[StLee]

Analysis

The first half of the season has come and gone, and this weekend marked the first weekend of the second half.

The Starlight Lady Killers could be considered one of the winners of the first half along with the Oberland T-51s. But in the second half? Well, the Lady Killers have yet to record a victory after being swept by the suddenly and surprisingly hot Concord Radstags.

The sweep of the Killers marks the Radstags second sweep in four series. They also have won three of their last four series, beating Fort Hagen 2 out of 3 and losing 2 out of 3 to Lexington. The sudden hotness of the Stags have put them just four back of Starlight and just one back of the Synths in the Institute League.

In the Brotherhood League, the Easy Town Assaultrons had been hot, but then ran into a force in the Finch Farm Four Leafs. Though the Trons have the best record over the last 10 in the BL, They slipped from sole possession of second place to a tie with the Leafs. That only benefits first place The Slog, which handled its business like it was expected to against Nordhagen Beach. Right now, the Ghouls have a three-game lead, which could slip away with one poor weekend. For now, though, they are holding their own at the top. Yes, they lost last weekend to the Four Leafs, but they also swept Finch Farm two weeks prior.

In the Railroad League, the T-51s continue to be a machine, er . . . power armor. With the sweep of Fairline Hill Estates, they have now swept three of their last four series (their fifth sweep overall) and won 10 of 11 series on the season. The sole series loss was the surprising sweep at the hands of Vault 81 last month. Oberland has a 6-0 advantage over the Yao Guai, an 8-1 advantage over Diamond City, and a 7-2 advantage over the Shaw Knuckle Punchers. Only the Dwellers have shown success against Oberland, holding a 4-2 advantage. Oberland and Vault 81 play in two weeks.

Speaking of the Dwellers, they may be starting to take hold of being in position to overtake Egret. Though Vault 81 has not looked extraordinary yet this season, they are slowly improving their numbers in the RL. Now, Vault 81 is 2nd in runs allowed (202), though their offense still has a long way to go at 5th in the league (183 runs). 1B Erns Gold has been hot, helping the Dwellers to boost their production. Even more increased productions, and the RL will be an all out Oberland-Vault 81 league.

Finally, we have the Minutemen League. In this case, we are saving the best race for last. It is a repeat of before. Goodneighbor, Warwick, and Quincy are duking it out. It makes one wonder if the two that come out of this league can maintain that intensity in the playoffs. What is certain is that none of the three are willing to fade.

Quincy did what it had to do to stay in the race. Facing a deficit after the series loss at home a week ago to the Hancocks, the Gunners pummeled Jamaica Plain in three straight games, with the closest being a three-run game. That sweep put the Gunners right back into the mix. After being swept by University point two weeks ago, the Hancocks have come back strong with back-to-back series wins against Quincy and the Mirelurks. That puts them in the machinegunner's seat for now. Each of those three have an advantage over one other in the season series, so it is still anyone's league, well, if you're not Atom, the Red Rockets, or the Deathclaws, that is.