Jersey Shore vs. Greenville; Winner to WS

These 2 are no strangers to each other.  Playing 17 times per season over the last 5 years does that to teams.  In this matchup, Greenville has the edge. 2 years ago they took the season series 10-7, last year 11-6 and this year a closer but still with the edge 9-8.  This marks the 4th in a row that Greenville has won the CL East.  Jersey has come in 2nd twice and 3rd twice, this year being the first they snuck into the playoffs via the Wild Card spot.  This would mark the 3rd straight year that Greenville has advanced to the CLCS; 2 years ago being beaten in 7 games by Regina and last year beaten by Toronto in 5 games.  The 84's are no strangers to big games.  A 7 game series, winner to the World Series.

Game 1

We expected runs, high scoring, good bullpen pitching and high end drama and this series didn't disappoint.  Game 1 featured two of the better starters in the CL this year as Art Ellis took the mound for Jersey and Tom Crowder for Greenville.  After 2 innings we were knotted at 1 as the big boys knocked in the first runs of the game.  Cooper Newell an RBI double and Matt Doyle his first HR of the postseason, a solo shot in the 2nd.  A Carlos Perez solo HR made it 2-1 in the 3rd but the big break came for Jersey in the 4th.  With Leon Foster coaxing a 2-out walk from Crowder, Manny Romero hit what should have been an inning ending grounder to SS.  The usually soft and sure handed Raul Trejo couldn't field it cleanly allowing everyone to be safe and extend the inning.  And wouldn't you know on the first pitch of the next AB, 3B Alberto Perez would hit his 2nd postseason HR and put Jersey up 4-2.  Jose Alvarez kept the 84's close by hitting a 2 run bomb in the 5th to tie the game back up.  The tie didn't last long.  Bryant led off the 5th with a walk and advanced to 3rd on Matt Doyle's double.  Leon Foster hit a long pop fly that looked routine......until it landed 5 feet over the short 325 foot porch in Right to put the Bags on top 7-4.  Ellis would allow one hit in the last 4 innings going the distance for the CG and the Bags would add 3 more runs oh hits from Doyle and Foster for a convincing and statement making 10-4 opening game win.

Game 2

Before Game 2, John Bosma said in his press conference that the 84's needed to leave Greenville with a 1-1 split.  He was probably right as going down 0-2 at home would have been devastating, while on the other hand Jersey could put an early strangle hold on the series with a Game 2 win.  Dan Macias would face off against Oliver Beaudoin.    It was a see-saw battle that changed leads 4 times and feature 1 tie in the first 6 innings.  HR's by Carlos Perez and Manny Romero mixed in with Dan Macias escaping several jams left Greenville leading 5-4.  Alberto Perez who with 3 hits in Game 1, tied the game at 5 with an 8th inning single, knocking in Mike Bryant.  They failed to capitalize leaves 2 runners on base though.  The bullpens did their join to send the game into extras  and in the bottom of the 10th of of closer Daniel Morris, a Raul Trejo single, Jose Navarro sac bunt and a Greg O'Day grounder that found the OF gave the 84's a much needed walk off win.  In retrospect the game should never have been that close.  Greenville out hit Jersey 14 to 9 and left 23 men on base.  The series would head to Jersey tied at 1 game apiece. 

Game 3

Game 3 would feature a matchup of mid-season pickups from both sides.  Greenville would send Donald Manning whom them acquired from Maui and Jersey would send Game 6 hero Jerry Burgess whom they acquired from El Paso.  This game would get out of hand quickly.  The 84's would knock Burgess out of the game before the 3rd inning ended tagging him for 7 earned runs on 7 hits and 3 walks.  Jersey would fight back and make it a 7-4 game after 6 innings but Greenville was resilient in this one.  They scored 5 runs off of the usually sure fire bullpen, getting 4 off of Lucio Tapia, including a Carlos Perez HR, his 3rd in 3 games for a decisive 12-5 Greenville win.  Greenville had 14 hits and left 24 men on base making a statement with their bats for the 2nd night in a row.

Game 4

After the game Swain skipped his press conference but was heard saying, we have been here, down 2-1 before, we aren't worried. Game 4 would be one of coulda, shoulda, woulda.....so many chances on both sides.  This game is one that might haunt John Bosma in his sleep.  The starters were Ron Eager for the 84's and Rob Goodship going for Jersey.  Both pitchers were sharp through 2 when Greenville got to Goodship in the 3rd.  A double by Perez got the offense going.  The next batter, Brian Cash, knocked in Perez with a single to open the scoring.  After a flyout from the reigning MVP Felix Morales, little used OF Arthur Donahue would blast a 2 run HR out of CF to put Greenville on top 3-0, a score that would stick until the Jersey half of the 5th inning.  

Up until the 5th, Ron Eager had been perfect, retiring all 12 batters he had faced.  That would change on the 2nd pitch of the inning as Matt Doyle lined a ball to the gap in right center and would coast in with a stand up double.  A flustered Eager hit Al Ryan with the next pitch to put two runners aboard with no outs.  O'Day would talk to Eager helping to settle him down and getting the recent hot hitting Alberto Perez to hit into a fielder's choice getting the out at 2nd.  That brought up Leon Foster to the plate with runners on the corners.  Foster took a 1-2 hanging curveball and pounded it to the left-center gap where Doyle scored the 1st run of the day for the D-Bags easy and Perez coasted into 3rd base.  The next batter was the catcher Albert Lopez, playing for the injured Duran, who lined a ball between short and third for a running scoring single setting up runners on the corners again for SS Marvin Taylor.  Taylor walked on 5 pitches to load the bases for Peter Larson, who was making his first appearance in over a month after being on the DL.  After fouling off 4 straight 2-2 pitches Eager would strike out Larson looking for a huge 2nd out.  He still wasn't out of the trouble because Jose Ortiz would hit next with the bases loaded.  Ortiz turned on a ball that barely snuck into the OF.  It was enough to score Foster, but Lopez was held at 3rd.  That tied the score at 3 and brought up MVP candidate Mike Bryant with a chance to bust the game open.  Bryant, struggling thus far through the playoffs, eventually flew out to left to end the inning, but the damage was done and we had ourselves a tie game.  

Both pitchers threw a perfect 6th and Goodship started of the 7th by striking out Stan Hickman.  Cooper Newell hit a ball to the gap that nearly went out for a double and Goodship almost got out of the inning by getting SS Marcos Mesa to groundout, but Game 2 hero Greg O'Day lined a single into left scoring Newell for the go ahead run for the 84's.  Goodship would get out of the inning with no more damage and Eager would set down the Bags in order in the their half of the 7th.  Jersey elected to keep Goodship in the game in the 8th and set Greenville down on 12 pitches witch included a strikeout of Morales.  Jersey's half of the 8th started off with a walk to Peter Larson which chased Eager from the game and entered was Randy Ellison, who was used for one batter, and got Ortiz to ground into a FC getting the force out at second.  Manuel Medina then entered getting Bryant to groundout to first which advanced Ortiz to second with two outs.  Medina's night was done and the 84's brought in Miguel Negrete to face Doyle.  Doyle worked a full count before delivering the clutch single that brought Ortiz in from second and tied the game once again at 4.

