BNN Report
News from the CBO, Minors, CCBL, CYL, and CBA
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
1 September 2315
NCA Regular Season Ends, Lexington and Vault 81 Atop Associations
The 2315 regular season has concluded, and just as PAM predicted, both the Lexington Synths and Vault 81 Dwellers enter the postseason as the top seeds.
Salem and University Point are the other association winners. In the NCA, wildcards are Easy Town, Bunker Hill, Malden, and Concord in that order of seeding. In the SCA, Atom, Diamond City, Glowing Sea, and Quincy make up the wildcard slots. All wildcards play in the Wildcard Round with league winners waiting in the Association Semifinals.
Yesterday, the Radstags defeated The Slog, 6-4, to clinch the final playoff spot. They finished at 64-67. Mike Fountaineau led the way by going 3 for 3 with a double, home run, walk, a run, and two RBI. Three-time All-Star Bobby Carvajal (4-1, 3.51) got the win in just his fourth start of the season.
CBO Statistical Leaders
Hitting
Pitching
CBO Players of the Month
NCA Hitter - When Matt Paydirt stepped up to the plate in August he did it with confidence, and today he was honored with the North Charles Association Batter of the Month award.
The young Nahant first baseman posted a .394 batting average with 11 home runs, 30 RBIs and scored 20 runs. Paydirt also worked pitchers for 5 walks to post a .427 on-base percentage.
In this current campaign Paydirt is hitting at a .316 clip with 26 home runs and 89 RBIs.
SCA Hitter - Ken Debate battered South Charles Association pitchers all August and wound up taking home the Batter of the Month Award.
"I've been around Commonwealth Baseball Organization long enough to know you really have to work hard day in and day out to be able to put up this kind of consistency," the 30-year-old Debate told reporters. "I put in a lot of work, even on the days I might not take the field, and it's always nice when everything comes together for me like it did this last month."
In 25 games, Debate hit .383 with 9 home runs, 20 RBIs and scored 19 runs.
Batting .296 to date, Debate has 30 home runs and 72 RBIs.
NCA Pitcher - The Easy Town Assaultrons celebrated today after the news filtered through the clubhouse that Lonely Gale had been selected as August's North Charles Association Pitcher of the Month. Gale's zest for the game has been a frequent topic on the sports pages and his numbers of late have made his fans even more enthusiastic. Gale is making a comeback after missing all of 2313 and 2314.
"Our coaching staff really helps me prepare well," Gale said, "and the fans feed off good pitching. Your pitches just seem to have that extra pop to them when the fans are behind you and you feel confident you can get outs."
Gale tossed 55.2 innings last month, holding opponents to a .204 average while striking out 60 batters. In 7 starting assignments he came away with a 6-1 record, putting together an ERA of 2.26.
His record this season is 15-11 in 32 starts and Gale has a 3.73 ERA.
SCA Pitcher - When the Cats skipper wrote Williams on the lineup card, it was a bad omen for the opposition. Outing after outing in August he took command and usually got the win.
He dominated with a 5-1 mark and 2.06 ERA in 6 starts. The gifted Cats star pitched 48 innings, fanned 42 and held opposing teams to a .236 average.
For his excellent mound work Williams was named the SCA Pitcher of the Month by the baseball writers.
This year, Williams has worked 245.1 innings with 186 strikeouts en route to a 15-7 record and 3.78 ERA.
NCA Rookie - Builder Andria's eyes seem to light up whenever he sees the baseball. The young Nahant center fielder has been hitting everything in sight for the better part of a month.
In August he was voted the Rookie of the Month.
During the month he hit .437 with 7 doubles, 1 triple and 7 home runs. Andria also scored 15 times and drove in 21 runs.
Andria is hitting .336 in 2315 with 51 RBIs and 13 home runs.
SCA Rookie - Youngster Honker Trinkl emerged as the latest South Charles Association Rookie of the Month today. The young man from Roxbury deserved the honor, batting .333 with 6 home runs and 21 RBI. Is the month of August a harbinger of things to come or just a fluke? We'll find out someday, but for now, we'll just let Trinkl enjoy the limelight.
Trinkl is hitting .345 this season with 29 home runs, 70 RBIs and 92 runs scored. He has 141 hits in 409 at-bats.
August Top Performances
Hitting - It was noweher near Odd Todd Walker's season-best score of 135 on May 28, but Bunker Hill's Zod Gaycey had the top August hitting performance with 101 points. Gaycey finished 4 for 5 with a double, a home run, four runs, and five RBI in the 75ers' 9-7 win over Concord on August 28.
Pitching - Two players tied for August's top performance, each with a game score of 89. On August 6, Spectacle Island's Aqua Purified pitched the Reapers to a 5-1 victory over Southie. Purified pitched 8.0 innings, allowing one unearned run on one hit with two walks and 13 strikeouts. Nordhagen Beach's Mister Burns then tied that game score on August 21 when he pitched a complete-game two-hitter. In the 99-pitch affair, Burns allowed no runs, walked a batter, and struck out seven in the Party Boys' 5-0 victory over Malden.
CBO Players of the Week
August 23 - What's in a number? In baseball, just about everything.
The numbers that Nahant's Builder Andria put up last week were the envy of the league, as Andria came away with North Charles Association Player of the Week honors.
He belted out 10 hits in 15 at-bats, 3 home runs and 9 RBIs last week as he posted his .667 batting average.
This year, Andria is batting .332 with 71 hits and 10 home runs. He has scored 33 times and has batted in 44 runs.
Pop Dylan demonstrated his potential to be a star in the game last week and today he took home the South Charles Association Player of the Week Award.
The University Point left fielder wreaked havoc on opposing pitchers last week, pounding them for a .500 average (10-for-20) with 1 home run and 10 RBIs on his way to claiming the honor.
Currently Dylan is batting .313 with 12 home runs, 61 RBIs and 36 runs scored.