UD AL-BAYDA, United Arab Emirates – Ostensibly, the Mid East Falcons represent Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
But with 14 of the 23 players on the Falcons’ roster hailing from Japan, they’ve become a favorite of the Japanese community in Dubai. That community showed up in force to Baseball United Ballpark during the inaugural United Series, and were rewarded on Sunday evening, when the Falcons won Game 3 8-1 to claim the first Baseball United championship behind an eight-inning gem from starter Shotaro Kasahara and a 2-for-5 night from United Series MVP Munenori Kawasaki.
In all three games of the series, Falcons manager Dennis Cook started a Japanese pitcher with experience in Nippon Professional Baseball, Japan’s top league, and in all three games, he got a quality start, defined as six or more innings from a starting pitcher who allowed three or fewer runs, that gave his team a chance to win each night.
“He did great. Kasahara threw good,” Cook said as the Falcons took turns taking pictures with the trophy on the mound. “So yeah, it was awesome. Our guys threw really good, and I was proud of them.”
Kasahara, who has throws 235 career innings with the Chunichi Dragons and Yokohama DeNA BayStars, stifled the Cobras for six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and no walks, striking out six.
In Game 1, Cook’s club got six innings from Shuto Sakurai, who allowed one run on three hits, and in Game 2, Kazuki Yabuta threw 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits. The three starters each dazzled with their control and ability to induce weak contact.
“I’ve talked to my buddies that have faced him on the other teams and they said they don’t make mistakes,” said Jake Hjelle, a native of East Grand Forks, Minn. “They don’t leave pitches over the middle of the plate, so it’s kind of challenging. for the batters to go up there looking for something over the plate and you get stuff painted the whole time.”
For the Cobras, pitching was the problem. Starter Nyan Hernandez walked Alejandro de Aza to start the game, and de Aza stole a base and scored on a single to right by Kawasaki to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead before the Cobras could record an out.
In the second, Hernandez allowed a leadoff single to Hiroyuki Nakajima, and manager Mariano Duncan was quick with the hook, bringing on Tushor Lalwani. Lalwani struggled to command his fastball, walking Manato Tanai, who advanced to second on a single by Gregori Cano. With No. 9 hitter Carlos Garzon at bat, Lalwani threw back-to-back wild pitches, allowing Tanai to score and Cano to advance to third before Garzon walked. A sac fly be de Aza scored Cano and moved Garzon to third.
Lalwani struck out Jake Hjelle for the second out of the inning, but the Falcons cleanup hitter, Shuhei Fukuda, singled, scoring Garzon, and Mid East had a commanding 5-0 lead.
“Yeah, I think they were thin for sure. But their guys competed hard, and [pitching coach Calvin] Maduroo did a good job with them,” Cook said of the Cobras pitchers. “So they’ve had a great series, and just tonight was a little bit rough for them.”
The Falcons added runs in the fourth and fifth on RBI singles by Nakajima and Kawasaki, respectively, and another in the eighth on a sac fly to right by Hjelle. In all, the Falcons 10 hits and drew 11 walks from the Cobras pitchers.
Having come on to reliever Kasahara in the seventh, Shingo Hirata allowed an RBI single to Lou Helmig in the seventh that got the Cobras on the board, but that was all they would get. In the eighth, facing the No, 9 hitter Ian Mercado to start the frame, Cook called for the “fireball,” and Hirata struck him out swinging to end the inning.
In the ninth, Panamanian reliever Severino Gonzalez, who appeared in 34 games with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2015 and 2016, walked Mumbai’s Caleb McNeely, but quickly induced a 6-4-3 double play from Lord de Vera, and then struck out Baseball United regular season MVP Brantley Bell to secure the championship for the Falcons.
It was fitting, in a way, that a team with players representing Japan, the United States, Panama, Palestine, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Mexico, and Argentina took home the title in a league that drew a multicultural fan base of expatriates and curious locals out to a tiny ballpark miles outside the city in the desert.
After Cook addressed the crowd, Baseball United co-founder Kash Shaikh awarded Kawasaki the United Series MVP trophy. The slap-hitting second baseman, who earlier in the series told World Baseball Network that we would have the chance to interview him in space next year, went 2-for-5 in the game with an RBI and a run scored, and batted .417, going 5-for-12 with a key ground rule double in Game 2.
“Mooney, he was an absolute fireball. He was full of energy. I always thought, I never thought He was like that 24-7, looking at the interviews that he had with the Blue Jays and stuff,” said Hjelle. “And then you get out here and play, he just treats everyone like they’re the same. He’s awesome, he was the absolute glue to this team.”
After he handed Kawasaki the MVP trophy, Shaikh asked Kawasaki to give a speech.
“Thank you! I love you!” Kawasaki began, before addressing the several hundred Japanese fans in the stands in his native language.
The MVP of the first ever United Series: MUNENORI KAWASAKI! @52munekawasaki pic.twitter.com/NcKm1VFLUk
— Baseball United (@BaseballUnited) December 14, 2025
Asked by World Baseball Network where this moment ranked in his career, Kawasaki said, “I’m excited. Wow, it’s amazing. The best. The best. Ichiban! My favorite. My memory! Wow!”
As the Falcons took a team photo in front of the mound, Kawasaki summed up the moment, invoking one of his more famous interviews recorded while he was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.
“I am Japanese!” he shouted into the Arabian night, seated in the front row with the trophy in his left hand, his teammates and the fans cheering. “We are all Japanese!”
Photo: The Mid East Falcons claimed the first Baseball United championship with an 8-1 win over the Mumbai Cobras in Game 3 of the 2025 United Series in Ud Al-Bayda, United Arab Emirates. (Photo courtesy of Baseball United)
