The Colonial Baseball League (redux)

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Complete Challenger League Coverage Weeks 7 and 8

Top 5 draft pick dealt
The Heim Blizzard sent shockwaves through the Challenger League on Saturday when they dealt #4 overall draft pick Jim Buttar to the Tauron City Bulls. The Blizzard also send Lugh Nylan, a 34 year old reliever. In return, they get catcher Matt James, who will replace the struggling John McCartney (.184/.276/.223), and 23 year old prospect Kip Hanshaw. Hanshaw was selected in the 5th round by Tauron City in last year’s draft. He immediately joins Heim’s top 10 prospect list. Buttar is already playing in the Challenger League, with 2 homers and 11 batted in already this year. He’s slugging .508.

Pirates marching up the leaderboard
Thanks to Harold Moore being completely unhittable, and the offense finally finding its groove, the Promethea Pirates are back in the promotion hunt again. The Pirates swept Olympia this past week, improving to 21-11 and moving into second place in the Challenger League table. Harold Moore is the early favorite to win back to back Zeus’ Lightning awards. He’s 6-0 in 8 starts with a 1.47 ERA and 64 Ks in 55 innings pitched. Moore is signed through 2024, but has a player option on his contract this year, so if the Pirates don’t make the Premier League, there’s a chance Moore could jump ship.

Lightning also make move
The Gaim Wolves have fallen from the promotion spot, thanks in large part to the Celeste Lightning taking 3 of 4 in their series. The Lighning then kept that momentum in a sweep of the Blizzard. Celeste has now won 10 of their last 12, moving from the middle of the table straight into contention. The 4th spot in the rotation is a glaring weakness, as Bill Grant is 1-3 with a 8.59 ERA. But if the Lightning can get that figured out, there might be something brewing.

Matchup of the Week Results
The Krill and Galaxy split their series, with the Galaxy winning the two middle games. The Galaxy are currently tied for the final wildcard spot, while the Krill are just one game back.

Matchup of the Week
The top two teams in the table meet as the Tawa Archers and the Prometha Pirates hook up. Can the Archers finally crack Harold Moore?

Complete CCL standings through week 8 of 19

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Complete Premier League Coverage weeks 7 and 8

Silverstars stay on top
This does not looks like a team that played in the Challenger League just a season ago. The Silverstars are 5-3 over their last 8, and just doing everything right to stay on top of the table. They lead the league in every offensive category, and are in the top 3 in just about every pitching category as well.

Aces tumbling
Itar has won just 4 of its last 16 games, falling all the way down to a relegation spot. The Aces have lost 3 of 4 to each the Queenstown Wave and the Argentum Silverstars over the last two weeks. Itar’s pitching has been atrocious, as they have the worst team ERA, starter ERA, and bullpen ERA in the league. Part of this problem is 3 regular starters are on the DL for the Aces. They hope to get Glenn Hairston back soon, but MacKillan Farguson and normal top starter Ian Sheirlaw may back more time to come back. They may be gone long enough that the Aces find themselves playing in the Challenger League next season.

Eldred tearing it up
The defending champion Caprica City Buccaneers are putting together a nice little hot streak, and a lot of that is thanks to shortstop Kenny Eldred having a career season. He’s slashing .420/.476/.786 (leading the league in all three by a very large margin). His 11 home runs are second best in the league, his 55 hits are the best in the league, his 27 runs scored are the best in the league, and his 103 total bases are the best in the league. Eldred signed a 4 year contract extension with the C-bucs prior to least season, so he will be giving Caprica City production for a while in the future.

Blaze suffer setback
The Fateu Blaze will have to make their run at the top of the table without star 1B Rodney Nathaniel. He tore a quadracept muscle trying to turn a single into a double and will miss the next month plus of the season. The Scorpia native was hitting .289 with 2 homers and 8 driven in this season.

Matchup of the Week results
The Queenstown Wave took 3 of 4 from the Itar Aces in their bid to get out of the relegation zone. The series started a big skid for the Aces, who have lost 8 of their last 10.

Matchup of the Week
There’s a lot of top of the table vs bottom of the table going on this week. We’ll focus specifically on the Fateu Blaze taking on the Itar Aces. Fateu looks to keep pace with the Argentum Silverstars, while the Aces are trying to get back to safety.

Complete Premier League standings through week 8 of 22

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Complete Challenger League Coverage Weeks 9 and 10

Lightning Sizzling their way up the standings
The Celeste Lightning have worked their way into a tie atop the standings, thanks to an incredible run over the last three weeks. The Lightning are 11-1 in their last twelve, including sweeps of the Heim Blizzard and Tauron City Bulls. Celeste is led by their ace Chad Venture. He’s 6-2 with a 1.82 ERA in 10 starts. At the back end of games, Mallon O’Hollegan has been slamming the door shut. He has 15 saves and a 0.98 ERA, with a 8.3 K/9 ratio.

