Playoff Tree
#3 Easy Town Assaultrons (61-47) vs #4 Fort Hagen Silver Shroud (59-50)
Playoff Results
Easy Town
League Semifinals
Defeated #2 Abernathy 3-1
Game 1: ET 8-7
Game 2: ET 3-2
Game 3: ABE 5-2
Game 4: ET 7-1
Fort Hagen
League Semifinals
Defeated #1 Nordhagen Beach 3-0
Game 1: FtH 5-1
Game 2: FtH 8-4
Game 3: FtH 11-5
Season Series: Fort Hagen 6, Easy Town 2
April 19-20 @FtH: FtH 7-3, FtH 7-6
May 10-11 @FtH: FtH 4-1, FtH 4-2
May 31-June 1 @ET: ET 5-4, FtH 3-1
August 2-3 @ET: ET 5-3, FtH 6-2
Easy Town Team Stats
Fort Hagen Team Stats
Game 1 Matchup
Analysis
This battle of the wildcard teams from the Brotherhood and Institute Leagues offers intrigue in the first season of the North Charles Association. Fort Hagen owned the season series in the tow teams' first-ever matchups, winning 6 of 8, including all four at Hubris Comics Park. Luckily for the Easy Town Assaultrons, only two of the potential five games will happen in Fort Hagen. For now, the first two games are near the coast at Easy Town Field where the teams split, 2-2.
The Assaultrons were never down for a long time this season, though some midseason struggles left their playoff bid in doubt. After falling behind The Slog for the second-place spot, the Assaultrons finally woke up in August, going an impressive 16-6 in the month to surge ahead of the Ghouls and take the wildcard spot. That they were able to beat Abernathy in the League Semifinals Series was not a shocker.
Unlike the regular season, Easy Town's pitching showed up in the first-round matchup in Games 2 and 4, holding the Adamantium to two runs and one run in those games. Still, if the Assaultrons are to win the NCA League Championship, they will need their bats to burst through the baseball seams.
League Semifinals MVP Dan Squirrel most certainly showed up for the series. In the four games, he went 7 for 17 (.412) with a home run and four RBI. Frank Clawdodger and Adam Henderson also were 7 for 17, with Clawdodger adding five RBI for the Assaultrons. The CBO batting champion, Jarrett Metalbox, was ice cold, going only 3 for 18 (.167) with two RBI. Matt Stoops provided the only other home run for Easy Town in the series.
On the mound. Angel Waterdrink was Easy Town's top pitcher. He went 2-0 in two starts, allowing just six earned run in 16.0 innings (3.38 ERA) on 14 hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Smoker Caliman won his only start, allowing no runs on five hits in 7.0 innings. David Tech (3.86) suffered the only loss in the 5-2 Game 3 loss.
Fort Hagen had an up and down battle with Abernathy throughout the 2298 season, ultimately finishing tied on the last day of the regular season for first place and having to play a tiebreaker that the Silver Shroud dropped. They responded to that disappointment of not winning the Institute League by blowing out the Nordhagen Beach Party Boys in three games. Like Easy Town, the Silver Shroud depend more on their offense than defense, and the way their offense played, they have to be the favorite in this series.
The Shroud were probably the most shocked about how successful their offense was against Nordhagen Beach. Series MVP Micah Morals was 5 for 12 (.417) with two home runs and nine RBI. Jim Tiller hit the Silver Shroud's other home run, batting 5 for 14 (.357) with four RBI. He also was brutal against Assaultrons' pitching in the regular season, going 11 for 29 (.379) with three home runs and seven RBI. Sam Noob was amazing in his at-bat successes, going 8 for 12 (.667). If Fort Hagen continues with hot bats, no team will be able to stop them.
Three games, three winning pitchers in the series sweep describes Fort Hagen. Joey Dimes pitched seven shutout innings in the Game 1, 5-1 win. Brent Hooker followed up with the most hits allowed against the Party Boys, but he still left the game with just a 2.84 ERA and an 8-4 victory. In Game 3, former Salem ace Mike Cartrette showed why he was a good trade by allowing just three earned runs in 6.0 innings (4.50) to help the Shroud to an 11-5 win and a series sweep over the 2297 CBO runners-up.
Prediction
Fort Hagen continues its season success against the Assaultrons, winning the series in four games, 3-1.