Your All-Time Jersey Shore Team

I thought this seemed like a fun idea.  To find the best team I could from former Jersey Shore teams.  Rules: You can only use a player once, regardless if he played another position.  Some decisions were tough, some were easy, but here you have it:  

SP: 2019 Jose Ramos.  23-6, 2.76 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 1.05 WHIP, 8.2 WAR

SP: 2014 Dan Macias. 20-8, 2.82 ERA, 2.81 FIP, 1.16 WHIP, 8.9 WAR

SP: 2015 Art Ellis. 13-8, 2.94 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 1.20 WHIP, 5.0 WAR

SP: 2019 Sergio Martinez. 17-3, 3.08 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 4.5 WAR

SP: 2017 Greg Schaefer. 18-3, 3.82 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 3.9 WAR

MR: 2016 Jose Gomes. 10-1, 4 saves. 1.31 ERA, 2.05 FIP, 1.02 WHIP, 3.6 WAR

MR: 2014 Daniel Morris. 6-5, 31 saves.  1.52 ERA, 1.94 FIP, 1.03 WHIP, 2.0 WAR

MR: 2013 Lucio Tapia. 8-1, 2 saves.  2.19 ERA, 1.77 FIP, 1.21 WHIP, 3.0 WAR

MR: 2019 Jose Ruiz.  6-3, 40 saves. 2.83 ERA, 2.92 FIP, 1.09 WHIP, 1.3 WAR

MR: 2013 Ciro Roghi. 1-0, 0 saves. 1.95 ERA, 2.15 FIP, 1.30 WHIP, 1.2 WAR

CL: 2017 Jaime Saenz. 8-2, 49 saves.  1.94 ERA, 1.96 FIP,  0.99 WHIP, 2.8 WAR

C: 2013 Jorge Lozano. .303/.388/.511.  36 2B, 24 HR, 107 RBI, 5.1 WAR

C: 2017 Warren Goyer. .257/.329/.541. 20 2B, 42 HR, 116 RBI, 3.4 WAR

1B: 2015 Matt Doyle. .302/.386/.572.  25 2B, 44 HR, 147 RBI, 5.7 WAR

1B: 2021 Tadahisa Kisuki.  .366/.424/.560.  32 2B, 18 HR, 57 RBI, 5.7 WAR

2B: 2016 Mike Bryant.  .347/.407/.618.  48 2B, 40 HR, 158 RBI, 9.6 WAR

3B: 2015 Adam Morrow. .282/.402/.360.  31 2B, 4 HR, 61 RBI, 3.9 WAR

3B: 2012 Parker Morrow. .313/.390/.418.  29 2B, 10 HR, 62 RBI. 3.6 WAR

SS: 2020 Lawrence Schroeder.  .306/.341/.542.  27 2B, 19 HR, 74 RBI, 4.7 WAR

SS: 2011 Jerome Lindsey.  .343/.427/.480.  23 2B, 9 HR, 56 RBI, 4.2 WAR

UTIL: 2020 Fabrice Brodeur.  .325/.365/.465.  29 2B, 10 HR, 61 RBI, 3.4 WAR

OF: 2021 Dave Dodd.  .388/.455/.799.  46 HR, 119 RBI, 9.7 WAR

OF: 2011 Mason Bonniface. .328/.433/.556.  23 HR, 78 RBI, 6.1 WAR

OF: 2010 William Hinson.  .308/.404/.538.  23 HR, 91 RBI, 4.3 WAR

OF: 2013 Leon Foster.  .272/.338/.567.  33 HR, 105 RBI, 3.7 WAR

Starting Lineup:

SP: 2014 Dan Macias. 20-8, 2.82 ERA, 2.81 FIP, 1.16 WHIP, 8.9 WAR

1.  SS 2011 Jerome Lindsey

2. DH 2021 Tadahisa Kisuki

3. 2B 2016 Mike Bryant

4. RF 2021 Dave Dodd

5. 1B 2015 Matt Doyle

6. C 2013 Jorge Lozano

7. LF 2011 Mason Bonniface

8. CF 2013 Leon Foster

9. 3B 2015 Adam Morrow

How does your team stack up?

GO D-BAGS

Meet Your 2021 Jersey Shore D-Bags Pitching Staff

A late in season run saw Jersey Shore capture their 3rd CL Eastern Division title in 4 years and their 2nd ever World Series appearance last season.  Though they fell to Boston in 5 games, the season was considered a success and saw a lot of young players step in and make big contributions.  A year later and a new season are upon us and we have a lot of familiar faces but the staff also has a few changes.  Jersey lost 4 fairly big contributors from the past couple years.   Those names include SP Art Ellis, SP Greg Schaefer, MR Phillip Moran and MR/CL Jose Ruiz. Who will be taking their spots?  Find out below.

Pitching
Art Ellis really showed his age in the past 2 seasons and declining his large option was a no brainer for Jersey.  Greg Schaefer on the other hand wasn't the easiest decision.  Rumors have it that Jersey was in talks with Schaefer and at least 2 other clubs for a sign and trade, but nothing materialized.  Coincidentally both of these players, including MR Jose Ruiz are all with division rival Madison now.
The Rotation
Jersey brings one of the strongest rotations we have seen from them in years.  4 members are under the age of 26 and Jose Ramos is coming off his best season as a pro.  If they pitch up to their potential, Jersey should be very much in the hunt to win the East for a 4th time in 5 years.

Jose Ramos - 25 years old, IFA signing 2013 season.  Ace of the staff, 41 wins over the last 2 seasons and finished 2nd to Lebel in Cy Young voting last season.  
2020 stats: 18-5, 3.09 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 3.27 FIP, 3.45 K/BB
Contract: $7.06M.  Signed through 2023 season.

Sergio Martinez - 24 yeras old, IFA signing 2013 season.  After great 2019 season he took a step backwards last year.  Jersey is hoping it was just a sophomore slump.  Highly talented.
2020 stats: 14-10, 4.27 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 3.88 FIP, 1.61 K/BB
Contract: $2.59M. Signed through 2024 season.

Ramon Ruiz - 24 years old, IFA signing 2013 season.  Ruiz got his feet wet last year getting 12 starts with mixed reviews.  He really burst onto the scene in 2019 winning 21 games in AAA after being thought of as a C type prospect.  His only downfall would seem to be his stamina.
2020 stats: 6-2, 4.46 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 3.65 FIP, 3.05 K/BB
Contract: $400K. Should become Arb eligible in 2023.

Jose Lara - 30 years old, acquired via trade with Toronto after the 2017 season.  The elder statesman of the rotation, Lara has been a polarizing, up and down starter since coming to Jersey, not what they expected when the trade was made.
2020 stats: 12-10, 5.70 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 5.14 FIP, 2.23 K/BB
Contract: $15M.  Signed through 2023 season,

Javier Garcia - 24 years old, acquired via trade with Vista during 2015 season.  A strong spring training won the 5th spot for Garcia this year.  After 3 straight years of striking out 225+ batters in AAA he got 3 starts last year for Jersey.  Probably not a long term option, but can throw heat.
2020 stats: 1-1, 5.12 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 4.18 FIP, 2.75 K/BB
Contract: $400K.  Should be arb eligible in 2024.

The Bullpen
The only loss in a fairly inexperienced pen was Ruiz but Jersey had the man power in AAA to replace him internally.   Mungo's option was picked up to anchor the bullpen as it should be one of the team's strong points again this season.

Jaime Saenz - 35 years old, re-acquired via trade with Baffin Island during the 2020 season.  The 2021 season will be the 10th Saenz will appear in Jersey.  One of the better relievers in the game and hardest throwing pitchers.
2020 stats: 6-3, 35 saves.  2.43 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 1.99 FIP, 4.95 K/BB.
Contract: $9M.  Signed through the 2021 season.

