German playoffs set
With the victory of the Dohren Wild Farmers over the Cologne Cardinals in the very last game of the regular competition, the German playoff landscape is set.
In the past weekend, the Wild Farmers needed to play three more games. Two in Cologne vs the Cardinals and one home vs the same team. The two games in Cologne had to be played because they were rained out earlier in the season. The game in Dohren continued from 
the sixth inning as earlier this year the game was called due to darkness.
Of the three games, the Wild Farmers only needed to win one to clinch a playoff spot as they were in a tight race with the Hamburg Stealers.
The first two games in Cologne didn’t quite go as the Wild Farmers wanted them to go. The first game was a close affair that Dohren lost 5-4 after their rally in the ninth fell one run short. The second game was a nightmare as the Wild Farmers were totally outhit and outscored 13-1. By the time, the Wild Farmers put their sole run on the board, the team was trailing 5-0 already. And in the bottom of that inning, the Cardinals scored five more runs.
But on Sunday, the Wild Farmers eventually managed to clinch the playoff ticket. The game went on in the sixth inning with the Wild Farmers leading 5-1. Pitcher J.P. Stevenson limited the Cardinals to one hit in the remaining four innings. The four runs the Wild Farmers scored in the eighth led to a final score of 9-1.
With this win , Dohren clinched the final playoff spot as it finished in fourth place in the 1. Bundesliga Nord. As a result, the team will play the nr. 1 of the South divsion, Mainz Athletics in a best-of-five series. This will be a daunting task as in the past ten years, the South division has proved to be the strongest of the two divsions most of the time. Only in 2014 and 2018 a team from the North Division won the German championship.
The other best-of-five matchups will be:
Mannheim Tornados vs Solingen Alligators
Regensburg Legionäre vs Bonn Capitals
Untouchables Paderborn vs Heidenheim Heideköpfe