BMFL 2nd Round Playoff Preview

from Shannon Borho
Just one upset in the first round of this year's Blackburn Men’s Fastball League playoffs, as the Blues swept the Guzzlers. The other series' went as expected with the top three seeds advancing to the 2nd round although Stan's Diner put a scare into the 2006 champion Good Ol' Boys taking the first game. Both the A's and Knights swept their first round series' over the Rogues and Ball Bangers respectively. Here is the 2nd round preview, all series' are best-of-three, all games played at the Blackburn Hamlet arena diamond:

#1 Knights vs. #5 Blues
Key Pitchers
Blues: Shannon Borho
Knights: Jamie Blakely

Key Batters
Blues: Steve Walman, Norm Manns, Shannon Borho, Gary Larocque, Bill Blad
Knights: Gerry Sancartier, Stefan Sklepowicz, Tyler and Ryan Cox, Brett Dugan

Pitching and defence will determine this series that is expected to be a low scoring one. A rested Blues squad who swept the Guzzlers in the first round will look to win two tight games against the high-powered Knights squad. After sweeping the Ball Bangers, Jamie Blakely and the Knights look to continue their dominance against the Blues as they swept the season series 3-0.

#2 Good Ol' Boys vs. #3 Wally's A's
Key Pitchers
Wally's A's: Will Lowe
Good Ol' Boys: Gilles Roy, Andy Dunn

Key Batters
Wally's A's: Eric 'Pedro' Sanchez, Terry Jones, Will Mood, Denis McNicoll, Noel Hayes, Dave Millette
Good Ol' Boys: Steve Corry, Serge and Luc Potvin, John Tremblay, Rej Doiron, Norm Gascon

After getting a scare by losing their first game of the playoffs, the Good Ol' Boys returned to form scoring 21 runs in the final two games of their first round win against Stan's Diner. In contrast with the other semi-final series, this one looks to be a high-scoring affair as the top two scoring teams in the regular season faceoff. The two team's finished the regular season with 32 points but the Good Ol' Boys will have home field advantage due to their 3-0 record against the A's although all three games were close. The A's advanced to the second round with a two-game sweep of the Rogues.