#1 Goodneighbor Hancocks (74-34) vs #4 Vault 81 Dwellers (57-51)
Season Series: Goodneighbor 5, Vault 81 3
April 12-13 @Good: Good 8-5, Good 8-3
June 6-7 @V81: V81 5-4, Good 3-0
August 8-9 @Good: V81 3-2, V81 6-5
August 15-16 @V81: Good 6-4, Good 12-3
Goodneighbor Home Page
Vault 81 Home Page
Game 1 Matchup
Analysis
They may not be as dominant as they were in 2298, but do not let the Goodneighbor Hancocks fool you: they are the best team in the CBO. Sporting a run differential of +239, the Hancocks did not just beat teams but annihilated them in most of their games.
Offensively, few teams have a 1-8 lineup that comes anywhere close to what the Hancocks have. Minus stolen bases where they finished 8th in the SCA (44), Goodneighbor was #1 in every other offensive category. With reigning CBO MVP and probable 2299 winner, 1B Bryan Assman (.365/39/125), in the middle of the lineup, this is a team that can score a lot of runs when it gets runners on base. Five players finished with an above .300 batting average, with 2B Jumper Hayes (.371/11/69) taking the batting title. Good Don Duck (.363/12/51), last year's Playoffs MVP winner, also had a stellar year, as did CF John Rose (.296/14/65), LF Zachary Utsinger (.332/17/75), SS Burtie Cuttooth (.322/20/85), and 3B Jason Juras (.264/28/69).
On the mound, the Hancocks can be even more dangerous, especially with the midseason acquisition of SP Matt Pageturner (21-3, 3.80). Their Starters ERA was 2nd in the SCA (3.76), but Pageturner, Quincy Eloquent (17-7, 3.86), and John Oldsink (15-8, 3.40) certainly are capable of holding the other team to 3 or 4 runs per game, plenty enough for the offense. The bullpen was #1 (2.59) with two closer-quality relievers in Bus Paula (31 saves, 3.26) and Tiny Greene (20 saves, 1.74).
Vault 81 benefitted from the 2299 collapse of the Oberland T-51s who finished surprisingly below .500. The Dwellers got average production, which was enough to make them the fourth-best team in an association that only had four teams above .500. The truth is that the Dwellers must play over their heads to get three wins against Goodneighbor, sporting the 6th-best runs scored amount (575) and 7th-best runs allowed (549).
On offense, the loss of Bubb Islander will hurt, but former MVP RF Deer Quickwalker (.336/24/93) and impressive second-year player CF Aesed Hayjen (.318/15/64) are certainly capable of getting hot. Three other players had 20+ home runs for the SCA's second-best power team: SS Knud Bather (.264/20/73), 1B Jason Robinson (.252/27/78), and 3B Mark Dombrowski (.260/21/73).
The pitching needs to be much better, with ace Edwin Mass (12-7, 4.38) giving the team its best shot to win a couple in the series. Curt Redcoats (9-12, 4.90) and Josh Mustang (8-10, 5.00) need to be outstanding to win. The bullpen relies on CL Dave Caveman (25 saves, 3.97) who is a low-rated reliever in the league.
Prediction
Goodneighbor is on a mission to repeat and will not let the Dwellers get in their way, taking this one 3-0.