Gerald Johnson - 25 years old, drafted 2015 in 1st compensatory round.  Johnson is a closer in the wings, who is said to have one of the better fastballs in the league.  Likes to keep the ball on the ground, only flaw is he lacks control at times.
2020 stats: 7-2, 10 saves.  2.45 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 2.76 FIP, 3.45 K/BB.
Contract: $1.04M.  Signed through the 2025 season.

Angel Lara - 25 years old, signed as an IFA 2013 season.  Hard throwing right hander and 2021 will be his 4th season in the Jersey pen.  Like Johnson, groundball pitcher who avoids giving up the long ball.
2020 stats: 5-4, 2 saves.  3.76 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 3.18 FIP, 2.42 K/BB.
Contract: $820K.  Signed through the 2022 season.

Hyo-chin Kim - 24 years old, signed a MLC during 2013 season.  After tearing his UCL in spring training of the 2019 season and missing the entire year, he came back in 2020 and the best season of his career.  This will be his 5th season in the pen and could be a future closer.
2020 stats: 6-1, 2 saves.  2.43 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 2.78 FIP, 5.71 K/BB
Contract: $1.49M.  Signed though the 2026 season.

Luis Cortez - 26 years old, received via trade with Vista during the 2014 season.  Talented hurler spending his 4th year as part of the Jersey pen, but has never pitched a full year, always bounced between Jersey and AAA.  Out of options so it's time to put up numbers.
2020 stats: 0-1, 1 save.  5.14 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 5.63 FIP, 2.00 K/BB
Contract: $400K.  Should be arb eligible in 2023. 

Claude Pinard - 27 years old, drafted in the 2nd round of the 2016 draft.  Pinard is a true rookie after taking a couple extra years to reach the pros.  Was great last year as the closer in AAA and impressed in spring training.
2020 stats (AAA): 7-3, 16 saves.  2.45 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 3.05 FIP, 3.17 K/BB
Contract: $400K.  Should become arb eligible in 2024.

Yin-zeng Zong - 30 years old, drafted in the 7th round of the 2013 draft.  Zong is the only 7th round pick from 2013 to see major league action.  Put up his best numbers as a pro last season and throws very hard.
2020 stats: 3-1.  1.89 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 3.58 FIP, 2.78 K/BB
Contract: $830K. Signed through 2023 season.

There you have it.  Your 2021 Jersey Shore pitching staff.  The 12 man rotation is a lot for the D-Bags who usually only carry 11 men.  There are a few options in AAA including top prospect SP Roland Martin if injuries or poor play arise.  Can this staff be one of the best in the CL?  Only time will tell.

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Pitching Sizzles in July; Ramos Takes Home Award

It was a great month for the Jersey Shore D-Bags, whom at the end of July saw themselves with a 3 game lead over slumping St. Louis in the CL East.  While the bats continue to lead the league in most offensive categories, it was the pitching that came through to drive Jersey Shore to an 18-5, easily their best of the season.  The starters combined to go 16-4 with 15 quality starts, 3 complete games and 1 personal shutout to go with another team shutout.  

Ace Jose Ramos led the way, being named the Pitcher of the Month for the CL, the 4th time in his career he has been donned with that honor.  He won all 5 starts he had in July, getting a quality start for every one of them and averaging a little over 8 innings per start.  His final numbers for the month: 5 starts, 5-0, 41.2 IP, 1.51 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 21 K's to go along with just 5 BB. With a 13-4 record and league leading 2.34 ERA he might have a chance to catch up with Toronto phenom Albert Lebel in the Cy Young race who is out for the next 2-3 weeks.

Not only was Ramos perfect for Jersey, but we saw glimpses of the Jose Lara of old as he went 6-0 for the month, winning everyone of his starts as well, including a 109 piece masterpiece on 7/7 against Chicago.  Lara threw his first shutout since 2014 and it was the 14th complete game of his career.  His final numbers for the month: 6 starts, 6-0, 40.1 IP, 3.12 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 34 K's.  Before the month began Lara was 2-6 with a nasty high ERA of 7.20.  Through his 6 starts in July he lowered that to 5.64.  While Lara is still only a fraction of the Lara we saw in Boston, stretches like this give Jersey fans hope that he can make some meaningful starts down the stretch and help lead Jersey back to the playoffs.

Is Art Ellis's job in trouble?  After bouncing back somewhat from a horrible 2019 campaign, veteran Art Ellis had a good April and May before slipping in June and having a fairly terrible July.  In his last 4 starts, though he is only responsible for a 0-1 record, he hasn't gotten out of the 5th inning and twice hasn't even gotten out of the 3rd.  The almost 35 year old is making $12.25 million this year and has a team option for $14.75 million next year.  At this point that option being picked up has to have a very slim chance of happening.  24 year old Ramon Ruiz who has ripped up AAA pitching this year, but struggled through 4 big league starts is slated to come off the DL this week and with a couple more bad Ellis starts.....could a change be made?  If Jersey remains in a tight race down the stretch can they really send a struggling Ellis who has obviously lost a step and several MPH off of that fastball?  As much as we would hate to see him go out on a low note....Ellis's days in Jersey might be limited.

GO D-BAGS

Sergio Martinez; Jersey's Next Ace?

Signed as a 16 year old in March of 2013 as a international free agent out of Puerto Rico, Sergio Martinez looked like a kid who possibly had a chance at securing a bullpen job if everything went right and he could stay in the minor leagues.  Equipped with 2 above average pitches but little control he was mature beyond his age and was almost immediately put into AA only after 11 innings in A ball.  He took his lumps in AA ball and became a staple in the Gainesville rotation......for 5 different seasons.  

In 2013 he walked more batters than he struck out at a 0.62 K/BB rate, had an ERA north of 5.40 and was the youngest player on the roster.  Fast forward to 2017, he struck nearly twice the batters he walked, compiled an ERA of 3.81 and a FIP even lower when he finally got the call to AAA for good.  In 26 AAA starts over the next 14 months he would post a FIP of 3.10 on way to 150 strikeouts with 68 walks.  A better rate than he posted in an of his full AA years.  

It wasn't suppose to happen in 2018.  Jersey Shore had a deep staff and Martinez was only 22.  Pre-season rankings had him ranked 8th on the depth chart.  Injuries to Ramos and Burgess combined with ineffective pitching by Goodship caused a temporary turned permanent call up for Martinez in July.  In 11 starts last season, Sergio went 5-3, had an ERA of 3.65, WHIP of 1.35 and was one of the few brights spots on a disastrous season for Jersey Shore.

Martinez began the season as the 6th man in a 6 man rotation but 3 weeks into the season, seasoned veteran Jose Lara went down with a 3+ month injury which assured Martinez a spot for the remained of the season.    So far in 2019 Martinez has been stellar and leading the staff in most categories.  He is  6-1, an ERA of 3.00 and a WHIP of 1.37.  His promising start has made us look into what the future of Jersey pitching will look like.  With Jose Ramos being young and great, he should anchor the staff for years to come.  But with Art Ellis showing his age, Jerry Burgess in the last guaranteed year of his contract, Jose Lara's terrible season last year and Greg Schaefer not looking like the pitcher who won 18 games just 2 years go.....Martinez seems heir apparent to the #2 on this staff far earlier than anyone could have expected.  With Ramon Ruiz shooting up the prospect rankings inside the Top 100, Jersey looks to have a solid young trio to build around in the next wave of the league.

