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Standings Series Summaries Wiffler of the Week Series of the Week Team Stats Box Scores Player Stats Central Ohio Wiffleball League 2012 Wild Card Playoff Week
Champions Division
Contenders Division
PVB - Pleasant Valley Boys UMH - Uncle Muscles' Hour AP - Abusement Park
2012 COWL Wild Card Playoff Series Summaries With championship week behind us, the match ups for the first round of the 2012 COWL playoffs were set. Series 1 was held on Monday, July 16th featuring the Contenders Division king PVB against the ever improving Dirt Dogs. Look at the division record of PVB - they have simply dominated their division foes - mostly with a continuous barrage of HRs. The Dirt Dogs are a 1st year team and have experienced the struggles all 1st year teams do - it is just not easy to whack a curving plastic ball with a 1.5" plastic stick. Still, they have shown steady improvement and the general consensus around the league was PVB would need their best line up and come to play if they did not want to be the Dogs first big conquest. PVB did show with their best line up - while the Dogs were short slugger Luke Detty. Game 1 matched 2011 PVB ace Brett Fisher against Eric Cox on TLC field with the air heavy but still. The Dirt Dogs wasted no time make their intentions known as Eric Cox crushed a 3 run HR in inning 1, and then proceeded to blank PVB for a 3-0 lead after 1. Inning 2 again had the Dogs striking as Matt Cox hit a 2 run dinger and Eric again blanked PVB to give the Dogs a 5-0 lead. What was 5 runs could have easily been 10 as the Dogs left 4 men on base in the 1st 2 innings - an issue that would plague them all night as the Dogs hit lots of line drives but Dave and Gabe were tracking and snaring them in the field. Inning 3 was a quiet one for the Dogs and PVB finally got going. With 2 outs and no runs in, several soft liners found their way to the ground and PVB got untracked. Gabe and Brent both hit 3 run HRs and a couple of missed grounders extended the inning until PVB had scored a total of 10 to make the score after 3 10-5. Neither the Dogs or PVB could muster a score in inning 4. The Dogs mounted a threat in the 5th, scoring 2 more on Eric Cox's 2nd HR of the night, narrowing the score at 10-7. With 1 out the Dogs managed to load the bases. A fielders choice by Steve Clever made it 10-8 with 2 outs and the go ahead run at the plate, but the Dogs could not climb over the hump and Brett picked up the 1st playoff pitching victory of the year with a 10-8 win. Game 2 moved to CC field with Tyler "Laser Shots" Depugh taking the mound against jukin' Dave Fisher for PVB with the Dogs as home team. Neither team scored in the 1st and PVB again was blanked in the 2nd. Tyler helped his own cause by crushing a dinger to left center in the 2nd for a 1-0 lead. Gabe Fisher got PVB going with a 2 out 2 strike 3 run HR in the top of the 3rd and while the Dogs got a couple of men on - they again could not draw blood as Gabe snared a Matt Cox dying liner down the line to snuff the Dogs rally. In Inning 4 PVB unleased a barrage of solo HRs as all PVB players joined in the onslaught as Trevor, Gabe, Dave, Brent and Brett all hit solos for 5 more runs and an 8-1 lead.
The Dogs did not lie down as Matt Cox keyed a 2 run rally with a double down the line. With 2 on and 2 out the Dogs again were stymied and the score 8-3 heading to the 5th. PVB scored 2 more in the top of the 5th as an overthrow with 2 down on a play at 1st landed in the next county and had to be retrieved, allowing the runners heading to 2nd and 3rd to score. Down 10-4 and facing elimination the Dogs responded, as Steve Clever painted a line by hitting the green monster right on the foul line. Two singles later the bases were loaded with none down. A sacrifice fly brought in one and a grounder to the right side brought in a 2nd to narrow the score to 10-5, but once again the Dogs could not manufacture the clutch hit needed and so fell in the series 2-0 by a final score of 10-7. For the series Gabe Fisher once again took advantage of his last year on solid balls, leading the Boys with 3 HRs and 9 RBIs. Brent Fisher had 2 dingers while Dave, Brett and Trevor had 1 each. For the Dogs Eric Cox had 2 dingers and 5 RBIs while Matt and Tyler had 1 dinger each. PVB will move on to play the winner in the Knights vs Redlegs series. For the Dogs this was a successful 1st campaign. They are actually a little ahead of the curve as they slowly began to score more runs and understand all the nuances of the game of Wiffle Ball the COWL way. They will score more next year just because they will know the ropes. Their team needs are to develop a consistent deep threat, have another solid threat and be able to take away some base hits to cut innings short. We are very impressed with how quickly they picked up the pitching aspect - the most important in our opinion. This was evidenced by their holding the ball-crushing line up of PVB to only 8 total HRs - including only 5 by normal Wiffle ball hitters. This is 3-4 per game below PVB's average. Thanks to Eric & Crew for joining us ! Best of luck to PVB ! ===========================================================================================
