 (1) Git r' Done 7 | vs. | (6) Ass Kickers  |
| '11 Series | ||
| 23-5, 2-0 | 4 - 0 | 10-18, 2-0 |
| Sun. 7/31 | - | 3 PM | - | Games 1 & 2 | - | Constanti Field | - | Brownstown, MI |
| Date TBD | - | Time TBD | - | Games 3, 4, 5 | - | Frenchtown Field | - | Frenchtown, MI |
| Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | |||||||
| 7/31 | 7/31 | 8/5 | if nec. | if nec. | |||||
| GD | 2 | GD | 7 | AK | 1 | AK | AK | ||
| AK | 0 | AK | 0 | GD | 5 | GD | GD | ||
The Ass Kickers and Git r' Done could not be riding more different emotions into their semi-final series. The Ass Kickers pulled off the lone upset of the 1st round against the Warriors on the road in Farmington, are clicking as a team, and are playing their best Wiffleball of 2011. Git r' Done on the hand nearly got caught looking past the Jason Mattseals in their 1 vs. 8 matchup and narrowly escaped getting shellshocked in the first game, coming back to tie it up on 4 runs in the fifth before winning 5-4 in six innings. The series was much closer than expected even as a sweep (game 2 final: 2-1); will it effect their confidence or serve as a wake up call on the Git r' Done bench going forward?
Center stage is a quite literal interpretation in this series: that circle in the center of the field. Dennis Pearson versus Mike Constanti on the hill. The numbers on the season for the two are virtually a photo finish: Pearson a 1.30 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, and 2.40 K/BB ratio; Mike a 1.54 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, and 2.88 K/BB ratio. A lot of their teams' success comes directly on the shoulders of the two pitchers. However, as the series get longer having a second option and a solid rotation will become much more important. Git r' Done has two other capable pitchers in Dylan and Nick Braden, the latter of whom won both first round games when pressed into service. Brian Constanti of the Ass Kickers has shined in moments of greatness, but has not been able to find any sort of consistency this season.
Offensively, Git r' Done holds the decided advantage. As a team they outhit the Ass Kickers on the season by 89 points, and out-slugged them by nearly 180 points. Git r' Done also put up nearly double the number of HR and R. The one stat where the Ass Kickers outperformed Git r' Done was BB, which may seem trivial, however, patience is one of the most effective weapons against Git r' Done's pitching that is known to be wild at times. Case in point: look no further than last week when the Ass Kickers hit only .118 against the Warriors, but were able to sweep the series by taking walks to the tune of a .375 OBP.
The tenor of this series should make itself known early on. If Git r' Done brings the big bats and puts up the crooked numbers they are capable of, then the Ass Kickers will have a tough time hanging around. However, if the Ass Kickers can hold the Git r' Done offense to a few runs per game, they will have a shot at pulling off a second upset. This semi-final series is set up as the perfect stage to test the truth out in an old baseball cliche; we may just find out whether a walk truly is as good as a hit.
Center stage is a quite literal interpretation in this series: that circle in the center of the field. Dennis Pearson versus Mike Constanti on the hill. The numbers on the season for the two are virtually a photo finish: Pearson a 1.30 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, and 2.40 K/BB ratio; Mike a 1.54 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, and 2.88 K/BB ratio. A lot of their teams' success comes directly on the shoulders of the two pitchers. However, as the series get longer having a second option and a solid rotation will become much more important. Git r' Done has two other capable pitchers in Dylan and Nick Braden, the latter of whom won both first round games when pressed into service. Brian Constanti of the Ass Kickers has shined in moments of greatness, but has not been able to find any sort of consistency this season.
Offensively, Git r' Done holds the decided advantage. As a team they outhit the Ass Kickers on the season by 89 points, and out-slugged them by nearly 180 points. Git r' Done also put up nearly double the number of HR and R. The one stat where the Ass Kickers outperformed Git r' Done was BB, which may seem trivial, however, patience is one of the most effective weapons against Git r' Done's pitching that is known to be wild at times. Case in point: look no further than last week when the Ass Kickers hit only .118 against the Warriors, but were able to sweep the series by taking walks to the tune of a .375 OBP.
The tenor of this series should make itself known early on. If Git r' Done brings the big bats and puts up the crooked numbers they are capable of, then the Ass Kickers will have a tough time hanging around. However, if the Ass Kickers can hold the Git r' Done offense to a few runs per game, they will have a shot at pulling off a second upset. This semi-final series is set up as the perfect stage to test the truth out in an old baseball cliche; we may just find out whether a walk truly is as good as a hit.