Goodship would be pulled after pitching 8 strong innings and Dog Pound Gomes would take over.  After getting Alvarez and Hickman in 6 pitches, again Newell was the instigator doubling down the left field line, setting himself up as the go ahead run at second.  Pinch hitter Jose Navarro would come in and silence the Jersey crowd with a single into RF to put Grenville up 5-4 and 3 outs from a 3-1 series lead.  Closer Jorge Valentin would come in to attempt to close it out for the 84's in the 9th.  Alberto Perez would lead off the inning with a much needed single and add to the hopes for Jersey fans.  Scott Powers would come in and hit for Leon Foster and lay down a beauty of a bunt between the mound and 3rd.  On a very close bang-bang play Powers was called safe and the Bags were in business.  Jersey would send Manny Romero to hit for C Lopez and on an 0-2 count he sat back on a curveball and lined it into LF to load the bases with no one out.  What started out as a sacrifice attempt, turned into the bases loaded with no outs.  Valentin would get Taylor to ground out to the short, where they would go home for the force out and the first out of the inning.  Peter Larson would stroll to the plate next and would do what he does best, be selective.  He walked on 5 pitches which brought home Powers to tie the game and leave the bases juiced.  The next batter Jose Ortiz would fight off 2 pitches before punching a ball between LF and CF for a single that would plate Romero and send the crowd into a frenzy.  The Bags mobbed the field as Romero crossed the plate and what looked like a 3-1 deficit turned into a 2-2 series tie.

Game 5

Game 5 you would think Jersey would have all the momentum.  Coming back at home, maybe they partied a little late coming off their win.  This game saw Art Ellis being unusually off as he walked 4 batters, only lasted 5.1 IP, the bullpen gave up 3 earned runs and Carlos Perez hit his 4th and 5th HR of the series as Greenville coasted to an 8-2 to win and a 3-2 series advantage.  Also in this game Alberto Perez was hit on the hand and had to be taken out of the game.  Derrick Wright came in, who plays very little 3B, to fill in for Perez.  Luckily for the D-Bags nothing was broken but with Morrow being out, the only player who played any 3B was Wright, which forced them to go with Perez at 3B despite the sore and swollen hand.

Game 6

We would get a day off before Game 6, which was a rematch of Game 2, facing Macias against Beaudoin.  This would turn from laugher to classic and another head scratcher for the 84's.  Sore hand and all Perez lauched a 2 run HR in the 2nd and 2 batters later catcher Albert Lopez added another 2 run blast for an early 4-0 Jersey lead, which also chased the starter Beaudoin.  In the 4th with Sugimoto Kuhabara on the mound Al Ryan led off the inning with a solo blast and 3 batters later Lopez hit his 2nd HR of the night and the route was on.  6-0 Jersey just 3.5 innings into the game with Macias on cruise control thus far.  That's when things got interesting.

After striking out Newell to start the inning, Cash singled between walks to Hickman and Trejo which loaded the bases for Jose Navarro.  Navarro took full advantage running the count to full against Macias before depositing a Gland Slam HR 447 feet away.  To make matters worse for Jersey is two batters later O'Day hooked a ball around the left field foul pole for a solo HR which sent Macias to the showers and left us with a 6-5 game.  And the inning wasn't over.  Mungo was called in from the bullpen and has been almost perfect over the last 2 months.  He gave up a single to Alvarez before getting Perez to fly out.  Outs are hard to come by sometimes in a lineup like the 84's.  The next batter was MVP Morales, who showed us why he was the MVP by putting the 84's on top for the first time today with a 2 run HR to make it 7-6 Greenville.  A 6 run lead vanished in the blink of an eye and after a scoreless 5th and 6th, Jersey was 9 outs away from elimination.  

The 7th was no different as left handed specialist got the left handed top of the order in order and Greg Schaefer came in and gave up a harmless single before sending the game to the 8th.   The playoffs are built on heroics.  Greenville used their bullpen effectively using RH Ellison against Doyle, who struck out, and LF Herrera against Ryan, who grounded out.  Who else would start the 2 out rally other than, sore hand and all, Alberto Perez.  A single into left kept the inning going and a wild pitch sent him to second.  Pinch hitter Scott Powers hit a HUGE single into right field which tied the game.  On a 1-0 pitch Lopez, Powers took off for 2nd testing the arm of O'Day.  Usually one of the most accurate throwers in the league, O'Day sailed the ball into center field and Powers raced to 3rd.  The go ahead run 90 feet away.  Lopez, one of the slower runners on the roster, chopped a ball off the plate over the mound and was able to beat it out for an infield hit which scored Powers from 3rd and put the Bags back on top 8-7 and deflating which was once a loud, raucous crowd.  Tapia pitched the 8th for Jersey, walked a batter after two groundouts, then struck out the hot hitting Carlos Perez to send the game to the 9th.  The Bags were set down in order and Daniel Morris was sent out to save the game against the heart of the Greenville order. Morris was all business looking like the Morris of old.  Using his slider he got Morales and Newell looking and quickly got ahead of Hickman 0-2 before lazily flying out to Powers in CF which would send us to a Game 7.

Game 7

Why not 7 games for this series?  9-8 during the season.  Division rivals.  Hendersonville, who took care of the LA Bruins in 5 games, sat awaiting. The matchup, why not, Manning-Burgess, rematch of the mid season pick ups.  The stars aligned to send us this one.  As the game got under way, Donald Manning was business as usual, breezing through the Jersey lineup through the first 4 innings.  Burgess on the other hand was erratic but effective.  In the first 4 innings Greenville stranded 8 runners, 2 per inning, many of those times getting runners on with less than 2 outs.  You can only give a great team so many opportunities before they take advantage.  Manning set down Jersey in order in the 5th and Felix Morales led off the 5th and said....to hell with runners on base and launched a solo HR for the first run of the game.  Manning got into his first jam in the 6th when the Bags put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, but he K'ed Powers and got Rodriguez to fly out to end the threat.  After 6, Greenville 1, Jersey 0.

If Jersey was going to make noise it was now.  They led off the 7th with the heart of their order.  Bryant continued to struggle and flew out to left.  Matt Doyle on the other hand continued his hot series by singling before pinch hitter Peter Larson struck out.  With 2 outs Manny Romero crushed a ball to the gap in left center.  Even though Doyle was running on the pitch the ball was hit so hard it didn't give Doyle a chance to go home, instead putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs.  You can't write stories like this.  Stepping to the plate was who else, but Alberto Perez.  This had been his series so far, injury and all.  Manning ran the count to 3-1 before Perez got a pitch he liked.  A chest high fastball that he turned on and sent the ball sailing into the left field bleachers.  A 3 run HR in 1 run, in the 7th inning of Game 7 of the CLCS.  Heroics.  27 year old rookie who played most of the season in AAA.  Like I said you can't make this stuff up.  But we weren't done yet.

Now with a 3-1 lead to work with Burgess came back out in the 7th.  On his 4th pitch, Brian Cash hit a screaming line drive into the same left field bleachers to get a run back, 3-2 Jersey.  Burgess struck out Morales before being yanked after a gutsy quality start.  Gomes came in, walked Donahue before getting Alvarez and Hickman to ground out.  Onto the 8th.  Manning got the 1st out in the 8th before being pulled and left to an ovation.  He pitched one helleva game.  One mistake to Perez.  Randy Ellison came in and got Powers to ground out for the 2nd out of the inning.  Sergio Rodriguez came up and doubled to left and Bryant finally had a meaningful AB and knocked Rodriguez in for that all important insurance run.  Doyle would single before Larson popped out to end the inning.  Gomes, Saenz and Tapia combined to give up 2 hits, both singles, but escaped the inning when Navarro grounded out to 2nd.  Onto the 9th.  Jersey is 3 outs away from a World Series berth.

