BNN Report
News from the CBO, Minors, CCBL, and CYL
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
21 June 2320
Midway Point of CBO Season Sees 17 Teams over .500
While different teams have played a different number of games in the new 144-game schedule, from 70-74, we can call this the midway point of the season. Malden and Atom remain atop their associations but not by much. All four expansion teams are at the bottom of their leagues as expected with just one other team, Spectacle Island, joining them in the Under-30-Wins category. We will look at the current playoff standings. But first, here are the current team power rankings for Commonwealth Baseball Organization:
Teams (Total Points, Tendency):
1) Diamond City Swatters (120.7, o)
2) Atom Cats (119.6, +)
3) Malden Grognaks (113.9, +)
4) Fort Hagen Silver Shroud (112.1, ++)
5) Southie Brews (111.5, --)
6) Oberland T-51s (105.1, o)
7) Cambridge Coursers (104.5, -)
8) Salem Witch Hats (102.3, ++)
9) Jamaica Plain Red Rockets (99.7, ++)
10) Bunker Hill 75ers (98.0, ++)
11) Easy Town Assaultrons (96.8, ++)
12) Glowing Sea Radscorpions (95.8, --)
13) The Slog Ghouls (94.8, --)
14) Egret Ninjas (93.7, --)
15) University Point Deathclaws (93.3, ++)
16) Roxbury Rad Sox (92.8, ++)
17) Vault 81 Dwellers (92.3, o)
18) Starlight Killers (91.0, --)
19) FHE Yao Guai (87.6, --)
20) Nahant Celtics (87.0, --)
21) Lexington Synths (86.7, +)
22) Concord Radstags (86.1, --)
23) Goodneighbor Hancocks (83.6, --)
24) Sunshine Tidings Chemists (82.2, --)
25) Quincy Granites (80.8, +)
26) County Crossing Bloodbugs (80.2, +)
27) Nordhagen Beach Party Boys (72.2, --)
28) Nuka World Thrills (68.5, +)
29) Spectacle Island Reapers (62.5, -)
30) Providence Super Mutants (61.1, +)
31) Cape Cod Mirelurks (58.0, -)
32) Far Harbor Fog (47.6, o)
NCA Playoffs Seeds (Current):
1. Malden
2. Cambridge
3. Fort Hagen
4. Salem
5. Bunker Hill
6. The Slog (4-3 vs ET)
SCA Playoffs Seeds (Current):
1. Atom
2. Diamond City
3. Southie
4. Oberland
5. Egret
6. FHE
Brotherhood League
The Grognaks continue to hold a big enough lead to feel comfortabgle, six games over 2nfd-place Salem. The Slog and Easy Town are tied for 3rd, followed by two cold teams in Nahant and Nordhagen Beach. County Crossing and Far Harbor round out the standings.
The Bloodbugs have not enjoyed success in a long time now, having missed the playoffs in six-straight seasons and likely on the path to seven. the Bugs are tied for 12th in runs scored (254) and 13th in runs allowed (302) putting them where they belong in the standings. Scott Eacott (.288/16/46) is the driving force to keep County Crossing in games on offense. On the mound, ace SP Scooter Harcourt (7-5, 2.95) is the best with some help from USA Prinwick (6-9, 3.58).
Institute League
With a three-game losing streak, Cambridge is still three up in the IL but lost some ground in the race for the #1 seed in the NCA. Fort Hagen is on a six-game winning steak and tied for a CBO-best 8-2 in their last 10. A hot Bunker Hill team (7-3 in their last 10) rounds out the last of the teams over .500 in the IL. Starlight, Lexington, Sunshine Tidings, Concord, and Nuka World round out the teams at .500 or lower.
The 75ers have benefited recently from the return of star CF Esau Babz (.260/11/24) who has helped boost the offense to 3rd in runs scored (313) and tied for 1st in home runs (101). 1B Marl Moriarty (.312/21/53) has been the leader of the offense in Babz's absence. 2B Chris Tardy (.239/14/35) has contributed to the power game. For pitching, the 75ers are improving, now 7th in runs allowed (272). Ace Dream O'Sullivan (5-2, 2.02) has been dominant. Every starter has an ERA below 4.00. CL Shaig Abkhazov (15 SV, 1.99) has been good.
Minutemen League
The Cats are still the top team in the SCA but only by a half-game over the RL's Swatters. Southie has been a good team and sits at 15 games above .500 in 2nd place. University Point is a game over .500 for the 3rd place spot. Teams under .500 are Jamaica Plain, Goodneighbor, Quincy, the Reapers, and Cape Cod in that order. The Rockets are tied for the CBO's best stretch in their last 10 (8-2) and are on a five-game winning streak.
University Point missed the playoffs the last four years and six of the past seven after they went on a run of making the playoffs 12 of 13 seasons from 2300-2312 and winning the Sole Survivor Series twice in three appearances. On offense, the Deathclaws are 3rd in runs scored (299). 1B Plucky Epperson (.299/0/21/17 SB) leads the team in average. LF Pop Dylan (.244/17/43) leads in homers and RBI. On the mound, the Claws are 13th in runs allowed (294). While the starters are 12th in ERA (3.75), Clubhouse Treelover (9-2, 2.62) has been really good. CL Bus Gilroy (20 SV, 2.20) has also been good out of a mediocre bullpen.
Railroad League
Diamond City is tied for the largest league lead (6 games) over a hot Oberland team. The RL also has seven teams over .500, by far the best league in baseball and a really tight race from 2ns-7th place. Egret is in 3rd with a better winning streak than FHE, though both are six games over .500 and 7 back. Glowing Sea and Roxbury are tied for 5th and just outside of the current playoffs standings. Vault 81 is in 7th, one game over .500, followed by Providence.
