The Prague Checkmates hosting the Caracas Hitmen. Vitaya Grichson got things going with 248 for Caracas. Pancho Barrios grabbed 328 for Prague against his home country's team after getting jammed with a bowled ball near the hands. Barasa Contee blasted 454 for the Hitman in response. Lucila Zavala couldn't keep pace with only 218 for the Checkmates against his native country's team. Noppadon Gruemor chipped 289 for Caracas, keeping them in a strong position. Hyunjae Kwak answered directly for Prague, slapping 295 to keep the deficit even. Trevor Watson stepped up for the Hitmen with 543, extending the lead to a comfortable position. Corentin Aerts kept the Checkmates alive with 679, making it a very close game late. Maynard Cabagnot scored 276 to pull Caracas ahead a little more. Darryl Estrada managed 180 for Prague, putting them at a deficit. Bojing Luo got stymied by a bad bounce in his turn, scoring 45 points to give the Hitmen a vulnerable final of 1855. Rayan Carranza had 192 for the Checkmates, and it worked for a win with 1892 in the surprisingly tight game. Prague advances to 5-6 while Caracas falls to 3-8 rather unfortunately.
Next up, the Seoul Crushers welcome the Toronto Mounties. Cyril Hendrickx had a somewhat weak 168 for Toronto to begin. Natal Badillo was locked in for Seoul, blasting 711 to give them a massive lead early. Curro Garza cobbled together 280 for the Mounties. Gwandoya Makeba got turned around to produce 176 for the Crushers. Axel Maes fired with 352 for Toronto, gradually pulling them closer in the game. Leandro Gamboa wiped it all out for Seoul, scoring 391 to maintain the lead. Tabor Laureano continued to be the only hitch in the Mounties' giddy-up, hitting a meager 80 points. Max Jennings grabbed 249 to add onto the Crushers lead. Jax Puente scored 326 for Toronto, a solid score but not enough to wipe out the deficit. Frank Schmidt batted 119 for Seoul, restoring some of the lead. Antoine Hendrickx forced a response from the hosts, hitting 536 for the Mounties to give them a final of 1742. Zdenko Jansky's 33 points couldn't provide it, leaving the Crushers with a devastating loss at 1679 total. Toronto is now 10-1 while Seoul drops to 3-8.
The last league game of the week has the Toronto Mounties heading home to bring in the Amsterdam Hotstove. Jerry Burke had only 41 for Amsterdam, putting them in trouble early. Cyril Hendrickx produced 222 for Toronto. Yaozu Miao knocked 209 for the Hotstove, pulling them closer. Curro Garza mishit a ball to end up with 162 for the Mounties, keeping the game relatively close. Carlos Barajas messed up with a measly 16 for Amsterdam. Axel Maes slugged 679 to put Toronto definitively in charge of the game. Veto Casas had just 60 for the Hotstove, putting them in even more danger. Tabor Laureano continued to disappoint for the Mounties, hitting just 73 this game. Andrew Reynolds got stuck at 57 for the perpetually sad Amsterdam side. Jax Puente had a rare misfire with only 36 for Toronto. Manolito Avalos picked up a lot of slack for the Hotstove, scoring 663 (nearly double the rest of the team combined), putting them at 1046 in the loss. Antoine Hendrickx pulled in 281 for the Mounties, putting them at 1453 in the win. Toronto is now 11-1 while Amsterdam falls to 2-12 as the season reaches halfway.
Here are your All-Star team leaders: Lucio Adame (562, Lions), Jax Puente (518, Mounties), Gerben Bovelt (505, Pacmen), Antoine Hendrickx (491, Mounties), Darryl Estrada (457, Checkmates), Cisco Solorio (450, Rebels), Louvel Lefevre (447, Rebels), Gilbert Berry (445, Sixes). The top six players will compose the All-Star team to compete against the UPCL Inland Southwest in the final Showcase. The standings show...
