BNN Report
News from the CBO, Minors, CCBL, and CYL
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
24 September 2314
Sole Survivor Series: #1 The Slog Ghouls (84-46) vs #2 Quincy Gunners (75-55)
Season Series: Quincy 2, The Slog 1
May 30-June 1 @Qui: Qui 11-1, Slog 6-0, Qui 11-4
Analysis
At the beginning of the 2314 season, PAM predicted the Vault 81 Dwellers and The Slog Ghouls to be the top two teams, picking them to ultimately meet in the Sole Survivor Series. Both were indeed at the top of their associations, though the Dwellers are not here. Instead, the team picked to finish 3rd in the Minutemen League and miss the playoffs with a losing record, Quincy, shocked the ML and then Vault 81 to get here, knocking off two powerhouses in FHE and the Dwellers.
The Ghouls were supposed to be here a year ago, too, but fell in the rankings, had a playoff run to the NCACS, but then fell to Nahant, the surprise 6th-seed representative. This season, though, The Slog took care of business in the regular season and the NCA playoffs, earning their first official trip to the Sole Survivor Series (they were the winners of the now unofficial first SSS in 2296).
Quincy's furthest playoff run in franchise history had been the SCACS, getting there for the first time in 2310 before succumbing to Oberland. The Gunners surpassed that this season, shocking #1 Vault 81, the team with the most wins (95) in CBO history. The SCA has now not sent the #1 team to the SSS in six consecutive seasons with the 2308 T-51s being the last #1 team to get there.
Looking at a comparison of statistics,The Slog seems to have most of the advantages. Whie the Gunners were slightly more efficient at scoring runs (727-688), the Ghouls were far more efficient at preventing them (508-630). When considering how pitching is a factor, that give The Slog a lot of advantages and the likelihood to have the advantage each game. However, it is worth mentioning that Quincy scored 11 runs in two of the three games in the regular season, showing that they may have the Ghouls' pitchers' numbers more than any other team in the CBO.
Looking at player vs player at positions, first let's look at those and then show a comparison of the matchups as expected in Game 1.
SP1 - Klement Thodberg (15-4, 2.86) > Makie Money (13-7, 3.09)
SP2 - Flirt Perez (12-7, 3.53) > College Luckyman (9-14, 4.90)
SP3 - Scott Fuhr (14-8, 3.17) > Fosdyke Rochambeau (12-10, 4.37)
RP1 - Kodak Carter (2-0, 4.02) < Wick Prater (3-5, 13 SV, 3.81)
CL - Orlando Bransford (17 SV, 3.38) < Professor Harriel (23 SV, 6.06)
C - Silvam Fourteen (.261/19/65) > Kinsella Birdwatcher (.295/16/82)
1B - Baktu DaWell (.255/10/47) < Voodoo Sycamore (.295/17/62)
2B - Puddle Norman (.268/18/74) < Will Hell (.312/32/99)
3B - Shirt Fowler (.293/11/35) < Ross Merchantman (.255/30/62)
SS - Gavin Deux-Gas (.341/15/67/37) > Pipewrench Mathis (.248/12/49)
LF - President Washington (.270/16/41) < Alchemist Hall (.308/20/61)
CF - Bill Lazarus (.274/11/47/51) > Lakeview Malone (.266/3/11)
RF - Cypher Raige (.301/12/51) < Baywatch Fischler (.333/13/66)
In an offensive star vs offensive star matchup, the battles of Deux-Gas vs Hell seems to be an intriguing one. Both hit for average and power, though Hell was much more productive in the power department in 2314. Deux-Gas, though, is light on his feet, giving him the extra advantage of swiping bases (37) from the middle of the lineup.
X-factor veterans for each team are Fourteen of the Ghouls and Fischler of Quincy. Both are in their mid-30s but still playing at a high level. Both are capable of carrying their teams. Both could end up as Series MVP.
On the mound, The Slog will run on a 2-3-1 rotation thanks to playing a 7th game in the NCACS. The Gunners will work on a 1-2-3 rotation, so our above analysis is not accurate to the matchups. Still, all three of the Ghouls' starters would be expected to matchup decently well except for maybe a 3-1 matchup. Therefore, The Slog has the early pitching advantage, assuming they can play more like May 31 than May 30 or June 1 in the regular season matchups. In the May 31 game, Perez pitched 7.1 scoreless innings before giving up the ball to the bullpen.
Key Injuries
The Slog
none
Quincy
CF Duff Fee (.224/2/23)
Prediction
We are often enamored by two sometimes opposing forces: talent and momentum. In the Association Championship Series Round, Vault 81 had both the talent and momentum, holding the best record and sweeping the round before. However, Quincy quickly broke up that momentum by winning Game 1 and then going on to win the series in six games. This round, then, the Ghouls have more talent but the Gunners' wins over two great teams give them the momentum.
Let's pivot. In the 10 previous series in the 2314 playoffs, the winner of Game 1 has won the series nine times. The only exception came in the Wildcard Round when Diamond City defeated Atom before succumbing in the next two games. Both of these teams have gone 2-0 in their first games and then never fell behind. One team has to give, but we are going to go with Game 1 being the leader in this. In that case, we give the Ghouls a slight edge and thus will go against our initial instinct in our final prediction.
The Slog 4, Quincy 2