Before going into the North Eugene - Springfield game, a question.... Why would anyone pay to see the Ducks or Ems play at PK park, when you can see a ten inning 3-2 game at Thurston with great pitching and fantastic defensive plays for free?
Back to the MWL. Springfield has answered the call this week with wins over fourth place Churchill and second place Thurston. But believe it or not, Springfield still could fall all the way to third. If Springfield loses out and North Eugene or Thurston wins out, Springfield falls to at least second.
North Eugene will begin their final push to take the pennant away from Springfield on Friday. A North Eugene win over Springfield gives North a 3-0 tiebreaker over the Millers. Springfield would still have a one game lead with two games to go with games against Willamette and Marshfield. But stumble once and North Eugene can steal the first seed by beating Churchill and Willamette next week.
North Eugene has two wins over Springfield by scores of 13-1 and 3-1. Springfield's Kameron Bates won't be available Friday after pitching ten innings Wednesday. In the other dugout, Andrew Moore is fresh and available for the Highlanders. North has given up just a little over 1 run per game over the last ten games. As bizarre as it may seem, Springfield might be wise to work their relievers a few innings each, see how the chips fall, and save their starters for next week. What the heck, North Eugene already owns the tiebreaker.
Willamette at Thurston
Dawson Phinney should be on the mound for Thurston. He'll be going for his fifth league win. Thurston is tied with North Eugene for second and the Colts own the tie breaker. Thurston should be focused for this one. I was impressed by the Colts valiant effort against the Millers yesterday with frosh Kyle Watson on the mound. Thurston will certainly miss Tyler Johnson if he can't get back on the field, but the Colts sure aren't going to be feeling sorry for themselves.
Churchill at Marshfield
I saw a Churchill-Marshfield game in Coos Bay a few years ago when Churchill was playing fantastic ball. The Lancers laid a complete egg. I think everyone felt that the Lancers would just kick into gear at some point and destroy the Pirates, but suddenly the game was over and the Pirates won. It looks like Elliot Aurdahl is available for the Pirates while Spencer Jorgensen pitched yesterday for Churchill.
My guesses, which were worth something before this year, is that North will prevail over Springfield and tighten up the race for the title. ... Thurston's Phinney will continue his mastery of the strike zone and beat Willamette to stay deadlocked with North in the standings.... And Churchill will have their hands full with Marshfield.
Bottom line is that we are down to the last three games and we don't know who our top three seeds are. A Churchill win and North Eugene loss Friday, keeps Churchill's faint playoff hopes alive. Churchill can catch North Eugene and capture the tiebreaker. Long odds, but it could happen.
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