|
Coming home from the national tournament to one last week of our regular season could be depressing, except we have Westside and the Ducks going heads up to determine the final wild card spot on Sunday! The teams met for the first time in 2013 just two weeks ago: the Ducks won game one, then - in typical fashion - rolled over after falling behind early in the second game. They would say they would have swept if they had Phillip Morris. However, Westside was also without their second star pitcher, Thomas DeMaria. Both of those pitchers are slated to be there this time around as Westside comes into this final sprint with a two-game lead. The paths taken by these two teams to get to this point of heading toward a photo finish could not be any different. Westside jumped out to a 9-1 start and has slid back toward .500 since. Alex Shore jokingly commented during their week 12 victory over the Ducks that it was the most offense the team has had all season. He was not far off. It was the first time they had scored nine since June 2nd, and tied for the second most runs in a game all season. 14 runs at home against Belgian, again on June 2nd, are the most scored by the Warriors on
The Warriors have made their strides on the mound. Their 1.80 team WHIP is good enough for third in WSEM. As mentioned above, DeMaria is expected to return this week after a two month absence; he leads the team with a 1.00 WHIP and 1.94 ERA. Sam Hatt and Keifer Haffey are right behind "Bones" with a 1.58 and 1.39 WHIP, respectively. All three find themselves in the top ten in that category. As hinted with the term "absence," many of Westside's stumbles this season are attributed to having spot starters filling in for their big arms. With the playoffs on the horizon, hopefully, that no longer seems to be a problem for the black and orange. On the other hand, the Ducks were in shambles after ten games at 2-8; they have since turned things around and stormed their way back into the race. What turned them around was also, in part, pitching help. Specifically, finding Morris to round out their rotation. His statistics are inflated, 3.56 WHIP and 5.62 ERA, but so are his strike out numbers at 2.88 KpI. He keeps batters off balance, and with the potent offense provided by Dennis Pearson and Dylan Braden there is a fighting chance to get five-to-six runs of support. Case in point: he is 3-1 on the season. So, what exactly has to happen for either team to secure the wild card? Well, I hope you like if/then statements and third party candidates! In addition to the head-to-head meeting, both the Ducks and Warriors also have King Friday on the schedule. Rebecca Black's favorite team can play as big of a role in this outcome as any. Let us start off with the simplest possibility to work with: both Westside and Ducks sweep Friday. If that happens, then the Ducks must sweep Westside to finish tied at 15-13 and send the decision to tiebreakers. In this case the Ducks would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, and advance to the playoffs. If Westside can take even one game here, then we will see the Ducks August 10th at Pervis for the Thrill. If both the Ducks and Warriors split with Friday, the situation in their series remains the same: just with one less win in the column. 
If the Ducks manage to do one game better than Westside at Friday (DU sweep/WW split or DU split/WW swept), then they are still in a dangerous place. A split with Westside would still see them finish game behind. A sweep would have the Ducks take fourth place outright, but since they would have the tiebreaker anyway, it is just a formality. The real advantage for the Ducks comes if Westside slips up badly at Make-Believe and loses two while the Ducks sweep. In this case, both teams come in on even footing. A split in this situation would even seem to favor the Ducks, who have a lead in the run differential tiebreaker.Now the other way, if Westside can get even one more win than the Ducks against Friday, then the Ducks run is over and Westside can sip champagne on elementary school grounds. The police will look the other way. The most intriguing possibility, not to mention the darkest of horses in this race, is what happens if Friday manages to sweep both the Warriors and Ducks. In this circumstance, a Westside sweep or split between the Ducks and them puts Westside in the playoffs. However, a Ducks sweep of Westside would bring all teams to a 13-15 tie! Meaning it is time for a tiebreaker dance-off! Head-to-head would not gain a result: Westside holds it over Friday, but are even with the Ducks; Ducks are even with both; Friday is even with Ducks, but loses it to Westside. So, it would come down to run differential, which is currently held by Friday - and with four wins coming they would only gain more of a lead. In order for the King's men not to make the playoffs here, the Ducks would need to beat Westside by a significant margin in both games to edge out Friday for the wild card. Get all that? Well, just think of it this way: the three series Westside and the Ducks play in this weekend will all play a big role in determining who gets that final playoff spot. Every game is huge! What more could you want from down-the-stretch Wiffleball? |
| Wiff-Hill Grounds | Field of Make-Believe | The Reservation | Poolside Park | ||||||||
| 7/26 | 7/28 | 7/28 | 7/28 | 7/26 | 7/28 | ||||||
| HB | 25|12 | WW | 1|1 | DU | 0|0 | DU | 0|0 | EL | 2|0 | IS | 0|0 |
| BW | 0|0 | KF | 0|2 | KF | 3|3 | WW | 1|5 | WA | 1|3 | WA | 5|1 |
| Unavailable Pitchers: 1 Game: Matt (BW), Nagorski (DU), M. Phillips (EL), Paquin (HB), Mundel (IS), M. Brannan (KF), Hatt (WW), Fisher (WA) 2 Games: N/A |
No easy picks to close things out, either. A couple over over/unders with big numbers, a couple point spreads with tiny numbers, and a few prop bets sailing on the wind to take us home. |
 |
 David (27 - 42, .391) |
 Richard (40 - 28, .588) |
 (25 - 33, .431) |
 Chris (43 - 27, .614) |
 @  HB hits: Over/Under 29.5 |
Over |
Over I look for the Wiffles to show some heart in the season finale but come up short with pitching |
Under Wager: 25 points |
Over Wager: 5 points Balls bat around (3) times in the first inning. |
 @  How will the first run(s) be scored? (BB, 1B, HR, etc.) |
BB |
1B |
BB |
HR Shore hits a lead off bomb to start the game. |
 @ Series Point Spread: WW -1.5 |
Warriors -1.5 |
Warriors -1.5 |
Warriors -1.5 |
Ducks +1.5 |
@ Closest to # w/o going over: Outs recorded before a run is scored |
1 |
2 I think the number will be higher 5 or 6 even but 2 is good enough for the point |
6 |
1 Dennis hits a dinger in the first to score the first run of the game. |
 @  Total Ks: Over/Under 39.5 |
Over Wager: 27 points |
Over Wager: 13 points Ace's put an inflatable pirate ship in the pool and then sink it. |
Under |
Over We will finally have this year's pool shot. |
 @ Series Point Spread: WA -0.5 |
WA -0.5 |
EL +0.5 |
EL +0.5 |
WA -0.5 Bortmas takes Skinner ya-ya. |
 Who wins the Walker Texas Ranger? |
Sessions |
Sessions |
Ryan Alexia? |
Tomlinson Edges out Sessions by (1) |
