole. Chattanooga tacked on insurance in the sixth when Jordan Westburg, the versatile infielder, crushed a solo home run down the left-field line — his third homer of the playoffs — for a 349-foot shot that made it 4-0. The blast came off Sale and effectively sealed the outcome. Batavia managed only four hits all night and never seriously threatened. Schwarber singled to lead off the game but was caught stealing second. A double by ​Heliot Ramos in the first and another by Gabriel Moreno in the second represented their best chances, but Quintana and the Chattanooga bullpen shut the door. Relievers, including Aaron Bummer who handled the final 1.2 innings hitless for his first save of the ​playoffs, preserved the shutout. The series shifts to Batavia for Game 3, where the​ ‘Dogs will look to their pitching depth to​ finish the series on their home field. Game time was 2:53 under clear 61-degree conditions with an 11 mph wind blowing out to right field. The night belonged to the Lookouts, who showed why they​ won 107 games during the regular season.

Game 3 – Batavia was glad to be home after escaping with a split in Chattanooga.  The starter match-up is Merrill Kelly for the Lookouts and Division Series hero Kutter Crawford for the home team.  The Muckdogs struck first in the bottom of the 1st as Kelly got into trouble early.  Richie Palacios hit an infield single and Jose Ramirez walked.  The unsettled Kelly balked to advance the runners to second and third and no out.  The dangerous Kyle Schwarber stepped to the plate and took a big cut driving it to the wall, but not over, to be caught.  Palacios scampered home to score the game’s first run.  Kelly regained his composure to get the final two outs in the inning.  In the second inning disaster struck as Kelly got hurt on an infield single.  Kelly is helped off the field as even the home crowd grew silent. Fernando Cruz got the final out to begin the string of bullpen pitchers for the Lookouts.  The Lookouts evened up the score with a Brenton Doyle homer down the LF line.  The Lookouts get a second HR from Lawrence Butler in the 5th off Crawford, who when he gives up a hit, an infrequent event, it is usually a HR.  The Muckdogs got a homer of their own from Pavin Smith in the bottom of the sixth to tie up the game at 2 a piece.  Both Bullpens held in the 7th. Eli Morgan entered in the bottom of the 8th with 2 out and was greeted by Schwarber’s deep fly to RCF and this one cleared the fence for a Muckdog 3-2 lead.  Morgan is not sharp as Smith followed Schwarber with a double down the RF line and he intentionally walked the dangerous Mike Trout to face Nate Lowe, the hot hitter of the Divisional Series.  Morgan finally recorded his first out and the last out of the inning by getting him to ground out to Paul Goldschmidt at first to end the threat.  Kenley Jansen came on to close out the game and pick up a save.  He does so in undramatic fashion by getting PH Garrett Mitchell and Butler to ground out and gets the hot hitting Doyle to strikeout to end the game.  The Muckdog fans leave happy with a 2-1 series lead.

Game 4 – The Lookouts and Muckdogs ​w​ere back in Batavia for Game 4 of the NLCS with the match-up of ​Framber Valdez for the visitors and ​Joe Musgrove for the home squad. Both starters t​o​ok care of business through the bottom of the 3rd with 2 out. ​Kyle Schwarber step​p​ed to the​ plate smack​ed a double off the wall in left center and ​Jose Ramirez drove him home with ​a base knock for a Muckdog 1-0 lead. Batavia g​o​t a second run an inning later w​h​en ​Nate Lowe singl​ed, but turned his ankle rounding the base. ​Mike Trout pinch-r​a​n for Lowe. ​Randal Grichuk moved Trout to 3rd on a grounder and ​he scored on​ a single by Big Christmas (Jhonkensy​ Noel), Muckdogs​ up 2-0. Musgrove cruised into the 6th allowing only 1 hit. ​The #9 hitter​, Otto Lopez​, ​c​ollected the Lookouts​’ second hit and was still there when the hot bat of​ Brenton Doyle pulled a fair ball over the fence to tie the score at 2. The home squad ​went to work in the bottom of the 6th. A Trout walk, ​Pavin Smith K, Noel triple, and a ​Gaby Moreno single ​r​eclaimed the 2 runs back off ​Fernando​ Cruz to the jubilation of the home fans. Moreno ​c​aught the battery ‘sleeping’ and st​o​le second. ​Andres Gimenez single​d Moreno 3rd, and then Gimenez stole second to make ​it 2nd and 3rd and one out. ​Jose Caballero puts the squeeze on and ​p​lated Moreno twith the sacrifice. The Muckdogs ​u​pped their lead to 5-2. The Lookouts answer​ed with a run in the top of the 7th on Lopez’s single to score ​Jake McCarthy, 5-3. After a quiet 8th, Jansen entered in the top of the ninth in hopes of picking up his second save of the series. ​Riley Greene flie​d out, then​ Jordan Westburg was HBP. That br​o​ught the tying run to the plate in the form of McCarthy. McCarthy ground​e​d out and ​Jonah Heim fan​n​ed on a 0-2 pitch to end the game! Muckdogs picked up another win to go up 3-1 in the series with ​their ace​ Zack Wheeler ​c​oming up to try to close out the NLCS.