After what Greenville's pitching did in the 9th, you would think they were a lock to win this game.  Back-to-back singles by Romero and Perez put Bags on the corners with no outs.  A big Al Ryan strikeout followed by a Taylor ground out to 1st kept Romero and 3rd.  Scott Powers was walked to load the bases and Herrera got Sergio Rodriguez looking on a full count to send Greenville up to the plate just down 2 runs.  Everyone in the stadium including the Greenville dugout was shocked and bewildered when Daniel Morris was not brought in to close the game out.  Tapia was sent back out and immediately gave up a single to Morales which awoke the crowd.  Arthur Donahue stepped to the plate and Tapia quickly jumped in front 0-2.  Tapia through a high fastball that Donahue reached up and got and hit a one hopper back to Tapia who gloved, immediately turned and fired to 2nd where Bryant was waiting and threw to 1st for the easy 1-4-3 double play.  Jersey was one out from the World Series!  Jose Alvarez stepped into the batter's box, took a big swing and a miss for strike 1.  He fouled the 2nd pitch, a 97 MPH fastball straight back to send him in the hole at 0-2.  With the Jersey dugout against the railing and Greenville crowd down to their last hope, Tapia got Alvarez to chase a changeup in the dirt for strike 3!!  The Bags are the CL Champions!  The crowd was quick to file out as Jersey celebrated on the field, which included Gatorade buckets, a mob on the field and even a pie.  They had come back twice from 2-1, and once from 3-2 to knock off the 1 and 2 seeds on the road.  They were making their first trip to the playoffs well worth it.  Jersey will be the first CL East team to represent the division in the World Series.

As usual we will now go live to Josh Swain's press conference.  ::Swain enters along with Jerry Burgess and Alberto Perez, all 3 clad in CL Champions gear, half soaked in champagne:::

Swain: "Give it up to the stars of Game 7 and to your CLCS MVP Alberto Perez!"

Reporter Dan Miles, NY Times: "Jerry, what is going on??  You get lit up in both of your early starts in both series and then come back and pitch great in both deciding games.  Do you just up your game with pressure?"

Jerry Burgess: "If I do, it's not intentional! Haha!  I go out there to pitch my best every time out and I've had some not so good ones recently.  Today, I labored.  I don't think I went through an inning without a base runner on.  I gotta thank my defense and just thank myself for trusting my arm in a lot of situations.  They are a powerful, powerful team.  Just feels great to come through for my team."

Beat Writer Melissa Franklin, Jerseysports.com: "Josh, do these guys make you nervous?  The Bags have not lost one game where they were ahead late in the game.  Every tight game has been a win outside of Game 2, and that's where your boys came back to the tie game, but lost it in extras.  You doing ok?"

Swain: "If anything they excite me!  If you have watched Jersey baseball over the past couple of years you know that the bullpen has been our strong point.  We have had our bumps this year, but for the most part when we get that lead, we rarely give it back.  Clutch hitting is really what it's about.  We could have folded in game 4, 6 and 7 but got the hits we needed.  And really look no further than this guy, Alberto Perez.  The kid was amazing."

Reporter Sally Trumpert, Trenton Free Press: "Alberto, first off, amazing series!  2nd how is your hand? And 3rd what changed from the Toronto series to this one?"

Perez: "Thank you!  My hand is sore, but I will be fine.  I got a good pitch to hit today and took advantage of it.  The Toronto series I think I was trying to hard.  Everyone loves Morrow, those are some big shoes to fill.  After he went down people talked about how we had no chance, and that's hard to swallow for me because I was taking his spot.  I was swinging to hard and that led to my 1-20 in the Toronto series.  I allowed myself to relax these past couple games and got back into my rhythm.  Hopefully I can carry it forward against Hendersonville."

Beat writer Sam Toddenfield, BSAreport.com: "Rumors have it that Adam Morrow might be available for the Hendersonville series and what is the status on Luis Antonio Duran, will he be back?"

Swain: "Sadly for Luis his hand is shattered, it will take 5-6 weeks to heal and if you know Luis he wants to be here so bad.  We are going to place him on the DL and that will free up a roster spot.  The trainer tells us Morrow has about a week til he can play, so if we add him to the roster we could possibly see him in game 5, 6 or 7.  We are undecided if adding him will happen, but it is a possibility."

Reporter Vanessa Antuaco, Morgantown Today: "Jersey is in the World Series, give us a comment on what's that like and early thoughts on Hendersonville."

Swain: "It's one of those things where I still don't think it has hit me.  We have built this team from the inside out and never reached anything like this yet.  This team has the pieces, the role players are coming through and we feel great that we get to represent the CL in the series.  As for Hendersonville, what can I say?  They are the best of the best.  Their stars are the best in the game.  Scott Hill is the most intimidating person in the BSA.  It will be an uphill challenge, but I think this team is good enough to compete and beat them.  We will need some bounces to go our way and players to step up, but it can happen.  Thank you everyone for your support!"

After going 1-20 against Toronto, Perez completely turned his game around to win the CLCS MVP.  Perez hit 12-25, for an average of .480, including at least 1 hit in every game and drove in 9 runs.  After he injured his hand he went 4-6 with 2 HR and RBI.

Jersey plans to start Art Ellis for Game 1 of the World Series which starts Tuesday.  Lineups and a breakdown will be announced later.  Welcome to the Series D-Bags!

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Shore Flexes Muscle; Takes Down Toronto in 6

Staring at a 2-0 hole and a long flight back to Jersey reality set in.  After 5 years or playing decent baseball and coming up short so many times this was the playoffs. Where the best of the best come to play.  They had been good enough to enter this prestigious tournament and after 2 games had not played their best baseball, in fact it was far from their best.  A game 3 win was a boost, but it was still far from Jersey baseball. Runs scored in odd ways, not the usual Jersey style of mashing and bashing.  We held a press conference after Game 3 with GM Josh Swain and he laid out what Jersey had to do to win, and with surprise much of that came through.  What came after that was 3 straight wins.  Down 0-2 to winning the series 4-2.  4 game winning streak.  How did they do it? Here's how:

Entering Game 4 you can tell the monkey was off their backs.  There was that Jersey swagger back in the walks of a lot of the players.  It would be a rematch of Game 1 with Dan Macias taking the mound for Jersey and Ricky Bolden for Toronto, both on short rest.  GM Josh Swain told us it's the matchup he wanted.  If Dan could outduel Ricky, Jersey had the advantage.  They liked their changes agianst Jackson at home and liked the potential Ellis/Brito matchup in game 6.  Fireworks started early.  Toronto got 3 runs on 5 hits in the Top of the 1st before Jersey had a chance to bat.  But a sac fly and a passed ball in Jersey's half of the inning put the game back to 3-2.

The 2nd inning starting and things didn't stop.  D-bag killer Jaime "Gunner" Torres lifted off hitting a solo HR down the RF line to get a run back.  But veteran Leon Foster got the run right back for Jersey with a mammoth 452 run shot off of Bolden.  After the HR, a walk to Marvin Taylor, a single by Scott Powers and the eventual death blow came with catcher Luis Antonio Duran hit his 1st HR of the the postseason and 3 run blast that put Jersey up 6-4, a lead that would hold.

Macias would retire 13 of the next 16 batters before eventually being replaced and received a standing ovation from the Jersey crowd.  With Gomes replacing Macias and striking out Cuan and Rivas to end the 7th, Toronto replaced MR Cole with MR Jones, which turned out to be a mistake. A 2B, 1B, BB and HBP left a run in and the bases loaded with Al Ryan at the plate who tore open the game with his first postseason HR and first Glad Slam by a Jersey player in playoff history.  The Bags would add one more in the 8th before cruising to a 12-4 victory to the tie the series at 2 games apiece.

