Published in the Times-Courier Online on behalf of Hesperida Sports Network
ANMI: This evening, Saerom Anmi defeated Cheonpung Sanri 6-5 in front of home fans to win the Astral Cup four games to one. The Rockets are lifting their 2nd Astral Cup in 4 years, having last won in 2020. This was Sanri’s first Astral Cup finals appearance since 1992 in a surprise appearance, and after tonight’s loss they will remain the oldest Haesanite baseball team that has not won an Astral Cup.
Anmi was a force throughout this playoffs, as they went 9-2 across the playoffs to secure the club’s fifth title (V5). After a scare where they dropped a game early to the Suri Ironclads of Anfa, they rebounded and won the next two games, and followed that up with a dominant sweep of the HS Light in the Conference Finals to secure their third Astral Cup Finals appearance in six years. After dropping the first game at home, Anmi showed poise and let their bats carry them, scoring 37 runs over the next four games to win the Cup.
Sanri was the lowest ranked team in the playoffs, having scraped by to win their division with a record barely over .500. Despite that, they swept the highly favored Seollim Sol 2-0 on the road in the Conference Semi-Final, and bested the second-seed SBS Jeonyu Towers 3-1 to make it to the Astral Cup Finals. Their resilience and strong batting ability will give them hope to use this deep playoff run to build in future seasons.
The Jeongseon Jade and Varenne Vintners will be relegated to the Second League next year. They will be replaced by the Sarena Storm and the Jinyun Conductors.
With the conclusion of this exciting Haesanite National League Season, the nation looks forward to hosting the 2024 IDU Baseball Classic before the start of next season.