Wild Card series 2 was a classic, with all games still in doubt into the final inning - right to the last out in all 3 games. UMH, seeking to return to the COWL World Series and the U, seeking to return to the World Series for the 2nd year in a row, locked horns on TLC in game 1 with Dave Page starting against the U's John Kepler. The U has been surging of late with Brent and John finding their swings and Shondrick rejoining to aid the cause. UMH countered with Dave Page, Blake Lansing, Ashley Flautt and still mono-recovering Eric Lewis. UMH had swept the U in their regular season series with 2 games being wide victory margins. Inning 1 was somewhat uneventful with Brent providing the only run via a solo HR. The U got to work in the top of inning 2 on 2 HRs by Tyler and one each by the rest of the U players for a total of 8 runs. Ashley brought UMH back by crushing 2 mammoth HRs to make the score 9-4 the U after 2. Tyler added a 3 run dinger in the 3rd for the U and Ashley again went to work, crushing 2 more 3 run HRs as Blake and Eric also stroked dingers for a big 9th run 3rd giving UMH their first lead of the night at 13-12 after 3. The 4th inning was once again punctuated by a 2 run HR by Tyler and Shondrick added a solo. UMH could not get anything going and the last inning started with the U leading 15-12. After a solo shot by Tyler, his 6th, UMH came to the plate trailing 16-12. Ashley again answered the call with a 2 run dinger to cut the deficit to 16-14 with none out. Two consecutive hits by UMH brought the winning run to the plate. After a deep sacrifice to right Blake Lansing, the league's fastest runner and generally regarded as the most difficult out, represented the winning run with one out and men on 1st and 3rd. Blake smacked a one-hop hard grounder between 1st and 2nd which Brent Hoover fielded cleanly, tagging Eric Lewis on his way to 2nd and then racing to 1st to narrowly beat Blake to the bag thereby recording a double play and ending the game in a U win. Brent picked up the win by pitching the 3rd inning when the U went ahead and John Kepler got the dramatic save. For the game Tyler Wiget led all hitters with 6 HRs and 6 RBIs. Brent added 4 HRs and 5 RBIs while Shondrick smacked 2 HRs and John added 1. For UMH Ashley speared the attack crushing 5 Levi length HRs to accompany her 9 RBIs. Blake and Eric also added 1 HR. Game 2 moved to J&M field where the U would be home team, starting Shondrick against Ashley. David got things going for UMH by crushing 2 run HR to start the game but the U fought right back after a Shondrick 3 run HR gave the U the lead 3-2 after 1. The rest of the game would be small ball as no further HRs were hit. The U added 3 in the top of the 2nd on a double by Brent and singles by Tyler and John. UMH again used David's bat to score 3 more and took a 6-4 lead heading to the 3rd. After holding the U scoreless in the 3rd UMH extended their lead on a double and a backside single by Dave, driving in 4 in the process to claim an 8-4 lead. The U got back on the board with a cache of base hitting, scoring 2 in the 4th to close the gap to 8-6. UMH added a final run to their tally via an Ashley sacrifice and the UMH retired the U without a base runner in the 5th to give Ashley a 9-6 win and even the series at 1 game each. For the game Dave led all hitters with 8 RBIs on 1 HR. Shonrick added 1 HR for the U. Game 3, and the rubber match to see who moves on to face the Legends in the Champions Division Championship returned to TLC with UMH being the home team and sending Blake Lansing to the mound to face Brent Hoover. The U struck first using a Tyler Wiget 2 run HR to post a 2-0 lead. UMH struck back on an Ashley Flautt HR followed by Eric's return to the HR wagon with a solo shot, giving UMH a 4-2 lead after 1. Tyler Wiget again put the U in front with a 2 run dinger and Brent added another run via a solo shot. UMH added a run on a Dave Page solo shot and the 2nd ended with the score knotted at 5. The