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Post Gameday Points III
We
just got done with gameday #3 last Sunday, and despite seeing our first
forfeit, we saw some eye-opening performances on a day filled with wind
and the occasional horrendous downpour.
With
that, here are my points:
The
Horsemen were the first to catch the forfeit bug, as they dropped the
first of their two scheduled games with the Road Warriors. Eric was absent,
and with an excuse, while Seth was off galavanting with some female. Ian
Byrd showed up half an hour late, which allowed the Horsemen to squeeze
in the second game against the league's first-place team, who fielded
Dave Cain and Curtis Henning.
That
being said, Ian looks fantastic to say the least. He goes 8-16 on the
day with five homeruns, three of which come at The Byrd House. If you
saw the doubleheader between the Playerz and Wiffolution, you would never
imagine a player coming in and smoking three homeruns. Ian did. Why? Because
he doesn't rely on big, high, lofty homeruns that hang in the air if there's
an ounce of wind blowing it in. He hits sharp line drives that find holes.
Some players were skeptical that Ian could pull off another .374 season,
but now I don't think they'd be so surprised.
As
a result, the Horsemen looked good after a rough opening day. Joey Creighton's
pitching is a slight concern, and Eric's is a liability half the time,
but every other facet of their game is clicking right now. I mean, the
team that was once "Joey Creighton and three strikeouts waiting to
happen" now has the top three AB/K ratios in the league. We'll see
how they're doing in September.
Matt
Smith and John Robins went 0-3 on the day, getting outscored 7-0, but
don't be fooled. They nutted up, and the ABs they got Sunday will become
a factor in July and August. They took Dean and Jeff, two wily veterans,
to the limit in the doubleheader, not surrenduring Game 2 until the 8th
inning. Their pitching looked solid as well, take away a couple innings
out of the 16 they pitched.
| Current
Rookie Standings |
| Name |
Brnk |
Prnk |
Ornk |
| 1.
Curtis Henning |
10 |
8 |
1 |
| 2.
Pat Plummer |
19 |
5 |
2 |
| 3.
John Robins |
17 |
10 |
3 |
| 4.
Matt Smith |
16 |
12 |
4 |
| 5.
Tavis Beynon |
13 |
15 |
5 |
| 6.
Matt Plummer |
14 |
14 |
6 |
| 7.
Keith Carlson |
-- |
-- |
7 |
Brnk
= Batting Rank (overall)
Prnk = Pitching Rank (overall)
ORnk = Overall Rank (rookies)
Ornk determined by summing both Brnk and Prnk. In the event
of a tie, player with more ABs is given priority. |
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After
Sunday's games, we expectedly left behind the planned Rookie Game of Pat
Plummer and Curtis Henning (Road Warriors) versus Matt Smith and John
Robins (Playerz). Now it's Henning and Smith taking on Plummer and Robins.
Only one ranking point separates Robins, Smith, Beynon, and Matt Plummer.
Stay tuned!
I
should eat some words for now. Not long ago I said that Jeff Morrison
has a tendency to get down on himself if he doesn't jump out of the gate
early with some good hitting/pitching numbers. That results in even worse
numbers as Jeff either presses too hard or just gives up altogether. Sunday
saw me proven wrong. After going 2-0 at The Byrd House, Jeff still saw
himself at only 3-21 on the day, with no HRs and no RBIs. For the season,
at that point, Jeff was 4-36 (.111). To his credit however, he showed
up ready to play in Game 3 against the Road Warriors. He went 6-11 with
2 HRs and 3 RBIs, almost doubling his average to .213. It's still not
where he'd like to be, but it shows real signs.
Speaking
of signs, what in the world is up with Dean Evans? He played in two games
at The Byrd House where a total of three runs were scored and no homeruns
were hit. And 12 innings were played. With that setup, you mght be surprised
to hear that Dean still managed to go 8-22 (.364). He then went 4-11 in
the nitecap, putting his average at .388 for the season. If you were there
at all Sunday, you know what I'm saying when I say that's unreal. Last
season, there was a day similar to this one, where the rain would just
NOT STOP COMING DOWN. The Horsemen took on the Holy Whites in two extra-inning
1-0 games. No homeruns were hit. I think the best performance on the day
was Joey Creighton's 3-16, 2 RBI effort. It was one of those games where,
if you win, that's all you can take solace in. The losers can't walk away
with anything. Scott Carmichael, that same day, lost both games and went
2-26, seeing his average nosedive. Dean Evans goes 8-22 and wins both
games (and has all 3 of his team's RBIs). If it's not one thing with this
kid, it's another. He rarely ever looks capable at the plate, but time
and time again his ball finds the holes.
The
pitching magic created by Dave Cain and Curtis Henning came to an end
Sunday as they combined to give up 11 runs. Still, that was one nice piece
of hitting they put together in their last ups during the nitecap. Dave
Cain is hitting way below the standard he set last season, but he's still
second in the league in homeruns, and leads in RBIs. Hear that sound?
It's Darnell laughing down in SD. Just wait until he gets back. That team
is a powder keg, yet to go off.
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