Michigan Town Ball

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I sat in on the reigning LP Champs, Traverse City Bears at Ann Arbor Barn Owls and was treated to a game that was as exciting as it was close. This one was decided in the final inning with two outs.

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All teams have decisions in both their Win and Loss columns as the Freedom won on Saturday and Sunday and are now 2-4.

After starting out 4-0, the White Pines were upended on Saturday and Sunday by the Copper Harbor Miners.

Jeff Grimm, the highly touted rookie and two-way player for the Freedom, has received both acclaim for his hitting and some criticism for his pitching.

The 18 y/o has posted a nice .715 OPS, but on the mound it has been a different story.

In his two starts, Jeff lasted just 10.1 innings and has yielded 18 hits and 6 walks for a 2.32 WHIP. The Freedom lost both games.

Alex McKnight, 3rd in the league in batting average, has hit 5/6 for the champs.

Jon Ortega, playing the hot corner right now, is leading the way for the Joe's. He's been compared to MLB legend Ichiro for his slash technique and golden arm.

He hit .377 a few years back and is at .370 after 6 played. The type of player that could hit .400.

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Bobby Navejas was on fire this past week earning him his second player of the week award.

He went 10 for 16 with a HR, 2B, Walk, and 2 stolen bags. He scored and batted in 6 runs.

Easy choice.

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The Barn Owls took control early as their offense roughed up 4-year veteran Tommy Nevers, grabbing the lead in the second inning and never surrendering it.
The Joe's hung around and had a chance with the bases juiced in the bottom of the 8th, but the Player of the Game SP Kevin Rieber worked himself out of the jam.
The Barn Owls posted more runs on the board in the 9th and Rieber shut finished things off with 2 out help from Boffa. Nice W for the Barn Owls.

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A five-run 9th inning to win by one. Might it be the medicine the Gulls have been looking for?

The clear 'king of the hill' in Town Ball since its inception has been Iron River. A 64% winning clip, 2 titles, and 4 first-place finishes have all set the bar high in the city located by the Crystal Falls forest.

With a population of about 3,000, you'd be hard-pressed to find more than a dozen or so residents who are not passionate about their Gulls.

But times have been tough in 1986 for the best team in Town Ball. Lacking a real captain-type leader, Iron River is still searching to find its identity this season.

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Rookie two-way player Jeff Grimm took a big step forward on Friday night as he effectively erased two previous starts he'd like to forget about with this complete game win.

Grimm was in command all the way. Ontonagon has now won 5 straight.

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The Ann Arbor teams are leading the way in the L.P., while Justin Love and his .412 BA are helping to power the White Pines to the top spot in the U.P.

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The Ironwood Mad Katz made it two straight against the Paradise Pines. The Mad Katz have Ted Ball firing on all cyclindars with his stellar 3-0 record.


Last year's Reliever of the Year, Mike Brown, has been moved to the rotation. He's getting results and pitched strongly enough to give Fricano's some respectability in the LP league. The Pizzeta's were cellar dwellers last season after their unlikely 1984 championship.

With Brown and Mike Knuckles in the rotation, they don't always need a wealth of runs to win. However, 37-year-old Mike Campbell, slotted at #3 in the rotation, probably has seen his best days as an SP.

Nevertheless, Campbell will be gunning for the sweep of the Joe's Sunday at the east side of Grand Haven, Pizzeta 'country'.

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Born on the 25th day of December, 1952, this 33-year-old vet is capturing the spotlight. Bill in his career is about the same as a WAR player, but he's playing with the proverbial hair on fire mentality.

He has not an award or even a Player of the Week acknowledgment. But, might this be a first in his career?

Either way, gotta give it up for our Dec. 25th-born leftfielder.

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The Miners took 2/3 from Drummond Island, and Bill Vrkoslav went 2 for 4, giving him an impressive 7 for 12 series, raising his average to .390. His season OPS 1.091, impressive.

Sadly, Bill did not win the Player of the Week award. Joe Chapple, on the other side of the field this weekend, went 0 for 5 on Sunday but the league awarded him the honor with his 7 for 15 weekend. His 2 dingers raise his total to 4 for the year.

The Traverse City Bears are back in first after the two Ann Arbor teams took turns beating each other. The Bears, technically tied with the Z's at 8-4, have a 4-game win streak going.

No one thought much of the recruitment of the 39 year old rookie from Temperance, Mi., but it appears the savvy Whitefish Bay team knew something we all did not. Kyle Bachman, at 39, is batting .424 and leading Town Ball in hits, AB's, and batting average. Who is this guy?

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The Freedom lost their budding two-way star Grimm for 3-4 weeks. Torn quads will keep him out of the batting order and rotation. He's been a huge shot in the arm for the most beleaguered Town Ball franchise. Grimm's presence has helped to elevate the Freedom to first place in the U.P.

This weeks player of the week award goes to Justin Mills of the Ypsi Jack Rabbits. The graphic tells the story.

About the only thing 41 y/o veteran Chris Young has going for himself is experience and excellent control. Young has the Town Ball longest streak of wins with his 8 straight.

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The first game of the weekend felt like a July 4 celebration. Here is an early peek at Week 6 action. Who would you award POG? I'll post up the selection a bit later.

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With Jeff Grimm out for almost a month, the Freedom is feeling the effects immediately. They couldn't hit, and they didn't pitch well in Friday evening's series opener.

The Player of the game in Ann Arbor was Dylan Bouchard. The other contenders are listed in the graphic below.

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The lads in the southern part of the state had a weekend to remember. The Barn Owls swept their series, and the only LP team to lose on Sunday was the Waveriders as they were bested by Iron River.

Justin Mills stays red hot, going 6 for 12 and now batting .397. But player of the week goes to the speedster in Ann Arbor, Khalil Stokes. His line:
7 for 16 with 2 doubles, a homer, 6 scored, 10 batted in, and 2 SBs. Whew, what a weekend!

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Week 7 is in the books. Plenty of good action this past weekend that included four sweeps.

Of Note:

-The Freedom have fallen from first place going 1-5 over the past 2 weekends. Missing your two-way 18 y/o rookie star can't be that important, right?

-The Ypsilanti Jack Rabbits swept the first place Traverse City Bears by scores of 3-2, 3-2, 5-2. Cole Cupo, Scott Golden LHP, and Eric Correll LHP led the charge as the three SP's picked up W's.

-The Ann Arbor Barn Owls are in sole possession of first going 2-1 but the race is extremely tight in the LP.

-In the UP the Miners swept Ontonagan off their field as they rallied for 5 unanswered runs in the Saturday game to win 6-5 in 10 innings. 1B Jake Seifreid homered on Friday and Saturday nights while accounting for 5 RBI's. Hitting just .192 for the season the 34 y/o hopes he can parlay this outing into a strong second half. The Miners are now in first place in the UP.

-Paradise SP Ryan McCarter, K King of last year with 90, leads Town Ball with 53 K's and projected to a full season that total would be 136. That would shatter Adrian Bruan's 1981 record of 114.

-Darryl Davis is this weeks player of the week. The graphic below depicts why he received the award. He is a one time All Star and one time POW.

-Jamaal Williams of TC leads the league in batting. His spray chart is listed below.