The T-51s have received some news that new owner, Da Venski, has begun reconstruction of a 21st Century stadium, "The Ballpark at Harbor Yard" in Bridgeport, CT. Completion of the stadium is expected to be completed at least one year from now.
That means, the Oberland T-51s will remain in Oberland through at least next season. The change in ownership has also seemed to have boosted the team, currently 4th in the playoff standings after three-straight seasons finishing out of the playoffs and the last two in last place. The T-51s have been one of the better pitching teams, currently 2nd in runs allowed (227) and Starters ERA (2.78). All four starters have ERAs below 4.00, including newly-acquire La'Ray Kalel (6-5, 3.12) and led by Emanuel King (7-9, 2.55). CL Wunmore Tomorrow (22 SV, 2.94) is among the leaders in saves. In the batter's box, the T-51s are 8th in runs scored (264). the lineup is consistent in hitting with Aleve Wrinklebrow (.257/13/31) the leader in average and home runs. The lowest starter average is .221 by veteran C Racky Westheim, playing his final season at 41.
CBO Standings
CBO Players of the Week
June 14 - The North Charles Association has selected Family Sam Partridge of the Sunshine Tidings Chemists as Player of the Week.
He hit .478 (11-for-23) this past week collecting 3 RBIs, scored 4 runs and hit 3 home runs.
In the current season, Partridge has put up a .304 batting average with 58 hits, 13 home runs, 39 runs batted in and scored 27 runs.
Wind Dale Davis has the tools to stick in this league for many years. The 23-year-old right fielder of the Goodneighbor Hancocks had a hot bat in the South Charles Association over the past seven days and won the Player of the Week honors.
Davis batted .556 with 15 hits in 27 at-bats, 2 home runs and 11 RBIs.
Davis currently has a .282 batting average with 53 hits, 9 homers, 30 RBIs, 25 runs scored and a .349 OBP.
June 21 - Evan Keel is respected by most Nahant Celtics fans for his no-frills style of play. The 26-year-old shortstop went about his business with vigor last week to grab the North Charles Association Player of the Week honors.
He compiled a .435 average (10-for-23) with 1 home run, 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
During the current season Keel is batting at a .246 clip with 7 home runs and 18 RBIs. He has played in 61 games and scored 34 times.
Aleve Wrinklebrow more than did his part for the Oberland T-51s over the last seven days and earned South Charles Association Player of the Week honors in the process.
The club's third baseman logged an impressive .435 average, drove in 5 runs, hit 4 home runs and scored 6 times.
On the year, Wrinklebrow has hit .257 with 13 home runs, 31 RBIs and scored 44 runs.
CBO Noteworthy News
June 8 - Far Harbor Fog shortstop Jack Dodds has been suspended 4 games in conjunction with his ejection yesterday for arguing a third-strike call in the Oberland game at Fog Park. Dodds did not immediately return to the dugout and continued to yell and scream at the home plate umpire. The league said it will not condone this type of conduct and issued the suspension.
Dodds is currently batting .185 with 10 home runs, 28 RBIs and 22 runs scored. He has 35 hits in 189 at-bats.
June 8 - Atom first baseman grossly misbehaved in yesterday's Cats-Killers game at Coolest Field in Town. He earned it by aggressively challenging a called strikeout with the home plate umpire. As a result of his inappropriate conduct on the field, the league commissioner has given Fieterz a 3-game suspension.
Fieterz is hitting .219 this year with 8 home runs, 31 RBIs and 28 runs scored. He has 39 hits in 178 at-bats, 38 walks and a .352 on-base percentage. Fieterz has played in 56 games.
June 10 - Super Mutants catcher Lexington Steele was incensed after being suspended for 3 games by the commissioner's office following a heated argument the day before in the Providence-Diamond City game at The Great Green Jewel.
He was thrown out of the game for arguing a strike call. The league office cited Steele for "inappropriate and aggressive conduct," which included throwing his hat at the umpire several times.
This season, Steele is batting .208 with 1 home run.
June 10 - Nordhagen Beach is getting excited about their 3rd Round pick in the 2319 draft, SP Coke Nut Silivan. Shrewsbury Comets (BMU) pitching coach Brake Orr has stated that Silivan has had the best development he has seen from training to pitching performance.
"He's getting more and more comfortable out there every outing," Orr said. "He'll be a terror in the CBO one day."
On the season with the Comets, Silivan is 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA in seven starts with eight appearances. After a strong May campaign that saw him win back-to-back Player of the Game honors, Silivan has seen his ERA rise by over 2.00 points from the 0.59 ERA he enjoyed following those two straight performances of allowing one run in 14.2 innings.
Silivan is not one of the Party Boys' Top 10 prospects, but Orr said that should change in the next scouting report. "He's Top 5 now, maybe even on the BNN Big Board as the Top 3. He's not [Eye] Anson or [Grassy] Voigt yet, but he's getting there." Anson is the #5 overall prospect, while Voigt is #20.
June 15 - Jacob Tarberry will have to wait a while longer. The Malden third baseman was informed this afternoon that he will miss another 4 weeks with a fractured jaw. The injury has kept him off the field since 06/12/2320. Though Tarberry had hoped to return soon, he has no choice but to be patient. "Gotta stay focused," he said. "Gotta stay positive."
Batting .220 to date, Tarberry has 3 home runs and 23 RBIs.