Terra Baseball League: Bryant Warriors

[jaa36]

Marenia won the 2017 edition of the ABC, sweeping Sorenheim in two games. Marenia went 8-3 in tournament play, while Sorenheim went 10-3, needing two extra games to enter the championship round.

Jeremy Royer of Freeland hit .349 with 6 home runs to win the Player of the Year. Bennett Riggs allowed just one run and struck out 33 in 26 innings to win Pitcher of the Year for Silverley.

Among Bryant players, new catcher Takamori Akahoshi had a great showing, hitting .424 with two home runs and nine RBI, while Tyree Pringle hit .380 with a homer. New pitching acquisitions Emmanuel Porras (2-0, 0.50 ERA) and Ricardo Caceres (2-0, 30 K in 23 2/3 innings) were both masterful.

[jaa36]

After several years of rebuilding, the Warriors have firmly committed to winning once again. We added three pitchers of some renown in Ricardo Caceres, Emmanuel Porras and Logan Forbes. Caceres joined the team on a five-year deal worth $90M; the 28-year-old has just a 73-67 record and 4.36 ERA over his career, but he's been worth 4.5 wins a season the last two years. Porras was acquired in a trade with the Marsh Heroes in which we relinquished infielder Phil Mann and reliever Herschel Johnson. He was 10-6 with a 3.34 ERA last year, and at age 30, makes $5.3M this year and $5.8M next. Finally, the Stephens Rattlers offered us Forbes for outfield prospects Dave Hamilton and Reuben Mejia- but sweetened the pot by offering to cover half his salary AND throwing in their first-round pick, which is going to the top overall pick!! Caceres slots into the top spot of our rotation, Porras #3, and Forbes will likely end up the closer, at least to start the season.

We also acquired a few new position players- 26-year-old catcher Takamori Akahoshi came over in a trade, infielder R.C. Gerald joined as a Rule 5 pick, and former Warriors Sebastien Paoli and Syd Duke were signed as free agents, though Paoli was later relinquished on waivers. The icing on the delicious offseason cake was an international find from Valoria, Rolando Flores, who checks in as one of our top pitching prospects.

[jaa36]

The Warriors enter 2017 as contenders once again. We're projected to win 91 games, which would be second place, six games behind the Silverley Mustangs. Keith Little Jr. expects us to have a winning record. Our defense remains very strong, the rotation is improved from last year, and the offense should again get on base but still has very little power.

In addition to a strong major-league roster, we now have the top minor-league system in baseball as well, headlined by #5 overall prospect Gabe Lyons. Lee Chaney checks in at #7 (overrated, in my opinion), Josiah McInnis at #12, and Rolando Flores at #16.

[jaa36]

An early five-game losing streak put the Warriors in a hole early in the season, and we finished April with just a 10-14 record. Ricardo Caceres suffered an injury in his first start but bounced back with a 11-strikeout shutout in his next outing. Edison Rios, Mike Fenwick, Tyree Pringle and Lyle Carter all got off to hot starts with the bat, with the rookie Carter mashing five home runs and driving in 13.

We're already six games behind the Silverley Mustangs, but we're on a three-game winning streak and it's still very early.

[jaa36]

Things are going in the right direction for both the present-day Warriors and the future... We went 15-11 in May to wind up back at .500. Unfortunately, that's nine games behind the Silverley Mustangs, who are on fire with nine wins in a row. Mike Fenwick hit a sweltering .440 in May, with 13 doubles, and the Warriors boast five players hitting above .300. The pitching staff has been solid overall, with everyone at least keeping us in games.

With the top overall pick (gifted to us by the Stephens Rattlers), we selected 21-year-old Wyat Palm, a true five-tool player who could end up as an elite second baseman. Palm wants $8.5M, which is totally reasonable for a player of his talent. We also got pitcher Jonathan Cummins with the #15 overall pick.