It's uncertain to how far along Sergio Martinez is to reaching his full potential, but what he has shown us in his short big league career is he very well could be the next star in Jersey.  

Apparently Jersey Baseball Starts in June

As May ended, Jersey sat 6 games under 500, trailed the Greenville 84's by 14 games and trailed the St. Louis Browns by 11.5 games and though some hitting had started to come around, the pitching continued to be all but awful.  They finished the month with a 14-14 record, which was much better than the 11-17 record they put up in April, but playing .500 ball doesn't get you back in the race.  

The team must have taken a sweep by Reno pretty tough.  Dropping the last game of a 3 game set on April 28th at home against Reno 7-4, The Bags had an off day before place Austin came to town for their first meeting since the Riversharks knocked Jersey out of the playoffs last season.  The series would feature 3 straight quality starts from Lara, Schaefer and Ellis. Something he hadn't seen all season.  Three tight games with Jersey coming on top in each one: 3-2, 3-2 and 4-1.  Jersey would stay at home and welcome St. Louis, the team they are chasing in the Wild Card race, for a 4 game set.  Jersey would take games 1 and 3 but drop 2 and 4 resulting in no movement in the division.

The next 14 games would be the best stretch of the season thus far for Jersey Shore.  They traveled to Boston and took 2/3.  Defending champions Hendersonville would come town to and Jersey would take 2/3 from them as well.  A day off and a flight to St. Charles for a 3 game series would feature Art Ellis pitching a masterful 8 innings, giving up 1 hit and striking out 10.  Jersey would take the first two games before dropping the 3rd and final matchup.  A trip back home to face slumping Kansas City would result in one of Jersey's few sweeps of the season, outscoring KC 23-13 for the series.  The most recent game saw Chicago come to town and Jerry Burgess picking up his 3rd win of the season allowing 1 run over 7 innings picking up 10 K's.  

Jersey is 10-3 over their last 13 and 14-5 for the month.  Greenville has posted the same monthly record and Jersey still trails them by a gigantic 14 games.  Just 19 games ago they trailed St. Louis by 11.5 games for the wildcard.  They have chopped 6.5 games off of that lead and now only sit 5 games behind the Browns. After this most current sim, it's the first time all season we can say that the Jersey Shore sits above .500 with a 39-36 record.  

Top performers for June thus far:

Art Ellis:          4GS, 3-0, 29.2IP, 18H, 1HR, 3BB, 28K, 2.12 ERA
Jerry Burgess:  4GS, 1-0, 21.1IP, 16H, 2HR, 10BB, 30K, 2.95 ERA
Jose Lara:       3GS, 2-0, 17.0IP, 14H,  2HR, 10BB, 16K, 3.18 ERA

Fransisco Ibarra: .327/.431/.577 3HR, 13RBI, 11R, 10BB
Mikey Bryant:     .311/.370/.541 4 HR, 15 RBI, 14R, 7BB
Warren Goyer:    .333/.400/.729  6 HR, 15 RBI, 9R, 4BB

Jersey isn't out of the woods by any means and it still looks like it would be a hot race down the stretch to see if this team can make the playoffs for the 4th straight year.  It's looking much more manageable now than just 3 weeks ago though.

GO D-BAGS

The State of Jersey Pitching; It Must Get Better.....Right?

We are 50 games through the 2018 season, which puts us almost at the 1/3 way point of the season.  Thus far your Jersey D-bags sit with a record of 22-28, 3rd place in the division, 11.5 behind the Greenville 84's and 10.5 behind the Wild Card leading St. Louis Browns.  While April showed struggles with pitching and hitting, May showed a turnaround in the hitting...but the pitching continued and still continues to struggle.  What is happening?  Not only is it the starters, but also the bullpen, which is usually a Jersey strong point.  We will break down the pitching here and try to determine if it can get better and help Jersey climb back into the race, or if it will be the demise of the 2018 team.  Current 2018 CL ranks:  Starter's ERA, 12th, 5.52 ERA.  Bullpen ERA, 8th, 4.01 ERA.

Starters:
It didn't help when Jose Ramos went down which will seemingly keep him out til September.  That still left Jersey with a strong staff though.

Art Ellis: Art missed almost all of last season with an injury.  He had a couple of meaningless starts at the end of last season, but came out strong in Spring Training having 3/4 quality starts.

Career Numbers:  3.85 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 2.92 BABIP, 9.41 K/9, 1.20 BB/9, 1.30 HR/9, 4.00 FIP
Last Season:         4.01 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, .244 BABIP, 9.84 K/9, 2.66 BB/9, 1.35 HR/9, 3.96 FIP
This Season:         6.26 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 2.96 BABIP, 8.23 K/9, 4.11 BB/9, 2.50 HR/9, 6.42 FIP

The problem with Ellis is both his BB/9 and HR/9 is almost double his career average.  He is on pace to break the season record for HR given up in a season at this point, that cannot keep up.This could be a fallout of his injury or his age creeping up there, or just a slow start.  While his K's are down, all signs point to just bad pitching.

Jose Lara: Lara came over from Toronto in the Matt Doyle trade.  Though he did put up career worst numbers in TOR last season, his struggles this season have been monumental in someone Jersey hoped would helped push them over the edge, not further back down the hill.

Career Numbers:   3.80 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, .297 BABIP, 9.43 K/9, 2.83 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9, 3.61 FIP
Last Season:          4.70 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, .319 BABIP, 8.15 K/9, 2.69 BB/9, 1.10 HR/9, 3.91 FIP
Current Season:     6.79 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, .303 BABIP, 6.79 K/9, 4.01 BB/9, 2.61 HR/9, 6.92 FIP

Lara is having the same problems that Ellis has.  Increased walks and HR.  Lara could be attributed to a slight ratings decrease, but he is pitching down right bad.  Also like Ellis is also on pace to break the all time HR allowed record.  Even pitching in Jersey, this cannot keep up.  His hits given up is scary for his low BABIP though, without Lara pitching well, Jersey might be doomed.

Greg Schaefer: After a great 2017, at age 28 Jersey expected Shaef to at least put up similar numbers and through 11 starts, we haven't seen that yet.  While his numbers aren't as trouble as Ellis and Lara, he isn't helping much.

Career Numbers:  4.91 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, .308 BABIP, 7.57 K/9, 2.86 BB/9, 1.38 HR/9, 4.53 FIP
Last Season:         3.82 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, .270 BABIP, 8.21 K/9, 2.74 BB/9, 1.09 HR/9. 3.97 FIP
Current Season:    5.34 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, .333 BABIP, 7.53 K/9, 2.04 BB/9, 1.57 HR/9, 4.53 FIP

While Shaefer's numbers aren't far off of his career numbers, he had shown real strides in the past two seasons and thus far has regressed to his 2015 numbers.  Like the other two, his HR numbers are up.  Instead of walk numbers also being up, his hits are way up and K's are down.  While we can only hope last season wasn't an outlier, it will be interesting to see which way he goes from here on out.

Rob Goodship: Longtime Jersey player Goodship has never been ace material, and for that matter #2 material either.  Always a mid rotation type guy. But this year he looks as like a guy who shouldn't be pitching in any rotation.  

Career Numbers:  4.47 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, .304 BABIP, 7.62 K/9, 3.40 BB/9, 1.17 HR/9, 4.42 FIP  
Last Season:         3.61 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, .279 BABIP, 7.01 K/9, 2.71 BB/9, 1.16 HR/9, 4.31 FIP
Current Season:    6.29 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, .331 BABIP, 5.28 K/9, 3.45 BB/9, 1.22 HR/9, 4.87 FIP

Goodship like the other 3 starters has seen a considerable decrease in his K/9 while all other numbers stayed steady except for that BABIP.  With a much lower FIP than his ERA, his defense is not helping him out at all.  That considerably high ERA should come down, but it's still very ugly.