Who knew after the offensive explosion by the D-Bags in Game 4 that Game 5 would bring us the low scoring game of the series.  We would see Shawn Jackson start for Toronto and Rob Goodship take the hill for Jersey in what could have been the last game at the Shore for the season.  40,200+ fans showed up to cheer on their Bags.  Goodship made the first mistake in the 2nd inning when HR king John Crowe led the inning off with a solo HR to get the scoring started.  Jersey tied the score in the bottom of 3 when Sergio Rodriguez and Scott Powers both doubled.  Other than these two early runs, each starter was very good.  It wasn't until the bottom of the 7th when Sergio Rodriguez led off the inning and reached 1st when John Crowe bobbled the throw from SS Pete Harvey.  Shawn Jackson would retire the next 2 batters on a fly out and a sac fly before he was pulled in favor of the lefty Jung-Keun Li to face lefty Jose Ortiz.  Ortiz took a 1-2 pitch from Li and rapped into the corner for an easy stand up double and Rodriguez came around to score the go ahead run.  Goodship would cruise in the 8th and that would be his last inning of work.  In what you have to call the biggest game of his career, he was brilliant.  Throwing 8 IP, giving up 5 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB while striking out 9.  Mungo was called in to save the game and it only took 11 pitches to strike out John Crowe, Luis Gonzalez and German Rivas all swinging.  The crowd was in an uproar, Jersey had won 3 straight, all at home and took a 3-2 lead in the series going back to Toronto.

Game 6.  A rematch of Game 2 with Jerry Burgess facing off against Jose Brito.  Brito won the first match pitching brilliantly while Burgess was knocked around for 7 ER. Would this game be any different and could Toronto force that pivotal Game 7?  Brito was his usual efficient self facing 3 batters over the minimum in the first 4 innings and not letting any runner get past first base.  Burgess on the other hand lived dangerously.  Allowing runners 1st and 2nd with 1 out in the first get erased by a double play ball.  A walk, wild pitch and an error by SS Marvin Taylor allowed German Rivas to reach 3rd base in the 2nd inning before Pete Harvey grounded out to end the threat.  A single in the 3rd was wiped off the board with the 2nd double play of the day and in the 4th a Rivas single, stolen base and a walk to Fujita put 2 runners on before Burgess hunkered down and struck out Gunner Torres looking on a nasty slider that just brushed the outside corner.  Alberto Perez would lead off the 5th and thus far after taking over for Adam Morrow at 3B he was 0-17 in the series.  Something had to give, and it did.  He took a 2nd pitch fastball from Brito and pulled it deep and far and way back in the left-center field bleachers for his first hit of the series to give Jersey a 1-0 lead.  

Burgess would settle down and Jersey would turn their 3rd double play ending Toronto's 5th inning.  Both pitchers breezed through the 6th until some commotion in the 7th inning.  With 2 outs in Jersey's top half of the 7th the usual pinpoint Brito came way inside and hit catcher Luis Antonio Duran on the hand which immediately dropped him to the ground.  He had to be lifted from the game and came away gripping his hand.  We wouldn't find out til later he had fractured the hand.  Brito would get Taylor to ground out to end the inning.  In Toronto's half of the 7th, after a groundout Burgess came inside and hit the Toronto catcher Kyuso Fujita in the back.  Warnings were given to both sides and after 112 pitches, 6.1 IP and 0 ER Burgess was pulled in favor of Jose Gomes.  Gomes got out of the 7th without incident and we headed to the 8th.  A half check swing by Scott Powers combined with his upper echelon speed created a leadoff infield hit that chased Brito from the game.  Jose Murillo was brough in and pinch hitter Al Ryan surprised everyone when he laid down a perfect sac bunt to put the insurance run on 2nd base with 1 out.  Struggling superstar Mike Bryant came through knocking a hard line drive into RF, but Powers was held at 3rd giving the Bags runners at the corners.  Matt Doyle knocked a grounder into the hole that looked like a hit but a diving stop by Zaragoza managed to get Doyle at 1st by a half a step but couldn't prevent Powers from crossing the plate and Bryant advancing to 2nd.  The run gave Jersey a 2-0 cushion.  With 2 outs now veteran Leon Foster and put a ball right down the right field chalk line for a stand-up double easily scoring Bryant and pushing the lead to 3-0.  Murillo would get Manny Romero swinging to end the inning.  

Jose Gomes walked Lugo to lead off the 8th before striking out Cuan to end his night as he was replaced by Lucio Tapia to face John Crowe.  Tapia went 1-1 with Crowe until I can only describe as "the longest HR I have ever seen" on a 97 MPH fastball.  Crowe hitting left handed crushed it to CF and Powers barely turned his head to watch it travel 485 feet and give the Toronto crowd a reason to celebrate as Toronto was back in it and only down 3-2. A single and a walk gave Toronto the go ahead run on 1st base with only 1 out while the crowd was on their feet.  After a mound visit Tapia got the biggest out of his career by striking out All Star Kyuso Fujita before being pulled for closer Daniel Morris to face Gunner Torres.  Morris amidst the avoided danger by getting Torres to ground out on the first pitch on a 2 hopper to Doyle at first base.  Insurance runs at this point would have been nice, but Toronto brough in future HOF'er Martin Griffin to set the side down in order before heading to the bottom of the 9th.  Daniel Morris, the longest tenured D-Bag, would retire the side in order as LuGo would fly out to Leon Foster to end the game and send Jersey to their first ever series win and sending them to the CLCS to face their division rival, the waiting Greenville 84's.

We now will go live to GM Swain's press conference:

::Swain comes out, untucked button-up business shirt, D-Bags cap, and big smile:::

Reporter Vanessa Antuaco, Morgantown Today: "Mr. Swain!  You just won 4 games in a row.  We talked with Toronto GM Jason Goldberg earlier and in his tenure with the Titans this is his first 4 game losing streak, how'd your boys do it??"

Swain: "I told you at the last conference how what we needed to do to win this thing.  We needed some clutch hitting, Game 4 was full of that.  Hell, we scored 12 runs on only 8 hits!  I told you we would need another quality start and in fact we got 2 of them.  Goodship was fantastic in Game 5 and Jerry really bounched back for a great Game 6.  The bullpen stayed strong and we won the close games.  That's what October baseball is about!"

Reporter Dan Miles, NY Times: "Everyone and their dog though (Art) Ellis would be the starter for Game 6. He was brilliant, Burgess had been lit up, what were you thinking there?"  

Swain: "Burgess convo again?  I told you guys the first time through that Burgess had been better in Toronto.  Yes, Game 2 we saw him get lit up.  Art could have gone.  We thought he was close to 70% rested which would have been good enough to throw out there, but with a 3-2 lead, with us having confidence in Jerry, even a loss would have given us Ellis at 100% in Game 7.  I don't want to say I played this one right, but it worked out didn't it?"

Reporter Sally Trumpert, Trenton Free Press: "Duran left tonight's game with an apparent hand injury, can you tell us any more on what happened?"

Swain: "At this time the medical staff hasn't given us an update yet.  They have it on ice and we are waiting for the swelling to go down, but the said it doesn't look good, but we might not know for a day or two.  Losing Luis would hurt.  We already lost our 1-2 hitters against RH starters, losing 1-2-3 would almost be devastating.  But we showed this series that even losing key pieces like Larson and Morrow, we have the talent to overcome."

Beat writer Sam Toddenfield, BSAreport.com: "Speaking of Larson, will he play in the Greenville series?"