Phillipe Kony of the Sungate Falcons has hit 21 home runs already, which would put him on pace for over 60 on the season if he were to keep it up.

[jaa36]

The Warriors caught fire in June, winning 17 games to cut the Silverley Mustangs' lead to just five games. Six starters hit at least .300 on the month, led by Iweka Kinyanjui at .359; the oft-injured shortstop also led the team with 21 RBI. Ricardo Caceres went 5-1 on the month, while Barto Galtan had seven saves.

Johnny McNeill of the Uniontown Aces is hitting .408 as the season reaches its midpoint.

Outfielder Domingo Hernandez and pitcher/outfielder Ferdinand Guzman are the top two international prospects, and I hope to reel in one or the other.

[jaa36]

The Warriors continued to cut their deficit in the Eastern Conference and are now three games behind the Silverley Mustangs, with a 59-43 record. We now have SEVEN hitters in the lineup with a .300 or better average, and our team is hitting .317 overall! (As it happens, something must have happened with the import into OOTP 22, as the league is hitting .285 overall, which is about 30 points higher than usual...) The rotation has just a 4.07 ERA, but that's actually the best in the league, and the starting five has been healthy and effective all season.

For the first time in a while, we're buyers rather than sellers, and I acquired closer Isaiah Whelchel from the Marsh Heroes for a minor leaguer. Whelchel has 313 career saves and was the Reliever of the Year last year, so he's a solid addition to the bullpen.

I missed out on the international free agent prizes, but we were once again ranked the top system in baseball. Our overall #1 pick Wyat Palm slotted into the rankings as the #4 prospect.

With the "lively ball" this season, there are some crazy statistical lines going on around the league. Mason Dunbar of the Sidney City Scorpions is hitting .416, and Luis Cruz of the Wal Titans .405. Philippe Kony of the Sungate Falcons fell off the home run record pace (31) but has 114 RBI, so could easily break his own record of 157, which he set just three years ago.

[jaa36]

After a slow start, the Warriors have played at a blistering pace the last three months, with a 64-24 record in our last 88 games. We're now three games up on the Silverley Mustangs in the Eastern Conference. Edison Rios has continued to blossom into one of the top all-around players in baseball, with a .323 average, 15 homers, 75 RBI, 28 stolen bases, and spectacular center-field defense. Jamie O'Grady leads the league in ERA (albeit with a 3.39 mark). Mike Fenwick had a 34-game hitting streak and is now hitting .378. This is a team that's clicking on all cylinders.

With a championship in sights, I swung a deal with the Freeton Cougars for third baseman Shaun Jackson. He's 31 years old and making $25M in the final year of his contract. A four-time All-Star, Jackson is another solid bat to add the lineup, topping out at 7.8 WAR back in 2012. He came over for minor league pitcher Murphy Cupka, who cracked the top-100 prospect list last season. (Miguel Bello is still playing great, with the disappointing Cougars sadly wasting his talents.)

To my chagrin, there are still three .400 hitters heading into the last month of the season. Phillipe Kony has missed the last month with a torn hamstring, so he won't break any records this year. The TBL East is shaping up as a two-team race, while the West has seven teams within seven games of each other.

[jaa36]

Another 18-win month sends us into October with a 95-57 record. We won 11 in a row near the end of the month. We've got a good chance of finishing with the best record in Warriors history- which I never would have predicted heading into the season. But it's far from over, as the Silverley Mustangs are nipping at our heels, just two games behind after winning their last six, and we finish the season with three games in Silverley.

We've had a few injuries, but nothing overly serious. James Edwards, who has been incredible off the bench this year and last, won't be back for the postseason, unfortunately.

The TBL West race is still very tight, with three teams within two games of first, which is held by the Crestmont Bobcats. Mason Dunbar of the Sidney City Scorpions is still hitting .409- as a catcher!!

