#2 Oberland T-51s (75-33) vs #3 Warwick Mirelurks (65-43)
Season Series: Oberland 6, Warwick 2
Apr 7-8 @Obe: Obe 3-2, Obe 10-2
May 17-18 @Obe: Obe 5-1, Obe 3-1
May 24-25 @War: War 6-3, War 5-4
Aug 2-3 @War: Obe 6-1, Obe 5-0
Oberland Home Page
Warwick Home Page
Game 1 Matchup
Analysis
The defending champions return for more, but they enter the 2298 season as not being the favorite as they were in the first two seasons of the CBO. Still, they had the most lopsided advantage in a season series, 6-2, than any of the League Semifinals matchups. A machine of a team, the T-51s were surprisingly not that good at generating runs, though they did finish 4th in the SCA in runs scored (583). One of their biggest problems is that they are a good hitting team, 2nd in the SCA at .305, but they were only 11th in home runs (96). Lots of singles, few quadruples. Two players who did not have a problem hitting round-trippers were fourth batter 1B Curtis Slingshot (.299/24/83) and fifth batter LF Prof Castillo (.315/24/83). Five other batters all hit above .300: CF B.J. Perez (.317/5/52), 3B Jeremy Bugs (.328/10/60), 2B Jonathan Abern (.351/5/49), SS Chris Milteer (.316/14/77), and RF Bloatfly Williams (.337/1/43).
The T-51s pitching was dominant, allowing fewer than four runs a game (418). They were first in Starters and Bullpen ERA (3.41 and 3.16) and were just hard to score runs on at any point in the game. CBO Playoffs MVP in 2297 Sheng Kawolski (14-4, 2.51), Matt Udder (16-5, 2.71), and Gerald Jerry (13-11, 4.22) are all tough to score on though Jerry is better when he pitches shorter games. That could give Lennie Landslide (16-7, 4.29) opportunities to pitch. Aaron Still is perhaps the best closer in the CBO (5-3, 2.17, 30 SV). Gimp Shackleford (2-0, 1.91) and Joe Charlie (2-0, 1.91) have been the most successful out of the bullpen, though Matt Breakball (3-2, 4.19) is the top-rated reliever.
Warwick is a much tougher draw than the T-51s would like. On offense, the Mirelurks are not as proficient as Oberland when it comes to hitting the ball (.284), but they are better at getting on base (.357) and scoring (588). RF Melon Sanderson (.333/23/85) was the team MVP. 2B Brad Krol (.283/22/82) and 3B Tutton Gatekeeper (.285/23/86) both help to drive in runs with the long ball. Leadoff hitter CF Radio Short (.361/2/50) gets on base and stole 29 bases to put himself in scoring position a lot.
The pitching for the Mirelurks is good, just nowhere near the T-51s. Both the Starters and Bullpen ERA (4.57 and 3.85) ranked 5th in the SCA. John Diner (10-11, 4.67) is the ace, but Dave Kovalenko (11-8, 4.20) and Jerry Weisman (12-8, 3.99) were more successful on the season. Closer Pem Pollack (8-2, 1.60, 25 SV) may be the reliever of the year in the CBO. Sheffield Williams (4-0, 2.67) and Tom Rose (5-3, 3.89) are expected to contribute most out of the bullpen.
Prediction
Oberland overmatches the Mirelurks in this one, 3 games to 1.