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When these teams met in week one at the Swamp they split the two game series. At that time, the Ducks were the favorites to claim the third seed in the playoffs; now, Holy Balls are sitting comfortably in that spot. At that time, Holy Balls were expected to challenge for the final playoff spot; now, the Ducks are pressing to make a late charge to get into the playoffs. At that time, the split was a huge start for the Balls season; now, a split is all but necessary for the Ducks' chances. At that time, David Castle was the new blood in a determined Ducks lineup; now, Castle is the spark that has ignited the Balls' offense during the second half of the season. In the month of June, Holy Balls outscored their opponents 102-46. During May that ratio was only 24-23. The team has certainly hit their stride. Part of that can certainly be attributed to the addition of players like Castle and Andrew Piasecki. Castle is hitting .350 with 8 HR,
It could also be easy to cite a lightening up of the Balls schedule during this stretch; after all, they did feature six games against the Islanders, Belgian and Friday in which they posted a 5-1 record. However, they also posted a 3-3 record (5-3 including forfeit wins) against the Wicked Aces, Westside, and El Diablos last month, outscoring those teams 36-23 in the process. The Ducks also had a rousing second month of the season. After a brutal May, in which they went 1-5 (1-7 with forfeit losses), the Ducks went 6-2 in June: their only losses coming in a pair of split series with El Diablos. Those are the results everyone expected out of this Ducks team. Unlike their counterparts this week, the Ducks turn around has not come through the offense. They have had that all season; if anything that part of their game fell off a bit - although, still quite effective. Last month, Dennis Pearson added 6 HR to his 9 earlier in the year. He also hit .342 in June, while maintaining a.385 AVG on the season. Similarly, Dylan Braden is hitting .333 on the year, and went .273 in June. He also added only 1 HR to the 7 he already hit. The boom for the Ducks came from their pitching staff.
A similar effect to that with the Balls: having his rotation settled seems to have Pearson throwing better, as well. He is 3-1 with an ERA of 3.67 and WHIP of 2.53 since Morris was inserted. Pearson also had double digit strike-outs and complete games in every start he made during June. Prior to that he had an 8.57 ERA, 4.28 WHIP, and only one complete game in five appearances. Pearson and the Ducks have definitely come alive at the right time; smack dab in the thick of a wild card race. The Ducks have ten games left to play and are currently three games behind the Warriors, who have eight games remaining, for the final playoff spot. That is a lot of ground to make up, so there is premium on every game left for the Ducks. They know a sweep over the Balls puts them one game back with four upcoming games against the Warriors; a split moves them no closer. Even though many Balls players count themselves as friends of the Ducks lineup, do not expect them to do the Ducks any favors on Sunday. If the Balls can sweep this series, they have a very good shot at a 20 win season. Should the chance at that prestige fade, a split still has them looking at 19 wins - still a big number, and one that guarantees the three seed in the playoffs. |
| Poolside Park | Holy Grounds | The Island | |||||
| 7/6 | 7/6 | 7/7 | 7/7 | ||||
| KF | 0|1 | BW | 0|0 | DU | 2|8 | EL | 24|1 |
| WA | 2|6 | WA | 3|3 | HB | 3|6 | IS | 11|0 |
| Unavailable Pitchers: 1 Game: Matt (BW), Morris (DU), C. Phillips (EL), Castle (HB), Linebrink (IS), M. Brannan (KF), Hatt (WW), A. Bischoff (WA) 2 Games: N/A |
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There were 9 HR in the Balls/Friday series, so the under 9.5 hit. Rich and Chris squeezed by with the correct pick there, while Buhr missed. The tree was a non-factor in Aces/Fridays, so under hit again. Everyone got that one right. Balls and Warriors split, as did Ducks and Diablos; Rich and David got the former right, while Chris nailed the latter. Whiteford easily covered the 4.5 against Westside, giving the point for that final pick to both Rich and Chris. Both Hurd and Buhr busted on their "Diablos sweep" locks, so double negative there. Chris hit his lock on "Aces -4.5," so put two in the bank as he gains a baby step on Rich. Records on the week: Chris went 5-1, Rich 4-2, and David 2-4. Alex sat the week out, but is back to turn the luck around in the third column. Four series on the schedule. We get fun with one and give it a two-parter, giving us five total on the week. The leaders match three of them, but still have room for up to four points. The guys trailing also go opposite the leaders on a couple picks; could they start a climb back towards the top this week? |
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 David (18 - 28) |
 Richard (31 - 16) |
 Alex (14 - 23) |
 Chris (28 - 19) |
 @  Belgian Hits: Over/Under 1.5 |
Over We get 2 hits. |
Under Buhr promises to take the team out for ice cream if the get 2 hits. |
Over Hahaha... Buhr puts the brace back on for good luck. |
Under Austin's mom yells at David for washing his beard in the pool. |
 @ Yes/No: Will there be a pool shot HR? |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes Greg goes head first into the side of the pool attempting to make a play. |
@ Yes/No: Does someone get wet making a play on a ball hit into the pool? |
Yes Hewlett decides to go for a swim. |
No But Sharlow wears his floaties just in case. |
Yes Hollister gets extremely turned on. |
No But for a 4th inning stretch: the Coffee's have tea and crumpets in the fort. |
 @  Series Result |
1 - 1 Split I think I've busted just about all my locks so you're welcome in advance, Chris Paquin. |
Holy Balls Sweep DB picked split, so common sense forces me to pick a sweep. |
1 - 1 Split Corbett hits a child on a bicycle. |
1 - 1 Split (Nick) Braden hits a bomb off Dennis, Dennis hits a bomb off Braden. |
 @  Mundel K (pitching): Over/Under 10.5 |
Under |
Under |
IS sweep! Err... I mean... Over? |
Over Mundel braids his hair for good luck. Records 14 K's. |
