BNN Weekly Report
This Week in the CBO, BMU, and BYDL
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
13 August 2300
News from Around the Leagues
7 August Headlines - CBO Draft Pool Revealed; Beach Shuts Out Starlight; Cat's Bussey Hits 5 Times
9 August Headlines - Finch Farm Boot GM Jones, MGR Boat; ET Replaces PC Milk Bottle Dickson with Tom Italianhair
10 August Headlines - Swatters' Craft Hits for Cycle; Gep Hits 35th, T-3rd in Single Season Mark
11 August Headlines - NB's Fogcrawler Out; Swatter's Lacy Booms 3; Gym Gets 1st Win, Shuts Out Egret; Kilgore Safe in 20 Straight; Abernathy's Worry to DC for 3 BMUers
12 August Headlines - Nut Cracks Ninjas in 1-0 Shutout, Stops Kilgore; Vault 81 Blanks Diamond City; Sox Eliminated Despite Winning Streak;
13 August Headlines - FHE's Lub Done for Season; Chemists Drop GM Blonde, MGR Builder
Series Results
NCA:
The Slog 2 at Abernathy 0
Concord 1 at County Crossing 1
Easy Town 2 at Sunshine Tidings 0
Lexington 2 at Finch Farm 0
Fort Hagen 2 at Salem 0
Nordhagen Beach 2 at Starlight 0
Lexington 1 at Abernathy 2
Finch Farm 0 at County Crossing 3
Nordhagen Beach 1 at Easy Town 2
Fort Hagen 2 at Concord 1
The Slog 3 at Salem 0
Starlight 3 at Sunshine Tidings 0
SCA:
Atom 0 at Roxbury 2
Quincy 2 at Diamond City 0
Jamaica Plain 0 at Egret 2
FHE 1 at Goodneighbor 1
Oberland 1 at University Point 1
Vault 81 1 at Warwick 1
Jamaica Plain 2 at Atom 1
Vault 81 2 at Diamond City 1
Egret 0 at Roxbury 3
FHE 1 at Oberland 2
Quincy 0 at Goodneighbor 3
Warwick 0 at University Point 3
Featured Series:
Fri 10 August – Nordhagen Beach 4 at Easy Town 11
The Easy Town Assaultrons topped the Nordhagen Beach Party Boys, 11-4, in North Charles Association action at Easy Town Field. The standout performance belonged to Easy Town pitcher and Littleton, Massachusetts, native William Radwater. The win boosted Easy Town to 56-35, tied for 1st place with the Boys.
Adam Henderson was 1 for 4 with a walk, while adding 2 RBI and scoring once for Easy Town. The 23-year old catcher had a key at-bat in the bottom of the third. With two out and the bases loaded, he broke a 1-1 tie with a run-scoring walk off Julian Shed. It was his 35th walk of the season.
"Nice to see our side come away with the win," Radwater said after the game.
Sat 11 August - Nordhagen Beach 8 at Easy Town 7, 16 inn
The Nordhagen Beach Party Boys withstood an impressive performance by Easy Town left fielder Jarrett Metalbox to defeat the Assaultrons, 8-7, at Easy Town Field. Metalbox was 4 for 8 with a triple, a double, and 2 singles, while scoring 2 times and driving in 2. Nordhagen Beach now has a record of 57-35 with the win.
It could have been a different outcome for Nordhagen Beach, had it not been for Mike Swift, the 22-year old catcher . Swift contributed a run-scoring walk in the top of the 16th inning to put Nordhagen Beach up, 8-7.
"I like the grit of this ballclub," Swift said.
Sun 12 August - Nordhagen Beach 4 at Easy Town 11
The Easy Town Assaultrons beat the Nordhagen Beach Party Boys, 6-5. Easy Town pitcher and Longmeadow, Massachusetts, native David Hill led the way. Reliever Jame Functionary picked up the win. His record improves to 1-0. Tommy Beach took the loss. The Assaultrons bumped their record to 57-36 with this latest triumph.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Adam Henderson contributed a big hit for the Assaultrons. With Easy Town trailing 2-1, he hammered a solo home run.
"We had the game right there for the taking," said Nordhagen Beach manager Matt Ballhawk Getman. "But we decided not to take it."
Players of the Week
NCA: RF Matt Marketman, The Slog, 12/21, 2 HR, 8 RBI
SCA: RF Tomas Jones, University Point, 10/20, 3 HR, 10 RBI
CA: 3B Jeff Luka, Outpost Zimonja, 8/14, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 5 R
MA: 3B John Yaoguai, Eastlake, 8/15, 4 HR, 10 RBI
Transactions
Tuesday, July 31st, 2300
Easy Town Assaultrons: Placed SP Quentin Malone on the 60-day injured list.
Starlight Lady Killers: Placed SP Chris Schneier on the 60-day injured list.
Egret Ninjas: Placed LF Paladin Danse on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 07/29/2300.
Roxbury Rad Sox: Released RP Greg Ziemba.
Roxbury Rad Sox: Released RP Steve Watertank.
The Warwick Mirelurks traded 19-year-old minor league starting pitcher Wylee C. Yotay to the Egret Ninjas, getting 31-year-old minor league first baseman Fawk Fowkes in return.
Monday, August 6th, 2300
Diamond City Swatters: Activated RP Nick Via from the injured list.
