And then there were four.
With the conclusion of pool play in the second-ever DSL Cup on Saturday morning, the road to crowning this year's Dominican Summer League champion has been narrowed to the Padres Gold, Royals Fortuna, Reds and Giants Black squads.
The DSL Cup playoff format debuted last year, as 16 of the DSL's top teams participate in a two-stage DSL postseason to determine who wins the Rookie league's crown.
Those 16 teams are divided into four pools of four teams each, seeded by winning percentage, and participate in a round-robin competition. The team with the best record in each pool will then advance to the Championship Bracket -- consisting of best-of-three Semifinal and Final Rounds.
The field of 16 is determined by the eight DSL division winners and the eight teams with the best winning percentage that did not win their division (Wild Card teams).
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Here is how this year's pools broke down with each team's seeding in parenthesis:
Pool A: Royals Ventura (1), Giants Black (8), Brewers Gold (9), Mariners (16)
Pool B: Padres Gold (2), Phillies (7), Astros Orange (10), Angels (15)
Pool C: Royals Fortuna (3), Blue Jays Red (6), Tampa Bay (11), Cubs Blue (14)
Pool D: Colorado (4), Reds (5), NYY Yankees (12), Tigers 2 (13)
This year's group stage of the tournament was nothing short of thrilling as none of the four pools were decided until the final day of play.
With three teams still alive in Pool A entering Saturday, Brewers Gold defeated Mariners 5-2 and Giants Black routed top-ranked Royals Ventura 15-1 -- behind a two-run homer from Giants No. 21 prospect Joniel Hernandez -- to pull all three teams (Brewers Gold, Mariners and Giants Black) into a three-way tie with 2-1 records. As the highest seed in the pool, Giants Black will advance.
Pools B and C were determined in head-to-head tiebreaker scenarios as Padres Gold defeated Phillies 9-3 (Pool B) -- despite a home run from Francisco Renteria (PHI No. 3/MLB No. 81) in the third inning -- and Royals Fortuna edged out Blue Jays Red 4-3 (Pool C).
The Reds became the only team to finish pool play undefeated with an 8-2 decision over Colorado to claim the Pool D title.
The DSL Championship Bracket kicks off on Monday with best-of-3 semifinals bouts featuring Padres Gold vs. Giants Black and Royals Fortuna vs. Reds.
Games will be played on Monday and Tuesday with deciding games on Wednesday if necessary -- and all games will begin at 11 a.m. ET.
The DSL Championship Bracket field consists of these players on Top 30 team lists:
Liberts Aponte (CIN No. 8)
Angel Nuñez (CIN No. 14)
Jaider Suárez (KC No. 18)
Joniel Hernandez (SF No. 21)
The Finals of the DSL Cup are scheduled to be played on Friday, Aug. 28 and Saturday, Aug. 29, with a title-clinching Game 3 on Sunday, Aug. 30 if necessary.
The first stop in the professional careers of many international signees, the Dominican Summer League has long served as an early incubator for some of the game’s top talent. Many of the game’s best young players began their careers in the DSL, including Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz, Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio and Rays infielder Junior Caminero. The league alumni include All-Star players like Xander Bogaerts, Yordan Alvarez, Luis Arraez, Luis Castillo, Willson Contreras, Rafael Devers, Sandy Alcantara, William Contreras, Teoscar Hernández and Julio Rodríguez.
Several of the players on MLB’s Top 100 Prospects list began their careers in the DSL, including Brewers infielder Jesús Made (MLB No. 1), Red Sox outfielder Franklin Arias (MLB No. 3), Dodgers outfielder Josue De Paula (MLB No. 6), Giants infielder Josuar Gonzalez (MLB No. 17) and Cardinals catcher Rainiel Rodriguez (MLB No. 18).