Welcome to our second semi-final! We will have the championship matchup on Friday! More exclamation points!!!

  • McLain Harris, after an initial tough match, has skated through his bracket to get to this point. Most recently, he defeated Dalton Oates 67.2% to 32.8% over 61 votes. His writeup: “According to ATVL, McLain Harris was the 4th best reliever in the 2019 Valley League season. In 14 games and 21 innings for the Generals, Harris went 1-1, 0.85, with three saves, a 1.190 WHIP, 1.3 BB/9, and 13.3 K/9. Among all relievers that season, he finished fourth in ERA, tenth in WHIP, first in BB/9, and third in K/9. His three walks against 31 strikeouts was particularly impressive. As a junior at Young Harris in 2020, Harris went 1-1, 2.93, with 22 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings while pitching in eight games.”
  • Evan Rathburn has not been seriously challenged in his bracket. He defeated Matthew Smallwood in the bracket final 80% to 20% over 25 votes. His writeup: “Evan Rathburn is here for his knockout regular season, but the Strasburg Express would not have advanced to the 2019 finals if he hadn’t been even better in the playoffs. Rathburn, a 6-foot, 180 pound righthanded junior from Central Missouri, was the winning pitcher in back-to-back semi-final games against the Woodstock River Bandits, when the Express were hurting for arms and didn’t know exactly where their nine innings would come from. (Rathburn’s parents, Edwin and Eileen, were there to cheer him on and nervously stand in the bleachers. Both.) In the regular season, Rathburn went 2-0, 0.67 in 13 1/3 innings, with a 1.278 WHIP, 2.7 BB/9, and 12.2 K/9. He then went on to go 2-0, 0.00 in 6 2/3 innings in the playoffs. At Central Missouri in 2020, Rathburn went a ridiculous 2-0, 0.00 in 8 1/3 innings, with three saves and a 0/11 BB/K ratio before Covid shut things down. He is back there for 2021.”

Vote by going to twitter.com/JohnATVL.

And by the way, if you want to read a ton about either the 2015 or 2019 VBL season, be sure to check out this post on the 2019 Valley League Annual.

Also, please check out and subscribe to the Valley Baseball League youtube channel!

  • Harris
  • Rathburn