Newts Take 2-1 Lead in ORWBL World Series as Series Shifts to Walter Metts Field

The 2024 ORWBL World Series kicked off on Sunday as the American League Champion Mill Pond Pink Pandas traveled to Migley Field to take on the National League Champion New Carlisle Newts. For New Carlisle, it was their 10th time hosting ORWBL World Series home games while the Pink Pandas made the road trip to Migley in their World Series debut.

New Carlisle headed into the World Series just 4 wins away from their 4th ORWBL World Series title while the upstart Pink Pandas are looking to win their 1st title in franchise history. It was a warm day out at the ballpark for this 2024 late summer classic but that didn't stop the fans on both sides from making their way out to Migley. With the wind howling out, we knew we were going to see many Homers flying onto Bray Street.

In Game 1, Mill Pond jumped out front early as they held a 4-2 lead after the 1st inning. The score was tied at 5 after 2 innings. The Newts would then go on to outscore Mill Pond, 13-5 over the final 3+ innings as they ended up winning the series opener by the score of 18-12.

New Carlisle's Tyler Shupert made World Series history in the 3rd inning of Game 1 as he recorded a double to complete hitting for the cycle. Shupert would go on to finish the game by going 7/7 with 4 HR, 4 RBI, and 7 Runs scored as the former AL MVP kickstarted New Carlisle to their Game 1 victory.

Scott Soos and Noah Shail each went 4/7 with 4 Home Runs. 2024 NL Cy Young Award winner Matt Soos picked up the win on the mound as he outdueled Mill Pond's Clayten Strauch. Todd Snyder, Clayten Strauch, and Tommy Sullivan each had 3 Home Runs in the Loss.

In Game 2 we saw each Manager switch to another option on the mound as Mill Pond's Zach Christy was opposed by New Carlisle's Garrett Curless. Mill Pond once again got off to a great start as they held a 7-2 lead after 2 innings of play. Mill Pond would then score 7 runs to grow their lead to 11 runs. The Newts would not go down quietly however as they rallied for 8 runs in the bottom of the 3rd.

New Carlisle continued to chip away as the Pandas held a 15-14 lead heading into the 5th. That's when the Pink Pandas lineup would have their first memorable World Series moment as a team as they hit 4 consecutive Home Runs to fire up the Mill Pond sideline and fanbase which traveled well.

Clayten Strauch re-took the mound during New Carlisle's 8 run 3rd inning and he was able to slow things down and seal the deal on Mill Pond's first World Series win in franchise history. 2024 AL Gold Glove winner Todd Snyder made some remarkable plays in the field while also going 6/7 at the plate with 3 HR, 7 RBI, and 5 Runs.

Aaron Hogan, Clayten Strauch, and Rookie Tommy Sullivan each Homered 3 times while Ryan Ward added two, including one inside the park Home Run early that led to the Mill Pond sideline erupting. New Carlisle's Garrett Curless went 4/7 with 3 HR while Noah Shail, Kody Webb, and Scott Soos each added 2 HR in defeat.

The Mill Pond sideline could not have been more fired up after Clayten Strauch reeled in the 3rd out to seal the deal on the first World Series win in franchise history. Just four years ago this team joined ORWBL and proceeded to go 7-23. Four years later they were celebrating a World Series victory on Migley Field.

After winning a crucial Game 2 to maintain Home Field advantage in the ORWBL World Series, the Mill Pond bats collectively went cold as Zach Christy was the lone bright spot in this one, going 3/5 with 2 HR. The Newts vaunted lineup continued to do their thing in Game 3 as they cruised to a 17-4 victory after jumping out to an 8-0 lead after 1 inning to steal the momentum right back. After struggling a bit in Game 2, Tyler Shupert bounced right back by going 4/6 with 4 HR, 5 RBI, and 4 Runs.

Noah Shail continued to dominate the World Series as he went 4/7 with 3 HR. The Four time Gold Glove winner Kody Webb belted 3 Home Runs as the 5th hitter in the lineup while Garrett Curless went 4/7 with a HR and 4 runs scored. Matt Soos returned to the mound for this one as the 1st time Cy Young winner pitched quite the ballgame as he improves to 2-0 on the mound in this World Series.

The series will now shift to Walter Metts Field in Union Mills as the Mill Pond faithful will get a chance to host their first ever World Series action. It should be quite the scene over in Union Mills as this town has really rallied around this ballclub during this World Series run. The Pink Pandas players had their own float along with the Union Mills BS&B players for the Mill Pond Festival which was held the day before Games 1-3 of the ORWBL World Series.

Their fans traveled very well to Migley and we expect an amazing World Series atmosphere to cap off what will undoubtedly be the greatest World Series matchup in terms of fields. With Mill Pond stealing one game at Migley, the series now shifts to Walter Metts which plays much differently than Migley Field. Mill Pond maintained Home Field advantage by taking one game on the road as they will now look to cap off a storybook season at Walter Metts on Sunday.

The Pink Pandas will look to win their first ORWBL World Series title while the New Carlisle Newts are now just two wins away from tying the Maple City Magic for the most ORWBL World Series titles with four. New Carlisle has now appeared in 10 out of the 17 ORWBL World Series'.

The Newts will look to continue their momentum from Game 3 as the series shifts to Walter Metts Field in Union Mills on Sunday afternoon at 1pm ET where we will crown the 17th ORWBL World Series Champions as the 2024 season comes to its conclusion.