I didn't break down Jerry Burgess because half of his games have come out of the bullpen but is the only starter to be pitching near or above career averages.  While I don't expect all of my big name pitchers to struggle, having all 4 of them  decrease their K/9 and my two aces on pace to give up almost 50 HR this season, there is room for concern.  When 3 veterans in your rotation decide to all have the worst year of their career at the same time, there's not much a team can do. 

Struggles out of the bullpen have magnified things as well.  Usually when a starter struggles the bullpen comes in and keeps us in the game, but with them also giving up runs, wins are harder to come by.  I expect the team ERA to come down, it has to, but if low K numbers, hits and walks continue at this rate, Jersey might be out of the race before we hit September.

Jose Ramos Tears Labrum; Expected To Miss 4 Months

For the 2nd year in a row, Jersey Shore has taken a major blow to their Starting Rotation.  After losing Art Ellis for the majority of the 2017 season, ace Jose Ramos was taken out in the 4th inning of his 2nd start vs. the St. Charles Sheens.  After giving up a 1st inning run, the Bags spotted Ramos 7 runs in the first 3 innings and he was cruising along. The last batter he faced was Dominique Marquis, whom he struck out on 3 pitches, the last being a beautiful change up which he got Marquis to waive at.  He immediately grabbed his arm and the trainers rushed out.

After trainers took a look at him it had come to light that he partially tore his labrum in his pitching arm.  The doctor's gave the diagnosis and told the media if everything goes right he should be able to pitch again in 4 months.  This means he should return to rehab towards the end of August, possibly into September.  The only good news is if the team is in playoff contention, he could get a few starts in after rehab and possibly in the playoffs if the team makes it that far.

"It really is a blow.  I felt the kid was going to establish himself as one of the league's premier pitchers this year.  We are lucky in a sense that it will not require Tommy John surgery, which you know, would have kept him out 12-14 months.  We are also lucky that we are one of the few organizations who has depth at starting pitching.  Management bringing in Lara over the winter now looks a helleva lot more important than it did at the time," is what GM Josh Swain had to say about the injury.

Jerry Burgess took over the 5th spot in the rotation after being regulated to the bullpen this year and has looked overly dominate in 2 starts since the injury.  In 4 starts since coming over to Jersey this season, Jose Lara has struggled to an ERA of 8.22 which the team expects to even out after some more starts.  Art Ellis has also struggled posting an ERA of 5.59 after 3 starts.  We do not expect these 2 above average pitchers to continue to struggle, and hope we see a turnaround soon.

After 18 games, Jersey has yet to find an offensive rhythm, as they have scored almost a league worst 63 runs, their MVP is hitting under 200, and only 2 regulars have an average of 265 or higher.  The team, after being swept by Greenville recently, fell to 8-10 and sit 5 games out of the division.  They are hoping some home cooking, they play the net 8 games at home, will help even the team back out.  They have played 18 games thus far, 4 at home and 14 on the road.  They are undefeated at home, while going 4-10 on the road.  They say games in April don't matter as much as games late in the season, but in a division that looks better than usual and with Greenville surging and #1 in both offensive and pitching categories, falling too far behind could leave a very tough climb for the rest of the season.

Jersey Clinches 1st Division Title; Breaks CL Record for Wins

An improbable season, an improbable break out star, business as usual for the D-Bags.  September 14th, Jersey was on the road in the middle of a 3 game series with the Vista Panthers.  After winning the first game of the series 4-2, Jersey knew that this was the first day they would have a shot at clinching the the CL Eastern division for the first time in their history.  It would take a Jersey win over Vista and a Greenville loss at Reno to clinch on that night, not probable, but what was probable this season?

Both games started at 7:05 MST and were played in the Pacific time zones.  Jersey would get the scoring started in the 2nd inning, when singles by Goyer and Perez would put runners on the corners with one out.  A RBI single by 3B Adam Morrow would score Goyer and back to back wild pitches from Michael Hoffmeyer would bring in Perez making it 2-0 Bags in the 2nd.  Vista would get one back when a Yun-qi Qiao would hit an RBI groundout making it a 2-1 game after 2 innings of play. 

Jersey 2-1. End of 2.

Cruising along in Reno, the Cards would get on the board first when Kent Hall, who is having a very rough year, doubled down the left field line scoring breakout rookie Sugiyama who had earlier tripled.  Reno would lead 1-0 after 3.

Reno 1-0. End of 3.

Back to Vista, it didn't take long for Jersey to get the run they gave Vista in the 2nd as they quickly loaded the bases and Mike Bryant would score on a long fly out sac-fly from Warren Goyer.  A walk from rookie Fransisco Ibarra would re-load the bases for Alberto Perez, whose solid hit line drive would find the outfield and bring home 2 more runs making the Jersey lead 5-1. A 1-2-3 inning on 3 pitches from Greg Schaefer would put Jersey to bat again and MVP candidate Bryant hit a scorching line drive that left the park easy for a 6-1 Jersey lead which would stand through the 4th.

Jersey 6-1. End of 4.

While Jersey was busy scoring in Vista, 1st overall pick in this year's amateur draft Jaime Guzman and and fellow 21 year old rookie Cristobal Santos had a pitchers duel going.  Few men reached base as threw zeros  up on the board which lasted until the bottom half of the 6th inning.  Free agent signing Cade Delaney would hit a fly ball that looked routine which just kept carrying 401 feet for his 34th HR of the year giving Reno a 2-0 lead heading into the 7th inning.

Reno 2-0.  End of 6. 

After getting in a little trouble in the 5th Greg Schaefer switched on cruise control and would walk one and hit one batter over the next 3 innings.  Jersey threatened a couple of times but Vista pitching would skirt out of trouble each time as the score remained the same through 7 innings.

Jersey 6-1. End of 7.

Players like Jaime Guzman are the reasons Reno fans have bright hope for the future.  Guzman would go 7 1/3 before being pulled after a 10-pitch AB resulting in a single from 84's catcher Fransisco Diaz.  It was by far the rookie's best ever outing and left to an ovation from the Reno crowd.  A combination of relievers would take us to the bottom half of the inning where Kent Hall's 2nd RBI double of the game gave Reno a 3-0 heading into the 9th inning.  Closer Didyu Ghosh would be called upon to save the game for the Cards.  He would get Donahue and Hickman easily before a mini scare as former MVP Felix Morales would ruin the shutout with a solo HR into the RF bleachers.  It would take only 3 pitches to get promising youngster Enzo Diaz to groundout and secure the win for the Cards.

Reno 3-1. FINAL 9:32 MST.

The final score was posted on the scoreboard in Vista and cheers came from the Jersey dugout and sparingly throughout the crowd.  Schaefer would be pulled after 7 1/3 finishing his night on his 6th K of night night getting Artie Kelley swinging.  Jose Gomes would take over and finish the 8th and 9th with no more trouble sending the D-Bags running out onto the field as 1B Alberto Perez fielded an unassisted ground-out for the final out of the game.  Smiles could be seen around the crowd and Schaefer received a gatorade bath as this performance improved his record to 17-3 on the season, his previous career high coming in 2015 with 13 wins.

Jersey 6-1. FINAL 10:14 MST.

This win was Jersey's 109th win of the season and later and 4 days later with a walk-off win against Seattle Jersey would break the CL record for wins in a season with 112 which was previously set by the Regina River Sharks (now Austin) in the 2013 season where they would advance to the World Series. At the time of this publication Jersey sat with a 117-42 record with 3 games left to play in the season.  117 wins puts them 3rd all time behind two juggernaut Hendersonville teams of 2015 and 2014. 

