Austin about to deliver
"Little E" Bischoff on the mound
Crozier in the 2013 Championship
Fisher with the Commissioner's Cup
Hughes returns to a more active role
Shore admiring a high fly
DeMaria dealing in 2013
Sam Hatt up to bat
Woods and Voutsos
Bortmas as an Ace in 2013 The season is well underway, but the Westside Warriors and Whiteford Wicked Aces have still yet to play a game. That will all change in Week 3, as they both play four games, with two of them against each other. The Wicked Aces are knocking out their northern road trip this week, and then once again will take off two weeks. The Warriors play all four Week 3 games at home, and then the following week play an unprecedented six games in Week 4.
All we really know about the Wicked Aces this season is the Bischoff brother’s sleeping arrangement. As usual, they sat out both satellite tournaments this year. The Warriors did play in the first satellite tournament, but they still had David Castle at the time, and were without both Hatt and Bortmas. In that tournament, they finished 1-4 and looked less than impressive.
Speaking of David Castle, he was one of the Alex Shore and the Warriors big offseason moves, but with King Friday in disarray, and Castle long known for wanting to run a team, an agreement was made to let him go. Losing Castle’s power bat and reliable arm does hurt, but he was replaced with second year veteran, Thomas “Bones” DeMaria. Bones is rumored to be available all season and gives the Warriors a very nice third pitching option. Joining Bones in the rotation are two well-known names, Sam Hatt and Evan Bortmas. Both of them are ten game winners from 2012, and the Warriors will go as far as those guys can take them. Bortmas didn’t see much time last year on the mound with the Aces, but this year will be called upon a lot. The news from the Warriors camp is he is 100% in for this week, and even some Sam Hatt showing up this week rumors have circulated, but I wouldn’t bet on that.
Offensively for the Warriors it’s all about left handed power. Alex is going back to his 2011 field strategy, and moved in his right field fence from 90’ to 70’. Shore, Hatt, and Nick Woods all hit from the left side, so it’s an understandable move. Bortmas is the offensive star on the team, but all six players on the roster swing a good bat. Woods and Greg Voutsos are two of the better role players in the league, and should once again have solid seasons. Voutsos is however unavailable this week.
Oh yeah, there’s also the Whiteford Wicked Aces. So much has happened this season already with so much noise being made, yet the defending champions have yet to play a single inning. I don’t need to break down the pitching numbers, all that needs to be said about the champs pitching is their big three are all returning. Austin Bischoff, RJ Fisher, and Evan Bischoff are the most dangerous 1-2-3 punch in the league. Austin does a great job managing the rotation, and seems to always know when to pitch who.
Losing Evan Bortmas’ bat does hurt, but they still have some talented hitters. Mr. Clutch, Joel Crozier is available for part of the season and has said he hopes to play in roughly 18-20 games. Justin Hughes had an off 2013 season, only batting .176 in eight games, but Austin has told the league that Justin is itching to play and looking for a huge bounce back season. It’s often forgotten how good Austin is at the plate, but his batting stats from last season are offensive All-Star numbers. Little E and RJ both hit under .250 last year with little power, and also should improve this year. Whether its Zach Perry or Colin Lake as the 6th man, does it even matter? It is unknown who is playing for the Aces in Week 3 as they have been very tight lipped.
These two Ringler Division teams are filled with WSEM All-Stars and superstars, and you know the Warriors have not forgotten about that Joel Crozier 2-run homer in Game 1 of the 2013 1st round playoffs. They should have some extra motivation in this series with that on the back of their mind. You also have to believe Bortmas is anxious to pitch again on a regular basis. There are a lot of storylines here, and it makes for a great Week 3 Marquee.
| The Island | The Reservation | Jerk Turf | 'Gian Joint | ||||||||||
| 5/10 | 5/12 | 5/10 | 5/10 | 5/10 | 5/11 | 5/11 | |||||||
| HB | 6|20 | WO | KF | 4|0 | WA | 11|3 | KF | 0|3 | WA | 12|1 | EL | 15|0 | |
| IS | 11|9 | IS | WW | 14|10 | WW | 0|0 | ON | 4|7 | ON | 0|2 | BW | 1|2 | |
| Unavailable Pitchers: 1 Game: C. Phillips (EL), Hewlett (FS), Castle (KF), Haffey (ON), M. Brannan(WO) 2 Games: N. Braden (BW), Paquin (HB) |
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Week 2 was great for the house. Not so much for the Pickers. The three picks that all four Pickers agreed on (under 45.5 Ks in FS/ON, 1-1 split for IS/ON, and EL -6.5 vs. KF) all went the other way. EL -6.5 was also locked by all four, which brought all of them to 0-4 on three picks. David had the best week at 2-4, getting both other picks on the board correct. That puts him right back in line with Jason and Kyle (who both went 0-6 on the week) at 3-9. Chris also managed to scrape out one correct pick - under 3.5 HR in BW/HB - and remains atop the leader board after two weeks. Week 3 is busy, and sees a few combined-series picks as well as the return of an old favorite. |
 |
 David (3 - 9) |
 Jason (3 - 9) |
 Chris (5 - 7) |
 Kyle (3 - 8) |
 @  Series Result |
El Diablos Sweep Cj comes off of his rough outing last week and dominates |
El Diablos Sweep Chandler is still upset by the HR he gave up and goes yard twice himself in a thriller of a series |
1-1 Split Game one goes 15 innings. Belgian wins 1-0 |
El Diablos Sweep Cj brings his NWLA arm and Farkas gets reminded what a real line up looks like |
 Triples at the Island (4 games): O/U 0.5 |
Under There will be NO triples hit at the Island |
Under There will be roughly .25 triples hit this weekend, so just a tad under |
Under Pearson's bat comes alive!! |
Under Unless Andrew Mott shows up |
 @  Series Result |
King Friday Sweep |
1-1 Split If these games actually happen, KF wins the game Castle pitches but suffers a rather large loss in the second game |
1-1 Split Add two more ding dongs to Castle's resume |
1-1 Split Boring series |
 @ Closest to the # w/o going over: Outs recorded before a run is scored |
13 |
4 Tinder Bischoff's team takes a lead and never looks back |
7 Austin sprains his ankle falling out if his bunk bed the night before the series. Scratched from the lineup |
8 Crozier with a ribby |
 Bortmas Ks pitched (2 games): O/U 23.5 |
Under 20 to be exact |
Over When Bortmas pitches, he's dirtier than Greg Brannan at a public park |
Over Just over. 24 Ks |
Over Just because no one will be able to put the ball in play. He'll be yanked in 1 game though. Side note: He'll still bat over .500 on the day |
@  Series Point Spread: WA -2.5 |
Warriors +2.5 I agree with Chris. Low scoring games |
Wicked Aces -2.5 My 26-2 prediction for them not only means they're the best, but they're the best by a longshot |
Warriors +2.5 Both low scoring, close games. Whiteford doesn't quite cover though |
Wicked Aces -2.5 See you week 7, champs |