Swain: "At this point we feel as he can play towards the end of this week.  He will be added to the roster but will not travel to Greenville for games 1 and 2 but stay at home and rest and we will run some more tests.  If all goes well and there are no setbacks there's a great chance he will play in Game 3 or 4.  Last question guys!"

Beat Writer Melissa Franklin, Jerseysports.com: "You are very familiar with Greenville, what are the keys to beating them and can it be done?"

Swain: "Anything can be done.  Yes, Bosma's 84's have had our number over the past couple of seasons.  This will be a slugfest.  2 loaded offenses.  We will need some starting pitching performances and we will need someone to step up. Toronto held down our superstar bats in this series, don't expect that to happen in the next one.  Thanks everyone for your time, and I would like to congratulate you all on being here to see the D-Bags move on!"

:::Swain gets up to leave and stops:::: "Oh and one more thing.  Let me introduce you all to the 2015 CLDS MVP Al Ryan!"  :::Ryan walks out, waves, shakes a few hands and is presented with a the CLDS trophy:::

Ryan lead the team in batting during the series hitting .385, hitting 1 HR and driving in a team high 5 runs.  The bullpen was stellar and probably was the difference in the low scoring series.  They pitched 12 IP in 6 games, giving up 2 ER, 8 hits, 4 walks while striking out 18.  With Jersey knocking out Toronto and Greenville knocking out Seattle, 2015 will mark the first time in BSA history that the CL East will represent the CL in the World Series.

With Burgess going in Game 6, the probable rotation for Jersey in the CLCS is:

Game 1: Art Ellis

Game 2: Dan Macias

Game 3: Jerry Burgess

Game 4: Rob Goodship

Whatever happens will happen, but the CL East will have a representative in the World Series and here is to rooting for our D-Bags!

GO D-BAGS

 

Bags Stumble But Remain Hopeful

For the first time in Jersey Shore's history they were putting on the uniforms in the month of October.  In the visitor's clubhouse at CNE Stadium in Toronto wasn't home but this was the postseason.  "You could tell there were nerves in the air," SS Marvin Taylor proclaimed, "this is a fun loving bunch and before the game the only one yappin' like usual was Al (Ryan).  For the majority of this team this was their first postseason experience.  Their draw as the wild card was to take on the #1 seed in the CL, 110 win Toronto, which was second only to the mighty Hitmen in all of the BSA.  It is a 7 game series, but the first game was the first punch, who would land it?

  The veteran Ricky Bolden would get the start for TOR who was making his 22nd all time playoff appearance and 7th BSA playoff start. Dan Macias would get the start for Jersey marking his first BSA playoff start. He previously had playoff experience in '09 and '07 before the VBL-BSA take over.  After getting out of a 1st inning jam, disaster struck in the 2nd.  With runners on 1st and 2nd, Toronto SS Jordi Overbeek smashed a line drive between SS and 3B. Using cat like reflexes 3B Adam Morrow dove back into the hole and made a spectacular catch for the first out of the inning.  Sighs of relief came from the Jersey dugout until they noticed Morrow struggling to get up.  Trainers immediately rushed onto the field and helped him up.  Morrow obviously in pain grasping at his left shoulder as he was taken out of the game.  We would learn after the game the diagnosis: separated shoulder: recovery time, one month.  A blow to the offense.  In the last 3 weeks Jersey has lost both Adam Morrow and Peter Larson who ranked 2nd and 4th in the CL in OBP and were the team's lethal 1-2 on base machines in front of the big boys in Bryant and Doyle.  A big loss.  Things didn't get better from there, a 3 run 3rd inning capped off by a Ben Moss 2-run HR would all that Ricky Bolden would need as he cruised through 6 innings giving up 2 runs on 3 hits while striking out 7.  A triple by Maximo Zargoza in the 6th would make the score 4-1 and essentially chase Macias from the game.  Jersey had a chance in the 7th after Ryan reached on an error, Ryan Cole replaced Bolden.  He got a K, gave up a BB and big RBI 2B by Marvin Taylor to put 2 runners in scoring position with the tying run on 2nd base with only 1 out.  He would get Alberto Perez and Jose Ortiz to fly out and the Bags never threatened again, dropping Game 1, 4-2.

Game 2 started differently, a double, wild pitch and a sac fly put the Bags up a run after only producing one out, but that's where the good fortunes would end.  Starter Jerry Burgess would give back 3 runs in the bottom half on a handful of hits and Jose Brito would do the rest.  He was brilliant in his 7 IP, allowing 6 D-Bags hits, the 1 run, 1 BB and 6 K's.  A Ben Moss solo HR in the 4th would make it 4-1 and Toronto added 3 more in the 7th to chase Burgess taking a 7-1 lead.  Toronto's bullpen would work 2 perfect innings to shut the door, giving the home team the 2-0 advantage.

The good news was that the series would head to Jersey.  The bad news was the offense was struggling,badly.  3 runs on 11 hits over 2 games.  The deadly duo of Bryant/Doyle had combined to go 3/15 without an extra base hit or and RBI.  Jersey played a lot better at home all season long, playing almost .700 baseball there.  Art Ellis would be on the mound, he had an ERA of 2.28 at home this season, something had to give, and it did.  Jersey nearly equaled their hit total from the first two games and Art Ellis pitched a gem leading Jersey to their first ever playoff win in front of a crowd of 40,000+.  It was a tight game most of the way through but Ellis refused to let Toronto back in, or even on base if he could.  He gave up 3 hits through 7 innings, 2 being solo HR's by Rivas and Crowe which would be all the offense the Titans would generate.  The Jersey offense took every advantage to score runs. They plated runs on a double play, wild pitch, walk and then finally on Mike Bryant's 2 run HR that put the game away for good.  It was the first HR of the series for Jersey and Bryant's first RBI as well.  Being down in a series 2-1 sure looks better than 2-0.  Jersey is still in this thing.

We now will go live as GM Josh Swain's press conference is just getting under way:

Reporter Sally Trumpert, Trenton Free Press:  "Mr. Swain, please give us thoughts on the loss of Adam Morrow."

Swain: "Losing Adam is big.  After Pete went down we were relying on Adam to be our spark plug, our table setter.  The kid is a hustler, first in-last out type of kids, really sucks to lose him.  That first game, which was tough enough already playing a team like Toronto in front of that raucous crowd and facing that all-star studded lineup, but as they helped Adam off the field it was like a punch in the gut that took the air out of the sails.  We will move on and the combination of Perez-Taylor on the left hand side of the infield will do fine, but we will miss the boy on the field."

Beat writer Sam Toddenfield, BSAreport.com: "You were criticized and 2nd guessed for starting Burgess Game 2 and waiting to use Ellis in Game 3.  We know how it turned out, have anything to add now and would you change anything?"

Swain: "No.  I will stand by that decision.  I know Burgess had struggled in much of September, but he had been good in Toronto.  We wanted Ellis at home.  Look, even if Ellis would have been on the mound for game 2 he would have had to been perfect.  We scored 1 run.  Brito was excellent that day.  We were hoping that either Macias or Burgess could lead us to a win and Ellis could put us up in the series pitching Game 3.  You need offense to win games fellas and I still feel it was the right choice."

Reporter Dan Miles, NY Times: "With the struggles of the offense, will there be changes for Games 4 and 5?"

