LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – After Monday night’s games, four teams have 21 points in the Premier League Wiffle® standings, although the Bombers have done so in 12 games while the Snappers have already played 15. The One’s and Warbirds also sit at seven wins in the middle of week four, and the Calicos are right behind them with six. With only five teams advancing to the playoffs, one of these teams will be left on the outside looking in, and the Tomahawks may knock another out of postseason contention.
The night kicked off with a doubleheader between the Stone Men and Bombers, and the Stone Men proved no team is safe this early in the season, as Dylan Martin held the Bombers’ high powered offense scoreless until rookie CJ Peterson hit a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Brandon Maio has remained nearly unhittable, striking out eight batters in 4⅓ scoreless innings. Maio pitched four more scoreless innings in game two of the series, allowing just one hit, and he also drove in the game’s only two runs with a double in the fourth inning.
The Ones matched up with the Warbirds in the second series of the night. In game one Ryan Chen hit a three run shot off Matt Petrikas, but Petrikas would settle down after that, retiring six out of the next seven batters he faced. He also drive in the only run of the game for the Warbirds with a double in the top of the fourth, but The Ones pushed across an unearned run in the bottom of the inning, and went on to win 4-1. The Ones scored three in the first again in game two with four singles and a walk, and Joel Gutierrez hit a triple with the bases loaded in the second to give them a 6-0 lead. The Warbirds manufactured a run in the bottom of the inning thanks to a bases loaded walk from Chad Phillips, but Adam Kouts answered with a solo shot in the top of the third, and The Ones went on to win 7-2. They have now won seven in a row, and have the highest combined OPS in the league.
The Calicos were without James Stein on Monday evening, and depended on the arm of Alex Carrasco in their series against the Tomahawks. Carrasco shut the Tomahawks out in game one despite being one fielder short, and the four man lineup of Matty Levine, Barry Hutter, Carrasco, and Joe Kuther pushed three runs across in the fourth inning before Carrasco closed the game out. In game two the Calicos went to Carrasco again, but he was unable to hold down the Tomahawks’ bats. Billy Osgood hit a leadoff home run to open the game, and Tony “Rocket” Garay hit another solo shot to lead off the fifth, but all four Calicos had an extra base hit, and they put up five runs to squeak out the 5-4 win.
The final matchup of the night was between the Snappers and Sandvipers. The first game was a pitchers duel between the Sandvipers’ Jason Walker, and the Snappers 1-2 punch of Taylor Bryner and Shane Weber. Bryner struck out eight of the first nine batters he faced before walking out of the game and handing the ball over to Weber. Walker allowed two singles in the first inning, but didn’t allow another hit for the remaining 4⅓ innings. His complete game shutout was clinched in the bottom of the fifth on a walk from Adam Tanic and a walk-off double from Trench Picone with two outs. Picone got the start in the final game of the night, and Weber was the only batter in the Snappers lineup he seemed to struggle with. Weber went 3-3, scored twice, and was a double shy of the cycle against Picone, and allowed just a single unearned run over four innings before Bryner came in to pitch the fifth inning, closing out a 2-1 win, and snapping the Sandvipers’ nine game winning streak.
The next PLW action will be on Thursday, March 4th. Watch LIVE on Twitch.
