The 1909 Southern Union Baseball season was the fifteenth season of professional baseball within the Southern Union. It was the last season before the Albaland Baseball League joined the South Indian Ocean Baseball Association (SIOBA) and was formally recognized as the fifth nation to run a professional baseball league in the Southern Union. This was also the final season before the Ianoian Social Cup was introduced; the first knockout competition with teams selected randomly in a ‘draw’ open to both professional and amateur clubs within the Southern Union.

Domestic Baseball

Koana Islands

Super Ligan

Omfattandestad BoIS clinched their seventh title in 15 years, narrowly giving SK Ryttare the fairy tale ending that many were craving. Returning to the top flight after a seven year absence, SK Ryttare moved into top spot early on in the season after a 10-1-2
start to the year before falling to 4^th by Matchday 30, trailing the front runners by 2 points. Another run of form followed, losing to BK Salau and drawing the following game to 1890 Ängelar SK as they won 11 of 13 fixtures to sit 6 points clear of Vizhune IS by Matchday 48. Not to be forgotten, Omfattandestad BoIS lost just twice in their final 18 games – including a sweep of the Ryttare to move into sole ownership of first place for the first time in the season in late October, clinching the title with an 8-6 victory over Vizhune IS on the final Friday matchday.

Vizhune IS eventually finished third for the second season in a row, ahead of BK Humoor 1893 who also matched their finishing position from last year after 10 wins in 11 through October lifted them above Sandford Stad BF who hovered in 4^th and 5^th for much of the campaign.

Ny Aucklanda IF, BK Embleton and defending champions AIF Thomassmåstad had an intertwined season, with the latter languishing in the relegation spots, 5 points from safety with just 18 games to go, before a late surge in form spared their blushes. It was the opposite for Ny Aucklanda who were tipped as potential relegation candidates at the start of the year but were never threatened by the drop.

Newly promoted yo-yo club Nyhaven SK managed to stave off an immediate return to Division Ett thanks in large part to a purple patch of form through August where they swept BK Humoor 1893 and stunned Omfattandestad BoIS with two victories to push them clear. The same could not be said for BK Salau who rounded out their season with 8 losses in 10 games, including the final 7, to narrowly avoid the drop by one point after Portlethen Måndag GK could only manage a 4-4 draw on the final Sunday, knowing a superior run difference would’ve seen them survive. Portlethen joined 1890 Ängelar SK in the relegation spots at the end of the year having spent four and two years in the top flight respectively, with the latter spending the better part of three quarters of the season in last place.

Division Ett

In a dominant year, Glenton Kullar BbK won promotion to the Super Ligan for the first time in their history, never yielding top spot after moving into it on the first Saturday of the season. Having only gained professional status last year, The eventual champions didn’t lose a game in their first 15 fixtures, with a 4-4 draw against Prestons-Grenada the only blip in an otherwise perfect start to the year. Losses accumulated towards the end of the campaign, with a four game skid from Matchday 66 which included a sweep to eventual runners-up Jordnot Kanjon BK reducing the 17-point buffer Glenton Kullar BbK had accrued by that time.

Centurio Conneaut finished third, sputtering towards the end with a 7-0-10 record to be eclipsed by Jordnot Kanjon BK who won 7 straight to go 11-1-5 in the same period to return to the Super Ligan after a three-year stint in the second tier.

BF Oberoendestad and Bryankeld Förenta BK – both relegated from the top flight last season – finished 4^th and 5^th with the former briefly sitting tightly behind Glenton Kullar BK in June before a loss in form saw them slip from contention by the midpoint of the season. Bryankeld were never in the hunt but equally weren’t in any threat from behind, sitting above Atletisk Nyhamn for most of the year, who themselves had their best finish in 6^th since their inaugural professional year in 1903 when they came 5^th.

Rovaniemi Förenta will feel hard done by after challenging Nyhmn for most of the year before a string of 10 losses in 11 games saw them slip down the standings with only a couple of weekends still to play to eventually finish 9^th. They finished above Uckford Gemenskap who briefly flirted with the re-election places before stringing a few wins together to finish 10^th – one place better than they achieved in the last two years – having been tipped for midtable obscurity at the start of the year. IF Blidområde also had a season to forget despite being tipped for 7^th place prior to the start of the season. After relegation from the Super Ligan last year, the club lost 10 of their last 12 games to narrowly avoid re-election, which instead went to Prestons-Grenada and Ruysdael Akademisk IF once more, both of whom retained their professional status at the Annual Owner’s Meeting in December.

Günsovölk

Baseball Meisterschaft

Picking up from where they left off last season, Rasensport Sorgenfrei stormed to their second title in a row and sixth in their history, thanks in large part to 3 losses in their opening 33 fixtures – and were rarely troubled after that, moving into outright top spot by Matchday 18 from BV Küstestadt whose wheels fell off midway through the season to finish 4^th. BSG Geldstadt finished as runners-up – the highest place the team has ever achieved – after a 14-game winning streak through June and July propelled them into second place where they stayed for the rest of year, at one point holding a 15-point lead over SG 1632 Schönheit who clinched 3^rd to match their best finish which they achieved twice before in 1907 and 1898.

