OWLS (5-10) vs. VADERZ (12-3)
Saturday morning will start off with a very important series. And to say that this may be a must win series for the Owls, even at this early stage of the season, may hold true. The Vaderz are riding a 10-Game win streak and the Owls have been on the losing end in their last 5 games. If the Owls pitching can avoid the walks, followed by multiple run homeruns, and keep it close, I believe that the Owls can find a way to win this series. The Vaderz just need to keep with the formula, run out their great starting pitching and their high-level defense and take advantage of any additional outs given by the Owls. The Owls get off the losing train and take at least 1 game in this series, but the Vaderz pitching is just too deep and too good right now.
VADERZ (2-1)
LIGHTNING (10-5) vs. PHARAOHS (3-12)
The Lightning have feasted off the teams at the bottom of the standings going (5-1) against teams currently at the bottom half of the Power Rankings. And the Pharaohs have had their struggles against top teams going (1-8) against those top half teams. Lightning lineup has yet to find their power switch and have been winning with a league leading 82 singles as a team and a league low 12 HRs. While the Pharaohs, when they have been able to score has been via the long ball. Problem is the 19 HRs has led to a league low 34 runs scored. Lightning pitching has been dominating and the Pharaohs strike out way too much. Unless the Pharaohs turn over a new leaf, have a full lineup and put some more balls in play, the Lightning should roll to another series win.
LIGHTNING (2-1) *Potential Sweep!
LEGENDS (7-8) vs. SANDVIPERS (12-3)
The Sandvipers slither into this series with their own 10-game winning streak. The offense has been the best in the league and the pitching has been in the top 5 all season. While the Legends avoided a sweep last week against the Lightning. The Sandvipers lineup has been their usual bashing selves leading the league in Batting Average, Slugging, On-Base Percentage, OPS, you name it. While the Legends are at the bottom of all those categories. The one thing that could give Legends fans hope, the Sandviper pitching staff pitches to contact. They are last in the league in strikeouts with 59, while allowing only 41 walks. That translates to a lot of balls in play. The Sandviper defense has been outstanding, but the Legends are known for putting the ball in play. And have historically been a thorn in the side of the Sandvipers. This is the week Legends bats come alive and the pitching keeps the Sandvipers in the yard.
LEGENDS (2-1)
BOMBERS (7-7) vs. ONES (4-11)
The Bombers season was saved last week, in my opinion, when Mateo Fernandez hit that walk-off HR against the Pharaohs last week. They look to build on that momentum this week against the Ones. Who will be in the lineup for the Ones? It has been a week-to-week question, that may not get answered until game day. This series goes only 2 ways. First, the Bombers keep the ball rolling, win the series with a lot of sweep potential, and move into playoff consideration. Or second, the bats continue to struggle, the Ones find a little offense with some key attendees and the Bombers implosion begins. The Bombers must leave this series with a winning record if they want to have any chance to challenge for the playoffs. Since the Bombers were my sneaky pick to win the whole thing, got to go Bombers here.
BOMBERS (2-1)
SNAPPERS (5-9) vs. CAJUNS (9-6)
The Snappers pitching staff must figure out how to avoid giving up runs. The offense has been fine, and the defense is still top notch. Who’s hotter than the Cajuns? Winners of 8 of their last 9 games and right back at the top of the standings, led by manager Andrew Ledet and rookie Gavin Mansell at the plate and the 1-2 punch of Ruesch and Ledet have been dominate on the mound. Is this the weekend when the Snappers get back to their winning ways? They are going to need to, the top of the standings is trying to run away and hide and losing more ground may make the mountain too hard to climb for Taylor Bryner and his crew. For me this is a toss-up, and the weather should not be the story this week. I am going with the reigning champs. The lineups are very close offensively, it will be the better pitching that will be the story.
CAJUNS (2-1)
Author: Brad Ogden