[jaa36]

As it happened, the Warriors skated into the playoffs on a seven-game winning streak, including sweeping the Silverley Mustangs in the final game of the season. We ended up winning 103 games, tying our record from back in 2002. The Warriors scored 952 runs- second best in the league- and allowed just 677- the best mark in the TBL. While the huge (accidental) bump in batting average made it hard to see (the league-wide average jumped from .255 to .286!), the team's pitching defense was absolutely terrific, and all of the position players met or exceeded expectations. Mike Fenwick had the fairly remarkable statline of a .384 average, 58 doubles, 7 home runs and 112 RBI. Jamie O'Grady led the league with a 3.30 ERA. We set the all-time TBL record for team batting average with a .317 mark- the previous mark was .299. I forgot to mention reserve Syd Duke notched his 2000th career hit earlier in the year.

We'll face off against the Crestmont Bobcats, who ended up winning their conference in relatively comfortable fashion (five games) as well. The Bobcats boast a potent offense, scoring a league-record 1031 runs, with Tom Castilla hitting .372 out of the leadoff hole, and a Murderers' Row of Niall Wylie (.314/29/123), David Merkel (.330/23/118), Slim Winstead (.395/15/75) and our old friend Toby Younger (.341/24/139). Fortunately, their pitching is pretty terrible- allowing 914 runs!

Mason Dunbar ended up setting a new record with a .406 batting average- I suppose he deserves an asterisk for that.

[jaa36]

The Bryant Warriors have done it- and won the 2017 TBL Championship Series! We defeated the Crestmont Bobcats in six thrilling games. Georges Le Roux won the Series MVP, with 15 hits, an incredible 16 stolen bases, and two home runs, including a series-clinching walk-off three-run shot in the eleventh inning of Game Six.

Crestmont took the first game 5-2 when Anastasio Cevallos outdueled Ricardo Caceres. The Warriors bounced back with an 11-4 win in Game Two, with Lyle Carter's three-run homer keying an eight-run seventh inning.

Game Three was Le Roux and Tyree Pringle's time to shine as the Warriors rolled again, 12-5. Le Roux stole seven bases and scored all four times he reached base. Pringle had five hits and drove in three. Bryant routed Crestmont again in Game Four by the score of 9-3, as Mike Fenwick had four hits.

The Warriors took a 3-1 lead in Game Five, but David Merkle hit a three-run homer for the Bobcats to give them the lead, and some shaky defense by third baseman Shaun Jackson allowed them to take an 8-5 lead heading into the ninth. The veteran Syd Duke provided a pinch-hit two-run homer in the ninth, but closer Jae-Myung Choi retired R.C. Gerald to end the game, though was tagged for three runs and needed 24 pitches in the process.

The series returned to Bryant for Game Six. Le Roux scored a run in the first, though Crestmont answered back with two in the fourth. Bobcats starter Rhys Ryan held strong through seven innings and kept the Warriors off the board. Choi came on in the eighth, but had to leave after two batters with a sore elbow. That forced the Bobcats to bring on journeyman Enzo Lopez, and Lyle Carter collected his third hit of the night in the ninth. Samuel Marquez pinch-ran and stole second and third, then scored on a throwing error by catcher Joseph Welch to tie the score. Mike Fenwick singled, stole second and advanced to third on another Welch error, but was stranded at third to send the game to extras.

Pinch hitter Lazaro Duran triple off closer Isaiah Whelchel in the tenth, but was stranded at third. The Warriors threatened in the bottom of the inning, with Duke singling and stealing two bases himself, but were held scoreless as well. (This was the Warriors' 40th stolen base of the series, as they thoroughly abused Bobcats catcher Joseph Welch's noodle arm.) In the eleventh, a tiring Whelchel allowed a double to Cody Brocklesby, who scored on a sac fly. Lopez, who had provides a gutsy 2 1/3 innings already in Choi's stead, retired the first two batters, then allowed a two-strike opposite-field single to Rick Archuleta and was finally pulled in favor of rookie Brandon Bashaw. He ran the count to 1-2 on catcher Takamori Akahoshi, when Akahoshi was able to foul back six of the next eight pitches, taking two balls and then completing the twelve-pitch at-bat with a walk. A passed ball by Welch advanced the base runners, and Iweka Kinyanjui singled to tie the score! That brought up Series MVP Le Roux- who swung through the first pitch, but crushed the next one 414 feet the opposite way to send the Warriors to their fourth championship. Whoa!