U exploded in the 5th as John, Tyler and Shondrick all crushed HRs to push across 5 and jump to a 10-5 lead. Trading punches like a heavyweight bout, UMH scored also, pushing across 6 as Blake and Eric both rapped 2 run HRs to key a 6 run inning and reclaim the lead at 11-10 with 2 innings to play. The U responded in kind, with Tyler again providing the fireworks with a 3 run HR followed by a Shondrick solo shot, resulting in 5 runs in the inning and a 15-11 lead. UMH threatened in the bottom of the 4th, getting 2 runners aboard with no outs, but 2 pop outs and a good play by Tyler on an Ashley grounder retired UMH with no runs added to the board. The top of the 5th saw Tyler adding an insurance run on a solo HR - his 5th of the game to take a 16-11 lead into the bottom of the 5th. UMH mounted a charge with Ashley crushing a mile high 2 run HR to cut the lead to 16-13. Dave followed with a 2 run HR - his 2nd dinger of the game and with 1 out UMH trailed the U by a single run 16-15. Reliever John Kepler got Eric to pop out and after Blake reached base on a single UMH's primary threat on the night, Ashley, took to box representing the winning run with the speedster Blake as the tying on first. A battle ensued and after several foul balls and a mounting 4-2 count John coerced Ashley into slightly mis-hitting - resulting in another mile high pop up to left center which Tyler hauled in - securing a thrilling 16-15 win for the U, a series victory and the right to challenge the Legends for the Champions Division crown. For the game Tyler Wiget led all hitters with 5 HRs and 8 RBIs. Brent and Shondrick both added 2 HRs for the U. UMH was once again led by Ashley with 3 HRs as Eric and Dave added 2 and Blake 1. The U is peaking at the right time - hitting, fielding and pitching. This was an odd year for UMH as they struggled to replace Andy's bat and Eric contracting mono at season's end only compounded their difficulty. While the U seems to have finally settled upon a consistent lineup we would not be surprised to see UMH make some roster changes in the off season to add some punch to the bottom of the lineup. UMH does not exit empty-handed, however, as they still remain champions of Emilee's challenge and bear the winner's T-shirts for 2012's benefit event. ===========================================================================================
The last Wild Card series was another barn burner, with each game nip and tuck - both teams trading leads back and forth for both games of the series. The Knights and the Redlegs finished in a virtual dead heat in the regular season with the Knights getting home field advantage by virtue of their 2-1 series win over the Redlegs in the regular season. An indication of how close the Contenders Divsion was; if the Redlegs score 3 more runs against PVB in a 6-4 loss or 2 more run against the Knights in a regular season 12-11 loss, then the Knights and PVB play in the wild card playoff and the Redlegs take on the first year Dirt Dogs instead of the Knights. As is shook out, the Knights would be home team on TLC for a best of 3 series and they sent Amos Jones to the mound against Redleg ace Brad Miller to see who would advance to the Divisional Championship series against PVB. The Redlegs wasted no time, putting up 6 in the top of the 1st on HRs by Adam McGure and Kyle Urigh. The Knights struck back with 5 of their own on a 3 run HR by Josh and a 2 runner by Amos. Inning 2 saw things even up as the Redlegs scored one on a Matt Hoops solo shot and the Knights score 2 on another bomb drop by Josh. Inning 3 was a wash also as both teams scored 2 to tie the score at 9. Josh crushed another 2 run dinger and the Redlegs used a 2 run shot by Adam. Inning 4 saw the Redlegs strike for 4 on clutch base hitting, some good base running, an errant peg attempt by Corey White of a runner going to 3rd and a Matt Hoops 2 run blast to claim a 13-9 lead heading to the bottom of the 4th. Josh once again keyed the Knight attack with his 4th HR of the game - a 2 run blast to center. The Redlegs entered the final frame up 13-11, but could not add any cushion as runners were stranded on 2nd and 3rd after reaching with only 1 out. The Knights managed to get runners to 1st and second as Corey and Dustin reached on back-to-back hits including a line paint by Dustin. Amos popped up to record the 2nd out, bringing up Josh with 2 down, the tying run on 1st and the winner at the plate. Josh crushed a 1-0 pitch to deep, deep right center, giving the Knights a crucial 14-13 walk-off win in game 1 of the series. For the game Josh led all hitters with 