Athletics take home MABL Championship title

For the second straight year, the Cambridge Spinners and Waltham Athletics (A's) faced off in the best-of-five MABL Championship Series.

Last year, it was the Spinners taking home the crown, defeating the A's three games to one and earning back-to-back MABL 18+ titles.

This year, the A's would flip the script on the Spinners, defeating the defending champions in four games and spoiling their chance at a 3-peat.

The A's, led by Manager of the Year Kyle Breidenstine, finished the regular season in 3rd place with a record of 14-10. The pitching staff produced a 2.41 team ERA and allowed just 77 runs on the regular season.

The Spinners finished the 2017 regular season with a franchise-best record of 22-2, earning the No. 1 seed and a first round bye in the postseason for the fourth straight year.

The Spinners' pitching staff produced a league-best 1.43 team ERA and also led the league in runs allowed, giving up just 46 runs on the regular season.

They were backed by the Cy Young Award winner Luc Kocher, who went 10-0 on the hill and set the single-season record in wins with those 10 victories.

The Spinners' offense, led by MVP-candidate Mike Tufo and Rookie of the Year Ryan Feeney, was equally impressive, finishing with a league-best .313 batting average.

The 2017 champion A's did not have an easy road to the title, as they had to grind past both the Cutters and the No. 2-seeded Giants, before eventually defeating the top-seeded Spinners in the Finals.

Congratulations to the Waltham Athletics on winning the 2017 MABL 18+ Championship and their second title in the last four years. Hats off to the runner-up Cambridge Spinners on a great season and their third straight trip to the Finals.