[jaa36]

It was a great year! The Warriors tied their franchise record with 103 wins. We drew 2.8M fans and made $15M in profit. We finished second in the league in scoring and first in run prevention. And we won it all!

Successes:
1. Mike Fenwick. The veteran first baseman hit .384, led the league with 58 doubles, and finished third in the league in Player of the Year voting.
2. Edison Rios. Another excellent year for our center fielder, who hit .310 with 56 extra-base hits and 36 stolen bases.
3. Georges Le Roux. You couldn't ask for much more out of the former Rule 5 pick! A .317 average, 56 steals (plus 16 more in the postseason) and the Postseason MVP.
4. Tyree Pringle. The left fielder came out of nowhere to hit .348 with 57 extra-base hits.
5. The whole rotation. The starting five were all really solid in a year where offense was through the roof, with Jamie O'Grady finishing third in Pitcher o the Year voting.

Failures:
Probably just relievers Keith Courtright and Isaiah Whelchel, who wasn't as good as advertised after a midseason trade. But this was a year in which just about everything went right.

We had an absolutely bonkers year in the prospect rankings- as we now have the #2 (Wyat Palm), #3 (Gabe Lyons), #4 (Lee Chaney), #6 (Josiah McInnis) and #15 (Roland Flores) prospects. Palm and Lyons were both horribly overmatched in Single-A, but that's OK.

Tyree Pringle won the Platinum Stick award in left field (a surprise!) while catcher Cillian Hegarty and right fielder Georges Le Roux both won Great Glove awards.

Anders Gaup of the Silverley Mustangs hit .336 with a .412 OBP, 30 home runs and 121 RBI to win Player of the Year. The Patrick Legends' Jaden Medina went 17-12 with a 3.52 ERA to pick up Pitcher of the Year. Joshua Jakeman of the Stephens Rattlers hit .378 to win Rookie of the Year, and Matthew King of the Mustangs saved 33 games to win Reliever of the Year.

[jaa36]

I'll call it quits after 17 years at the helm of the Warriors. It was good to be able to bring them their first championship, then go through a rebuilding process and do it again. I'm not sure why the "rabbit ball" kicked in on the initial transition to OOTP 22- but I simmed out five more years and the problem went away- probably I messed something up when doing recalc before the 2017 season.

At any rate- the Warriors quickly slipped back into obscurity after I departed, despite having a 103-win team and easily the best farm system in baseball. They won 91 games in 2018, but lost a season-long battle with the Silverley Mustangs by two games. They went on to win 83, 73, 78 and 66 games the next four seasons.

Miguel Bello petered out after 2017, providing four more injury-filled mediocre seasons, and retired with 53 WAR.

Georges Le Roux continued to dominate- culminating in a 7.4-WAR season in 2019- and went on to sign for big money with the Crestmont Bobcats.

Mike Fenwick continued to hit .300 every season with lots of doubles, and moved on to the Lenaway Storm in 2021.

Jamie O'Grady remains with the Warriors and is still a reliable top-of-the-rotation starter, with a 3.30 ERA in 2022.

Edison Rios and Tyree Pringle both fell off considerably after 2017, and neither is still in the majors.

Top prospects Wyat Palm, Gabe Lyons and Josiah McInnis are all still with the Warriors, but none of them have amounted to much yet.

Thanks to everyone for reading!

[ayaghmour2]

Great way to end it, enjoyed following on!

[StLee]

I'm sorry to see this one go, but I understand. Thanks for the dynasty!