What Is The Wildcard The Wild Card team is the ALPB club not already in the playoffs that has posted the best full-season record. Southern Maryland has secured a playoff spot by winning the North Division first half race while Gastonia won the first half South pennant. Should either Southern Maryland or Gastonia repeat as second half champions, it would allow a Wild Card team to gain entrance to the playoffs.
Playoff Schedule: Gastonia will open the playoffs at home on Tuesday, September 20 and Wednesday, September 21. Southern Maryland will play the first two games of the Division Championship Series on the road and then return home for game 3 and possibly games 4 and 5 starting on Friday, September 23.
Wild Card Race: Following games of September 1, Lancaster holds a four-game lead over Southern Maryland in the North Division second half race. Gastonia leads the South Division by 7.5 games over Lexington. Should Lancaster win the North, that would remove the Barnstormers from Wild Card consideration. That leaves High Point (61-55) with a 1.5 game lead in the Wild Card race over Kentucky (59-56) and a 4.5 game lead over Long Island (56-59).