 | Your Junk my Happy Zone | |
| by Brandon Corbett |
2-0. When talking counts I think we call that one "Barry." Being down in the count is not something any of the pitchers had to worry about much at Pervis Memorial for the start of this Championship Series; 52 of the 78 outs in the two games were recorded by strikeout. However, even though Craig Skinner and Chandler Phillips both threw five scoreless innings - two regulation shutouts - in their starts, they and El Diablos now have to worry about being down 2-0 in the series.
Everybody expected to see the great pitching matchups and looming extra innings, but a team on their heels and teetering on the edge of being swept coming into Poolside Park is surprising. None of the Pickers took a sweep. In fact, three of them have the series going five
games. The odds of a Wicked Aces sweep are the second longest, set at 18:1. On his preview podcast Carl also has the series going the distance. Another statement made by Carl around the 6:50 mark of that recording hints at why we find ourselves in this situation.
"I give the offensive edge to El Diablos," Carl caves when measuring up the teams. It is a sound proclamation. Lollio and Tomlinson both hit well over .400 on the season; Skinner, LaDouceur, and Chandler all follow them above .300, and every Diablo playing this series also provided over 6 home runs and 30 RBI. They earned the reputation of being a murderers row, however, they have not been able to get any production out of their bats so far in this series. Chandler leads El Diablos with a .111 AVG, LaDouceur is second in line at an even .100. Three of the four Aces are hitting better than that: Evan Bischoff at .154, Austin at .200, and Crozier leading everybody with a comparatively impressive .250. To state it all too simply: that is the difference in this series.
El Diablos will tell you that missing Tomlinson's bat for the opening games hurt them a ton, and that can be said fairly. Tomlinson followed up his 2012 RotY season with an MVP candidate caliber season this year: .420 AVG, 41 RBI, 56 RS, and a staggering 1.428 OPS. Kyle is scheduled to suit up when action gets back underway on Monday, and what is more is that the shoe may now be on the other foot. The Aces will be without Crozier and his late inning heroics for the remainder of the series. In addition to his Championship Series leading average, Joel also has two game winning hits this postseason. His absence is now a hole that the Aces must find a way to fill as they look to close out the series.
One thing is certain. Come Monday the Commissioner's Cup will be raised in victory on the field for the first time ever. The question is, who will pick up their bats first to earn that honor: a repeat champion or the third team in as many years?
Everybody expected to see the great pitching matchups and looming extra innings, but a team on their heels and teetering on the edge of being swept coming into Poolside Park is surprising. None of the Pickers took a sweep. In fact, three of them have the series going five
games. The odds of a Wicked Aces sweep are the second longest, set at 18:1. On his preview podcast Carl also has the series going the distance. Another statement made by Carl around the 6:50 mark of that recording hints at why we find ourselves in this situation."I give the offensive edge to El Diablos," Carl caves when measuring up the teams. It is a sound proclamation. Lollio and Tomlinson both hit well over .400 on the season; Skinner, LaDouceur, and Chandler all follow them above .300, and every Diablo playing this series also provided over 6 home runs and 30 RBI. They earned the reputation of being a murderers row, however, they have not been able to get any production out of their bats so far in this series. Chandler leads El Diablos with a .111 AVG, LaDouceur is second in line at an even .100. Three of the four Aces are hitting better than that: Evan Bischoff at .154, Austin at .200, and Crozier leading everybody with a comparatively impressive .250. To state it all too simply: that is the difference in this series.
El Diablos will tell you that missing Tomlinson's bat for the opening games hurt them a ton, and that can be said fairly. Tomlinson followed up his 2012 RotY season with an MVP candidate caliber season this year: .420 AVG, 41 RBI, 56 RS, and a staggering 1.428 OPS. Kyle is scheduled to suit up when action gets back underway on Monday, and what is more is that the shoe may now be on the other foot. The Aces will be without Crozier and his late inning heroics for the remainder of the series. In addition to his Championship Series leading average, Joel also has two game winning hits this postseason. His absence is now a hole that the Aces must find a way to fill as they look to close out the series.
One thing is certain. Come Monday the Commissioner's Cup will be raised in victory on the field for the first time ever. The question is, who will pick up their bats first to earn that honor: a repeat champion or the third team in as many years?
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