Not only did this Jersey team set the record for most wins in the CL, they also clinched the best record in the BSA this season, the 1st time a CL team will ever finish with the most wins in the BSA for a season.  Quite an improbable run from a team who lost their ace in spring training which left big question marks heading into this season.  With 3 games left, GM Swain plans on playing mainly back ups and saving pitchers to start in the playoffs.

It has been confirmed that Jersey will take on Austin in the 1st round of the playoffs.  Swain has come out and said they plan on throwing Ramos, Schaefer and Ellis in the 1st 3 games as well.   Here's to the boys finishing the season strong and looking forward to this year's playoffs!

GO D-BAGS

July in Review From the Shore

Another All-Star game has come and gone and we just have 2 months left in the 2017 season.  A 17-8 record for the month might have been Jersey's worst month statistically of the season, but was good enough to finish with a 10.5 game lead on 2nd place Greenville and leave the Bags with a 81-27 record.  One more win to assure themselves their 8th straight winning season and just 50 or so games from their first division title.

Players of the Month

MR Lucio Tapia: 3-0, 1.46 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 21K in 12.1 IP.  With much of the staff having a down month, Tapia under the radar is having his best season since he broke out in 2013.  The 32 year old has an ERA just over 2 and has been excellent in the set-up role which he share with Jose "Dog Pound" Gomes.  If the starters don't step up down the stretch it will be up to bullpen guys like him to carry the load and keep the Bags in the game.

MR Jose Ruiz: 1 save, 2.25 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 13K.  To go along with Tapia, Ruiz had an excellent month out of the middle innings and earned himself a spot on POTM for the 2nd straight month.  At just 24 years old, his K/9, BB/9, HR/9, H/9 and K/BB have all improved since his great sophomore year last year and a sign that he will be a staple in the Jersey pen for years to come.

3B Adam Morrow: .375/.480/.475. 30H, 17BB, 8 2B, 12R.  After a terrible sophomore season which saw Morrow get shipped back and forth between the big league club and AAA, he has seemed to find his stroke again and July was his best month to date.  His stats this year are very similar to when he was awarded the CL Rookie of the Year in 2015.  Maybe the switch to hitting at the bottom of the order was the trick he needed to be productive at the plate again.

2B Mike Bryant: .306/.352/.510.  4 HR, 17 RBI, 8 2B, 17 R.  Bryant turned things around after a slow June to take some of the pressure off of the other big boppers in the lineup.  While the power we have grown to love really wasn't there, the 8 doubles are encouraging as he is still way off the pace he set last season.  He may not win any awards this year, he is still on pace for 35-120-.315, just another season in the life of Bryant.

Questions, Concerns and Answers:

Should the fact the team just had it's worst month of the season be concerning?  Some say yes, some say no.  The schedule was the toughest of the season and August won't get any better, but holding a big lead on Greenville was the key.  

On the injury front there was no bad news.  No new injuries and with SP Art Ellis on schedule, he should head to rehab sometime this month.  This is encouraging news for the Bags.  If he stays on schedule he should get 3 starts for the Bags before the playoffs which will really test his availability for the playoffs.  Fransisco Ibarra was always taken of the DL and sent back to AAA after missing 5 weeks with an injury.  We still think he is a very viable candidate for a September callup.  

Jersey successfully signed all 10 of the draft picks from the Amatuer draft on July 1st and all have been assigned to the A or AA minor league affiliates.  Also towards the end of the month, Jersey officials announced 2 contract extensions.  The first being MR Hyo-chin Kim, which bought out 1 free year and 3 years of arbitration.  The 2nd extension was given to up-and-coming SS Lawrence Schroeder.  His contract is a 5 year deal, the last being a team option, also bought out his last free year and all 3 years of arbitration.  

Minor League Players of the Month

Pitcher

SP Sergio Martinez (AA): 4-1, 1.96 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 29 K, 1 HR allowed, 36.2 IP.  Martinez in his 3rd year in AA, is having his best year and is slowly climbing up the prospect charts for the Jersey Shore.  While his control is still considered his achilles's heel, if he can get a grasp on that and play to his potentials, some Jersey folk say he slates out to be a 2-3 starter in the rotation.  At only 21 years old there is no rush on Martinez and will be interesting to see where he goes from here.

Hitter

SS Fabrice Brodeur (AAA): .316/.383/.430, 36 hits, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 24R, 4SB.  Leading the entire organization in hits in July and scoring in almost every game in July, Brodeur was a key cog in the Tuscaloosa lineup in July.  It was his 3rd straight 30+ hit month and he looks on track to reach the big leagues sometime next year. The former 1st round pick plays every infield position and would make a great asset as a backup or a fill in starter and could probably start on many teams on the left side of the infield.

GO D-BAGS

June In Review; D-Bags Coast to Best Month in Team History

After two 20- win months to start the season people were ready for the "new season" shine to wear off.  Waiting for Jersey Shore to fall back with the pack.  The team apparently wasn't ready for that.  For the 3rd straight month the team won 20 games and in the end it turned into the best month in team history.  The Bags compiled a 24-4 record, which included a team record 18-game win streak and on July 1st puts Jersey up 9 games even on 2nd place Greenville not only for the division but also the best record in the BSA.  The team continues to click on all cylinders, Top 2 in batting average, runs scored, ERA, runs allowed and defesive efficiency.

Players of the Month

1B/DH Matt Doyle: .384/.465/.705  10 HR 35 RBI  43 H  26 R.  Why not start out with the BSA CL Player of the Month as one of our players of the month?  After struggling through April, Doyle showed us why he is.....Matt Doyle.  He had 14 multi-hit games, including back to back multi-HR games against Toronto, the 2nd being his 2nd 5 hit game of his career.  He also hit 2 HR and knocked in 6 runs in that contest.  Surprisingly this was the first time Doyle has been awarded the CL award for Batter of the Month in his short, but great, 4 year career.

C Warren Goyer: .280/.333/.731  13 HR  33 RBI 20 R.  If a player not named Doyle was going to win Batter of the Month, it probably would have been Goyer.  He played in 24 games and hit 13 HR, which as far as I can tell is a Jersey record, breaking the previous record of 12 set on several different occasions.  Goyer was named Player of the Week in the CL for the first week of June, which was the first honor of it's kind for Goyer in his career.  His best game of the month came against Toronto where he had his first career 3 HR game, had 4 hits, scored 4 runs and knocked in 7.

MR Jose Ruiz: 4-0, 1.20 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 15IP, 20K.  The 24 year old Ruiz keeps getting better.  Not only this season but in his career as well.  He posted his best month of 2017 while his stats across the board are the best in his career.  Those numbers include ERA, WHIP, K/9, BB/9, K/BB, H/9 and HR/9.  He seems to be on track to be another great reliever in the Jersey system.

MR Lucio Tapia: 3-0, 0.60 ERA, 0.93 ERA, 15IP, 13K.  If anyone in the middle innings was better in June than Ruiz, it was Tapia.  Allowing only 8 hits and 1 ER in 15 innings helped bridged the gap in a month where starting pitching wasn't THAT good. Tapia in his 7th year in the Jersey bullpen is currently posting the 2nd lowest ERA in his career and lowest WHIP.  This is the 5th season where he has won at least 6 games. For his Jersey Shore career he posts a 36-11  record.

