Gameday Results, 5/7: The Jack – Royal Oak, MI

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GAMES 1 & 2 1:00 PM FIELD A
(1-3) ISLANDERS (2-2) RED COX
GAME 1
4	LP: Doby (0-2) HR: Linebrink (1)	6	WP: Castle (1-1) HR: Castle (1,2), Werner (1)
GAME 2
4	WP: Gendron (1-1)	2	LP: Werner (0-1) HR: Palnau (1)
AVG: .000 SLG: .000 RpG: 1.00 ERA: 8.67 WHIP: 3.22 K/6:  9.7 2  •   All-Time Regular Season H2H Wins   •  Ties: 0 4 The Islanders found themselves on the opposite side of the wild, shaky start from last season. Both of their top pitchers, Doby and Gendron, struggled with their control and combined to walk 25 batters over 7 innings. The Black and White offense was equally embattled, going 0-27 at the plate on the day. To find a bright-spot for the Islanders... Well, Doby did no-hit El Diablos. The brighter side: the conditions have to get drier and warmer, and performance should pick up with that. Right? The Cox played their series in those same conditions, and their offensive numbers came out nearly as woeful. Nate Bellinger and rookie Stephen Villarreal provided the Cox only hits of the day, 2 singles, with the rest of their offense coming from walks. On the mound, Castle showed similar struggles to the Isles' arms in his first start as a Cox. 2015 Rookie of the Year Kujawa, though, probably delivered the best pitching performance of Opening Day (0.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 17.0 K/6), as the only one who threw a shut out over a complete 6 innings. But Kujo is graduating Saturday [Congrats, Scott!], so his team will be without him. Bellinger and Lil Vill are also expected to miss. That leaves week 2 in the hands of guys who need to overcome a slow start. There's no way these two teams combine for 2 or less hits again. I'd also hazard a guess that walks are at least cut in half. Better wiffleball should be expected to break through. Ineligible Pitchers  1 Game:  N/A   N/A 2 Games:    AVG: .057 SLG: .057 RpG: 1.50 ERA: 6.39 WHIP: 2.90 K/6: 12.8

GAMES 3 & 4 1:30 PM FIELD B
(2-2) HOLY BALLS (3-1) EL DIABLOS
GAME 3
1	WP: Paquin (1-0)	0	LP: C. Phillips (1-1)
GAME 4
11	LP: Pearson (1-1) HR: Pearson (2,3), Sharlow (1,2), Kreza (1), Paquin (1)	13	WP: M. Phillips (1-0)
AVG: .176 SLG: .265 RpG: 5.50 ERA: 1.64 WHIP: 1.82 K/6: 16.4 6  •   All-Time Regular Season H2H Wins   •  Ties: 0 8 The Balls pitching rotation opens the season in a good spot: one of only 3 teams with a sub-2.00 ERA. Fisher wound up on the wrong end of a 2-0 pitchers' duel, but recorded all 18 of his outs by strikeout in the near-miss. Pearson had one of his best starts on the mound in recent years: allowing just 1 run and 1 hit in 5 innings, while tallying up 12 K and 8 BB. He also belted the walk-off, mercy delivering home run to end that same game; the Balls' lone long ball of the early season. Pearson and Kreza led the offensive charge, combining for 5 hits. Kreza also made the first noise in the rookie of the year chase, with a 105' shot off Kujawa (his only hit surrendered) into cavernous right-center field. El Diablos started the season with great eyes. Impressively, and simultaneously disturbingly (???), every Blos player had at least three times as many RBI as hits. The three-headed beast of Tomlinson, LaDouceur, and Chandler Phillips supplied the three hits; Tomlinson's the loudest: a HR coming deep into the mire of game 2. The bats may have been (relatively) quiet, but Hatt looked sharp in a 3-inning shut out, mercy win (1.00 WHIP, 12.0 K/6). And while Chandler was upset with the 2.00 ERA and 2.50 WHIP he posted, it was enough to get his team a win. Hatt is scheduled to miss this week, so expect to see LaDouceur or Tomlinson pressed into emergency action. That means their bats will need to heat up to have a chance at keeping the perfect season alive. Ineligible Pitchers  1 Game:  Pearson   Hatt 2 Games:    AVG: .103 SLG: .207 RpG: 6.50 ERA: 1.33 WHIP: 2.00 K/6: 13.3