| Team | Wins | Losses | Win % |
| Toronto Mounties | 11 | 1 | 0.917 |
| American Rebels | 8 | 1 | 0.889 |
| Bangkok Sixes | 8 | 3 | 0.727 |
| Melbourne Renegades | 10 | 4 | 0.714 |
| Johannesburg Lions | 6 | 6 | 0.500 |
| Manila Pacmen | 5 | 5 | 0.500 |
| Madrid Toros | 7 | 8 | 0.467 |
| Guatemala Conquistadors | 5 | 6 | 0.455 |
| Prague Checkmates | 5 | 6 | 0.455 |
| Brussels Chocolatiers | 5 | 10 | 0.333 |
| Caracas Hitmen | 3 | 8 | 0.273 |
| Seoul Crushers | 3 | 8 | 0.273 |
| Amsterdam Hotstove | 2 | 12 | 0.143 |
Now, the first Showcase has the Caracas Hitmen hosting the Urban Core South (UCS). Sprinkles began for UCS with 260, a solid showing after an impressive first Showcase. The Capital City Sharpshooters are leaning toward keeping their longtime backup scorer, but they are not yet certain with that. Vitaya Grichson mistimed his swing, ending up with 112 for Caracas. Shaggy added 263 for UCS, and much like Sprinkles, she has shown well in these games against SCL teams. Shaggy is uncertain to return to the Southridge Defenders, and she did not do much in pool to encourage the team to bring her back. This is another close decision for the team. Barasa Contee ripped 553 to give the Hitmen a lead in the game. Alyssa, currently of the Westside Rockers, just sealed her fate to be sent to the draft with a weak 112 for UCS. Noppadon Gruemor slapped 280 for Caracas, adding onto their lead. Wild Thing had only 75 for UCS, splitting his Showcases with one good and one bad. The Swordpoint Blades are not thrilled with their first post-Emily season, and big changes are expected for the team, with Wild Thing likely to be on the way out, likely alongside Oreo. Trevor Watson batted 188 for the Hitmen, keeping them in control. Whiskers also hit 75 for UCS, but her pool performance has the Infinity City Torpedoes ready to look the other way for cricket on the high-potential Whiskers, as they expect to retain her for next season. Maynard Cabagnot swung 240 for Caracas, extending the lead a little again. Kelly's 112 for UCS sealed their loss at 897. She struggled in pool as well, and one good Showcase is not going to be enough to change the Westside Rockers' minds, as she is destined to be cut from the team. Bojing Luo chipped 144 for the Hitmen to give them 1518 in the win. This is just the third loss in eleven games for a UPCL side.
The other Showcase has the Bangkok Sixes hosting the Urban Core North (UCN). Kiwi tripped up with only 49 for UCN. As we know, Kiwi is opting out of extending her stay with the Modernistic Union, although she failed to make a huge impression in these Showcases. Firdoze Uns had just 80 points for Bangkok, missing a chance to set the tone. The enigmatic Union player Chimpy supplied 105 for UCN in this game. It appears Modernistic will be doing at least a half-rebuild, as they have tired of Chimpy's routine. Gilbert Berry had 113 in the low scoring game to keep the Sixes in the lead. Lionel put up a massive 639 for UCN, attracting the attention of the Commerce Tradewinds. It is unclear what Lionel's future holds, but he made a good going-away statement here that might be enough for him to stay on the right side of a borderline choice. Aleix Nieto stumbled to 25 points for Bangkok. Jennifer tallied only 146 for UCN in this game, and between being the weak link for the Whitewater Shores and the biggest part of their pool problems, it's very likely the team will try a fourth player in their troublesome roster spot. Zuri Okafor swatted 162 for the Sixes, doing little to show that the team takes this game seriously. Chicky Phil hit a very average 304 for UCN. The Westside Rockers face three player decisions, and Chicky Phil is the most likely to stay on the team, as they liked his deep run in pool and want to see what he can do without the split-bid sideshow the team suffered through. Rodas Nunez got cut down at 80 points for the struggling Bangkok. Midnight's 161 put UCN at 1404 in their final. The Tradewinds also face a decision on Midnight, but it is unclear what direction they are going for all of their unprotected players, as the team tends to stay mum on personnel-related matters. Luis Godinez scored 388 to give the Sixes a final of 848 in the loss.
Just one more week of Showcase games. Depending on how cue assignments go, Week 7 may start tonight, but definitely no later than tomorrow. The league will change its programming schedule after the Showcases fade away, with a move to nights far more likely since pool will reach a slower pace during the postseason and beginnings of the next tournament year. Remember, Quarterfinals wrap up today in the afternoon.
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