SANTIAGO WINS NOROESTE CROWN, BUSANI NAMED PLAYOFF MVP

The Mexican Northwest League pennant has been won by the surprising Santiago Tabaqueros, who defeated the regular season titleholder Tepic Diablos Rojos in five games in their best-4-of-7 championship series.

After finishing the regular season with a league-best 43-17 record, defending champion Tepic swept Compostela in three straight games to win their first round series. Santiago finished third with a 32-27 record in the regular season before upsetting 40-20 Tuxpan in a first round sweep. The Tobacconists won the finals, 4 games to 1, capping the season with a 5-4 home win over Tepic on January 5 when Franky Busani drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The burly Busani was named the series MVP. The 6’4” 235-pound Busani batted .329 for Santiago during the regular season, and led the Liga Noroeste with 12 homers and 34 RBIs. The 23-year-old Sonora-born Busani, who grew up in Arizona and played collegiately in the United States, hit 39 homers with 144 RBIs in 401 at-bats over his last two seasons of college ball in 2008 and 2009.