The mid pack was a far less orderly affair, regularly changing positions throughout the season, but Viktoria Grosstadt SV – successfully re-elected last year after a dismal performance – led the way for much of the season in 5th place. They eventually finished in fifth following a 5-game winning streak to end the campaign which included a sweep of 1. Trappen, consigning them to 9^th place behind Fortuna Juemen; Trappen’s best finish since joining the league in 1904.

Tapfer Concordia BV pipped Ducibus SV on the last day of the season to claim 6th place whilst VfB Andacht finished 10th and avoided the dreaded re-election vote once again for only the third time in six years. Käseplatz SSV’s second professional season was a much stronger one to last year, finishing 11^th but having spent much of the year fighting with the gaggle of midfield teams above them before falling away after a dip in form saw them win just 5 times in 22 games.

Gelb Kekerdom TuS’s season was one to forget as they limped home in 12^th having finished as runners-up last year and claiming the title as recently as 1906. Fans of the club were quick to point out the signings of aging starting pitchers Boyce Morris and Elliot Whelan by the meddling club owner as the cause of the teams issues. The club did manage to edge past Hafenstadt BV on the final weekend of the season whilst Blau-Weiss Ruigoord had their worst season ever coming home in 14^th with many news reports of a disharmony amongst the playing squad hurting their on-field performances.

Uelzenia Hüll slipped into the re-election zone for the first time in their history having achieved 7^th or 8^th every time since 1904. The Hüll-based club were languishing in last place at the halfway stage of the season before a dip in form by Mächtstadt VfL saw them move ahead on Matchday 74, narrowly missing out on 14^th spot despite a win on the final day. Both Uelzenia Hüll and Mächtstadt VfL successfully argued for re-election for next season.

Ianoia

I-League

Another thrilling end to the season in the I-League saw McCutchen City crowned champions for the second time in three years having been all but ruled out of contention at the halfway point. Sitting in 5^th place, 12 points behind league leaders Blenkinsopp Town, McCutchen City lost just 6 games in the second half of the year – including only once at home – to have a showdown with Tyrant-Ilford on the final weekend of the campaign. Sitting equal on 82 points, the two sides drew 4-4 on Friday before the Myrmidons showed their class at home with 6-4 and 8-7 victories to lift the trophy in front of their fans on the Sunday.

Tyrant-Ilford   0  0  1  2  0  1  0  0  0    4
McCutchen City  0  1  0  1  0  1  1  0  0    4

Tyrant-Ilford   2  0  1  1  0  0  0  0  0    4
McCutchen City  0  0  0  3  0  0  2  1  0    6

Tyrant-Ilford   0  1  2  0  2  2  0  0  0    7
McCutchen City  0  0  1  1  0  4  1  1  0    8

Blenkinsopp Town’s title defence crumbled following a 6-game losing streak in August to finish 3^rd; the first time the club has finished lower than second since 1901. Racing Welford’s sweep of Blenkinsopp was the highlight of the season for the club who went on to their highest finish of 4^th after a strong finish to the year, beating out Juniors on wins despite sitting in 7^th behind both Oldstead Irish and Ulcombe United with five games to play.

There was a large drop off from 7^th to 8^th as Athletic Ivychurch finished 18 points behind Ulcombe United, hindered by 4 wins in their final 23 fixtures. Athletic’s early form did help them to stay above Chatteris United however, who clinched 9^th  – where they were tipped to finish at the start of the year – ahead of Sporting Cuckney in 10^th, who finished dead last in 1908 with 1 fewer win than they achieved this season.

Byfleet Hawks and Spartans of Martletwy finished equal on points with the former finishing higher with one extra win on the season. It was a miserable end to the year for Spartans who had an 8-point advantage over Byfleet with 7 games to play before they went on a 7-game losing streak which began following a 4-0 loss at home to the Hawks. Thankfully, the team successfully gained re-election for the 1910 baseball season.

Houtmansland

Topklasse Divisie

Continuing the trend of the defending champions failing to repeat, KBO Armweide moved into top spot on Matchday 4 and never relinquished control as they picked up their third title in six seasons despite an energetic finish from the title holders, Bos Aan Zee. After a 9-game winning streak in the middle of the year, beginning with two victories over Bos Aan Zee, the eventual champions held an 11-point lead at the top with 9 games to play. However, Bos Aan Zee swept RKC Mesch and then the league leaders to sit just 3 points adrift with three games to play, but KBO Armweide stopped the challenge in it’s tracks with two quick wins at home over SAE Zwingelspaan.

SHC Koedijk finished third, keeping pace with Bos Aan Zee, before falling away with their away record ultimately costing them second. Atletisch Bath continued their upwards trajectory to seal their best finish of 4^th despite an 8-game losing streak midway through the year. They were briefly in a three-way tussle with HHV and Eikenheuvel HC before pulling away from the pair, with HHV sweeping the latter to come home in 5^th and consigning Eikenheuvel to their worst ever finish of 6^th.

RKC Mesch were optimistic going into the season but found form difficult to come by, with an 11-game winless streak in the back half of the year seeing them slump to 7^th, one place above SAE Zwingelspaan who started the year with a 6-game losing streak and two separate 5-game losing streaks defining their poor season.