Swain: "What do you expect me to do?  Yes, we had to make changes to the lineup to compensate for Morrow, but other than that it's all about timely hitting.  Yes, we haven't had that many hits, but when we have had opportunities, we haven't taken advantage.  We need to score those runners from 3rd with less than 2 outs, 1 clutch hit in game 1 and we had a tie game.  Game 3 should have been a blow out, so many runners left in scoring position.  The hits will fall.  We had the bases juiced with 1 out and had Bryant and Doyle coming up and we scored 1 run when Doyle was walked.  How often is that going to happen?  The lineup will be much of the same, but look for Foster to get the start in CF in Game 4. Last question."

Reporter Vanessa Antuaco, Morgantown Today:  "What are the keys for your team for the rest of the series, how do the D-Bags pull this out?" 

Swain: "Like I said before, some clutch hitting, we won't win games scoring 3 or less runs against this team.  The bullpen needs to stay strong, they have been nearly perfect thus far and need to keep that up.  Also we need to get on the board early and keep their starters pitch counts high.  Bolden only lasted 6 innings last time and is coming back on short rest, we need to get into that bullpen which we have had success against.  We need another quality start.  We will be going with Dan in Game 4 and we need a big time Macias start. Evening up the series 2-2 with one more game at home would be huge.  Thank you for your time and questions, hopefully we can have another one of these after the series.....a winning series. ;)"

Thus far the starters have given up all 13 runs in the series.  The bullpen like Swain mentioned has in fact almost been perfect.  In 5.2 IP they have surrendered 2 hits, 1 walk while striking out 7.  Dog Pound Gomes is the only reliever to be in more than 1 game and he has seen all 3.  He came into Game 3 in the 8th to strike out Cuan and Rivas back to back to end the 8th, the only 2 batters he faced.

Game 4:

SP Dan Macias

RF Scott Powers

DH Jose Ortiz

C Luis Antonio Duran

2B Mikey Bryant

1B Matt Doyle

LF Al Ryan

3B Alberto Perez

CF Leon Foster

SS Marvin Taylor

Rob Goodship is more than likely going to be the starter in Game 5.  Jersey was waiting to see how rested Jerry Burgess will be, but based on his first start it might not matter.  Toronto will see one of the lefties in Game 5.  That is all from the Bag Report, we wish the D-Bags luck!

GO D-BAGS

 

Jersey-Toronto Breakdown

As we described in our previous post the star talented Jersey D-Bags will take on the Toronto Titans in the first round of the CLCS starting tonight.

Starting Pitching:

Game 1: Dan Macias vs Ricky Bolden

Game 2: Jerry Burgess vs Jose Brito

Game 3: Art Ellis vs Salvador Perez

Game 4: Rob Gooship vs Shawn Jackson

The numbers show that Toronto's SP has been a lot better than Jersey's.  If Jersey's starting pitching can keep the D-Bags in the game we except a good series.

Macias vs Toronto this season:     0-2, 9.31 ERA, 8 BB, 10 K, 9.2 IP

Burgess vs Toronto:                      1-0, 3.86 ERA, 4 BB, 22 K, 18.2 IP

Ellis vs Toronto:                            0-2, 2.70 ERA, 8BB, 15K, 13.1 IP

Goodship vs Toronto:                   0-1, 7.84 ERA, 5 BB, 7K, 10.1 IP

Lineup vs RHP:

1. Adam Morrow 3B

2. Jose Ortiz         DH

3. Luis Antonio Duran C

4. Mike Bryant 2B

5. Matt Doyle 1B

6. Al Ryan LF

7. Ken Taylor CF

8. Scott Powers RF

9. Marvin Taylor SS

Bench:  Albert Lopez C, Manny Romero 1B, Derrick Wright 1B, Alberto Perez 3B, Sergio Rodriguez OF, Leon Foster OF

Lineup vs LHP:

1. Adam Morrow SS

2. Sergio Rodriguez CF

3. Mike Bryant 2B

4. Matt Doyle 1B

5. Leon Foster LF

6. Manny Romero DH

7. Alberto Perez 3B

8. Albert Lopez C

9. Scott Powers RF

Bench: Luis Antonio Duran C, Derrick Wright 1B, Marvin Taylor SS,  Jose Ortiz OF, Ken Taylor OF, Al Ryan, OF

Lineups a little bit changed from the the regular season.  With Peter Larson set to miss 2 more weeks with his injury it opened up a spot in the OF.  Surprise start vs RHP goes to Ken Taylor because of how Toronto's park pays towards left handed hitters.  Against lefties Sergio Rodriguez gets the start who has been red hot since his call up to the Majors in July.

Jersey vs Bolden:

Ortiz: .500  1-2

Bryant: .400 4-10  2 HR

M. Taylor:  .400  2-5

Morrow: .333  1-3

Powers: .267  4-15

Ryan:  .250  1-4

Perez: .200  1-5

Duran: .143  1-7

Romero: .143 1-7

Doyle:  .000  0-7

Rodriguez: .000  0-3

Foster:  .000  0-2

Lopez, Wright,  and K Taylor have never faced Bolden

Jersey vs Brito:

 Morrow: .545  6-11

Foster:  .429  12-28  2 HR

Powers:  .417  5-12  2 HR

Doyle:  .333  2-6  1 HR

Ryan: .250  1-4

Rodriguez: .250  2-8

Bryant: .222  2-9  1 HR

Wright: .200  1-5

Duran:  .000  0-7

Romero .000  0-7 

Perez: .000  0-5

M. Taylor: .000  0-3

Lopez, Ortiz and K. Taylor have never faced Brito

Jersey vs. Perez:

Perez:  .667  2-3
Foster: .444  4-9
Morrow:  .429  3-7
Rodriguez: .400  2-5
Doyle:  .333  4-12

Romero:  .250  3-12  1 HR

Bryant:  .167  3-18  1 HR
Powers: .167  2-12

M. Taylor: .125  1-8

Ryan: .000 0-6

Duran: .000  0-11

Lopez, Wright, Ortiz and K. Taylor have never faced Perez.

Jersey vs. Jackson:

Foster: 1.000  1-1  1 HR

Romero:  1.000  1-1

Duran: .500  2-4  1 HR

Doyle:  .500  1-2

Bryant: .250  1-4

Wright: .000  0-1

M. Taylor: .000  0-5

Powers: .000  0-1

Lopez. Wright, Morrow, Perez, Rodriguez, Ortiz, K. Taylor, and Ryan have never faced Jackson.

As you can see there isn't a whole lot of success against the starters so Jersey has their work cut out for them.  We have faith in this powerful offense that they can manufacture enough runs to stay in games, but will the pitching allow it?  We will know soon!  Playoffs start tonight!

GO D-BAGS

CLDS Jersey Shore vs. Toronto; An Early Breakdown

          

We still have less than a week left of the regular season but the CL playoff match ups are set in stone regardless of the this week's outcomes.  Jersey Shore on securing the Wild Card will travel to Toronto for the first 2 games of the opening round series in the CLDS.  Though pitching staffs nor lineups have been set, we can look at the numbers and make some comparisons.

On the season Toronto holds a 5-4 advantage in the 9 games they played this season.  Jersey finished  1-2 at home and 3-3 in Toronto in the games played.  2 games were played in May where TOR went 2-0 and the other 7 played in August where Jersey went 4-3 including taking 3 of 4 in Toronto.  

6 of the 9 games were decided by 2 runs or less and in the other 3 the biggest winning margin was a 6-2 win Jersey had over Toronto.  The teams played some very good, very close baseball. 

