Oh September in Jersey. The guidos and guidettes have left the Shores in search for warmer climates, the smell of rotting seafood and lost dreams have faded and the D-Bags find themselves amidst another (what once seemed unobtainable) playoff hunt. For much of the summer and early fall Jersey has looking up the standings to the dominate 84's of Greenville, the power bats of the Swag from Pittsburgh and the Bombers who reside on the shores of Lake Mandota in the city of Madison.
After a dismal 12-16 August which saw Jersey lose 7 games to teams under .500, the D-Bags fell to 9 games behind Regina for that last coveted Wild Card playoff spot. 8 games out, 26 games to play.......if the chances were slim to none, slim had he hat on and was heading for the door. Attendance started to drop pulling in a season low 24,808 fans to witness the D-Bags drop the 2nd to last game in August to the Titans of Toronto. While the Stars were playing well, the team as a whole wasn't. 3 players cannot carry a ball club. With September abound, the last month is a long under achieving season was upon us and 26 games til family, winter, golf, travels and another off season to ponder what else to bring to Jersey to help them get over that hump of the only team in BSA history to always finish with a winning record but never finding the playoffs.
But if we have ever learned anything from this team is don't give up on the D-Bags. September started with a win over Toronto, followed by taking 2 of 3 from St. Louis and one of Jersey's only 2 off days of the month. A loss to Reno on the 6th of the month left Jersey 3-2 for the month with 21 games to play, 7.5 back. Funny thing about that Reno game, it's 11 days later and that was Jersey's last loss.
Jersey would take the next 2 from Reno, scoring 10+ runs in both games. Next traveled to Pittsburgh for a 4 game set, and who was also well ahead of the D-Bags. 4 games, 4 wins, including a game scoring 4 in the 9th to take the lead. Next came 4 at home with the Browns. Jersey pitching was phenomenal, allowing 10 runs in a 4 game sweep. The series included 2 walk off wins, wins 7 and 9 of the streak. Win 11 came on Rob Goodship's best performance of his career, shutting out WC leading Regina on 1 hit for a 7-0 win. 11 wins in a row, 5 games shaved off the WC lead. 11 games to play, the D-Bags sit 3 games back. Impossible? No. Improbable? Absolutely. It was a mere 2 years ago the D-Bags made a similar run to make it 1 game back with 6 to play. Only to watch Oklahoma and Greenville pull away an finish 2 games out.
Here is what we have left:
Jersey: @REG, @REG, @POC, @POC, @POC, @KCY, @KCY, @KCY, vs GRN, vs GRN, vs GRN
Pitts: @MAD, @MAD, vs GRN, vs GRN, vs GRN, vs MAD, vs MAD, vs MAD, @STL, @STL, @STL
Regina: vs JER, vs JER, vs TOR, vs TOR, vs TOR, @VIS, @VIS, @ VIS, @IND, @IND, @IND
When we talk about how good Jersey has been as a team, it starts with the pitching.
Greg Shaefer is undefeated in 3 starts, with a 0.87 ERA which included a CG shutout.
Rob Good ship is undefeated in 4 starts, with an ERA of 2.67 and his 1 hit shutout.
Macias is 2-0 in 3 starts with a 3.32 ERA.
The bullpen as a whole has allowed 10 ER in 33 IP, with 50 K's, which comes out to a 2.92 ERA.
As far as the hitting goes, 12 of the 17 batters are hitting over .300, including 8 hitters with multiple homers, led my Mikey Bryant who has 4 HR and 17 RBI in 16 games. Bryant who went cold in August has seem to have found it again and it shows in the team's results.
While we don't fully expect the D-Bags to continue this magical winning streak and run, it has brought us something to watch and root for again in September, and with 11 games left and this being baseball in Jersey, anything can happen. Keep your eyes open ;)
GO D-BAGS
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