Week 7 Marquee and Picks

Crossed bats cross paths week seven in Southgate as first and second place in Garcia face off at Pervis Memorial. The Islanders have caught fire in recent weeks. Their 4-1 record over the last five games has propelled them from winless to second in the Garcia Division in just two weeks. Helping that rise is that three of those wins came against Garcia rivals, Belgian and the Ducks. Over this stretch the Islanders roster has seen a bit more stabilization than early on in the season, which may also play a roll in the team getting hot. Will Mundel has stepped up as the Islanders ace. The big story to come out of their recent success - aside from the recent success itself - is the streak of 25 straight plate appearances by Michael Sessions without an at-bat. It won him a Munson and sparked many theories about how he is able to keep it up, including the supernatural and criminal, before being ended last week against Holy Balls. All the attention he received also served the purpose of keeping quiet the fact that the Islanders have found themselves a pitcher with true ace potential. Will Mundel took a Wiffle mound for the first time against the Aces in week four and impressed the veteran pitchers with his slider, although struggling with his command. Then, against Belgian in week five he gained his first win. Over the following week he found his command, as well as figured out a couple more pitches. Will kept the Holy Balls off balance with his newly developed arsenal, and - if you want to believe the always spinning Islanders hype machine - he did it without throwing a single fastball. Much of the Isles offense over this stretch has been driven by walks, with Sessions leading the charge. Billy Beane would have a wet dream watching this team get on-base. They are very patient and selective; they force pitchers to hit the board, as they will not swing at near misses unless you make them. When you do make them swing, though, they do have some pop in their bats. Matt Murtha has two home runs and a double in the last five games, and Mundel belted a grand slam to help his cause last week at the Holy Grounds. Are they the most electrifying offense? Maybe not, but they are getting attention, and they are certainly effective. On the other hand, for those that want to go fast, El Diablos powerhouse offense is well documented already. The team has hit 24 HR in twelve games. Rookie of the Year candidate Nicco Lollio leads the team with seven, and 2012 RotY Kyle Tomlinson is tied with Craig Nicco Lollio leads El Diablos with 7 HR Skinner at five. Els also lead WSEM with 83 runs scored. Most impressively is their 186 total bases, which is 62 more than the next closest team; it also equates to a remarkable .772 team SLG% to go along with their league leading .402 team AVG, which is .054 higher than the nearest team. These numbers will change some for El Diablos before they cross bats with the Islanders, as Els still have two games to play against the Warriors from last week. What will not change, though, is their standing atop Garcia, the potency of that offense, or the fact they still have one of the best one-two punches on the mound with Craig "Skin City" Skinner and Chandler "Summer Chandy" Phillips. Those two combine for a 1.00 ERA, 1.45 WHIP (with just two hits allowed), and 101 K. If you are a numbers man or a betting man, you probably look at El Diablos as a clear favorite in this series. You would be wise to do so, but Wiffleball often has a tendency to let wisdom get away and let wackiness ensue. The Islanders are onto something right now, and for as long as they are riding it need to be taken seriously - you know, even if they do not take themselves so seriously around the field.

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The Swamp		Pervis Memorial
6/9		6/8		6/11
BW	0|0	HB	0|17	IS	5|0
DU	1|1	EL	7|2	EL	7|15

Unavailable Pitchers:    1 Game:   M. Brannan (BW),  Paquin (HB),  LaDouceur (EL),  N. Coffee (KF),  Murtha (IS),  DeMaria (WW)    2 Games:  N/A

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"I guess there had to be one week where everything went to hell in a hand-basket."  - Rich Hurd Hard to say it better than that. Week six was harsh all around the league. The games that did get played were brutal on the Pickers. First, the three games that wiped off the schedule. Both series at the Warriors Den, EL @ WW and BW @ WW, were postponed due to unplayable winds. Those picks will be rolled over to when the series are played this week, and are noted in the table below as the rows backed in green. Also, the Ducks forfeit against the Aces has caused an uproar around the league. Here in the picks, though, that series was just thrown out. Now, onto the series we do have results for! David was the only picker with a correct pick in week six; so, a tempered celebration for him after what was easily the roughest week of the season so far. His correct pick was the 1-1 split in the Islanders/Balls series. The season leaders, Rich and Chris, got burned double on that one with their locks of a Balls sweep. The final numbers on the week: David 1-2 (10-15), Alex 0-3 (8-16), Rich and Chris 0-4 (both 15-11). Seems like the hesitance to use a lock paid off for David and Alex; crazy days and all. However, it is a new bold week! We're due for a bounce back, and everyone has come out and thrown down a lock; a couple done so very emphatically. It is a light week with just three series on tap (plus the two carried over), and we go with one straight result, one over/under, and one point spread. Let the good times - and money - roll!

	David (10 - 15)	Richard (15 - 11)	Alex (8 - 16)	Chris (15 - 11)
@ Over/Under: 43.5 Total K	Under This is a really tough one since I know Westside has some really good pitchers, but the most they can strike out in 2 games is 30 (unless we go extra innings), leaving 13 for Belgian.	Under BW pitcher ejected from game for putting maple syrup on the balls.	Over Way over. By WW alone.	Over Buhr has a brain fart and tries to steal home.
@ Series Result	El Diablos Sweep I picked a Diablos sweep before and I'm doing it again.	Blos Sweep	El Diablos Sweep A Phillips family cycle.	Warriors Sweep No home runs this series.
@ Series Result	Belgian Wiffles Sweep If the Ducks would actually get back with me, I could have a real prediction, but I'll go with Belgian Sweep just because I love my team.	Ducks Sweep All the Ducks have to do is show up. BW are deflated after the KF series.	1 - 1 Split	Belgian Wiffles Sweep Ducks no-show leaving Castle to come back and set up the field himself.
@ BB by Sessions: Over/Under 3.5	Over I'm still wondering if Sessions knows how to rotate his arms in such a way to swing the bat. Over by .5 He draws 4 walks.	Over EL pitcher rushes home plate to see if he will swing the bat at ANYTHING.	Over LOCK-IT! The mayor is starting a new run at office.	Over Phillips is pitching, and Islanders mistakenly take the sombrero for booty.
@ Series Point Spread: EL -5	El Diablos -5 Nicco hits a home run over the scoreboard... again.	Holy Balls +5	El Diablos -5 Corbs kills a bird with a fowl ball.	Holy Balls +5 I expect very close games.