Players of the Month:
Delaware Conference:
Batter of the Month: Charles Culligan, Lewes Braves
DDIV's Best Batter Picked: Seasoned by several years of professional experience, 30-year-old Charles Culligan put together a solid offensive month for Lewes and was crowned August's top batter in the Delaware Conference. He batted .298 with 9 home runs, 25 RBIs and 18 runs scored. This season Culligan has banged out 89 hits in 361 at-bats for a .247 average with 23 home runs. He is getting on base at a .346 pace and his totals also include 80 RBIs and 64 runs scored.
Charles knocked Peter Peters from the POM list for the first time this year. Peters. Peters who still has a shot at winning the first triple crown in league history hit only .274 last month.
Pitcher of the Month: Matt Hollis, New Castle Colonials
Hollis Wins DDIV Top Pitcher Honors: Over the past month Matt Hollis has turned quite a few heads. He's young, talented and able to pitch with the established arms in the Delaware Conference. He proved all that and now he's been named August's Pitcher of the Month. The rookie for the New Castle Colonials posted 4-0 mark and a 2.56 ERA. In 5 starts he tossed 38.2 innings, permitted 34 hits and fanned 30 batters. His record this year is 4-0 in 5 starts and Hollis has a 2.50 ERA.
Rookie of the Month: Steven Wilson, New Castle Colonials
DDIV Selects Rookie Star of the Month: Steven Wilson earned August's Rookie of the Month honors in the Delaware Conference for last month's performance. The boyish New Castle first baseman might be wet behind the ears, but he's proving that he has what it takes to play at this level. Wilson hit .422 with 4 home runs, 15 RBIs and 15 runs scored this past month on his way to winning the award. So far this year, Wilson is batting .333 with 6 home runs and 21 RBIs.
MarVa Conference:
Batter of the Month: Virgil White, Richmond Cardinals
Richmond's White Collects August Batting Honor: Free agent-to-be Virgil White has inflated his asking price over the past 30 days by winning the MarVa Conference Batter of the Month. In August, the 28-year-old Richmond first baseman hit .320 with 8 home runs and 21 RBIs. If he keeps putting numbers like that up, he could be hauling in a big wad of cash at this time next year. This year White has hit 20 home runs and posted a .271 batting average.
Pitcher of the Month: Miguel Contreras, Ocean City Tourists
MVDIV #1 Pitcher in August is Ocean City's Contreras: Miguel Contreras of Ocean City had an outstanding August with a 4-1 mark and was chosen the Pitcher of the Month in the MarVa Conference. He topped off the month with a 1.51 ERA in 6 starts, tossed 41.2 innings, fanned 47 and held opposing teams to a .204 average. Currently Contreras has a 16-3 won-lost record in 27 starts with a 2.07 ERA. He also has 203 strikeouts in 191.2 innings.
Rookie of the Month: Antonio Vazquez, Ellicott City Express
MarVa Conference Names Rookie of Month: Youngster António Vázquez emerged as the latest MarVa Conference Rookie of the Month today. The young man from Ellicott City deserved the honor, batting .282 with 3 home runs and 13 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 Vázquez enjoy the limelight. So far this season Vázquez has hit .249 with 4 home runs, 23 RBIs and and scored 21 times.
League Leaders (as of September 1st 2016)
Delaware Division:
AVG: Peter Peters (New Castle Colonials) .339
HR: Peter Peters (New Castle Colonials) 45
RBI: Peter Peters (New Castle Colonials) 118
SB: Pedro Galvan (Dover Generals) 29*
W: Four Tied with 14*
ERA: Larry Cooper (Lewes Braves) 2.48*
K: Marcos Estrada (Wilmington Iron P12s) 184
SV: Bill Fox (Wilmington Iron Pigs) 35*
Marva Division:
AVG: Cliff Jones (Washington Senaots) .344*
HR: Alberto Trujillo (Annapolis Admirals) 40
RBI: Francisco Reyes (Annapolis Admirals) 105*
SB: Roberto Perez (Norfolk Cavaliers) 45
W(t): Jorge Moran (Chesapeake Blue Crabs) 16*
W(t): Miguel Contreras (Ocean City Tourists) 16
ERA: Miguel Contreras (Ocean City Tourists) 2.07
K: Miguel Contreras (Ocean City Tourists) 203
SV: Dalton Whitaker (Norfolk Cavaliers) 35
Miguel Contreras won the pitchers triple crown last season and seems to be on his way to doing again this year.
Standings as for September 1st 2016
The Dover Generals are fighting through some injuries, but the Braves will be a tough team to catch. The Braves have one of the best 1 and 2 starters, and with only a month to go they seem to be in the drivers seat... The New Castle Colonials gained a game on the Iron Pigs, but it might be a little bit too late. They have a huge 4 game series coming up, it could swing the race. If I was a betting man, though I'd keep it on the Pigs... The Admirals started to pull away gaining 5 games in August. This isn't saying the Blue Crabs should be counted out, but they are on the edge of falling off the ledge... The Cavaliers gained 6 games and have the divion pretty much wrapped up. The Cav's are the only team with a winning record in their division. A sad state for the Western division.
Norfolk Recap
The Cavaliers start the new month with a magic number of 18 as they attempt to win the Division for the 2nd time in 3 years. The rest of the Division has just fallen part... The Cav's offense went cold in August and we will need them to bounch back if we hope to compete... With AAA Yokohama battling for the AAA Crown, we are going to have to wait and see about call ups. I'd like to get August Rodriquez, Cooper Mananghaya and Yosutke Ine.
April 12-9 .571
May 17-8 .680
June 16-9 .640
July 18-7 .720
August 17-8 .680
Not much to say about this team at this point. As long as the past couple of weeks have just been a bump in the road we should be fine... Time to stay healthy for one more month and prepare for the playoffs...
My Concerns:
Dalton Whitaker, who has been lights out all seasons struggled in August. Pressure of closing? Getting Tired? Hopefully he will bounce back this month.
August: 8 games 1-1 9.00 8 IP 2 HR 5 BB 12 K 3 SV 2 BS (4 BS all season)
Kent Davis, was once hitting .360 then August came and saw him fall apart. He ended the month hitting .274-0-9. He is still on pace to break the all time season hit record (has 182, record 225), but if he doesn't warm up that won't happen.
Roberto Perez, our star offensive acquisition last season hit only .253-2-16 in August. He is a career .315 batter.