Sunday, August 5th, 2300
Jamaica Plain Red Rockets: Placed SS Aaron Erickson on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 08/04/2300.
FHE Yao Guai: Activated SS Hose Wallcrawler from the injured list.
Jamaica Plain Red Rockets: Signed C Felix Medina.
Saturday, August 4th, 2300
Warwick Mirelurks: SP Dobbie Radoncis returns from his rehab assignment.
Diamond City Swatters: Placed 3B Allen Bishop on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 08/01/2300.
Friday, August 3rd, 2300
Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: SP Tommy Beach returns from his rehab assignment.
Lexington Synths: Activated CF Mike Pigeonfoot from the injured list.
Wednesday, August 1st, 2300
Starlight Lady Killers: Activated 2B Ray McMillen from the injured list.
Jamaica Plain Red Rockets: Placed RF Goody Cloyse on the 7-day injured list.
Jamaica Plain Red Rockets: Activated RP Little Jemmy Madison from the 60-day injured list.
Jamaica Plain Red Rockets: Sent RP Little Jemmy Madison to Triple A Haymarket Mall for injury rehab.
Standings
Team Power Rankings
Analysis
The North Charles Association has become interesting as we cruise into the last three weeks of the regular season. There are now two league ties and a tie for the first-ever wildcard spot. On the other side of the Charles, league leaders Goodneighbor (#2) and Vault 81 (#3) could see their leagues wrapped up this week if everything goes right.
Instead of taking on the full Power Rankings in order, let us look at the NCA race. First off, the Easy Town Assaultrons (#1) have now tied Nordhagen Beach (#6) for the Brotherhood League and NCA lead. The Party Boys clinched the season series, 7 games to 5, on Saturday when they edged the Trons in 16 innings. Despite losing 2 of 3, Nordhagen Beach has the advantage over the Trons and would host a one-game playoff for the #1 seed should the league finish in a tie.
With that stated, at 9-1 in their last 10, the Assaultrons are looking like the behemoths of the wastes right now. Despite the devastating loss of Quentin Malone and the overall unimpressive pitching, the Trons are hitting the cover off the ball. They are both a CBO best 8-1 in August and 20-8 since the All-Star Break, showing they are hot at the right time.
In the Institute League, Fort Hagen (#4) was down but not out. Like Nordhagen Beach over Easy Town, the Silver Shroud has already clinched the season series over Concord (#7). Only, the Shroud have dominated, winning 10 of 12 of the games they have played on the season. Moreso that the Trons, Fort Hagen truly is an offensive machine, leading the NCA in every offensive category except homers (4th) and stolen bases (3rd).
The Radstags are suddenly beginning to struggle, winning only one game at home in the weekend series with the Shroud and splitting the midweek slate with County Crossing (#17). The Stags are only 4-4 so far in August, and that has to give pause to a team that has never made it to the postseason.
One week after winning them all, Salem (#11) lost them all, including being swept at home on the weekend by The Slog (#5). That sweep by the Ghouls not only tied them for the wildcard spot, but gave them a 7-5 season series victory over the Hats. The Slog now would go to the playoffs if they started today (and we ignored the game tie-breaker rule). With that stated, The Slog has now won seven straight and look to be what many expected them to be, a tough team able to beat any team at any time.
The Hancocks hold the #1 record in the CBO and probably should be the favorite to win the Sole Survivor Series in 2300, though we have tended to think the NCA will win it. Goodneighbor went 4-1 on the week, splitting with FHE (#14) and then sweeping Quincy (#13).
The Dwellers are the quietest league leader in the CBO, but they are still very good. They went 3-2, but the most important of that was winning 2 of 3 at 2nd-place Diamond City (#10). Vault 81 now needs any combination of 5-10 wins and 5-10 Diamond City losses to clinch the Railroad League. Not too bad for a team that needed a play-in game to make their first playoff appearance last season.
Current playoff rankings in the NCA:
1. Nordhagen Beach (BL) - Wins tie breaker over Easy Town (head-to-head)
2. Fort Hagen (IL) - Wins tie breaker over Concord (head-to-head)
3. Easy Town (BL)
4. Concord (IL)
5. The Slog (BL) - Wins tie breaker over Salem (head-to-head)
Realistically alive:
1. Salem (BL) – 0 GB of wildcard
2. Starlight (IL) – 3 GB of wildcard
Doubtfully alive:
1. Abernathy (IL) - 6 GB of wildcard
No chance:
1. Lexington (IL) - 8 GB of wildcard
2. County Crossing (BL) – 15 GB of wildcard
Eliminated:
1. Finch Farm (BL) – 28 GB of wildcard
2. Sunshine Tidings (IL) - 25 GB of wildcard
Current playoff rankings in the SCA:
1. Goodneighbor (ML)
2. Vault 81 (RL)
3. Jamaica Plain (ML)
4. Diamond City (RL)
5. FHE (RL)
Realistically alive:
1. Egret (RL) – 2 GB of wildcard
2. Quincy (ML) - 2 GB of wildcard
3. University Point (ML) - 4 GB of wildcard
4. Oberland (RL) - 4 GB of wildcard
No chance:
1. Warwick (ML) – 10 GB of wildcard
2. Atom (ML) – 11 GB of wildcard
Eliminated:
1. Roxbury (RL) – 16 GB of wildcard