Hot Corners: Beginning of a Dynasty

by PRAKNASTY

After being unceremoniously fired from the Blowfish for reasons out of his control, Buck Wing was approached by the commissioner of the league to lead a new expansion team as it's manager. Making his choice, Buck must now take a team full of old and new players to the Promised Land and keep them from killing one another. Can he do it? Tune in to find out! #TheNastyOne

19. Conference Semis vs Wild Pigs (Year 2)

AN: FINALLY THE NAST ONE HAS COME BACK TO FANFICTION!

Welcome back everyone to the next chapter of the Hot Corners Dynasty here on the site as we begin the playoffs in year two. The team finished with a 10 – 6 record which was good enough to win the division and be the number one seed. This set up a rematch of last year's playoff series against the Wild Pigs who upset us in year one. Can the team get the revenge they've been waiting for since the end of last year, or will they falter once again? Let's find out!

Chapter 19: Conference Semis vs. Wild Pigs (Year 2)

== Game 1 vs. Wild Pigs ==

Five days after the conclusion of the regular season, the team was back at it as they faced off against their division rivals for the second consecutive year in the first round of the playoffs. Kaiser was given the ball in game one to try and get the club out to a series lead as he drew their ace Myles Shavewell. Buck made some lineup changes after the additions made off the free agent wire: Buck gave McClure the start at second base as Jumps would transition into the DH role, Gutterson would start at third base over Lee, and Arms would get the start in RF as Wilson would act as the fourth outfielder off the bench after the release of LeBoink.

== Top of the 4th ==

Through the first three innings, both pitchers had the offenses stifled. Kaiser had only surrendered four hits, while Shavewell had only given up two plus one walk. The first two batters of the inning, 1B Spanky Wagnerd and RF Flash Evans, both reached base thanks to singles into center field. That brought C Earnie Blings to the plate and the lefty singled into the right center gap as both runners came flying around to score and made it a 2 – 0 game. Three batters later, Moon hit a slicer into the left field corner that ended up being a double as Blings came into score and made it a 3 – 0 game.

== Bottom of the 4th ==

Sportswood led off the inning with a flyout, but Oliver then singled into right field to start the momentum properly. Jumps then doubled into the right center gap to put two runners in scoring position for the newly acquired Gutterson. Keg came through for his club with a sacrifice fly to right as Oliver trotted home easily for the first run of the day (3 – 1). James then singled into center as Jumps came into score from second and made it a 3 – 2 game.

== Bottom of the 6th ==

Both pitchers pitched a scoreless fifth inning, as Kaiser came out and put up another zero in the top half of the sixth. Shavewell tried to duplicate Kaiser, but surrendered a double to Sportswood off the left center field wall. Three batters later, Gutterson roped a single to center as Sportswood came into score and tie the game up at 3 all.

== Bottom of the 7th ==

Kaiser through another scoreless frame as Shavewell came back out for the seventh looking to keep the game tied. He gave up a leadoff single, but then got Pickle to ground to second base. It was an easy flip to second for the first out, but trouble struck as Roper was throwing to first. He rushed his throw and it went in the dirt as Wagnerd couldn't pick it. The ball bounced to the wall in foul territory as Pickle raced to second base and slid in under the throw from Wagnerd. That brought the rookie Yu to the plate and he delivered the biggest hit of his young career with a single to right as Pickle came into score and made it a 4 – 3 game.

== Bottom of the 8th ==

Kaiser threw another scoreless inning, as the Wild Pigs manager went to his bullpen at the start of the eighth. Lefty Alana Lantana came out to relieve Shavewell after a solid seven innings of work. Sportswood kicked off the inning with a single to center, Oliver followed that up with a double off the top of the left center wall as Sportswood came all the way around to score when the ball bounced away from the fielders as the score became 5 – 3. Three batters later, James singled up the middle with one out as Oliver jogged in from third base to make it a 6 – 3 game. Two batters later, Pickle beat out a grounder to second with two outs which allowed Jumps to score from third and made it a 7 – 3 game. Kaiser then came out and pitched a three up, three down inning for the complete game victory as the Hot Corners took game one in the best of three series.

== End of Game 1 Summary ==

Hot Corners 7 – Wild Pigs 3

WP: Kaiser (1 – 0) LP: Shavewell (0 – 1) POTG: Oliver (3 – 4, 2B, RBI, 2R)

In the other playoff series, the Sirloins crushed the Moose in game one by a score of 14 – 3, but the Moose rebounded in game two with a ten inning victory of 4 – 3. The Nemesis took game one of their series against the Grapplers in dominant fashion with a 14 – 0 scoreline. The Buzzards won a close contest in their first game over the Jacks with a score of 6 – 5.

== Game 2 Wild Pigs ==

The series shifted to Founder's Field the following afternoon, as the rookie southpaw Connor Frazier Jr. got the start versus righty Durbin Holmes who won the deciding game three in the year one playoffs. The lineup was untouched by Buck after it delivered seven runs against a normally dominant Wild Pigs pitching rotation.

