Phnom Penh Jackhammers @ Sheffield Mountain Hares (23rd - 25th June, 2059)
SMH logo by @20_range, PPJ logo from @cephasjames' pack
Team Profile: Phnom Penh Jackhammers
Banners: West & South East Asia Divisional Champions (2057)
Playoff appearances: 3
Last season’s record: 80-82 (6th)
This season’s record: 39-33 (3rd)
Having won their division a couple of years ago the Jackhammers continue to be a force in the WBL, competing for their second divisional title.
Game 1
In what was always going to be a tough series, the Jackhammers came out swinging to down the Hares 9-1 in Sheffield. Dessalegne El Borolossy was unflappable on the mound, going 7 innings while giving up no runs and striking out 7. On the Hares side, Eskinder Ali had a nightmare on the mound, giving up 5 runs in 3.1 innings before being pulled. Offensively he did manage to get the Hares’ only RBI however.
Player of the game: Dessalegne El Borolossy
Game 2
SP: Yushua bin Saqr
Sheffield’s home fans were delivered another humbling trouncing at the hands of the Jackhammers, this time losing 15-4 on their home turf. The less said about the Hares’ performance the better, especially bin Saqr’s 7 runs given up in 3.1 innings, though Jesus Morales 3 for 5 performance deserves a mention. Nigerian shortstop Dagne Shabana was 2 for 4 with a home run, a double, and a walk, while scoring 3 and driving in 5 in a superb Jackhammers offensive performance all round.
Player of the game: Dagne Shabana
Game 3
SP: Alois Herzog
The Jackhammers completed an impressive clean sweep of the Hares with a tighter 4-3 win in game 3, in a series that has made evident that the Hares are some way off being World Series contenders, despite their 3rd place in the European Division. 6’4 Chinese pitcher Huang-fu Lau gave up two runs in 5.1 innings before the bullpen came in and held the Hares to just one more, which was enough to get the Jackhammers another win. The Hares fought valiantly, getting their first home runs of the series from Sergio Rutz and Adam Koehler - but it was another disappointing outfield for the Sheffield faithful. Herzog had the Hares’ best start of the series, in that it was the first to not end in complete disaster - giving up 4 runs in 5.1 innings.
Player of the game: Huang-fu Lou
Box Scores for all games can be found here:
https://postimg.cc/gallery/hTNJ3XH