The Matawan Riversharks make their long awaited return to the CJIBL playoffs to face off against the Topeka Cyclones. While this is not a shocking match-up, as both teams are quite fa tasy squads, but it is a minor surprise. With defending champion Indy and talented Harlem in the division, both of these teams had to play well all season ro navigate the mine field to get here, and they did.
Looking at possible starting pitching matchups,at this point, Verlander may not go in the series for Topeka, and Cole, only once. For Matawan, his most important pitcher, Ohtani, looks to go just once. This would take some of the shine off the series. For Matawan, the rest of the rotation has been mediocre at best, and God-awful at worst, and mostly injured in between those performances. If Matawan ends up needing a big performances from any SP who does NOT remember Pearl Harbor fondly, it may be an ugly series , with similar results.
Topeka's rotation has been better than Matawan's, but in similar regards, after Cole and Verlander, inconsistently is king.
Bullpens are the strength of each team. Topeka and Matawan have put together 2 amazing bullpen. Diaz has dominated all season. Soto was a huge pickup for Matawan. And Hader can't possibly be this bad? Hopefully not for Matawan otherwise it .ay go down as the worst trade in CJIBL history. Topeka's bullpen doesn't have the name recognition, but has been equally solid, if not better. It would not surprise anyone if these two teams got multiple saves in each game of the series.

Both teams are missing important pieces, but with trout "back" , Matawan has him and ohtani to match up with Goldschmidt and Arrenado.
The difference will be Topeka's quiet, calm style. Vs Matawan's overthinking of every decision. Topeka has been here many times, Matawan will spend too much time thinking about who to trade, and looking ahead to a potential matchup in the next round. Look for this series to go 5. The season series was an 8 to 6 advantage for Topeka, with Topeka winning early in the season, but Matawan taking late season games. Look for that pendulum to swing back to Topeka.
In the end, Hader blows 2 saves, costing Matawan the series. Topeka takes the series 3 games to 2. In the off season, Hader becomes an outcast in Matawan, and gets traded, to anyone, anywhere, justvawayvfrom the Riversharks. And the GM is cursed for another 6 seasons without a playoff berth.