Fall 2011 Tournament Preview: Chicken Tetrazzini

**UPDATE** No sooner do I finish the CT preview did the word come from captain Andrea Hoffman that unfortunately the Angry Birds will be withdrawing from the tournament. :( **

We continue our 16 part tourney preview with the team affectionately known as the "Angry Birds".

#15 Chicken Tetrazzini
Record: 2-9
Runs Scored: 15 (1.36 rpg, 16th in league)
Runs Allowed: 82 (7.45 rapg, 15th in league)

Chicken Tetrazzini finished their 2nd season in the spring looking like a team that was on the rise. They came on strong at the end of the season and earned a 6-6 record in what was a very competitive season. Many kickball pundits were predicting that Tetrazzini would continue to make moves up the ladder.

However, the team took a step back and regressed, going 2-9. Statistically, they had the league's worse offense (1.36 runs per game) and the 2nd worst defense (7.45 rapg). Towards the end of the season, the team struggled to even field a full team, and forfeited 2 games, including the highly anticipated showdown with Foul Balls.

So what happened? How did a team that went .500 in the Spring fall apart just a couple months later? There are multiple reasons. One of which was a key injury to C Taylor Wilson early in the season that forced him to miss several weeks. Without Wilson in the lineup, the Angry Bird interior bunt defense suffered. Wilson is, as far as I know, healthy now. Assuming he's available for Saturday helps CT's chances tremendously.

"We have the league right where we want them," Wilson said in a recent interview, "CT is going to drop bombs! And by bombs, I mean 'pop flies'."

CT definitely was hurt by sloppy play in the field. Often times the team struggles to make outs on routine plays, extending the innings for their opponents and leading to lots of runs. For them to have a shot at making a Cinderella run on Saturday, they'll need to play much tighter defense.

In the first round, the Chickens will have a tough task ahead of them, as they square off against the powerful 5 O'Clockers. The two teams played on October 12th, with the Clockers dropping the pinkos 14-2. During that game, the CT outfield made several costly errors that lead to 5OC triples and home runs. Look for the Clockers to try and exploit that weakness again. If CT can fill the gaps in the outfield and the Clockers come in flat, than they have a puncher's chance. Otherwise, it could be a quick mercy ruling to end the Birds morning.

Other Team Previews
#16 Foul Balls