5 HRs and 12 of the Knights 16 RBIs. Amos added a solo HR for the Knights. For the Redlegs Adam McGuire and Matt Hoops crushed 2 HRs, while Brad Miller and Kyle Urigh added 1 each. Amos picked up the win from the mound. Game 2 moved to CC field - the Redlegs choice of home venue - a somewhat curious choice as CC field is known as a difficult place to get base hits - and therefore score runs as the only way to post big numbers is to hit lots of HRs. Left field is certainly reachable but HRs to center and left center are few and far between. Additionally, this is probably the easiest field for left handers to hit HRs on - the shortest fence on any field and the Knights just happen to have the best left handed hitter in the league in Corey White. Never-the-less, the Redlegs sent Kyle Urigh to the mound to face off against Dustin Weaver, and the Redlegs needing a win to continue the series. Inning 1 was a quiet affair with Josh breaking the ice with a 2 run HR. The Redlegs posted a single run in the bottom of the inning on Blake Rinehart's first HR of the night. The Knights added 2 more in the 2nd on Corey White's 1st dinger of the night. It appeared the Redlegs choice of home field paid off in the 2nd as they exploded for 8 runs as Madd Hoops, Blake Rinehart, Brad Miller and Kyle Urigh all went yard, giving the Redlegs a 9-4 lead heading into the 3rd. The Knights returned the favor in the top of the 3rd as Amos and Josh hit HRs and Corey crushed 2 - 2 run blasts for a total of 7 to take an 11-9 lead into the bottom of the 3rd. A Matt Hoops solo shot narrowed Knights lead to 11-10 heading to the 4th. Corey White utilized the short fence to hit 2 - 3 run blasts in the inning as the Knights jumped out to an 18-10 lead. The Redlegs threatened, getting 2 men on with no outs, but could ultimately score only 1 run and thus trailed 18-11 going to the final frame. The Knights added a single run on a Josh Wonderleigh solo blast bringing up the Redlegs who needed 8 to tie or 9 to win and force the game back to TLC field for the rubber match. The Knights quickly retired 2 Redlegs. Kyle Uhrig hit a monster to center, followed by Adam who reduced the lead to 6 with a mile high poke beyond the center field fence. The Knights ended the game and claimed the series by enticing Matt to pop up to right. For the game Corey White led all hitters with 5 RBIs and 8 RBIs. Josh added 3 more HRs and 5 RBIs. For the Reds Matt Hoops and Blake Rinehart smacked 3 HRs, Kyle Uhrig had 2 and Adam and Brad had 1 each. Dustin picked up the win on the mound. Expectations were this would be a very close series, given how closely the two teams finished in the regular season, and reality mirrored expectations. Both games were nip and tuck with lead changes occurring almost every inning. The Knights managed to get that extra HR in each game - in the first by Josh, and in the second by Corey - to put them over the top. Both teams accorded themselves very, very well. If anything, this series was a testament to how important every game is in the regular season - in terms of both who you play in the playoffs, and if you are home team or not. Congratulations to the Redlegs on a very successfull 2nd season - they had some key roster additions and are becoming one of the premier teams in the league. The Knights move on to play Contenders Division champ the Pleasant Valley Boys in what promises to be another knock-down, drag out affair. Good luck to both ! COWL Wiffler of the Week - Wild Card Week 8 TBD
Box Scores (Home team on top) Return to Top PVB 0-0-10-0-X= 10 Dirt Dogs 0-1-2-2-2= 7 Dirt Dogs 3-1-0-0-5 = 8 PVB 0-0-3-5-2= 10 Brent Fisher PVB (1) Brent Fisher PVB (1) Gabe Fisher PVB (1) Brett Fisher PVB (1) Matt Cox DD(2) Dave Fisher PVB (1) Trevor Thomas PVB (1) Tyler Depugh DD (1) UMH 2-2-6-0-0=15 The U 2-0-2-4-1=9 UMH 4-1-6-0-4=15 The U 0-4-9-0-2=18 UMH 3-3-0-0-0=6 The U 2-3-5-5-1=16 WP – John Kepler WP – Ashley Flautt WP – Brent Hoover Ashley Flautt UMH(5) Shondrick Locklear U(1) Ashley Flautt UMH(3) Brent Hoover U(4) Brent Hoover U(2) Shondrick Locklear U(2) Shondrick Locklear U(2) John Kepler U(1) Eric Lewis UMH(1) Eric Lewis UMH(1) Blake Lansing UMH(1) Blake Lansing UMH(1) Dave Page UMH(1) Knights 5-2-2-2-3= 14 Redlegs 1-8-1-1-2= 13 Redlegs 6-1-2-4-0= 13 Knights 2-2-7-7-1= 19 Adam McGuire RL(2) Josh Wonderleigh KG(3) Amos Jones KG(1) Matt Hoops RL(3) Brad Miller RL(1) Blake Rinehart RL(3) Matt Hoops RL(1) Kyle Uhrig RL(2) Kyle Uhrig RL(1) Amos Jones KG(1) Adam McGuire RL(1) Brad Miller RL(1)
Weekly Team Stats - Thru 8 Weeks Return to Top
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