8 Games Down, 7 To Go - Who Wants It?

The MWL just made the turn at the halfway point, and not much has been established for the title or the playoff teams. The league is as tight as I hoped.

Four teams have a legitimate shot at the title. Co-leaders Springfield and Thurston, 3rd place North Eugene and fourth place Churchill. Of the four, Churchill has the longest shot, being 2 games out of first with 7 to go. But those 7 games include 2 against co-leader Thurston. Lancer wins would give Churchill a tie breaker over the Colts.
And odd as it seems because Willamette has a 2-6 record, the Wolverines have a shot at making state. They are only 3 games out of third, with two games against third place North Eugene, and two against co-leader Springfield. Four of the Wolverines five losses are by two runs or less. It wouldn't take much to turn their record around.

Springfield and Churchill have to be the surprises so far. Springfield has played up to its potential. That was a concern before the year. It's tough for players to change their mindset from just playing ball with no real expectations of going to state, to playing ball to go to state. The question was, "Can the players and coaches play to their potential every game, every pitch?" The Miller's have answered the call as shown by their prolific bats in most games, and the D of the last four games where they have held opponents to a little over three runs.

Churchill jumped out to a 3-1 record, but lost three in a row. And they weren't pretty losses. They will need to get back to their defensive ways of the first four games, when they were giving up just 2.5 runs per game. Churchill is loaded with seniors. That can be good if they band together. Or, it can be bad if they succumb to spring term senioritis and their minds drift towards off field thoughts.

There are no league games Friday, but there are key games Monday and Wednesday. Now's the point in the season where coaches will use a starting pitcher in back to back games if they can pull them early in a lopsided win. The Churchill at North Eugene game Monday is the first opportunity to see if a coach uses this strategy. Lancer Brad Birch started Friday and went just four innings. He got the last 10 batters out that he faced, six by strike outs. He could be used in a pinch. If you really get into this strategy and want more to consider.... a Churchill win would give the Lancers the tiebreaker. But if Churchill loses, the Lancers still have another chance to take the tiebreaker in the third round. What would you do with Birch if it's close in the fifth?

Wednesday's games feature Thurston at Churchill and North Eugene at Willamette. Thurston likely will have a full set of pitcher options on Wednesday. Churchill will be coming off of the game against North Eugene and will have fewer pitcher options if the Lancer starter goes deep into the game on Monday. Fortunately for Churchill, they have a lot of guys who can throw.

Newbies. Some more frosh had impressive outings last week. We're all pretty familiar with Thurston's Kyle Watson trying out the clean up batter's position and pitching, Springfield's Malik Evans on the mound and Willamette's Scott Kuvaas at shortstop. We may be seeing a few more frosh in bloom. Willamette's Cole Urioste had a great week and Marshfield's Doug Molzahn was pressed into duty and pitched a complete game against Willamette. Another baby buc from Coos Bay, Tyler Johnson, also is picking up momentum at the plate. Coupling these outstanding frosh with the many very solid sophomores it appears the league is in good shape for at least a few more years. (The Coos Bay newspaper reported Molzahn out for the season with a knee injury)