Praslin Skyhawks (0-0, .000) @ Soufrière Brutes (0-0, .000)
We’ll open the 2021 campaign against a probable mid-table club in the Praslin Skyhawks – they’re built to float… good enough to keep the riffraff at bay but not skilled enough as a unit to make any real noise. Offensively they’re led by the consensus #1 3B in the league in 34-year-old
Cedric Poole who, while still serviceable in the field, brings most of his value from the batter’s box. He’s something of a renaissance man who’s able to apply a supreme focus on the game when he’s playing it while maintaining several irons in the fire off it. They also boast a pitching staff led by
SP Jon ‘Hook’ Wain, who, at 27-years-old, is widely considered one of the top three starters in the league. The problem in Praslin isn’t their top shelf talent – any club in the Association would love to have one or both of these guys – it’s that when you start digging into the rest of the roster, you’ll find that their pantry is mostly void of the basics needed to whip up something tasty with a lot of empty calorie snacks taking up valuable shelf space instead.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP G. Barnett (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs LHP J. Wain (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
RHP H. Nguyen (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs RHP B. Martin (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
RHP V. Crawshaw (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs LHP B. Savage (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
May 10th, 2021
Wain blanks Brutes, Praslin spoils Soufrière’s home opener
Praslin 4 @ Soufrière 0
WP: Jon Wain (1-0, 0.00)
LP: Gael Barnett (0-1, 6.75)
- PRA: Jon Wain (SP) – 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W
- PRA: Darren Price (CF) – 1 for 4, HR, 3 RBI, R
May 11th, 2021
Nguyen twirls masterpiece, Soufrière exacts small measure of revenge
Praslin 0 @ Soufrière 4
WP: Harvey Nguyen (1-0, 0.00)
LP: Brandon Martin (0-1, 3.86)
- SOU: Harvey Nguyen (SP) – 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W
- SOU: Damyean Power (RF) – 3 for 4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
May 12th, 2021
7-run bottom of the 8th seals it for the Brutes
Praslin 1 @ Soufrière 9
WP: Rob Thurston (1-0, 1.50)
LP: Bradley Savage (0-1, 3.86)
- SOU: Vernon Crawshaw (SP) – 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K
- SOU: Mo Crellin (C) – 2 for 3, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
A series victory, at home, to kick off the 2021 campaign? Sold. Vieux Fort’s
Jamie Briggs is the early HR leader – with each of those TRUCKS coming in the second game of the season… No team managed to navigate the first set of the season unscathed, with 5 clubs (Anse-la-Raye, Castries, Canaries, Vieux Fort, and Bongalo) each falling short on their sweep bids during the final game of their respective series… Gros Islet’s
SP Frank Denis will be out for the season after tearing his rotator cuff… at 36-years-old, seeing him take the mound in SLAB next season seems like a long-shot.
Soufrière Brutes (2-1, .666) @ Micoud Vipers (1-2, .333)
On paper, the Micoud Vipers, look to be one of SLAB’s bottom feeders – the pieces they do have (
Ronald Johnston comes to mind, more on him in a bit) don’t seem to fit with the aftermarket parts they’ve used to put their roster together. The pitching looks rough, without a top 10 rated guy on the staff, while the offense looks pedestrian outside of the heart of their order. 34-year-old
LF Ronald Johnson, a power hitter with a great eye, leads the offense, and is backed up by 29-year-old
CF Chris Johnson, who’s a tip-top contact guy that defend well. Outside of that, Micoud doesn’t look to have much in the way of performance parts – they’re pretty much just a stock Honda Accord with some nifty ground fx installed to trick people into thinking that they might have something fancy under the hood.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP E. Kidd (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs RHP M. Cros (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
RHP L. Bolton (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs RHP A. Wiseman (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
RHP G. Barnett (0-1, 6.75 ERA) vs RHP D. Bardrick (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
May 13th, 2021
Micoud offense sputters, Soufrière looks like well-oiled machine
Soufrière 6 @ Micoud 0
WP: Elliot Kidd (1-0, 0.00)
LP: Doug Lallement (0-1, 5.06)
- SOU: Luke Saunders (1B) – 3 for 5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
- SOU: Edgar Bernard (SS) – 1 for 3, 2B, 2 R, 2 BB
May 14th, 2021
Oscar Day hits GRAND SLAM, Soufrière wins with ease
Soufrière 6 @ Micoud 1
WP: Lance Bolton (1-0, 1.23)
LP: Aiden Wiseman (0-1, 6.43)
- SOU: Oscar Day (2B) – 1 for 4, HR, 4 RBI, R
- SOU: Lance Bolton (SP) – 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W
May 15th, 2021
Micoud staves off embarrassment in winning effort to avoid sweep at home
Soufrière 2 @ Micoud 3
WP: Marcus Denton (1-1, 2.08)
LP: Harold Holden (0-1, 0.00)
- SOU: Gael Barnett (SP) – 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
- MIC: Marvin Bromley (SS) – 1 for 3, HR, 3 RBI, R
Our second series win in a row installs us at the top of the pops with the Bongalo Terrapins there to keep us company… in the Northern Division, the Anse-la-Raye Clippers stand alone at the top with the same 4-2 record as us and the Terps….
LF Jason Fahy, of the Castries Black Cats, has pulled even with Vieux Forts’s
Jamie Briggs at 3 HRs each… we’re leading the league with a +17 RDiff – when we win, we win big – followed by the Clippers at +14 so far…
CF Alistair Harlow won the PoTW award – he went 12 for 23 with a TRUCK and 7 RBI…the 1st weekly power ranking is out – we’re ranked 3rd (that’s boo-chit, mang) behind Anse-la-Raye and Bongalo (who’ve dropped two straight)… meanwhile, the two clubs we’ve played thus far are anchored to the bottom of the rankings at 11th (Micoud) & 12th (Praslin), respectively… so, I guess, it’s a strength of schedule thing.
Record: 4-2, .666, t-1st Southern Division
Standings, Clubhouse, Batting & Pitching registers attached...