 (2) Wiffling DeLoppes 15 | vs. | (4) Flying Squirrels  |
| '11 Series | ||
| 22-6, 2-0 | 3 - 1 | 14-14, 2-0 |
| 7/30 | - | 11 AM | - | The Drey | - | Romulus, MI |
| Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | |||||
| 7/30 | 7/30 | 7/30 | 7/30 | 7/30 | |||||
| FS | 0 | FS | 0 | WD | 0 | WD | 0 | FS | 2 |
| WD | 1 | WD | 3 | FS | 2 | FS | 1 | WD | 6 |
| DeLoppes take close series 3-2! | |||||||||
This DeLoppes and Squirrels match-up is really a case of "then, earlier, and now;" a story told in triptych. The two teams have a history of close, low scoring, pitching dominated games prior to the start of Wiffle in Southeast Michigan, in which the Squirrels held the advantage. Then with the 2011 season came the explosion of the Wiffling DeLoppes; gone are their offensive woes, their defense is on another level, and their pitching has been steady atop the league. The DeLoppes quickly turned the tables in the series with the Squirrels, as well as on the rest of the league. That's only the second part of the story, however, as the Squirrels acquired two pitchers during the season, Mike Merlo (Week 4) and Austin Bischoff (Week 10), who look to have again evened the field with the DeLoppes. Bischoff shut down the high powered DeLoppes offense in Week 10, giving the Squirrels an opportunity at a hard fought win again.
The aforementioned DeLoppes offense is definitely the bigger threat. Five out of six bats in their lineup are capable of doing damage at any moment in the game. DeLano, Snow, BJ and Bobby Hoppe are all threats to go deep as well as leg out extra bases; they all also hit .500 or better during their 1st round series. Cliff Comstock brings the ability to leg out singles on balls in front of fielders, or burn them on hits to the wall after drawing them in. Adding to their teams' strength, the DeLoppes easily have the best defense in WSEM to go hand in hand with their top-tier offense. They cover the field well, especially on the fast surface of Frenchtown Field, rarely miss plays that come their way, and have turned more double plays than half of the other teams in the league combined. The accurate pitching of Comstock and Chad Hoppe perfectly compliments by forcing batters to swing at good pitcher's pitches, letting the defense gobble up nearly everything that stays in the park.
The stat to highlight in this series belongs to the pitchers from both teams, and it is an astonishing feat. Both teams have excellent rotations, but just how excellent? The four pitchers (Comstock, C. Hoppe, Bischoff, and Merlo) are the top 4 (with 20+ IP) in WHIP on the season, all have season ERAs below 2, and three of the four put up K/BB ratios greater than 5. As impressive as the whole group is, the Squirrels duo are their teams one advantage over the DeLoppes. Neither Merlo nor Bischoff allowed a run in their first round games. While more impressively, on the season, Bischoff posted an ERA of 0.00, WHIP of 0.75, and an 8.0 K/BB ratio with Merlo close behind at 0.25 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, and 7.0 K/BB ratio (both in 4 games pitched). With the Squirrel pitching versus the DeLoppe defense winning this series will again boil down to who is able string hits together, just like the old days of 2009-10!
The aforementioned DeLoppes offense is definitely the bigger threat. Five out of six bats in their lineup are capable of doing damage at any moment in the game. DeLano, Snow, BJ and Bobby Hoppe are all threats to go deep as well as leg out extra bases; they all also hit .500 or better during their 1st round series. Cliff Comstock brings the ability to leg out singles on balls in front of fielders, or burn them on hits to the wall after drawing them in. Adding to their teams' strength, the DeLoppes easily have the best defense in WSEM to go hand in hand with their top-tier offense. They cover the field well, especially on the fast surface of Frenchtown Field, rarely miss plays that come their way, and have turned more double plays than half of the other teams in the league combined. The accurate pitching of Comstock and Chad Hoppe perfectly compliments by forcing batters to swing at good pitcher's pitches, letting the defense gobble up nearly everything that stays in the park.
The stat to highlight in this series belongs to the pitchers from both teams, and it is an astonishing feat. Both teams have excellent rotations, but just how excellent? The four pitchers (Comstock, C. Hoppe, Bischoff, and Merlo) are the top 4 (with 20+ IP) in WHIP on the season, all have season ERAs below 2, and three of the four put up K/BB ratios greater than 5. As impressive as the whole group is, the Squirrels duo are their teams one advantage over the DeLoppes. Neither Merlo nor Bischoff allowed a run in their first round games. While more impressively, on the season, Bischoff posted an ERA of 0.00, WHIP of 0.75, and an 8.0 K/BB ratio with Merlo close behind at 0.25 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, and 7.0 K/BB ratio (both in 4 games pitched). With the Squirrel pitching versus the DeLoppe defense winning this series will again boil down to who is able string hits together, just like the old days of 2009-10!
