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Gameday Previews #3 (2002)
After the Horsemen and Wiffolution each experienced 3-0 days at the last
gameday (April 14th), they saw themselves move to 1-2 in the standings.
Sunday, they face off for the 3rd and 4th time of the season. The
Holy Whites return from a long break to take on the winless Road
Warriors at the Byrd House. Both of the White's two losses have
been due to forfeits, so don't think they're moving off the mountain
just yet.
And it's possible that three of the four teams playing will be sporting
all four roster players. The exception, the Holy Whites, are once
again scrambling to get two there after Mike Walsh has made it official
that it's unlikely he'll be there Sunday due to a still-injured
back.
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Horsemen (5-1) vs. Wiffolution (4-2) (The Sac, doubleheader)
These
two split during their opening day doubleheader, Wiffolution winning
on-what else?-a Casey Sylvester GW homerun in the first game and
the Horsemen taking the second game 3-1. The Horsemen should be
sporting all four players once again after having good success doing
so last time out. Seth Yoder is looking dominant on the mound, but
John Deatrick was roughed up while having fatigue problems after
about three pitches into his first inning
of work against the Road Warriors last gameday. One must wonder
if fatigue will continue bothering Deatrick, and one also must keep
a wary eye on Eric Christensen, who has escaped unscathed so far
this year (only 2 IP).
Wiffolution
can hit, and as a team they are hitting .321 despite the fact that
Jeff Morrison is slumping at the moment. When (not if) Morrison's
bat heats up, things could get ugly. Whether or not it will happen
this weekend remains to be seen, but for now Wiffolution can take
solace in the hot start of Dean Evans (.433 batting average) and
Casey Sylvester (8 IP, 18 Ks, 0.50 ERA). Hart McKenzie will be back
in action after missing the last gameday to travelling, and one
must wonder if his pitching will be back to the velocity it was
during his tryout. His speed seemed way down in his debut for unknown
reasons, and this double dip would be a good time to turn it around.
| Tale
of the tape - Team Stats |
| Team |
ABs
|
Runs
|
HRs
|
Avg.
|
IP
|
ER
|
Ks
|
ERA
|
W-L
|
| Horsemen |
70
|
16
|
8
|
.286
|
17.3
|
14
|
23
|
3.23
|
5-1
|
| Wiffolution |
106
|
16
|
7
|
.321
|
25
|
21
|
40
|
3.36
|
4-2
|
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Holy Whites (1-2) vs. Road Warriors (0-3) (The Byrd House, doubleheader)
The Holy Whites' 1-2 record is somewhat deceiving, as both were forfeit
losses. The 2001 championship team is still very strong, and assuming
they can field a full team, they are as big a threat as any in the
league. They might be in danger of another forfeit loss Sunday as
Mike Walsh is not going to be able to participate and it's unknown
when Ian Byrd or Kyle Archibald will show up, although both are
expected. If they're too late, we might see a forfeit in Game 1.
It's unclear if the Road Warriors would be able to hang with the Whites
as it is. Rookie Anthony Sanzone is a legitimate power threat, and
Darnell Uhland looks to be in top form on the mound (and the plate),
but the ifs are huge. Jeff Register struggled bigtime from the mound,
negating any offense the team could muster. Chris Keefer has only
seen 5 ABs (none in regular season play) and will likely struggle
early on in his career. Even as good as Anthony looks, he's going
to struggle too in his formative at-bats before he hits his stride.
As it is, asking rookies to hit off Carmichael is like telling four
year-olds to step in the box against Randy Johnson. And like it
or not, the fewer players the Whites have show up, the more ABs
and IP Scott gets. Might not be fair, but it is what it is.
| Tale
of the tape - Team Stats |
| Team |
ABs
|
Runs
|
HRs
|
Avg.
|
IP
|
ER
|
Ks
|
ERA
|
W-L
|
| Holy Whites |
25
|
9
|
2
|
.320
|
6
|
6
|
10
|
4.00
|
1-2
|
| Road Warriors |
47
|
8
|
5
|
.191
|
12.7
|
14
|
15
|
4.42
|
0-3
|
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And now with the mini previews:
Horsemen vs. Road Warriors (Sac, 1 game)
The Horsemen picked up the sweep last gameday over the Road Warriors,
and there's little doubt that it will once again be tough for the
Warriors to beat the Horsemen. However, Sanzone is only going to
get better, and if he and Darnell get going at the same time, they
can hit anyone. Also, Register has nowhere to go but up. Still,
they might need a few more gamedays of experience before they can
put together a really solid game over a tough pitching team like
the Horsemen.
Wiffolution vs. Holy Whites (Byrd House, 1 game)
Wiffolution's record is better than the Whites' for the first time in league history,
but don't let that make you assume Wiffolution is the better team.
Well, they are a better TEAM, in that they're never really a possible
forfeit victim, but beating Scott Carmichael is easier said than
done. Still, if Jeff Morrison can break out of his slump Sunday,
Wiffolution has three bats capable of hurting you and one that is
only getting better in rookie Hart McKenzie.
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Let's hope Mother Nature cooperates again this weekend like she did last
time we played. Should be a good weekend of wiffleball action with
a few more rookies making their debuts and what might possibly be
the first four on four game in team history! It's easy to get excited
about stuff like that. Drop on by Monday or Tuesday for news on
how it all goes down!
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