The season is flying by. Halfway through the regular season already, two games left in division play, four teams undefeated, and six teams completely defeated with plenty of time to turn it around – just ask 2012 Corksuckers. After this week, the pool picture will begin to develop.
LANGSTON HUGHES
Reign of Terror @ Das Boot
Favorite: Reign of Terror Line: 1 Over/Under Total: 22
A couple of reasons why RoT is favored. Double revenge game for RoT. They lost to Das Boot twice last year, in division play and in the second round of the tournament, but they only lost by 1 run both times. And RoT’s offense has been more consistent this year. There is always that chance DB has a bad kicking game, but so far RoT has been pretty good scoring runs, even in the loss to Love Garden.
Slowride @ Love Garden
Favorite: Love Garden Line: 6 O/U: 25
Love Garden righted the ship in their shootout with RoT last week. Slowride is trying to avoid consecutive losses. High stakes, and I want to say LG will end the suspense early, but Slowride likes to prove the doubters wrong. Since I am doubting Slowride, they are going to show up to play, and the game will be closer than expected.
Tellerdactyls @ Toe Pokes
Favorite: Toe Pokes Line: 3 O/U: 15
Toe Pokes started off 0-2 and have won three straight. Tellerdactyls started off 0-3 and won their last two. Tellers wins by outscoring the other team, Toe Pokes prevents the other team from scoring (subtle difference). Both teams played BP Tigers and Harper Valley the last two weeks. Tellers won 20-15 (BPT) and 19-7 (HVPTA) and Toe Pokes won 13-8 (BPT) and 8-2 (HVPTA). Low scoring game goes to Toe Pokes, high scoring – double digits – to Tellerdactyls.
Harper Valley PTA @ Bullet Proof Tigers
Favorite: BP Tigers Line: 6 O/U: 22
Both are going for their first win. BP Tigers have the edge, scoring slightly more and allowing fewer runs against the rest of the division. And they’re the home team.
JOHN BROWN
MUrda @ Happy Shirt
Favorite: Happy Shirt Line: 4 O/U: 18
MUrda is a sneaky good, under the radar team (in my mind anyway). They have a 4-1 record, with their only loss going to Los Matadores a few weeks ago. They have been great on defense allowing 4.8 runs per game so far, but this will be their toughest test against a team that has scored 10 runs or more (sometimes a lot more) in every game.
Red Lyon @ Los Matadores
Favorite: Los Mats Line: 2 O/U: 16
Red Lyon needs to win this game to stay in the running for the 2-seed. Los Matadores will still be in contention for the 1-seed, even if they lose. Both teams can play ball at a high level, but Los Mats has turned it up the past couple of weeks (scoring 23 and 26), and RL has just been trying to get by (6 runs in a loss, 8 runs in a win).
$P@C3Pu$$y! @ Brew Ballers
Favorite: Brew Ballers Line: 3 O/U: 12
Although Brew Ballers has not sniffed a win yet, they can still sneak into the 6-seed if they win their last two division games, which is conceivable.
Dirty Mike @ Asteroid Head
Favorite: Asteroid Head Line: 2 O/U: 14
This is a rematch of 2012 week 1 GOTW – AH won 14-10. This year both teams are struggling. They are scoring and playing defense at the same rate, the only difference is AH has the more impressive win this season. For that, they are favored.
CARRIE A. NATION
Rockets @ Corksuckers
Favorite: Corsuckers Line: 3 O/U: 17
This will be another good GOTW. Corksuckers are showing they can cause some problems. Their win against Afterparty!! was their best since the team’s inception. Their only loss is to Wildman, and they have a decent shot at the 2-seed. It is a remarkable turnaround since their 0-4 start last year. Rockets will give them a game though. They are familiar with the Corksuckers, losing to them 9-5 last year.
Goats @ Rats
Favorite: Goats Line: 5 O/U: 18
Goats are trying to reboot their offense after their lowest output of the season against Wildman. I see them scoring more this week. The Rats are doing a good job on offense – averaging 8 runs per game – but their defense allows over 13 runs per game.
Wildman @ West Coast
Favorite: Wildman Line: 10 O/U: 20
Wildman is rolling. They can be the first team to clinch a 1-seed with the win this weekend – they hold the head-to-head tie-breaker over Goats and Corksuckers.
Free State @ Afterparty!!
Favorite: Afterparty!! Line: 4 O/U: 16
It’s a bounce-back game for Afterparty!!. Free State has been trying to bounce-back all season. It will be a tough game for the Growlers to get over the hump.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS
Screamers @ Jazzhaus
Favorite: Screamers Line: 7 O/U: 14
Screamers won this game last year 24-3, but a lot has changed in a year. Screamers still seem to be adjusting to roster changes, and they struggle to score despite having some great kickers. Jazzhaus is taking scouting to a higher level by filming the competition, and they are keeping games close (despite the Abraxas outlier). Still, Screamers should win.
Chalmersiz @ Ghosts
Favorite: Chalmersiz Line: 5 O/U: 17
The lower the score, the better for Chalmersiz. The Ghosts can get around the bases, so Chalmersiz need to be on their toes this week.
Abraxas @ Liberty Hall
Favorite: Abraxas Line: 10 O/U: 24
This season has taught me to hedge my bets, but I can only see one outcome for this game. Hurtz demonstrated how scoring against Abraxas is only half the battle.
Hurtz @ Balls Deep
Favorite: Hurtz Line: 11 O/U: 20
Time to see how Hurtz responds after a loss. They’ll be fine.