BNN Report
News from the CBO, MML, BMU, GBRL, and Youth Leagues
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
29 March 2308
Oberland Takes 2308 Nuka Cup Tournament Title
The Oberland T-51s defeated the Jamaica Plain Red Rockets, 2 games to 1, to win the 9th Nuka Cup Tournament title. This marks the first title for the T-51s and the first team not named Roxbury to win the tournament since Atom's victory in 2304.
Game 1: Oberland 7 at Jamaica Plain 1
Mesquite Williams pitched a complete game, allowing just one earned run on six hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts. Good Don Duck and Racky Westheim each had two hits and two RBI in the game. Westheim homered. The T-51s pulled away with a five-run 8th inning.
Game 2: Oberland 10 at Jamaica Plain 5
The T-51s clinched the championship by winning the first two games. Chase Doctorman went 3 for 5 with a home run, two runs, and two RBI to earn Game MVP honors. Bulleye Shooterson hit two solo home runs for the Red Rockets.
Game 3: Oberland 1 at Jamaica Plain 3
The Rockets avoided the sweep, taking a win to Spring Training tomorrow. Chris Deathclaw pitched 8.0 innings, allowing just one earned run on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Doug Dee El pitched the 9th for the save. Ronnie Messenger suffered the loss despite another solid outing. He allowed two earned runs in 6.2 innings. Dan Ackerman hit a pinch-hit solo home run in the 8th to slightly pad Jamaica Plain's lead.
County Crossing Sweeps The Slog for Third Place
The Slog enjoyed their success to get all the way to the Semifinals, but all their luck stopped there. County Crossing easily took care of the Ghouls in all three games: 10-8, 5-4, and 4-3.
The Bugs' Taygun Topaloglu looks to be the preseason champion, hitting out of this world in the preseason tournament. He will be looking to build himself back from last season when his batting average had a significant drop from the previous season (.339 to .264), nearly 40 points below his career average.
Freshmen to Watch in 2308
With the beginning of the Boston Collegiate Athletic Conference, let us not forget that the youth leagues still have a lot to offer in amateur ball. This season features another group of talented young freshmen that we at BNN will be keeping our eye on to see where they may land in the 2311 Rookie Draft. Here are a few we are excited to watch:
The Babz Twins, RF Eden Babz and LF Esau Babz, Weymouth - Already giving the Weymouth Locksmiths of the BYDL an unfair advantage, twins Eden and Esau Babz are talented young outfielders with the talent and smarts to play at the next level. While currently projected to play in right field with senior Rusty Nukalurk manning CF, Eden is a speedster who should be able to steal a lot of bases and run down a lot of fly balls. Esau is more of the power hitter, having high potential for generating lots of home runs, though he is not as fast on the base paths. Eden is the vocal leader, while Esau likes to keep to himself. Both are rated as swing happy, meaning they may strike out more often than they should when not waiting for their right pitch.
SP Gobbler Core, Diamond City The newest starting pitcher for the Newsboys, Core may need to add more pitches to his repertoire in time. For now, he has a well-placed fastball in the lower 90s and a sinker that hitters cannot lay off. His changeup still needs some work, but it should be effective enough at the youth league level. Core is expected to be the #1 starter for Diamond City.
3B Nathan Done, Dennis - Short and squatty, Done has the body build to murder baseballs with his genuine Swatter for the SCYL's Menaces. He stays low to the ground in his stance and drives baseballs. Done will need to work on handling outside pitches, but the switch hitter can be a nightmare in time for all pitchers who leave anything up in the zone.
SS Brandon Larsonist, Freeplat - While he is working on his defense a lot to be a contributor as a freshman, Larsonist may already have the raw batting talent to be an everyday player for the Wicked Goods of the SCYL. Larsonist will be a decent contact hitter, but he could improve to one of the CBO's premier power-hitting shortstops.
SP Sheldon Mayoral, Chatham - The Lighthouse expected ace either now or later, Mayoral already has a blazing mid-90s fastball with good movement. Coupled with his strong splitter and an efficient changeup, Mayoral may find success early for the SCYL's Lighthouse. Mayoral has two good senior starters on his Chatham team, Lucas Frost and Minny Vike, so he may not be under a lot of pressure to be the star right away.
CL Buzzcut McDonald, Hester - He is projected to start his freshman year as the closer for the Mechanists of the BYDL, but McDonald has the chance to develop into a CBO ace one day. He mostly comes in with two effective pitches, a low-to-mid 90s fastball and a 12-6 curve. However, he has been working on a cutter and changeup while he also is working to get more natural movement to his pitches. We are interested to see what talented Coach Want Moreno does with him.
SP Jared Porch, Freeplat - Another talented freshman with the Wicked Goods, Porch already has an array of five pitches, four of which he is rated as effective with. His changeup is his 5th pitch but Freeplat coaches may ask him to drop it. Still, Porch already throws in the mid-90s and has all the tools to develop into a CBO ace one day. The Freeplat pitching staff is inexperienced, though, so Porch may be asked to be the ace or 2nd pitcher behind sophomore Travis Stonewall early.
SS Brass Well, GSP - The shortstop for the Glowing Sea Prep Venom, Well is a rangy shortstop who knows how to anticipate where a batter will put it. He has the potential to be a good all-around hitter, though he will probably never be at the top of hitting statistics. Well is expected to get every opportunity to contribute early for the Venom.