[tm1681]

FOUNDERS’ CUP IV MATCHUP IS SET
ALLEGHANY SURVIVES ST. JOHN’S ONSLAUGHT, WILL FACE ORANGE FOR APBL TITLE

MANHATTAN & PITTSBURGH (Aug. 24, 1874) – The APBL season is over, and the matchup for the fourth edition for the Founders’ Cup is now in place.

COLONIAL: Alleghany (52-38) survived…barely. After struggling again during the season’s final week, they took the Colonial Conference by two games over St. John’s when the gap between the two had been eight just fifteen games prior. A 4-11 stretch run, the worst in the whole APBL, will have Orange confident in taking their first Founders’ Cup title.

KEY PLAYERS:

• Gerald Strong (SS) – .341, .770 OPS, 92 R, 147 H, 23 XBH, 1 HR, 55 RBI, 29 SB, +21.5 ZR, 5.1 WPA, 4.8 WAR
• Jerald Peterson (1B) – .341, .787 OPS, 79 R, 144 H, 30 XBH, 1 HR, 78 RBI, 10 BB, 13 SB, 3.9 WPA, 2.4 WAR
• Harry Thompson (C) – .340, .769 OPS, 54 R, 100 H, 19 XBH, 2 HR, 54 RBI, 3 SB, 2.88 C-ERA, 2.8 WPA, 2.0 WAR
• Elmer Seabold (P) – 25-19, 2.94 ERA, 358.0 IP, 27 CG, 1 SHO, 78 K, 1.5 K/BB, 1.33 WHIP, 4.9 WAR, 5.1 rWAR

METROPOLITAN: The entire Metropolitan conference ranged from 4-6 to 6-4 over its final ten games, but unlike the Colonial champs Orange (53-37) played .500 baseball in August (8-7). That meant they were able to fend off the challenges from 2x defending champions American (5 GB) and the late-charging Gotham team (3 GB).

KEY PLAYERS:

• Anthony Mascherino (CF) – .317, .703 OPS, 102 R, 140 H, 16 2B, 4 3B, 56 RBI, 36 SB, +18.5 ZR, 6.2 WPA, 4.1 WAR
• Everett Schreiber (C) – .357, .803 OPS, 72 R, 125 H, 23 2B, 1 3B, 75 RBI, 8 BB, 3.26 C-ERA, 5.0 WPA, 3.8 WAR
• Samuel Kessler (1B) – .323, .761 OPS, 93 R, 138 H, 30 XBH, 1 HR, 71 RBI, 14 BB, 21 SB, 4.0 WPA, 2.7 WAR
• Paul Caldwell (P) – 24-11, 3.26 ERA, 312.0 IP, 22 CG, 2 SHO, 20 K, 0.9 K/BB, 1.30 WHIP, 3.2 WAR, 2.4 rWAR

The Founders’ Cup is a best-of-seven series with the following schedule:

• Aug. 25: GAME 1 – Alleghany at Orange
• Aug. 26: GAME 2 – Alleghany at Orange
• Aug. 27: No game
• Aug. 28: GAME 3 – Orange at Alleghany
• Aug. 29: GAME 4 – Orange at Alleghany
• Aug. 30: GAME 5 – Orange at Alleghany (if necessary)
• Aug. 31: No game
• Sep. 1: GAME 6 – Alleghany at Orange (if necessary)
• Sep. 2: GAME 7 – Alleghany at Orange (if necessary)

The Writers Pool sees Orange as the favorites due to Alleghany’s late collapse:

• Orange (29-16 at home) beats Alleghany (4-11 post-ASG)
• The series will go five or six games