Gems would qualify for postseason by winning second half division title

The second half of the 2021 Prospect League season begins Thursday.

Teams like the Quincy Gems (13-14), who finished in third place in the West Conference’s Great River Division, will have a chance to make the postseason by winning the second-half title. Normal (14-12) won the first half, finishing a half-game ahead of Burlington (15-14) and 1 1/2 games ahead of Quincy.

Team records reset to 0-0 beginning with Thursday’s games.

Lafayette (East Conference, Wabash River Division), Champion City (East Conference, Ohio River Valley Division) and O’Fallon (West Conference, Prairie Land Division) joined Normal by clinching playoff berths when they won first-half division titles. Those teams will host the second-half winners in the first round of the Prospect League postseason in a one-game division championship.

If a team wins both halves of its division, the team finishing second in that division in the second half earns the playoff berth.

The 60-game season will not be divided into two 30-game halves. Most teams are scheduled to play more than 30 games in the second half by making up games rained out in the first half.