== Top of the 1st ==

The first salvo was fired in the first inning, as Gutterson continued his hot hitting in the postseason with a two out single into the left center gap which scored McClure from second base for a 1 – 0 lead.

== Bottom of the 1st ==

The Wild Pigs answered back the bottom half when Evans cranked a one out bomb into right center field over the concession stand to score two and gave the Wild Pigs a 2 – 1 lead on his first homer of the postseason.

== Bottom of the 3rd ==

Two innings later, Frazier loaded up the bases on hits with only one out then surrendered a single to the DH Wagnerd as another runner scored making it a 3 – 1 lead for the Wild Pigs. Frazier then tight-roped out of danger to keep the game from getting out of hand early.

== Top of the 7th ==

The score would remain unchanged into the seventh as both pitchers were dealing. Frazier had surrendered nine hits and a walk through his six innings of work, while Holmes had only surrendered five hits. He retired the leadoff batter, but then surrendered a single back up the middle to the speedy James. That brought Big Country to the plate as he took a called strike. The next pitch was a cement mixer slider that hung in the middle of the strikezone.

THWACK!

Big Country absolutely unloaded on it and deposited it over the Hot Corners bullpen in right center field. This was the first homer of the postseason for Big Country as it tied the game back up at 3 all.

== Bottom of the 7th ==

Righty Amazo Haze entered the game for his first appearance of the postseason as he relieved Frazier Jr. at the start of the inning. He proceeded to throw two scoreless innings to match Holmes.

== Bottom of the 9th ==

Holmes pitched another scoreless inning as he went the distance and was going to be exiting the game if they went into extra innings. Haze retired the first two batters with ease, but ran into some issues with Evans. Evans worked the count full, before turning on the middle inside fastball from Haze.

CRACK!

That ball was gone the second he made contact with it, as the crowd exploded with joy. The walk-off homer was the decider as the Wild Pigs stayed alive in the series thanks to Evans' second homer of the game. (4 – 3)

== End of Game 2 Summary ==

Wild Pigs 4 – Hot Corners 3

WP: Holmes (1 – 0) LP: Haze (0 – 1) POTG: Evans (2 – 4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R)

In the other playoff series, the Grapplers rebounded against the Nemesis to win game two by a score of 9 – 7 which forced game three, and the Buzzards won game two of their series 5 – 4 to sweep the Jacks out of the playoffs. The Moose won the series deciding game against the Sirloins by a final score of 11 – 1, which would set up another division clash for the winner of the game three.

== Game 3 vs. Wild Pigs ==

It was a Sunday night, prime time game as Pres drew former Sand Cats pitcher, righty Kerwin Arches in the deciding matchup of this postseason series. The only change made by Buck in the lineup was to sub in C Terra Lionerre to give Oliver some rest.

== Top of the 1st ==

Pres finished his warm up tosses and stared in to face the leadoff batter in the Wild Pigs' lineup, 2B Elvis Stanley. The switch hitter dug into the left handed batter's box as he looked for a pitch to hit.

CRACK!

He went after the first pitch and drove it to deep left field as Big Country could only turn around and watch as it sailed into the first deck of seats. The leadoff homer was his first of the postseason and got the scoring started for the Wild Pigs as they lead 1 – 0. LF Nance Tools was the next batter and the second year batter followed Stanley's approach.

CRACK!

She too went after the first pitch as her ball sailed the opposite way to left field. Big Country didn't even bother to move as he turned and watched it land a few seats to the right of Stanley's home run ball. It was her first of the postseason as well, as the back-to-back homers made it a 2 – 0 score. Pres rallied back though as he managed to not allow anymore runs to come around and score.

== Bottom of the 1st ==

The team was looking to rally behind Pres as they didn't want a repeat of last year's series. McClure lead off the game by drawing a six pitch walk from Arches he then advanced to second on a base hit back up the middle by Sportswood. That brought up C Terra Lionerre who was looking to show that her signing before the playoffs was a good idea. She ended up poking a single to the right center gap as McClure came around to score, and the throw to the plate allowed Sportswood to reach third as it became a 2 – 1 game. Jumps was the next batter, and the DH roped a double into the right center gap as it rolled to the wall. Sportswood and Lionerre both came around to score as the Hot Corners took the lead 3 – 2.

After two fly ball outs from Gutterson and James, Big Country was the next batter as he smacked a single back up the middle which scored Jumps from second and made it 4 – 2. Pickle came up and singled back up the middle to put two on with two outs for Yu. The rookie was feeling the pressure a little bit as he fell behind quickly in the count 0 – 2. He stepped out and took a breath while gazing into the dugout and seeing Buck motioning to him that it was a breaking ball coming. Yu nodded and dug back in as he stared Arches down as he delivered the next pitch.

THWACK!