Galaxy back in the hunt
Michael Attrill’s return seems to have jumpstarted the Opadea Galaxy’s offense, as they have moved up the table every week since he’s returned. In reality, the solid pitching from the Galaxy staff has done more to propel them than one single hitter, but the team is clicking on all cylinders right now.

Players of the Month
Hades Vice catcher Vicente Navarro took home the offensive player of the month award for Caprican May. The switch hitting backstop hit .364 with 7 homers and 12 walks in May. Meanwhile, a tight race between Harold Moore and Thomas Hinman went to Hinman. The Spatiu Gol Thunder starter went 4-0 with a 2.91 ERA. Hinman is 8-0 with a .261 ERA on the season.

Premier League to Rebuild
The Tauron City Bulls and the Landson Vipers both played in the Premier League last season. The Bulls had what can only be described as a history collapse to fall to the Challenger League, while the Vipers occupied last place for most of the season. The collapse is now fully complete for both teams, as they find themselves in the bottom two spots of the Challenger League table. The Bulls have the worst pitching staff in the league; ranking dead last in most pitching categories. Tauron City has started the rebuild project already, acquiring highly touted prospect Jim Buttar three weeks ago. The Vipers, meanwhile, occupy the bottom spot in most offensive categories. They have made some minor league trades, but none for any rated prospects.

Matchup of the Week Results
In the battle of the league leaders, the Archers came out on top, taking 3 of 4 from the Promethea Pirates. The Pirates then split their next series, falling to 4th place in the table. But 4th place is good enough. If the season ended today, the Pirates would still be playing for promotion.

Matchup of the Week
The Promethea Pirates and the Gaiam Wolves will lock up in an effort for both sides to end their skid. The Pirate’s losing streak hasn’t been as severe as the Wolves’ has, but both teams are trending in the wrong direction and could use a big series win to try and get the ship righted.

Complete CCL standings through week 10 of 19

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Complete Premier League coverage weeks 9 and 10

C-bucs stay hot
Much like last season, the Caprica City Buccaneers got off to a slow start, but have turned up the heat halfway through the season. The C-bucs are doing it with offense: they lead the league in home runs and extra base hits. They need it, too, as their starting pitching has been pretty abysmal with ace Ricardo Duarte on the DL for the rest of the season. But the bullpen has been lights out, keeping the leads their offensive gives them. Closer Daryl O’Daal is on a 12 game save streak.

Silverstars lose starter, remain atop league
Despite the hard charge by the C-bucs, the Argentum Silverstars remain at the top of the league. Argentum is lead by Brad Coffee, who leads the league in home runs with 13, and in RBI with 38. On the flip side, their pitching suffered a big setback last week when staff ace Ethan Wanlace going the 15 day DL with an elbow injury. He’s expected to miss more than just the DL time, but no more than a month. Wanlace is 2-0 with an ERA under 2 in his 9 starts this season.

Riders add piece to help make charge
The Dust Valley Riders made a big trade to try and bolster their offense as they look to make a run at the Colonial Cup. The Riders get Shortstop Ken Wert from the Olympia Racers. Wert is hitting .377 with 9 homers and 23 driven in this year. They send back RF Dylan Bain, who is hitting .336 in a platoon/pinch hit role this year, and pitching prospect Tony Williams. Williams slots in as Olympia’s #5 prospect.

Matchup of the Week Results
In a pretty big upset, the Itar Aces took 3 of 4 and the series from the Fateu Blaze. The Aces pitching held the Blaze to 3 runs or less in all three games that they won. The Blaze continued to stumble over what should have been an easier part of the scheduled, dropping 2 to the Queenstown Wave as well. Itar, meanwhile, kept the momentum going by taking 3 of 4 from the Kobol College Twins and getting themselves back out of the relegation zone.

Matchup of the Week
Its 2 vs 3 as the Fateu Blaze and the Caprica City Buccaneers meet in a huge midseason series. The Blaze come in stumbling a bit as of late, while the C-bucs are red hot.

Complete Premier League Standings through week 10 of 22

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Complete Challenger League Coverage Weeks 11 and 12!

A Tie at the Top
The Celest Lightning have kept the momentum going, drawing level with the Tawa Archers at 33-15, good enough for first place in the Challenger League Standings. The Lightning took 3 of 4 from the hapless Landson Vipers before splitting their most recent series with the Olypia Racers to earn their seat at the top of the table. Meanwhile, its been business as usual for the Archers, who have never been worse than a tie for second so far this year. They took 3 of 4 from the Boskirk Brewers before splitting with the Jonoel Scoprions.

Wolves not keeping pace
The Gaiam Wolves were computer’s pick in the preseason to more or less run away with the league. The preseason polls had them winning the league by a full six games. Reality hasn’t matched up with the predictions, however, as the Wolves sit at 26-22, 7 games back of the top of the table. The Wolves have dealt with some injuries, but nothing that you can point to as a major season wrecker. Gaiam just hasn’t gotten the work done from their pitching staff, especially the bullpen. Gaiam’s bullpen ERA is 3.87, 15th out of the 20 teams in the league. They’ve also been let down by their defense, as their BABIP is .328, and defensive efficiency is .661, both dead last in the Challenger division.