CL Jaime Saenz: 3-0, 9 saves, 0.48 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 18.2 IP, 30 K.  Why not save the best for last?  Saenz won the CL Pitcher of the Month for June and well deserved.  He as virtually unhittable.  After a blip against Madison early in the month he went on a streak of 15 shutout innings giving up 9 hits and walking 3 in those innings.  His 25 saves as of July 1st lead the CL.  After having the lowest K/9 rate in his career last year, he has come back this year with a bang averaging a career high 12.49 K/9.

Questions, Answers and Concerns:
We asked this question last month, but what else is there to say?  How many concerns can you have when the team is playing at such a high level?  Towards the middle of the month leadoff man Peter Larson sprained a hamstring playing the outfield and missed the rest of the month.  After rehab we expect him back towards the end of July.  It's not the first time in his career he has been injured, but he has been relatively healthy over the last 2 seasons.  Towards the end of the month of the 27th the outfield took another blow as Jose Ortiz strained his oblique making a sliding catch in the gap against the Titans.  At first he seemed to be fine but was taken out of the game.  He is expected to miss about 5 more weeks which will put him back on the team sometime in August.  Expect to see Al Ryan and/or Taro Kino in the coming weeks.  Ryan has been up since Larson got injured and has played well in his absence.

I would say this is a perfect chance for Top Prospect Fransisco Ibarra to make his debut but he is also shelved on the DL with tendinitis in his right knee.  Updating the injury front, SP Art Ellis still remains 7 or so weeks out until he will start a throwing program and head for rehab.

The Bags made a trade that went on with little publicity trading for the often troubled SP Drew "Onion" Schaefer formally of the Niagara Falls Frenzy.  Scouts still see him as having very talented but at age 26 time is running out for him to perform.  Before coming to Jersey he posted a 2-11 record with a 7.69 ERA in 18 starts and having a WHIP above 2.  In his only Jersey start for the month he was crushed by Toronto, being pulled in the 4th inning giving up 7 ER on 6 hits and 7 BB.  With such a big lead Jersey may be able to be patient with him and see if he can mature and learn something playing with many veterans on the Jersey staff.

Even though Schaefer was struggling doesn't mean he was cheap.  Jersey gave up promising 20 year old OF Guillermo Sanchez who Jersey's scout has rated 4* and learning CF for the past 2 seasons.  Also leaving Jersey was 21 year old MR Ruben Rojas who was having a good year at A ball Manhattan.  Rojas has an explosive arm and can hit 100 MPH on a good day, but with Jersey's MR depth he was far down on the list.    Also leaving was 22 year old Jesus Herrera.  Hererra isn't the most naturally gifted player, but with top speed and above average contact he had been a terror in AAA this season, hitting over .400 with Tuscaloosa and winning May's Minor League Player of the Month for Jersey.  He project's as a 3rd-4th OF.

Minor League Players of the Month
Pitcher
SP Victor Rivera (A): 4-0, 1.60 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 33.2 IP, 47 K.  At 19, Rivera is starting to show up on scout's radars.  He is hitting 99-100 MPH with his fastball, something we have never seen before. His 12.05 K/9 is 4th in the Midwest league for SP and the only pitchers ahead of him are 29, 30 and 30 years old.  He posts a record of 8-4 and is coming off a 15 K game, which was only the 5th of it's kind in Midwest League history.  Don't be shocked to see him get moved up to AA in the coming weeks.


Hitter
OF Fransisco Calderon (AAA):  .407/.490/.889.  10 HR, 32 RBI, 33 H, 24 R.  Calderon, just 22 years old, has always had that power, well....according to scouts.  Before last season the highest amount of HR he
had hit in a season was 7.  Between AA and AAA last year he hit 20.  Through 3 months in 2017 he already has 19.  The plus speed OF from Cuban was originally discovered by Greenville.  He spent a month with the LA organization before being released in Feb 2013 before signing with Jersey.  With his new found power, top speed and above average OF skills we might just see him in Jersey  in the coming  months.

July is a month where Jersey plays 16 of their 25 games at home, but will see teams Vista, Greenville, Austin, Chicago and Orlando.  Not the easiest schedule.  If the Bags can hold their lead on the 84er's through the month the Bags could be on their way to their first division title in the franchise's history.  We hate to be to optomistic but with a lead of almost 20 games over the first WC team, we have good inclination that the Bags will reach the playoffs for the 3rd straight year.

GO D-BAGS

Bags Finish Off Vista in 5; Head Back to CLCS

After starting the series 1-1 playing the first two games in Vista, Jersey headed back home to The Ballpark at the Shore for their first 3 home games of these 2016 playoffs.  Jersey won game 1 handily with Art Ellis pitching them to an 8-2 win.  Game 2 was a masterpiece turned in by Michael Hoffmeyer who out dueled the rookie Jose Ramos for a slim 2-1 victory, a victory that GM Josh Swain was afraid of.  "We have the bats, they have the arms.  There's no doubt in my mind that we can beat them in a shoot out, its the 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 games that will lose us this series.  We need to stay away from those," is a quote from Swain before the series, thus far he seems to be right.  On to Jersey!

Game 3

Gane 3 would feature a matchup between Tyler "Big Train" Law of Vista and Dan "Simple Man" Macias of Jersey.  Law, who missed more than 2 months with elbow tendonitis during the year, pitched great all season, including a no-hitter against the Reno Cards.  He shut down Jersey in both his starts this season, pitching 14.2 innings of shutout ball.  Macias, the the 36 year old veteran, had his worst season as a pro as his strike out totals fell and ERA rose.  He did have a great September which Jersey is hoping for good signs during this postseason.

Macias, who struggled mightily in the playoffs a year ago, would get things started nicely for Jersey taking the first 3 Vista hitters in order.  The stadium was packed down to standing room only tickets and gave an ovation as he got All-Star John Doby to strike out to end the first.  Tyler Law would take the mound for Vista and whatever concerns Jersey hitters had about him shutting them down all season quickly disappeared.  Two quick walks and a hit by pitched loaded the bases for Matt Doyle with no one out.  Doyle would waste no time and take the 2nd offering to the gap in left-center bringing home 2 runs an sending Bryant to 3rd.  The next batter Dodd would walk on 4 pitches to re-load the bases, still with no one out.  A harmless fly ball would get Romero, but Bryant would tag and score the third Jersey run.  Catcher Warren Goyer would fly out for the 2nd out before Alberto Perez would single on a line drive over shortstop to load the bases for the 3rd time in the inning.  Law's control problems would continue as Tim Duncan would step in and not take the bat off his shoulder for 4 straight pitches forcing in the 4th run from 3rd base and surprisingly ending Law's night.  It resulted in the shortest outing of the season for him.  Carlos Arevalo would relieve Law and strike out leadoff man Sergio Rodriguez on 3 pitches.  But the damage was done.  After 1 inning, Jersey held a 4-0 lead.

Macias apparently came to work.  Even after the long delay of batting around he came out and retired the side in order for the 2nd straight time.  Jersey would waste no time getting more.  SS Lawrence Schroeder led off the inning with a single and 2 batters later Matt Doyle would connect and pull a line drive down the line that barely stayed fair for a 2 run HR.  It chased Arevalo from the game, and the 6 runs would be more than Jersey needed today.

An RBI triple from Schroeder would bring in the 7th run in the 3rd and an RBI single from Perez would bring home the 8th run in the 4th.  Macias would stay out of the trouble until the 5th when Torres connected on a 2 run HR.  Brian Cash would leadoff the 6th with a solo HR to bring the Jersey lead to 8-3 and follow that up with an RBI sac fly in the 7th to shave one more run off.  A triple and wild pitch would bring home Vista's 5th run in the 8th before Macias was done for the night.  Even though he gave up 5 ER he was effective enough to pick up the win.  Jose Gomes and Jaime Saenz would close out the last 5 batters to preserve the 8-5 win for the Bags and give them a 2-1 series lead.