GAMES 5 & 6 3:30 PM FIELD A
(3-1) WICKED ACES (3-1) SEE YAS
GAME 5
0	LP: Schultz (0-1)	1	WP: Farkas (2-0)
GAME 6
1	WP: E. Bischoff (1-0)	0	LP: Bayley (0-1)
AVG: .191 SLG: .532 RpG: 5.00 ERA: 1.29 WHIP: 0.93 K/6: 15.4 4  •   All-Time Regular Season H2H Wins   •  Ties: 0 2 Austin Bischoff made his return to WSEM a tour de force: belting 3 HR, plating 6 RBI, and tossing 11 IP over the two games on the mound. As expected, he came out on fire to set a blistering pace for his team. Behind him, Bortmas had a big performance of his own: 5 hits, including 2 HR, and 3 shut out innings pitched in relief to earn the win in the first game. The two rookie 33s, Deer and Gogola, may not have gaudy numbers to show for it, but they played admirably in their first WSEM action. The learning curve may rise sharply heading into Week 2, if rumors are to be believed. Reportedly, Evan Bischoff will make his debut this week, however, those same reports suggest neither Bortmas nor Austin will make it out to The Jack. The See Yas held themselves an offensive coming out party on Opening Day. The 4 HR hit by the new lineup is already 31% of the team's total number from 2015 (13). Their 16 RS is already one-quarter of the way to the 61 they scored last season. Their 15 hits and 27 TB as a team lead WSEM, and they spread those hits around evenly over the two games: 7 vs Skinner, 8 vs Brown/N. Braden. Of course, it's entirely too early to say last season's glaring weakness has quickly become a strength, but the early returns are promising. With Little E scheduled to be back in action for Week 2, this matchup now looms as a great time to test that theory. Ineligible Pitchers  1 Game:  A. Bischoff   Nagorski 2 Games:    AVG: .300 SLG: .540 RpG: 8.00 ERA: 6.00 WHIP: 2.08 K/6: 13.0

GAMES 7 & 8 4:00 PM FIELD B
(1-3) FLYING SQUIRRELS (1-3) WOLFPACK
GAME 7
15	WP: Adams (1-0) HR: Adams (1), D. Braden (1)	0	LP: Fejza (0-1)
GAME 8
0	LP: Skinner (0-2)	5	WP: Strojny (1-2) HR: Strojny (2)
AVG: .239 SLG: .478 RpG: 6.00 ERA: 8.00 WHIP: 2.67 K/6: 12.0 4  •   All-Time Regular Season H2H Wins   •  Ties: 0 4 The Wolfpack come away from another Opening Day with a bitter taste in their mouths. It's now back-to-back 0-2 starts for the club. Although, this year comes with many more positives to take away. One, they scored 3 runs - and hit 2 bombs - off Austin Bischoff. That's an impressive number even in defeat. Two, in the same vein, they took an ace pitcher into extra innings tied 2-2; a game that could have broken either way. Three, and most importantly, this is the same lineup that was in this position last year and went on to win the Garcia Pennant. Speaking of familiar situations, the 'Pack will now square off against another 0-2 team coming off a heartbreaking defeat of their own. The Squirrels had a 10-1 lead heading into the 6th inning of their second game, literally minutes away from walking away with a split. Yada, yada, yada... They lost 13-11. As unsettling as that blown lead must be, perhaps the bigger cause for concern from the sweep should be the performance of their ace. Skinner was touched up for 3 runs, half of the total number he allowed all last season, on 7 hits - the most he's ever given up in a single outing. His strike out ratio was also down. For his career Craig has a 15.1 K/6; it was only 11.0 last week. Odds are he kicks it back into gear, and the Wolfpack could feel the full force of that. But his progress is something to keep an eye on this season. Nevertheless, the Squirrels bats are dangerous and a definite bright spot for the team. Impressively, they chalked up 4 hits (8 TB) against the 2-time NWLA Pitcher of the Year. Nick Braden, Brown, and Adams combined for 2 singles, a double, and a home run against Farkas. That type of performance bodes well, and will keep putting them in position to win games. Ineligible Pitchers  1 Game:  Brown   Strojny 2 Games:    AVG: .128 SLG: .277 RpG: 1.50 ERA: 4.86 WHIP: 1.62 K/6: 14.1