[StLee]

First Round Preview

The 2289 North Vegas Radscorpions featured one of the most dominant pitching staffs in MBL history. The top four starters—Rich Richmond, Nate Camp, Wilfred Buckley, and Lee Burke—combined to go 52-14 with below a 3.00 ERA. In fact, the Radscorpions’ team ERA of 2.47 was better than any other team by 58 points (South Vegas finished second with a 3.05 team ERA). North Vegas led in pitching in almost all team categories.

On top of the outstanding pitching performances, North Vegas finished second in team batting average (.269), second in home runs (101), second in runs scored (498), third in hits (931), third in OBP (.343), second in slugging percentage (.416), and first in steals (159). Goodsprings led most of the offensive categories.

Weldon Brown looks to have displaced George O’Kill as the offensive leader, though O’Kill has been no punkganger. Brown had a .285 average with a league-leading 34 home runs. He also finished second in the league with 75 RBI. O’Kill batted .266 with 24 home runs (6th in the league) and 72 RBI (3rd in the league).

South Vegas may not have been as good, but the Vault Boys are still a very good team. Like North Vegas, South Vegas has a good combination of hitting and pitching results. The Vault Boys were right in the mix as league leaders in many team categories.

Offensively, you can’t talk about the Vault Boys’ performance without mentioning rising star James Sexton. The South Vegas left fielder finished second in batting average (.378), first in on-base percentage (.500), second in hits (139), sixth in doubles (26), and tied for second in runs (76). Third baseman Duane Antqueen also added great pop to the lineup. He batted .323 with a team-leading 18 home runs and 69 RBI despite not being very good against right-handed pitchers. Shortstop Joseph Dillon added a .289 average with 18 homers and 52 RBI.

Orlando Stephens and Tom Nelson led the way for the South Vegas pitching staff. Stephens had a 14-3 record (2nd most wins) with a 2.84 ERA. Nelson went 12-3 with a 2.03 ERA (2nd in league). Robert Cooper also added an impressive record of 11-2 with a 2.74 ERA. On the not-so-bright side, Donnell Dugood finished 5-8 with a 4.79 ERA. He may not see action in the postseason unless it is as a reliever or spot starter.

In the season series, South Vegas gave North Vegas more trouble than most teams. The Radscorpions held a 5-3 advantage in the season series, but that included the Vault Boys winning three of the last four games in North Vegas.

In the first series from May 23 until May 26, North Vegas went into South Vegas and swept the series 4-0. South Vegas later returned the favor, in a way, winning the July 4-7 series three games to one, including a dramatic 14-inning victory on an Angel Serrano home run.

Because South Vegas is pretty good, North Vegas cannot expect to run away with an easy series win. Our prediction is for the Radscorpions to get revenge from the 2286 Mojave Series and take this one in six games.