On the hitting side of things here's how the 2 teams stack up:

Jersey                                            Toronto

.276                Batting Avg                 .279

.367                    OBP                       .357

.447                    SLG                       .446

874                     Runs                       854

200                      HR                         171

Jersey holds a slight lead in hitting categories, now pitching categories:

Jersey                                            Toronto

4.39               Stater's ERA             3.21

3.56               Bullpen ERA             3.52    

735                     Runs                     556

498                      BB                      423

1325                    K's                      1224

Toronto holds a heavy edge in Starter's ERA and runs allowed while the other categories remain fairly close.

Even key injuries are close as we both have 2 on both sides.  Toronto is missing SP Guillermo Mendoza (who has been lost for nearly the entire season) and more recently CL Jose Gomez.  On the other hand Jersey Shore lost OF Peter Larson (2nd in CL in OBP) and MR Jose Ruiz. 

This should be a fun series which includes a lot of star power on both sides.  A couple of MVP candidates, a couple of Cy Young cadidates, former rookie of the year candidates as well as 2 of the best closers we have seen since the beginning of the BSA.  When the rosters are released we will have a more in depth breakdown.

GO D-BAGS

We're In! Bags Claim First Postseason Berth!

Nearly 6 years after a tedious inaugural draft that left the D-Bags with a good, not great team, a team that was always good enough, but that not good, has finally clinched a place in the postseason tournament.  Jersey has of the last few years been known as the best never to make an appearance, playing out of the tough CL East and missing the playoffs last season by 2 games with 94 wins finally can shed that title.

A rough September which left them 10-10 for the month still surprising left them with 6 games to play and a Magic number of 1 over the reeling Austin River Sharks.  With all 6 games being home games and Reno coming to town it looked inevitable, but as Swain as seen his vast days of baseballing, nothing is set in stone. The gang got to the stadium early to watch Austin on TV beat Madison in a game to keep their season alive. They knew a win meant celebration.  They didn't want to clinch on a loss anyways.

Jersey would run this year's ace Art Ellis on the mound and a lineup full of the usual characters.  Reno countered by sending Clarence Seals to the mound, whom Jersey had beaten up on in his only start against them earlier this season.   Reno scored early in the 1st and took a 4-0 lead in the 3rd on which was capped off by last year's 2nd overall pick Seaug-chun "Air" Mun hit a 2 run blast off of Ellis.

This was September for Jersey, a team with high aspiration, laying down in September, we have never seen these Bags before.

But Jersey wasn't going to roll over like that.  In their half of the third a single, walk and a single left 2 runners on while one was thrown out at the plate.  Bryant and Doyle both connected on RBI singles to halve the score at 4-2.  Both pitchers settled in until the 6th when Reno struck again.  Back-to-back-to back hits brought in 2 more runs and pushed the lead back to 4 runs at 6-2.  But of course Jersey wasn't done, Scott Powers added an RBI single and Adam Morrow knocked in 2 more to bring the score to 6-5 at the end of the 6th.  

The crowd of nearly 38,000 really got a rise to their feet when Mr. D-Bag Mikey Bryant pulled a ball high into the air down the right field line that barely snuck inside the foul pole for a game tying solo HR in the bottom of the 7th.  Maybe tonight was the night!  Mungo came in to pitch and a combination of a single, sac bunt, intentional walk and a double brought the go ahead run across the plate.  Just like that, 7-6 Reno.

Back to  back singles for Powers and Kino led off Jersey's 8th and a Morrow groundball advanced them to 2nd and 3rd.  Up to bat came, from Reno by way of the Rule V draft, OF Jose Ortiz.  On the 5th pitch of the AB, Ortiz grounded between 3B and SS that got through and Powers scored easily and Kino beat the throw by mere feet for a 9-8 lead.  That 2nd run wouldn't matter because the next batter C Duran would blast a 2-run HR down the RF line to make it 10-7 and the crowd on their feet.  A solo  HR by Doyle 2 batters later really brought the crowd to a frenzy which lasted the remainder of the game.  Mungo came out and retired the side in order and not a soul had left.  

The D-Bags celebrated on the field, Gatorade buckets were dumped and the champagne was on ice inside the clubhouse.  It's not a division title, but a postseason berth. The only batters on the roster with postseason experience are Scott Powers and Leon Foster.  While on the pitching side only Burgess and Ellis has experience, both being part of a Hendersonville championship team.

Jersey will travel to Toronto to take on the Titans in the 1st round of the CL playoffs.  The rosters are not set yet, but after the regular season concludes we will be back to preview this opening round 7 game series.

GO D-BAGS

Great August Puts 1st Playoff Appearance in Reachable Sight

The Jersey Shore D-Bags picked a great time to string together their best two months of the season in July and August, but should it come as a surprise to anyone considering the way this team has played over the years?  Widely known as a 2nd half team, the Bags record of 81-55 put them on pace to finish the season with 96 which would set a new team record and in this case probably would secure a playoff spot.  The 19-11 record in August put them 6 games up on the Austin River Sharks for the Wild Card spot in the CL and marks the first time they entered the last month of the season in the lead for a playoff spot.

Players of the Month

SP Art Ellis.  1-2. 2.77 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 38K/39 IP.  Though his W/L record doesn't show it Ellis was far and away the best starter in the month of August. In 4 of his 6 starts he gave up 2 ER or less and twice gave up 0 ER, once earning him a loss (4 unearned runs) and the other a no decision.  Ellis's great August kept him in the lead in the CL in the ERA race and makes it likely he will set the team record in this category which was set by Dan Macias last season.

MR Jaime "Mungo" Saenz.  4-0, 2 saves. 0.00 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, 31K/21.2IP.  Mungo was as we call it flat out nasty in August.  In fact this probably is the best month from a Jersey reliever ever, and that's saying something.  Appearing in 17 of the teams 30 games he didn't give up a run and only allowed 6 hits in 21.2 innings.  Mungo is showing that if the Bags can't work out an extension with closer Daniel Morris that he is more than able to do the job going forward

1B Matt Doyle. 10 HR, 22 RBI, .364/.456/.710.  1.166 OPS.  Another POTM for Doyle, even if it wasn't as big as his July.  He continued to lead the CL in HR and his average crept higher towards that .326 he hit last year, finishing the month at .298. His 10 HR was tied for 3rd in the BSA only behind Caro's 11 of NFF and "Superman" Phillips's 16 also of NFF.

3B Alberto Perez. 4 HR, 15 RBI, 10 2B, .390/.420/.701 1.121 OPS.  Antonio Ruiz who?  Perez has been a highly coveted asset with no place to play in Jersey until the trade that sent Ruiz to Vista before the deadline.  Now that he is getting AB's he is showing the fans of Jersey what he can do.  Despite a handful of AB's over the past two season this was by far his best month in the big leagues, adding 30 hits and 15 of those for extra bases.

2B Mike "Coffin" Bryant.  10 HR, 23 RBI, .316/.374/.598.  Bryant's stellar 2nd month in a row puts him in the MVP chase again and ended the month ranked 3rd in AVG, 3rd in HR, 2nd in RBI while leading the leading the league in runs scored.  The past 2 September's have been huge for Bryant earning him POTM from the Bag Report for each of them, don't be surprised to see him here again next month.

LF Sergio Rodriguez. 4 HR, 17 RBI, .351/.424/.689, 1.114 OPS.  Sergio is another player like Perez who is an AAA standout but just lacked a place to get AB's on the Jersey big league club.  He continued his above average July with a stellar September month, much of the time playing CF.  The drawback was he had an elbow injury towards the end of the month which will sideline him for 3 weeks.  With Scott Powers and Foster coming off the DL, Jersey will have replacements for him, but it always is a downer losing a hot bat.

