At least half-dozen teams still duking it out

With just a dozen or so games remaining in the 2016 season, little about the postseason has been mathematically decided, with some races even creeping closer.

Race for 20 wins down to the wire

Dallas Keuchel was denied in his bid to become DMBL's first 20-game winner this season. The left-hander had won six straight starts before Hopatcong's 4-2 win over Arkansas on Saturday.

Cespedes, Stanton race for the Mitchell

Allentown slugger Giancarlo Stanton and Hopatcong's Yoenis Cespedes have done their best the past week to make the Kevin Mitchell Award a two-man race in the home stretch of the season.

Sano swings for the fences

Hillsborough rookie Miguel Sano is having a sensational season and has an outside chance at matching a DMBL record, if not put himself in historic if dubious company.

Pearce nabs MVP as Golden Falcons take title

The 5th-seeded Arkansas Falcons went through a gauntlet of the 4th-seeded Poovey Farms Dairy Cows in 4 games, an epic 7-game series versus the top-seeded Tucson Scorpions, and finally knocked off the No. 2 seed and defending champion San Francisco Experience in five games to claim the 2015 DMBL title.

Arkansas did it behind it's killer P's lineup: Steve Pearce, Jhonnny Peralta, Buster Posey and Martin Prado. And don't forget Anthony Rizzo, along with some great pitching from Alex Wood, Marcus Stroman and a solid bullpen.

Pearce, who started all 16 games in the postseason, led all players in hits with 18 (along with teammate Lorenzo Cain), slashing .310/.412/.552, with a team-high 3 home runs, with 7 RBIs. Leonys Martin and Wood, both picked up from Philly at the trade deadline, also got consideration for postseason MVP honors. Arkansas gave up a 9th rounder for Martin and a 2nd and a 6th for Wood.

Martin only started 10 games in the postseason, including just one in the finals, but led the Falcons with 11 RBIs. He came up with 3 hits and 5 RBIs in a decisive Game 7 win over Tucson in the semi-finals. In a critical Game 3 against San Francisco, Martin propelled the Falcons to a 6-5 with 3 RBIs on 3 hits.

Wood tossed 7 shutout innings in the championship-clinching Game 5 and went 8 2/3 shutout innings in a vital Game 5 win in the semi-finals versus Tucson. Despite leading the league in postseason walks with 12 -- thanks to a 6-walk effort in Game 1 of the finals -- Wood was the Falcons' best pitcher. He was 2-1 with a league-high 27.2 innings, to go with 24 strikeouts (second only to Chris Sale's 32) and 1.30 ERA.

In the finals, Pearce led the Falcons with 8 hits and 17 total bases, slashing .444/.565/.944. Peralta, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 draft after Zach Duke, had a team-high 6 runs and 3 doubles, slashing .368/.455/.842, and right behind Pearce with 16 total bases in the five games during the finals. Overall, Arkansas hit .273 in the final, .337 on-base and slugged .483. They out-homered San Francisco 9 to 4.

The at-times dominant Sale was handled by the Arkansas lineup. San Francisco's ace made two starts in the finals, lasting only 10 2/3 innings, with a 5.89 ERA and 1.96 WHIP. The Experience saw some of their biggest hitters tamed in the finals, getting most of their offense from an unlikely source in platoon catcher Renee Rivera, who had 5 of San Francisco's 15 RBIs. Thanks to two big swings, he led the team in hits, batting, slugging, on-base, total bases and RBIs. Victor Martinez was just 3-for-21, the only other San Francisco regular to homer, with a 9th inning solo shot in Game 4. The team hit just .222, with an on-base of .287 and slugged a meager .323 in the finals.

It was Rivera's eighth-inning grand slam in Game 5 that proved to be San Fran's last gasp, cutting the Falcons lead to 5-4 at the time. Arkansas would add an insurance run in the 9th before finishing off the Experience for good.

San Francisco's Adam LaRoche led all batters in RBIs in the postseason with 12, and a league-high four home runs, followed by Martin with 11.

It's the 6th DMBL title in franchise history for Arkansas. The Golden Falcons are the first wild card team to advance to the series since Newark in 2010 and the first wild card to win the title since Marietta in 2009. It's also the second year in a row that the defending champion lost in the finals (San Francisco knocked off Hoboken in 6 games in the 2014 series).

