What Could Have Been
What would have happened had Long Beach closed the half strong with two victories over the Flyers while the Outlaws faltered with a pair of losses against Reno? We might never know for sure, but there seemed to be two underlying versions of the system the GBL would have used had the Outlaws and Armada both finished 24-14 and, because they were 2-2 against each other in head-to-head action, forced a second tie-breaker.
The one I was hearing about most would be run differential or runs scored from the four games the two teams played, and it wouldn't have mattered which one was implemented for the Outlaws, who would have lost outright either way. Friday's 16-0 spanking by the Armada sealed the deal on both fronts. In run differential, Long Beach held an edge of 17 after combining to outscore Chico 24-7 (6-3, 16-0, 0-1, 2-3). And then, yeah, as you see there, 24-7 runs scored also would gave closed the issue.
The other mandate I heard, and apparently this is one prevalent in some other independent minor leagues, would have the next meeting between the Outlaws and Armada on July 30 at Blair Field be the decider to break the deadlocked 2-2 season series. All parties would have to be appeased because the Armada would then finally receive something in return for getting its only four shots at the Outlaws in the first half in Chico. So the winner of that game would be the first-half champ, albeit nearly three weeks later. I'd still vote for this being the way to decide if I had a say.
The moral of the story, of course, is that the Outlaws treated themselves mighty fine by allowing themselves to be to clinch on their own.