You're probably saying to yourself, "Wait, what happened to the week five rankings?" My response is to listen to last week's Inside the GBL to find out. The league as a whole was crunched for time in week five because that Saturday, the Griffleball Paw Chests went to the NWLA Regional aiming to qualify for the national tournament (SPOILER: We did). Griffleball finished 3-1 and ended up winning the regional and securing a spot in the NWLA National Tournament. After the long trip to Minnesota, the league still had games the next day (which included the whole roster for the national team) and the heat/wind followed us home. Week Six felt a bit like the regional tournament as most of the players and myself were trying to dodge the sun. On the other hand, the wind (how many times have I mentioned wind since 2015?) made our poly molded wiffleball carry a bit more than usual. Griffleball saw a season high (no need to fact check this one) 38 home runs hit in week six, THIRTY BLEEPING EIGHT. The GasHouse Gorillas swept the Ducks on the Pond (including the make-up game) powered by last year's MVP, Jeremy Ratajczyk. After a rough start to the season, Rat crushed seven home runs in week six and drove in fifteen runs (I think his average is over the Mendoza line now). On the other hand Ratajczyk's teammate, Ryan Galiher continues his MVP worthy season by only giving up one run over six innings pitched (also had three home runs and six RBI's). The next series saw the Taka Drivers (in their awesome new threads) sweep the Bird Gang. It looked like the series could have been in question because the Bird Gang were having trouble finding a second eligible player. In an interesting turn of events, Matt Zurawski made a last minute trade for the Digger Dude's Jeremy Camp and the series would go on. Camp would not help as much as expected as the Taka Drivers hit a combined sixteen home runs and scored twenty seven. After a long weekend for most of the league, it was finally time for Sunday Night Griffleball between the Nighttime Ninjas and Digger Dudes. Both games would end up being a back and forth affair making this series the most compelling of the day. The Ninjas would end up taking the first game backed by two three run bombs from Mike Kubacki. The second game came down to the wire as the Ninjas were looking to complete a two game sweep but, the Dudes found a way to sneak one by Nighttime. Only clinging to a one run lead, Peter Sepulveda hit a grand slam to give his team the lead and the victory in the second game. This was a tremendous win for the Digger Dudes as they now have the same amount of wins as the Ducks for the last playoff spot. With only four weeks (and possibly four makeup games GasHouse/Bird Gang and Ducks/Ninjas) to go, the fourth spot in the playoffs is wide open. It should be an interesting back half of the season as the top three fight for home field and the bottom three fight it out for the last playoff spot.
GRIFFLEBALL POWER RANKINGS
1. GasHouse Gorillas - 8-2
I don't know why I always worry about GasHouse early in the season. They always turn things around and find ways to continue winning. Even without one of the best pitchers in the league, GasHouse showed their force as they won three games against the Ducks. Ryan Galiher continues his amazing 2017 campaign as he shut down the Ducks bats. While last year's MVP, Ratajczyk, found his stroke by crushing seven home runs. They have now won seven straight and they do not look like they will slow down anytime soon.
2. Taka Drivers - 10-2
Rocking their new threads, the Taka Drivers embarrassed the Bird Gang. They outscored their opponent 27 to 3 in Week Six. They continue to have the highest run differential in the league standing at plus 45. They even had a fourteen run inning in one of the games and they hit sixteen home runs as a team. They are still holding the top spot in the standings and they look to secure it before they see GasHouse at the end of the season.
3. Nighttime Ninjas - 6-4
The Nighttime Ninjas continue to play without the arms of Kuna, Arvay, and Holden. Even without them the Ninjas have only given up fourteen runs in eight games played (two forfeits). Yes, twelve of them came in the series against the Dudes but what else is there to say. They are within striking distance of first place because of the performances of Sammy Krucek and Mike Kubacki. Expect them to have reinforcements come playoff time.
4. Digger Dudes - 3-9
Even without four of their six players this week, the Dudes were able to secure a win from the Ninjas. Both Derek Revis and Pete Sepulveda played well enough to possibly win both games. Sepulveda hit his first career home run and crushed a grand slam in the last game to give his team the win. With the fourth, fifth, and sixth place team all with three wins and less, the Digger Dudes continue to stay in the race.
5. Ducks on the Pond - 3-7
The Ducks on the Pond ran into a buzz-saw in week six. They do have better hitting and pitching stats then the other two teams around them but it has yet to translate into more victories. With Brian Brilmyer possibly out for a few weeks, his team is going to have to pick up the slack. They have the talent to get them into the playoffs with the likes of Diehl, Blount, Duvnjak, and Blount. It will be interesting to see how their season unfolds.
6. Bird Gang - 2-8
The Bird Gang have only scored nine runs all season and are struggling to keep a consistent roster. Even with their low offensive production they find themselves only one game out of the win column for the last playoff spot. If Matt Zurawski can find a way to get Andy Felde and Luke Baker back to the field, the Bird Gang may sneak into the last spot. For now, they need to find a way to drive in runs or risk staying at the bottom of the standings.
GRIFFLEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER OF THE WEEK
Jackson Buzea
2 Games .785 AVG 11/14 7 HR 12 RBI 1 BB 1 K
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Ryan Galiher
2 Games 2-0 6 IP 1 ER 2 HA 9 K 9 BB
GRIFFLEBALL SCOREBOARD
Week 5 June 4th
3 PM - Nighttime Ninjas 9 Bird Gang 0 WP - Kubacki LP - Ma. Zurawski
4 PM - Nighttime Ninjas 5 Bird Gang 1 WP - Kubacki LP - Ma. Zurawski S - Krucek
5 PM - Ducks on the Pond 8 Digger Dudes 7 WP - Duvnjak LP - Sepulveda
6 PM - Ducks on the Pond 9 Digger Dudes 5 WP - Diehl LP - Burnell
7 PM - GasHouse Gorillas 2 Taka Drivers 1 WP - Tucker LP - Voges (Tucker No-Hitter)
8 PM - GasHouse Gorillas 1 Taka Drivers 0 WP - Galiher LP - Buzea S - Ratajczyk
NWLA Regional
Game One - Brew City 6 Griffleball 0 (0-1)
Game Two - Griffleball 8 Home Run League 4 (1-1)
Game Three - Griffleball 11 Shedfield 2 (2-1)
Game Four - Griffleball 9 Bemidji 7 (3-1)
(Minnesota Regional Champs- Griffleball Heading to Nationals in July)
Week 6 June 11th
2:30 PM - GasHouse Gorillas 2 Ducks on the Pond 0 (Week 1 Makeup) WP - Ratajczyk LP - Diehl
3 PM - GasHouse Gorillas 13 Ducks on the Pond 1 WP - Galiher LP - Brilmyer
4 PM - GasHouse Gorillas 6 Ducks on the Pond 2 WP - Galiher LP - Diehl
5 PM - Taka Drivers 11 Bird Gang 2 WP - Bartley LP - Ma. Zurawski
6 PM - Taka Drivers 16 Bird Gang 2 WP - Buzea LP - Ma. Zurawski
7 PM - Nighttime Ninjas 10 Digger Dudes 5 WP - Kubacki LP - Revis S - Krucek
8 PM - Digger Dudes 7 Nighttime Ninjas 4 WP - Sepulveda LP - Kubacki
Week 7 June 25th
3/4 PM - Taka Drivers (10-2) at Digger Dudes (3-9)
5/6 PM - Ducks on the Pond (3-7) at Nighttime Ninjas (6-4)
7/8 PM - Bird Gang (2-8) at GasHouse Gorillas (8-2)
WIFFLE OUT!
No comments:
Post a Comment