Final Score: Jersey 8  Vista  5
POTG:  Matt Doyle  2-5, 2R, 2B, HR, 4RBI

Game 4

Game 4 would turn out to be the most interesting game of the series.  Vista would bring Cipriano Montanez back on short rest while Jersey would send the embattled Jerry Burgess to the mound.  Burgess was regulated to bullpen duty for much of August and September before coming back and throwing a quality start against Pocatello during the last series of the year.

Things did not start well for Burgess.  A walk, single and walk loaded the bases with no outs, just like Jersey did the day  the before.  Vista would get their 4 runs but they did it on one swing.  Roberto Bojorquez would only need one swing to send a Burgess offering high, deep and gone over the CF wall to put Jersey in a 4-0 hole before an out was recorded in the game.  Burgess would shake it off and retire the next 3 batters before heading to the dugout in a quiet stadium.  Montanez was sharp in the 1st inning, needing only 8 pitches to saw through 3 Jersey hitters to get us to the 2nd inning.  Either Manager Kevin Davis had faith in Burgess or just didn't want to waste his bullpen, but Burgess headed out to the mound for the 2nd inning.  A walk, double play, single and groundout ended the top half, while Jersey would go down in order in the bottom half to end the inning.

Burgess would go back to work in the 3rd giving up a lead off single Bojoquez before getting 2 straight outs.  But a single from Torres and back to back walks would force in Vista's 5th run, but Brian Cash couldn't capitalize and break the game open by grounding out to end the threat.  The Bags would finally show some sign of life in the 3rd getting two free passes to start things off before Luis Antonio Duran came to plate.  Duran would single up the middle which would score one, and advance the runners on the throw to home.  An RBI groundout from Larson would plate the 2nd run, giving the Bags a runner on 2nd with one out.  An Adam Morrow single would put runners at the corners and Mikey Bryant would be the 2nd D-Bag to be hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases.  Montanez probably got the biggest out of the day by getting masher Matt Doyle to weakly hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.  Both teams left the bases loaded.  Jersey shaved part of the lead off, going into the 4th, Vista led 5-2.

Burgess would finally get the hook when he surrendered a 1 out double Doby and was replaced by Greg Schaefer.  Schaefer would get an out before giving up back to back singles where Vista would plate their 6th run.  Torres would strike out with 2 runners on to end the threat.  As usual Jersey batters wouldn't lay down.  The struggling Dave Dodd led off the inning with an exciting triple and came around to score on Perez's single before Montanez retired 3 batters in a row to end the 4th.  Both teams score, 6-3 Vista lead.  The 5th went by without any damage from Vista, but MVP showed up for Jersey.  2 pitches after Schroeder pulled a double down the left field line, Bryant would take a Montanez fastball the other way landing 340 feet away and bringing the Bags to within 1 and the crowd to their feet.  It was Bryant's 1st HR of the series and just his 2nd and 3rd RBI in 4 games.

Both teams would pose threats in the 6th and 7th innings but no one could come up with a clutch hit until the bottom of the 8th.  Vista would bring in Evan Brown to pitch to the left handed hitting rookie Torres, who would get the best of him and single on a line drive to CF.  Brown would be replaced with rookie 1st round pick Edward Cadle who gave up a line drive single to former ROY Adam Morrow to put 2 runners on with no outs.  Arevalo would replace Cadle who had a battle with Peter Larson before getting him to ground into a HUGE unassisted DP from Brian Cash.  Arevalo couldn't get all the way out of trouble though.  Lawrence Schroeder would hit a grounder pasts a diving Cash to score the runner from third and knot up this ballgame at 6 runs apiece. There could have been more trouble when he walked both Bryant and Doyle, but got Dodd to lazily fly out to send to send us to the 9th tied up.

Both teams would go down in order in the 9th sending us to our first extra inning game of the series.  The 10th was no different, 6 up and 6 down.  This was a pivotal game for both teams.  Vista would threaten in their half of the 11th getting a lead-off single from Cash and a successful sac bunt from Cassidy to give Vista a runner in scoring position.  John Doby would be given a free pass and like many other times in this series, the Vista bats wouldn't come through.  Flame thrower Mungo Saenz would get Ashur and House both swinging to a huge ovation from the crowd.  They wanted a Jersey win. With the meat of the order coming up, there would be no better time for the Bags.  Bryant quickly got his 4th hit of the game a double into the left field corner and Doyle was walked to set up the double play.  Goyer would pinch hit for Dodd and fly out to right field to bring up last year's playoff hero and this year's All Star game hero Alberto Perez.  Why not? Perez took a 2-0 pitch and grounded the ball up the middle.  Bryant would score without a throw and and was met at the plate by the team for a mini mosh pit to celebrate the walk off win.  Down 5-0 and to come away winners was a great feeling.  Going up 3-1 in the series with a chance to close it out at home was an even better one.

Final Score  Jersey 7  Vista 6
POTG:  Roberto Bojoquez  2-4, R, HR, 4RBI

Game 5

If you were expecting a close nail-biter this wasn't your game.  Game 1 Art Ellis winner would take the mound against Game 2 winner Michael Hoffmeyer pitching on short rest.  Ellis was nothing short of brilliant on this evening.  Hoffmeyer labored, couldn't avoid the Jersey bats and this one was over before it even began.  Jersey scored in every inning but the 3rd and the 5th highlighted by Home Runs from Bryant and Doyle in the 4th and the 6th, 4 total hits for Bryant and 4 hits from Peter Larson.  Every Jersey regular besides Alberto Perez had a hit and Art Ellis would go 7 scoreless innings giving up 4 singles and 1 walk on his way to 8 strikeouts and his 2nd win of the series.  Hoffmeyer wouldn't get out of the 4th inning and 4 other relievers would pitch and all would give up runs.  In the end the Bags won in laughing fashion 11-0 in front of 35,000 fans and would earn their right to take on the winner of the Toronto-Greenville series, which Toronto holds a 3-2 lead in.

Final Score:  Jersey 11  Vista 0
POTG:  Mike Bryant 4-5, 2R, 2 2B, HR, 3RBI

Summary:

From what we said in the pre-series summary, if Vista is going to win they need to limit the Jersey bats.  They did in 1 game, which resulted in a Vista win.  In the other 4 games Jersey scored 8,8,7 and 11.  The bats were just too much for the Panthers. I also want to give much respect to the bullpen.  They were outstanding, only 3 hits in 15+ innings giving up no runs and striking out 16.  

Series MVP:  Mike Bryant  13-22 (.591) 7R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI

Other notable performers:

Alberto Perez: 8-21, .381, 5RBI
Matt Doyle:  6-21, 5R, 2HR, 8RBI
Art Ellis: 2-0, 1.42 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 14 K
Entire Bullpen: 15.2 IP, 3H, 0ER, 0R, 3BB, 16K

Jersey Shore vs. Vista; Tied After 2

Welcome to the long awaited BSA Division round of the 2016 playoffs!  The Jersey Shore D-Bags will take on the Vista Panthers in the first round.  Since Vista was the division winner, games 1-2 and 6-7 will be played in Vista, while 3-4-5 will be played in Jersey.

We breakdown the first 2 games of the series played in Vista here:

Game 1

Former Cy Young winner Cipriano Montanez would take the hill for Vista, making him the first Vista starter to start a playoff game for the team.  He would throw a ball to Peter Larson to start the game in front of a packed house of just over 40,000 fans.  He would get Larson to pop out, rookie SS Lawrence Schroeder to ground out before coming to the teeth of the Jersey lineup.  Mr. Triple Crown Mikey Bryant would run the count to 2-0 before roping a line drive the other way into the corner for a 2 out double and the game's first hit. On the first pitch to Matt Doyle he would hit a hard grounder through the hole between 3rd and SS, Bryant with a great jump would score the game's first run without a throw.  Montanez would get rookie Dave Dodd swinging to the end Jersey's first.

