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#3 Tri-City vs. #6 Banko A's
First-round Preview: Perennial playoff team vs.
first-time playoff team.
Home-field
advantage will not be as big an edge in the “Battle of Scherersville” series
between the third-seeded Tri-City Fleetwings and the sixth-seeded Banko
Athletics as it may be in other match-ups. Since both teams share the
Scherersville complex fields with three other teams in the league, they are
each equally experienced at the two hitter-friendly diamonds. The propensity
for each team to hit home runs on the two fields (Scherersville #1 and #5) that
sometimes act like Coors Field in Denver could lead to quite a few offensive
fireworks between these powerhouses.
These
two teams are not strangers to meeting in the post-season. Last year the
Fleetwings defeated a Northern Yankees’ team comprised of mostly this season’s
A’s in two hard-fought games. Tri-City defeated the Yanks’ Rob Gontkosky in the
opener 8-5 behind Josh Gunkle’s pitching and a home run from Justin Godusky.
Godusky hit another home run in Game Two of the series and a strong outing from
Ryan Palos led Tri-City to a win over Scott Bolasky and the Yankees by a 6-4
score. It will also be another dual for the Palos family as both Mike, Sr. and
Mike, Jr. play for the A’s, while Ryan suits up for Tri-City.
The
Tri-City Fleetwings come into this year’s playoffs with a record of 25-11.
Managed by Bob Fatzinger, Tri-City lost in five games in the championship to
Gabelsville last year and is raring to make another run at the Tri-County
title. Tri-City is a team filled with college or ex-college players and they
have advanced one round further every season since their “expansion” season of
1999. Offensively top hitters such as Godusky (.426), Ben Swatsky (.473, third
in the league in hitting), Paul Santay (.400), Matt Marcks (.330) and Dan
Dillon (.378) lead the Fleetwings. Swatsky’s two home runs in the season finale
against ICC tied the league’s single season mark at 14. Swatsky also had 51
RBI (one shy of the single-season record), 42 runs (two shy of the record) and
he shattered the total bases record with 124. The
Fleetwings finished the 2002 campaign with the fifth highest team
slugging average in league history at .548.
On the
mound the Fleetwings will throw experience that no one else in the league can
match. Veterans Dennis Kinney (2-2, 5.25), Ray Ganser (4-1, 3.10), Gunkle (5-3,
3.45) and Matt Hlay (3-1, 3.68) combine with the youngsters to form perhaps the
league’s deepest pitching staff. Young hurlers Dan Dillon (2-2, 3.58), Ryan
Palos (2-2, 5.00) and Kevin Woodbridge (5-0, 2.24) and BML stud Tim Buck (who
got eligible with 20 plate appearances) provide the heat that will help mix up
any opponent when linked with the veterans’ craftiness.
On the
other side of the diamond will be a Banko Athletics team that is also
experienced in the playoffs despite the fact that they are technically an
“expansion” team. Many of these players were with the Yankees for the past few
seasons and several of their key players won the league title in 1998 with the
South Whitehall Serpents. Manager Jason Strunk has led the A’s to a 22-14
record this season. The A’s will hit the long ball and can match the Fleetwings
homer for homer. Offensively Banko will put out a strong lineup consisting of
Gontkosky (.427), Strunk (.407, 11 HRs), Bob Breitfeller (.367), Jud Frank
(.356), Paul Woodling (.333) and Matt Long (.280). However, it has been
reported that Strunk will take over the catching duties due to an injury
suffered by usual starter Mark “Crash” Davis (.457), which will cost the A’s
the services of Strunk’s pitching, although Davis is supposed to DH.
The A’s
pitching is also experienced and their breaking balls could pose a problem for
the Fleetwings’ top hitters. Bolasky (6-3, 4.81), Frank (3-0, 6.10), Mike
Palos, Jr. (3-3, 6.00) and Strunk (3-2) all rely on a mixture of heat and
off-speed pitches that will keep batters off-balance. It will be essential for
the A’s to keep the ball down and hold Tri-City in the park.
Prediction: Banko actually
took the season series from Tri-City, two games to one. The A’s defeated the
Fleetwings 5-1 at home and 7-3 on the road at Scherersville #1, the site of
Saturday’s Game One. Tri-City beat Banko 10-6 in the other game at
Scherersville #5. However, teams need pitching to win in the play-offs and
Tri-City has the advantage there. The experienced arms and big bats of Tri-City
should lead them to a 2-0 series sweep, though the potential is there for the
A’s to steal a game. The possible loss of a top hitter in Davis (if he cannot
DH) will hurt an A’s offense that will need to come through with a few long balls to advance to the
semifinals.
Mark's
choice: Tri-City in 2
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