There are champions in the British Isles, where Galway stamped a shamrock on the Crown of the Four Flowers; in the American Southwest, where El Paso romped to a sweep over Wichita Falls; and in both halves of Canada, where Pickering stood up for Southern Ontario, and Winnipeg shocked everyone by coming out of a 52-44 record to win the whole thing.

(Oh, and the Senators beat the Wolverines, but who cares about that?)

Mexico has just begun their postseason, already nicknamed la escalera, and Cuban teams have 13 more games to play before their short tourney begins.

But you knew where this was going all along: of the 78 teams in the Liga Nacional Puertorriqueña, 32 have made it to the torneo. One of them has a date with history.

No one in the world wants to read in-depth analyses of 16 different series, so we've asked our resident postseason fanatic Simón Collazo Vera, whose beloved Murciélagos finished two games back of the third invitación and therefore has zero bias here, for a very quick summary of what he thinks will happen in each matchup.

Liga Betances

#1 Guabaleros (107-61) vs. #16 Maratonistas (97-72): With Jack Doyle out for three more weeks, the only other reason to be scared of Coamo is Stewart Haley, and he forgot how to hit a baseball in the last month of the season. Guabaleros.
#2 Cítricos (106-62) vs. #15 Cuervos (99-69): Do you like it when baseball teams score runs? Then you'll want to watch something else. If Las Marías aligns its rotation properly, they'll strangle Patillas. Cítricos.
#3 Ganaderos (105-63) vs. #14 Palomas (100-68): Hatillo might have the most potent offense in Betances—but they never had to face Carlos Rubio or J.T. Rigg, and they might see them up to four times in this series. Palomas.
#4 Bucaneros (104-64) vs. #13 Rebeldes (79-89): Are you serious? One of these teams lost ten more games than it won. The fact it's even here is a travesty. Bucaneros.
#5 Cotorras (104-64) vs. #12 Eléctricos (82-86): You have to score more runs than you allow to win ballgames. If the Eléctricos had figured this out earlier, they'd probably be a higher seed. Cotorras.
#6 Maceteros (102-66) vs. #11 Soles (82-86): I refuse to engage any further with these until at least one of the teams has a winning record. No pick.
#7 Conquistadores (101-67) vs. #10 Titanes (91-77): The real question is how a team with only two qualified hitters and a flyball-happy rotation made it this far. Guaynabo lives on plate discipline and speed. They're going to eat the Titanes' candy. Conquistadores.
#8 Peregrinos (99-69) vs. #9 Pescadores (98-71): Whichever mad scientist designed this mid-off should take a bow. The Peregrinos are smallball pests with an annoyingly effective rotation; the Pescadores leak runs like a sinking battleship. It'll be fun. Pescadores.

Liga Hostos

#1 Ingenieros (139-29) vs. #16 Cariduros (93-76): We all know La Máquina likes to choke away legendary seasons, but it doesn't do it in the first round. Not against a team that bought and traded like hell just to stay above 90 wins. Ingenieros.
#2 Gallitos (112-56) vs. #15 Azucareros (94-74): There will come a time when Yabucoa is a formidable team. It is not this year, especially not when they're facing Efraín Rivera and Esteban Hernández. Gallitos.
#3 Grises (112-56) vs. #14 Vaqueros (99-70): Bayamón is the kind of annoying team we wish on our enemies: league-best defense paired with a good enough offense. They lit up Humacao during the season, and may well do so again. Vaqueros.
#4 Santos (110-58) vs. #13 Amigos (79-89): How the season record is tied between these two is incomprehensible to me. Santos.
#5 Poetas (100-69) vs. #12 Taínos (81-87): Two different Poetas pitchers have 0.00 ERAs against the Gurabo offense. Oh, yeah, and also they have an actual winning record. Poetas.
#6 Tortugas (99-69) vs. #11 Próceres (86-82): Remarkably even match, and I'd prefer not to bet on the team that edged out the biggest payroll in the LNP, but Cruz and Johnstone locked down the Próceres during the season. Tortugas.
#7 Reyes (93-75) vs. #10 Polluelos (87-81): Did you know neither of these teams was any good at home this year? The question here is whether the Reyes can keep up in a slugging contest. My guess is no. Polluelos.
#8 Macabeos (90-78) vs. #9 Marineros (88-80): Every other team's hopes and prayers have been answered: neither of them drew these two, both known as some of the peskiest postseason opponents in LNP history. Who cares who wins? It's the next round that matters for these two. No pick.

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