Dunn finishes career on walk-off HR

Adam Dunn finished a productive if not storied DMBL career in stunning fashion, hitting a walk-off home run off Tom Koehler in the bottom of the ninth to give Hopatcong a 5-4 win over Philly in the 2015 regular season finale. It's one of the more memorable finishes to a career since Mike Mussina tossed a complete game in his final start to push Marietta past Newark in Game 7 of the 2009 DMBL World Series.

Dunn, who last year announced this would be his final season, was signed twice by the Floating Fish this season, both times to fill in at first base for an injured Joey Votto. In 40 games, he batted just .140/.225/.322, but smacked 6 home runs.

It wasn't a great final season but it was enough to get Dunn past Todd Helton on the all-time home run list. He finished just one home run short of becoming the 27th player to reach 300 for his career. Dunn also finishes with 1,615 career strikeouts, 11th-most in DMBL history, trailing Bobby Abreu (1,642) and just ahead of Barry Bonds (1,607).

It's as good a time as any for a career retrospective of The Big Donkey, who was dealt five times and played for nine teams during his 13 seasons.

The giant, left-handed slugger was drafted by the now-defunct Phoenix Dragons as an ineligible prospect in the 4th round of the 2002 draft. After a middling 2003 season for Phoenix, Dunn was let go but picked up by Hillsborough in the 2nd round of the 2004 draft.

It wasn't until 2005 when he really made his mark, knocking 55 home runs and 150 RBIs and following up with 46 dingers and 127 RBIs in 2006 -- the two highest marks of his career. He also played in 162 and 163 games, respectively, those two seasons. Surprisingly, Dunn would never reach 100 RBIs again but he did keep on slugging.

Hillsborough sent him to Arkansas in a blockbuster deal during the 2008 offseason. The Hit Men sent Dunn with Alex Rodriguez, Jeremy Bonderman, Ian Snell and Jonathan Broxton to Arkansas for Dan Haren, Nick Markakis, and four draft picks: a 7th in 2008, 4th and 7th in 2009, and a 5th in 2010.

Dunn never completed the 2008 season in Arkansas, slugging .529 in 92 games but batting just .220. The Golden Falcons shipped him to Philly at the deadline for Jonathan Sanchez and a 2010 3rd rounder. He didn't end up spending much time in Philly either. That offseason, the End Zone Animals traded Dunn to Hoboken, along with a 9th rounder in 2009 and a 6th in 2011, in exchange for Scott Kazmir.

Dunn enjoyed two consistent seasons in Hoboken, with 37 and 35 homers and 79 and 80 RBIs, respectively, but again ended up going elsewhere. The Cutters sent him and Hillsborough's 5th round pick in 2011 to Amityville for Matt Cain and a 2012 6th rounder.

Only months later, there would be one more trade in the cards for Dunn before spending his final seasons bouncing around as free agent/draftee. Blue Ridge acquired him from Amityville with a 12th rounder in 2012 for Cole Hamels and a 2012 4th rounder.

In all, Dunn was traded five times in deals that totaled 10 players and 11 draft picks (6 coming back, 5 going with him).

Alvarez misses on 20th win in season finale

Henderson Alvarez missed out on being a 20-game winner as San Francisco succumbed to Blue Ridge, 9-2, in the 2015 regular season finale. He was roughed up for 7 hits and 7 runs in 6 2/3 innings and paid the price for 5 walks.

Despite a 3.52 ERA (4th best on the team), Alvarez still led the league with 19 wins -- thanks to league-high run support of 5.8 runs/game -- one better than Vancouver's Johnny Cueto (18-9). He would have been the DMBL's first 20-game winner since Hoboken's Clayton Kershaw last season.

The Experience is the third team for Alvarez in barely a year. He was acquired in the offseason from Sardine City, along with a 2015 5th rounder, in exchange for a 1st round pick in 2016. He spent a brief time as a Straphanger, coming over from Hoboken in a 2014 deadline deal for relievers Luke Hochevar, Caleb Thielbar and a 2015 13th rounder.

The 25-year-old Venezuelan entered the season with a 22-22 record in two DMBL seasons, mainly the result of an impressive rookie year in 2012 with Vancouver. He went 15-14 in a career-high 225 innings, with a 4.24 ERA and a career-best 1.12 WHIP.