Roster Changes, Questions and Answers:

Ah, September always brings a time to see the young kids called up and get their "cup of coffee."  This year should be no different as we expect to see a a group of new faces joining the club.  With Leon Foster coming off the DL, he should join the Bags the first week of August after his rehab stint gets over with.  Sergio Rodriguez is the only member of the club on the DL at the moment, should miss the first 2 weeks on the DL and might get a small rehab stint before joining the club the last week of the season.

We talk about him almost every month in this section, but OF Tim Duncan has been called up to the big club.  In fact in August he played in 2 games and hit his 1st career HR and stole his 1st career base in the same game, so congrats to him.  We aren't sure yet if he will start on a regular basis, but expect him to at least get pinch run and some late inning defense in.  The Bags are also expected to recall MR Takafumi Ogusuku to give the bullpen some rest before their late season playoff push.  He was so-so with the Bags in July posting an ERA north of 5.00.  

We also expect at least at some point in the month that 1B Edgardo Gonzales, 2B Aaron Bailey, SP Jose Reyes, C Albert Lopez, and LF Ken Taylor to be recalled for some AB's.  With Tuscaloosa being 14 games up in the AAA standings, their magic number is 9 and would get their players back before the playoffs started.  

Until next time, go out and root on your Bags as their quest for their first playoff spot could come to and end this month!!

GO D-BAGS

Prospect Breakdown; Meet SS Lawrence Schroeder

 

Growing up in Fontana, California had it's perks.  Hop on I-10 for an hour and be in Hollywood, take a little more time and head south and be in Redondo Beach.  Great weather for the beach, for surfing, for people watching, this was after all Southern California. What Lawrence Schroeder liked the most though is being mere minutes from the Little League baseball facility in San Bernadino, California.  For a week and a half every summer the West Regional tournament was held in San Bernadino.  Though Schroeder never had the chance to to participate he loved watching the kids from all over the western side of the country play baseball. He was especially envious of those last 4 teams who's games are always televised on ESPN and ESPN2.  Playing baseball on TV what a thrill!

Schroeder was always athletically talented.  His father was 6th round draft pick in the NFL and played parts of 2 seasons.  His mother a high school track star.  He excelled in basketball in high school, maturing early hitting his 6'3" height when he was just a sophomore in High School. He made the baseball team as a Junior and quickly became one of the better players on the team.  His high school coach said he was always one of the first ones are practice and almost always the last one there.  The kid loved to practice, loved to get better and it helped the guys around him want to get better too.  

Upon his senior year he was scouted by a few teams and eventually accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Virginia all the way across the country.  They were the only school willing to let Schroeder play both basketball and baseball for them.  He joined the Cavaliers baseball team in 2010, which was a team led by older players  In fact he was the only bat on the team who wasn't a junior and a senior. At first it was hard being the newcomer and by far the youngest kid on the team but in the end he learned more from those guys than any coach out there.  Though they lost to Nebraska 2-1 in the best of 3 series in the first round it was Schroeder's first taste of playoff baseball, and he loved it.  The pressure, everything on the line.  He played in 43 of the team's 48 games, leading the team in doubles and showing off his great eye at the plate.  He only hit .259, but his OBP of .385 was good for 4th on the team.

2011 was another Virginia team led by seniors, but Schroeder like his freshman year was in the thick of things.  He and current Austin River Shark Jerome Miles led the team and became one of the best 1-2 punches in the country.  Schroeder officially put himself on the national radar hitting .400, 9 HR, 17 2B with an OBP of .525 again leading Virginia to the playoffs, and again ending in defeat by way of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first round.

2012 was going to be their year.  Virginia named Schroeder team captain before the season started and a slew of young talented players led Virginia for a record of 32 victories which still stands.  The offense featured 5 players in double digit HR's including Schroeder who hit a career high of 14.  He also posted some very high numbers, which many are still in the top 25-30 in college baseball history.  He hit .404 with an OBP of .530 and an OPS o 1.284.  Not to mention that Lawrence had developed a very slick glove at shortstop.  Virginia made the playoffs again and rallied around Schroeder and Miles to knock off their ACC rival Duke in the first round of the playoffs 2-0.  They went on to play powerhouse UConn who led the nation in wins with 39 behind a big pitching staff, current ROY candidate Eliot Helen, former first round picks Ramiro Navarro and Jorge Torres.  Virginia took care of business 2-0, moved on to face Kentucky who they also swept to reach the championship in a bout against the Oregon Ducks.  The series was a joke with Virginia beating them 2-0 to win their first and only national championship.  Currently the 2012 Virginia team is on the 2nd team along with South Florida to sweept through an NCAA playoffs without a loss.  

For the next two years Schroeder would put up decent numbers but nothing compared to the magical summer of 2012. He was a highly touted and ranked prospect going into the 2014 draft, but on draft fell down the draft board and finally was picked by the Jersey Shore D-Bags with the 28th overall pick.  GM Josh Swain said "We were ecstatic and actually very surprised he fell to us.  He was Top 13 on our big board and just kept falling.  It's hard to find a SS with that good of glove/contact with some pop.  The fact he was about to 24 at the time of the draft was also enticing.  We felt he would be one of the faster movers in the entire draft and with need for a SS on the big club, it was a perfect fit."

Schroeder was dissapointed due to his drafted position but was also encouraged.  The 2014 season we saw the breakout of stars in Jersey as Mike Bryant and Matt Doyle lit up the CL with tape measure HR's and names being all over national publications.  "Being not far from Jersey while I was in school I saw them a lot.  They are one of the best team in developing home grown talent, so it really was an honor being drafted by them.  I knew if I was going to make the big leagues, this was a great place for me."

Schroeder signed a 1.29M signing bonus not a week after the draft and was sent to AA Gainesville skipping right over A ball.  While he didn't match his college numbers, he posted respectable numbers in the 67 games he played in with them, he hit 11 HR while hitting .254.  In the winter of 2014 really worked with Schroeder on evening out his swing to produce more line drives and helping him keep his weight back to try and help his power game.  His maturity was evident early on in 2015 as he smacked around AA pitching for 2 weeks and earned a surprise promotion to AAA affiliate Tuscaloosa.  He immediately took over the starting SS position for them, while getting some good time at 2B as well this season.  He has been everything he was advertised as with a slash line of .299/.353/.474 hitting 15 HR and driving in 80 runs in 111 games thus far this season. The one drawback is he striking out a lot, but plans to work on that in the off season. 

While Jersey has no immediate plans to call up Schroeder, his future is bright.  He was named the 31st best prospect before the season started and with his success in AAA so far, things are looking up.  But really should anyone be really surprised?  Even if Schroeder spends the rest of the season and 2016 in AAA, in 2017 we could be looking at a Jersey infield of Doyle, Bryant, Schroeder and Adam Morrow.  What do these players have in common?  All players drafted by Jersey, 3 1st round draft picks, Morrow being the only 2nd round pick of the bunch.   Did we mention 2013 1st round pick 1B/3B 21 year old Richard Coker is starting to tear it up in AA and talks of a promotion have been abound the Jersey clubhouse?  It could be something rare to see that many home grown players in one clubhouse and starting lineup.

For now we will monitor Schroeder's progress in AAA.  They have a 16 game lead in their division and well on their way to their 6th straight playoff appearance and could be on their way to their 4th title in 6 years.  Schroeder is excited to get back into some playoff competition but also added, " I want a shot at Greenville and Toronto!"  While we are excited he is anticipating playing against Jersey's biggest rivals, we will end in saying, young man your time will come.  

GO D-BAGS