Sp2011 Tourney Preview - Rumspringa vs. Battlestar Ballsacktica

Picking back up with our epic 7 part tournament preview, in this post, we'll preview one of the most anticipated first round games of the day (at least in my opinion).

#11 Battlestar Ballsacktica (5-7, 38 RF, 50 RA) vs. #6 Rumspringa (7-4-1, 57 RF, 28 RA) 

When Rumspringa came into the league in the Spring of 2010, just over 12 months ago, like so many rookie teams they were the doormats. In their inaggural season, 'Springa went 2-8-1 and were outscored by over 30 runs. In their next season, they made the leap to competitive respectability, in going 7-5, making the Final Four, and coming within outs of making the finals after taking JFK to extra innings. Going into this season, the expectations were high for Rumspringa. The first coaches poll had them ranked #3 overall, and many 'Springa players, including standout charger Ricky Holmes, were talking about championships.

Well, I don't know if it was the pressure of high expectations, complacency that comes with hype, the tough schedule, or a combination of all of the above; but this season started out rough for Rumspringa. The squad started out 0-3-1 in the first four games, with the only highlight being a 0-0 tie of the VIPs. At this point, with starting catcher Troy Southall on the shelf with a broken ankle, it looked like Rumspringa was going to regress back to their earlier Spring '10 performance...

But anyone who thought that would be wrong. The turnaround began in week 4, when Rumspringa came from behind to beat the Jagernauts after Brian Yohn's walkoff single in the bottom of the 4th. That exciting finish to the game gave Rumspringa a lot of momentum. With the hardest part of their schedule behind them, they began to rip off win after win, going 7-1 over the final 3/4 of the season.

Some of the BB and 'Springa members are really close off the field.

As mentioned above, catcher Troy Southall suffered a broken ankle early in the year and missed several weeks. While he was on the DL, Guy Sumrell stepped up and played very well in Southall's absence. Sumrell's emergence as a serviceable catcher has given 'Springa two options behind the plate now that Troy has been activated. This depth will help them well if they expect to make a deep run on Saturday. Temperatures are forecasted to be above 100 degrees and being able to rotate catchers will be a luxury many teams won't have.

81 hustles down the line.

'Springa has one of the best defenses in the league, lead by Charger Ricky Holmes. Holmes once again had a standout season and will be one of the contenders for All-Peninsula honors. On the mound for Rumspringa, they throw either Matt Wellbrock or Gary Weems. Both have different styles. Wellbrock might have just a bit more movement on his pitches, but Weems has more power and speed (which is surprising because he throws the ball underhand). Overall, the team plays smart and does not make a lot of mental mistakes in the field. They definitely make teams work for every run.

While the offense was respectable and scored 57 runs (6th in the league), many of those runs were scored against the soft underbelly of the bottom tiered teams. If you peel back the onion, you'll see that 'Springa struggled to score runs against the 5 teams ranked ahead of them (VIPs, VD, CG, JFK, and 5OC). In those games, Rumspringa scored only 3 runs (0.6 pg), and went 0-4-1. For them to replicate last year's tournament success and go farther, they will need to get some more runs across the plate.

On the other side of the field in round 1 is their opponents, Battlestar Ballsacktica. This was a team that was founded this season after many players were looking to be on a more competitive team than NKotB. Head coach Andy Tapley recruited some great athletes to join the core group of former New Kicks and had many pundits buzzing about their potential (including your humble commissioner who had BB ranked #9 in his preseason preview). With the high ambitions and expectations, the squad had to be just a little dissapointed when they started out 2-5 and were down in the bottom of the table. But they appear to have righted the ship just a bit and have played some good kickball down the stretch. In their last 5 games, the Ballsacks have gone 3-2 with a signature 1-0 win over the powerful Moose Knuckles. In their last game, they played a close one against the #3 seeded Chubby Gangsters, losing 3-0 but making them work for the win.

Battlestar Ballsacktica - best team name of 2011.

It was expected that this team would be very good offensively. They have a lot of powerful legs in their lineup including Michael Machie, Phillip Tanner, and David "D-Bizzle" Baum. Hell, even some of their girls, Lisa Rock and Nicole Plesha can crush a ball if they get a hold of the right pitch. It was expected that with this much power, the Battlestar would be able eviscerate teams by cranking out line drives all over the field. And to some degree they did have success doing that against lower ranked teams. 31 combined in four games against Foul Balls, SbtB, JKI, and OitC. That is 81% of their total season run output. Against teams with more reliable outfields, Battlestars one dimensional offense stalled, scoring less than 1 run per game. For them to be successful and make a good run in the tourney, they'll have to find a way to get some baserunners on in front of the big legs so they can drive them in. 

Joe Stumpo kicks away in week 1.

Defensively, Battlestar Ballsacktica has been up and down. SP Jonathan Pilz has been very consistent and solid on the mound. He has a unique pitch that always looks like it's going to be one bounce, but somehow manages to cross the plate as a strike. Michael Machie has a lot of range and may be one of the quicker chargers in the league... The key for Battlestar Ballsacktica is consistency. They've had some games where they've been beat down pretty good (On May 25th JFK beat them 12-0), while at other times they've looked exceptional on defense. Against the high powered Moose Knuckles on June 22nd, Battlestar shut them down and earned a hard fought 1-0 victory. This is no small feat, as BB was actually the only team to hold the Knuckles scoreless all season.

Phillip Tanner and BB litterally crushed balls this season.

All in all, Battlestar Ballsacktica has the same thing they had in the preseason, and that's potential. Whether it's ever realized or not will remain to be seen on Saturday.

These two teams met on June 1st. Rumspringa won 7-1. Whichever team wins the rematch on Saturday morning will go on to play the winner of the Chubby Gangsters and Off in the Corner.