Game 5 – Game #5 pitted the Batavia Muckdogs’ Zack Wheeler against the Chattanooga Lookouts’ Michael Lorenzen. The Batavia crowd anticipated a strong outing from the two Aaron Division rivals.After a quiet top of the first, the home team jumped out to an early lead in the bottom half. On the first pitch of the inning, Richie Palacios crushed a 382-foot homer to right-center field that cleared the wall for a 1-0 advantage.The next three innings remained quiet, setting the stage for a classic pitching duel. Lorenzen and Wheeler limited the offenses, allowing only three baserunners combined across those frames. The Lookouts managed just a reached-on-error by Jordan Westburg and a walk by Brenton Doyle against Wheeler, who struck out four in a row at one point. Lorenzen permitted only a double by Jose Caballero for the Muckdogs.In the bottom of the fifth, Kyle Schwarber led off by taking Lorenzen deep for his second home run of the series, pushing the lead to 2-0. Caballero followed with a single, stole second, and advanced to third on a throwing error by Jonah Heim attempting to nab him at second base. Jose Ramirez then flew out shallow down the left-field line, but the speedy Caballero tagged up and scored on a close play at the plate, extending the Muckdogs’ lead to 3-0.The Muckdogs added to their advantage in the sixth with a big fly from Grichuk. In the seventh, they tacked on two more runs via a single (Ramirez), a hit-by-pitch (Palacios), a single ( Andres Gimenez), an RBI single (Mike Trout), and a sacrifice fly (Randal Grichuk), making the score 6-0.Wheeler continued his dominance into the seventh, finishing with a final line of 6.1 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 3 walks, and 9 strikeouts. Danny Coulombe entered in relief and retired the next four batters before yielding to Zac Gallen, who recorded the final out of the eighth.Gallen returned for the ninth, inducing a popout from Ketel Marte to the catcher. RIley Greene then found a hole between first and second for a single. Westburg promptly drove Greene in with a double off the wall in left-center field, preventing the shutout. The Lookouts could not sustain the rally, however, and the game ended 6-1.With the victory, the Muckdogs claimed the series 4-1 and advanced to the World Series with a chance to defend their title. The ensuing dogpile on the infield celebrated their return to the Fall Classic. Jubilant fans chanted “Back-to-Back! Back-to-Back!”Manager Mark Landhuis later quipped amid the champagne shower in the locker room: “We battled the Lookouts all season in division play, but we felt that in a short series with ample rest, our best starters would make things very difficult for them. Unlike last year’s champions, where we bashed the ball all over the place, this team has just enough hitting to support the shutdown pitching staff. We hope that trend continues into the World Series.”Congratulations to the Lookouts, who enjoyed an excellent season and will remain a force in the Aaron Division next year. Doyle led the Lookouts offensively in the series with a slash line of .278/.350/.611, including 2 home runs. Jose Quintana delivered a gem in Game #2 (6 innings, 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts), while Aaron Bummer excelled out of the bullpen (4.1 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts). Notably, Lawrence Butler struck out in 9 of his 21 at-bats from the leadoff spot but contributed a home run and 2 runs scored.For the NL champions, platoon contributors made key impacts. Jhonkensy Noel went 2-for-7 with a double, a triple, 2 runs, and 2 RBI. Palacios homered, scored 3 runs, and drove in 2 in 11 at-bats. Schwarber added 2 home runs and 3 RBI. In a supporting role, Kenley Jansen served as a shutdown closer, pitching 4 innings with 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 1 win, and 2 saves. Those 2 saves moved Jansen into the top spot on the league’s all-time NLCS cumulative saves leaderboard.The true star of the series—and NLCS MVP—was Zack Wheeler. He delivered two outstanding starts despite earning only one win. That victory proved critical in preventing a return to Chattanooga, where the Lookouts were notoriously tough to beat. Wheeler’s series line: 11.1 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 17 strikeouts. He allowed just one extra-base hit (a double to Lopez), though he walked 8 batters and hit one with a pitch—the only minor blemishes on otherwise stellar performances.In a quick World Series preview, the California Coolers won their series yesterday, setting up a full rematch of last year’s participants. The Muckdogs will not sweep the series this time. The Coolers are an improved team, while the Muckdogs lack the overwhelming offensive firepower of last season. It should be a very close and competitive series.