The crowd exploded with joy as the ball carried into the Wild Pigs' bullpen in left center field. Yu jumped up and down as he rounded the bases as it was his first homer of the postseason and he couldn't contain the joy that he'd built up in the moment. The three run bomb extended the lead to 7 – 2 as the offense had batted around in the first inning. McClure came up and singled to right to keep the inning going for Sportswood. The hottest hitter on the planet coming into the postseason reminded everyone of that status as he got a hanging first pitch curveball.

THWACK!

The ball screamed into the grounds crew area in right center field just over the field's tarp as the party continued in the stands as the team now led 9 – 2 on Sportswood's first homer of the postseason.

== Bottom of the 2nd ==

Arches got out of the inning after the second homer, and then surprisingly came back out for the second as the Wild Pigs' manager wasn't quite willing to sacrifice his bullpen just yet. Jumps led off the inning with a single into center before stealing second base. Three batters later, Big Country came up with two outs as he looked to drive in the run. The first pitch was high and out of the zone, but the second one was a hanger at the bottom middle part of the zone.

THWACK!

Big Country turned on the pitch and yanked it down the right field as it stayed fair and landed in the right field seats for the third homer of the game for the Hot Corners' offense. Big Country's second homer of the postseason made it an 11 – 2 game as the crowd was becoming more and more ecstatic at the onslaught of runs.

== Top of the 3rd ==

Wagnerd led off the inning against Pres by crushing a high and inside Cutter to the batter's eye in center as he shrunk the gap a little bit on his first postseason homer (11 – 3).

== Bottom of the 4th ==

The Hot Corners lineup responded in the fourth as they loaded up the bases on singles by Lionerre, Gutterson, and James. Big Country came up, licked his lips at the scoring opportunity, and broke the game open even more. He roped a ball into the right center gap as it rolled all the way to the wall. He slid into second with a bases clearing double, as all three base runners scored to make it a 14 – 3 game. This would finally be the end of Arches' day as Lantana (27.00 ERA, 5.00 WHIP) relieved him from the bullpen.

== Top of the 5th ==

Pres ran into some more trouble in the fifth as he gave up a double to Moon to lead off the inning, before Stanley singled. He then got Tools to ground into a 4 – 6 fielder's choice with one out as Moon scored to make it a 14 – 4 game. DH Randy Mann then came up and belted a Cutter into the right field seats as they started clawing back into the game. The homer was Mann's first of the postseason as he made it a 14 – 6 game. Pres calmed down though and got through the rest of the inning scoreless.

== Top of the 6th ==

Rookie southpaw Kyson Manning came into the game to make his postseason debut as the rookie was stoked to make his debut in such an important game. He proceeded to pitch two scoreless innings as the game remained at 14 – 6.

== Top of the 8th ==

Manning ran into some trouble in the eighth as he was beginning to tire out. He retired the leadoff hitter, but then surrendered singles to SS Snag Roper, and C Russ Mata. 3B Ralph Blue walked up and jumped on the first pitch curveball as he pulled it into the left field seats for his first homer of the playoffs. The three run bomb made it a 14 – 9 game and forced Buck to bring in lefty Joseph Broseph to get the last five outs of the game. Broseph retired the next two batters to get them out of this inning.

== Bottom of the 8th ==

Lionerre came up to bat against Lantana after Sportswood singled to lead the inning off, she took a called strike on the first pitch slider. The next pitch was a cutter that was supposed to break to the outside of the zone, but hung in the middle of the plate.

THWACK!

Lionerre pulled the ball into the grounds crew area as her first homer of the game scored two and made it a 16 – 9 game. Jumps followed her up by singling to right as that brought Gutterson up to bat. The former Moose and Blowfish player worked a 2 – 1count before turning on an inside cutter from Lantana.

THWACK!

The ball zoomed out to the left center seats as he circled the bases pounding his beer gut as the park celebrated the almost win. The homer was his first of the postseason, and it made the score 18 – 9. Righty Kendra Kerr entered the game from the bullpen and retired the next three batters to end the inning. Broseph went back out and threw a three up, three down inning as the team mobbed him on the mound and celebrated their first playoff series victory with unsuppressed jubilation. Buck smiled at the happenings, as he shook hands with Tim in the dugout and the two coaches then proceeded to walk down into the clubhouse and start planning strategies for their upcoming showdown with the Moose.

== End of Game 3 Summary ==

Hot Corners 18 – Wild Pigs 9

WP: Pres (1 – 0) LP: Arches (0 – 1) POTG: Big Country (3 – 5, HR, 2B, 6 RBI, 2 R)

The Nemesis defeated the Grapplers in game three by a score of 9 – 5 as they moved on to the next round and would face their rivals, the Buzzards. Both conference finals' series were set as both would feature division rivals, and both would also feature a #1 seed taking on the #3 seed. Who would move on to win the championship? Only time would tell.

AN: And that's a wrap on this chapter, the Hot Corners complete their quest for revenge as they win in three to advance to the conference finals against the Moose. Will they defeat another of their rivals en route to a championship series appearance? Tune in next time to find out! Later!

-PRAK #TheNastyOne