Starting for Jersey Shore was their veteran ace Art Ellis.  We learned early on that his control might be a little off today.  He walked the leadoff man Brian Cash, gave up a single to John Doby and walked Matt House to load the bases with only one out.  A very fortunate come-backer off the bat of Armando Macias would result in a force out at the plate for the 2nd out.  Cesar Torres would step to the plate and see the 2nd pitch in the at bat in the dirt and to the screen, a passed ball, which would bring home Doby to the tie the game.  Torres would strikeout in the at bat 4 pitches later to end the inning.

The 2nd innings treated both pitchers well with both getting 3 up and 3 down.  The 3rd inning the Bags would get to Montanez again.  A walk to Larson followed by singles by Schroeder, Bryant and Doyle resulted in 2 runs, giving the D-Bags a 3-1 lead.  A single to Doby is all Vista could manage in their half of the 3rd, ending the inning trailing 3-1.  A base runner apiece for each team in the 4th is all the action we would see, keeping the score the same.

Mistakes abound would kill Vista in the 5th inning. Schroeder would strike out to start the inning before Bryant would pull a scorching ground ball down the first base line for his 2nd double of the game.  An intentional walk to Doyle would set up the double play ball seemed to be a good strategy until the 3rd pitch to Dodd would be a wild pitch to move the runners up.  This forced Montanez to intentionally walk Dodd to load the bases. Alberto Perez would step to the plate, and what should have been an inning ending double play ate up SS Riley Cassidy, which subsequently would allow 2 runs to score and the inning to keep going, also this would chase Montanez from the game.  Guillermo Martinez would relieve Montanez, give up a sac fly to catcher Duran, to bring home Jersey's 6th run, before getting rookie Fransisco Torres to ground out to end the inning and a big Jersey lead 6-1.

This would be all Jersey would need today.  Vista would load the bases in the 6th against Ellis but only muster one run, and that was forced in by a walk from Matt House.  This would chase Ellis who ended up pitching 5 2/3 innings, giving up 2 ER on 3 hits but walked 7.  Jersey would get the run back and another in the 7th with a single from Duran that would bring home Doyle and Dodd and make the score 8-2.  The only other base runner for the rest of the game would come in Vista's 9th when 1B Manny Dominguez would walk, before Hyo-chin Kim retired 3 batters in a row to end the game.  Dominguez was the only batter Kim would let reach in 3 1/3 inning, which resulted in a save for him in his first postseason pitching.

Final Score: Jersey 8   Vista 2
POTG: Matt Doyle  3-4, 2B, BB, 2R, 2RBI

Game 2

Game 2 would offer an interesting pitching matchup.  Vista would send Michael Hoffmeyer to the mound, who was 0-2 against Jersey this season with the combination of Mikey Bryant and Matt Doyle doing most of the damage in those 2 games.  For Jersey they would send 21 year old phenom Jose Ramos, who shutout Vista in 7.1 IP in his only start against the Panthers this season.  

Hoffmeyer and Ramos would dance around base runners in the first inning before both escaped trouble. The 2nd inning both pitchers would get 3 up, 3 down getting a pair of groundouts apiece to send us to the 3rd still knotted at 0.  Besides a 6 pitch watch to Peter Larson, Hoffmeyer was all business in the 3rd, throwing 8 pitches to achieve 3 outs outside of the Larson AB.  

In Vista's half of the 3rd we would finally get some action.  After Manny Dominguez would strike out swinging, Riley Cassidy would come to the plate trying to redeem himself for his very costly error in Game 1.  On the 2nd pitch of the AB, Cassidy would surprise everyone and drag a bunt down the line and beat it out by half a step.  On a 1-1 count to Brian Cash, Cassidy would steal 2nd base, giving Vista a rare runner in scoring position.  Ramos would get Cash to fly out for the 2nd out, but wasn't out of trouble yet.  Roberto Bojorquez would slice a line drive down the RF line that would land fair by a foot scoring Cassidy from 2nd easily and giving Vista the early 1-0 lead.  A John Doby walk would extend the inning before Matt House grounded out to Mikey Bryant to end the inning.

The Bags would show some life in the 4th, well Bryant would show some life.  He started the inning with a single, his 2nd hit of the game and stole 2nd with Dodd at the plate after Doyle flew out to RF.  Dodd would fly out for the 2nd out before disaster almost struck Vista and Mr. Cassidy.  Alberto Perez would again ground to Cassidy which should have ended the inning but a bobble and a throw off target would allow him to reach and send Bryant to 3rd base.  Duran would come to plate looking to tie this game up at 1.  After running the count to 2-0, he took a big cut at a fastball which would result in a grounder to 1st, which would end the inning.

After the middle of the 4th, both pitchers would settle into a groove and besides a wayward single we would head into the bottom of the 6th inning with Vista still leading 1-0.  Doby would lead off Vista's half of the 6th with a single before House and Macias hit lazy fly balls into the OF for easy outs.  But again Vista would strike with two outs.  Cesar Torres, the speedy OF, who had 46 2B on the year, would do what he does best and line a ball to the gap in left-center.  CF Torres would have no chance to make a play on the ball, Doby would score with no throw and Vista goes up 2-0, but it wouldn't last long.

Dave Dodd would lead off the 7th for the Bags and take Hoffmeyer's 3rd pitch of the AB and deposit it 425 feet later into the RF bleachers.  It would mark the first HR for either team in the series and erase the insurance run Vista just pushed across the plate.  Hoffmeyer would struggle through the rest of the inning, getting 2 outs, but loading the bases in the process.  The threat would be ended when he would get SS Schroeder to fly out to CF avoiding all danger and leaving the Bags with 3 runners left on to think about. 

The bottom of the 7th and top of the 8th were very similiar for both starters seeing 3 batters apiece with Hoffmeyer getting Bryant, Doyle and Dodd to all groundout in order.   Ramos's night would be over after pitching 7 very solid innings for Jersey, giving up the 2 ER on 6 hits while striking out 5.  Jose "Dog Pound" Gomes would come in, getting a ground out and 2 strike outs to send us to the 9th.

Vista closer Alejandro Lopez would be called upon to end the game for Vista.  Lopez saved 20 games on the season between Vista and St. Louis.  His night wouldn't start well with a 5 pitch walk to Lopez.  One of the more bizarre plays you will see happened when Duran stepped to the plate.  On the 3rd pitch of the AB, Duran would lay down a bunt that immediately went back to the pitcher Lopez.  Lopez would twirl and fire to 2nd to get Perez easy as the force out, but a heads up play by Cassidy to throw to first would end in a bang-bang double play off a bunt attempt.  Duran had had't a successful sac bunt attempt in over 2 years and only 3 in his entire career.  It was an odd decision. Jersey wasn't done yet as Torres reached after being hit by a pitch and last year's ROY Adam Morrow coaxed and 8-pitch walk to put the tying run in scoring position for leadoff man Peter Larson.  But it wasn't meant to be for the Bags as Larson popped up the first pitch on the infield where 2B Cash would end the game with an easy catch.  

Final Score:  Vista  2   Jersey 1
POTG: Michael Hoffmeyer   8IP, 1ER, 1R, 4H, 4BB, 4K

We now head to Jersey for 3 games, tied 1 game apiece.

GO D-BAGS