Attrill takes over home run lead
Missing almost a month of the early season slowed him down, but it didn’t take long for last year’s Globe of Atlas trophy winner to get back into his unhuman form. Attrill has now taken over the league’s home run lead with 16. He’s hitting .376 with 33 RBI, 16 stolen bases, and is slugging .732. Those are video game numbers if we’ve ever seen them. The 26 year old Libran native was the first overall draft pick in the first ever Colonial League entry draft from the Rising Star league. This is his last year of arbitration with the Galaxy, and he will be the hottest free agent in the history of the league after this season.

Matchup of the Week results
The Wolves and Pirates split their series, and each team split the series the following week as well, leaving both teams still on the outside looking in for a playoff berth.

Matchup of the Week
We will again look at the Promethea Pirates this week, as they take on the team directly above them in the standings, the Opadea Galaxy. Opadea holds the final wild card spot by two games over the Pirates, and star slugger Michael Attrill is on a tear right now. Prometha look to chill the hot hitter and overtake that wild card position.

Complete Challenger League standings through week 12 of 19

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Complete Premier League Coverage weeks 11 and 12

C-bucs overtake Silverstars
For the first time all season, the Argentum Silverstars do not sit at the top of the Premier League table.
The red hot Buccaneers are 9-1 over their last ten, include a sweep of another major contender, the Fateu Blaze. Caprica City’s offense keeps chugging along, leading the league in runs scored, extra base hits, and on base percentage. Despite this offensive explosion, much of Caprica City’s success can be attributed to their ability to win the close ones. The C-bucs are 14-9 in one-run games this season.

Silvestars struggle
Argentum, meanwhile, is on a bit of a schneid. They lost 3 of 4 to their former Challenger League mates Dust Valley , after splitting a series with the Luminere Reds. Their bullpen has struggled as of late, with an ERA up over 4. Big free agent acquisition Keely Mobbs has struggled since coming over from the Reidi Drillers. Mobbs’ ERA was a tick over 2 in his 3 seasons with Reidi. His ERA with the Silverstars this year is 4.5. His WHIP is up to 1.78 as well. That all being said, the Silverstars are still second place in the table, and still have a 3 game lead over the Dust Valley Riders for a spot in the Colonial Cup. And some good news, ace pitcher Ethan Wanlace is expected to only miss 1 more start with his elbow injury.

Aces surging
The Itar Aces seem to have finally figured it out, and are on a hot streak. The Aces have taken 3 of 4 in each of their last 3 series. It is only good enough to get the record back to .500, but for a team that was just a few games shy of the Colonial Cup last season, that’s a good sign of life. The Aces offense has finally come around, but the pitching staff is still a bit of a work in progress. Free agent signing Jim Hoffman leads the team with 9 home runs and 27 batted in.

Matchup of the Week results
As stated above, the C-bucs swept the Fateu Blaze in a statement series. The wins propelled Caprica to the top of the table, while Fateu currently sits 4 games out of a the final Colonial Cup spot.

Matchup of the Week
The Dust Valley Riders will take on the Hadrian United next week. Dust Valley looks to try and get back into Colonial Cup territory after 2 big wins over the Silverstars. The United are on the opposite side of the coin, as they have been trending down towards the relegation zone. This is a big series for them to try and get back to safety. Hadrian won 3 of 4 when these two teams met in early May.

Complete Premier League standings through week 12 of 22

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A look at the Rising Star League

The Rising Star League’s season is drawing to a close, giving us a chance to look at who might be the big names in this year’s draft class.

On the offensive side of things, Jamie Tosh of Virgon made his statement that he should be a top 5 pick. He hit 28 homers in 48 games, leading the league by a large margin. He also drove in 66 runs.

Pedro Gutierez wasn’t too far behind, hitting 21 homers and hitting .461. The 21 year old, also from Virgon, really burst onto the scene this year after 2 mediocre years at the Rising Star level.

For pitchers, all eyes are on Ron Bruce from Scopria. He had 14 saves with a 2.06 ERA, allowing just 10 runs in 43.2 innings of work. The 18 year old Scoprian isn’t eligible for this year’s draft, but he’ll be on the top of draft boards across the league in a few years.

Of the draft eligible players, Dion Tate seems to be drawing a lot of attention from scouts. The Scorpio native had a 1.64 ERA in 65.2 innings of work this season. He’s a 4-pitch hurler with a nasty cutter and above average curveball.

Noah Willows is also a name that is popping up. Maybe not as a high first rounder, but a good pickup for a Premier League team later in round one. The Canceron native went 4-1 in 11 starts with an ERA of 1.82. He average striking out 11 batters per nine innings. The needle on Willows has moved down a bit, as he was a projected top 5 pitcher his first year in the Rising Star League, but he should still be a solid pickup for whomever he falls to.