With the regular season finished, the AACBL approaches the playoff tournament to decide who will be awarded the title of “AACBL Champions.” This season has been full of talented performances and impressive exhibitions of skill and focus. Some teams have cruised through the season and others found their stride later in the summer. While the records may point to a lopsided competition, it will be difficult for any team to run away with the championship. All five teams have demonstrated the ability to heat up and deliver dominating performances. Some of the teams demonstrated this ability more often than others, but the fact of the matter is, in baseball, as long as a team gets hot at the right time anything is possible.
The playoffs will be single elimination with a play-in round between the 4th seed (Rowan Patriots) and the 5th seed (Caldwell Warriors). The winner of that game will advance to the first round where they will face the 1st seed (Carolina Freedom). In addition the 2nd seed (Mooresville All Americans) and 3rd seed (Morganton Militia) will go head to head. The two remaining teams after the first round will face off in a best of three series to determine the champion.
Carolina Freedom (1st seed):
The Carolina Freedom is the heavy favorite coming into the tournament. With an unprecedented record of 24-6, Carolina cruised through the season often scoring in the double digits. One of their most impressive wins was late in the season when they decimated the second place Mooresville All Americans 18-0. This Freedom team is so hard to beat because they possess so many tools both offensively and defensively. Their pitching is unquestionably the best in the league as Reggie Johnson (Hampton Sydney) and Danny Rafferty (Bucknell), sit atop the pitching leaderboards with ERAs of 0.28 and 0.74.
But clutch pitching is not the only way they can beat you. The Freedom also has some very talented hitters. Jordan Washam (Southeastern Louisiana) has one of the league’s best batting averages at .408. In addition, the team has 17 home runs on the season, which is second only to the white hot bats of the All Americans (23).
While the team is carrying a lot of confidence into the post season, they are making sure not to lose their focus. “Each team in this league is capable of winning at any giving time and we have a lot of respect for our opponents. We won't be overlooking anyone that is for sure,” said head coach Brandon Matthews.
Mooresville All Americans (2nd seed):
A lot can be said about this Mooresville team, some good and some bad. But there is one fact that is undeniable: this team has immense talent. There have been times when they look like the best team in the league, like when they beat Carolina in the 9th inning on a walk off home run. However there have also been games where Mooresville seems to lack the focus and intensity needed to win on a consistent basis. If the All Americans want to beat Morganton and advance to the finals they will need more than their explosive offense. The average ERA of the All American pitchers is 5.90. In order for this team to make a deep run in this tournament they will have to cut down on errors and get a solid performance out of their pitchers. If Mooresville can do this then there will be few teams capable of keeping up with their high scoring offense.
Morganton Militia (3rd seed):
While Morganton had a sub .500 season they cannot but overlooked. There were several moments throughout the season where the Militia looked dangerous, such as their opening day victory against the Freedom. Or when they ran up the score 15-1 against Caldwell. Offensively the team has some very good hitters such as Daniel DiMatteo (Westfield St.) who bats .395 and Chase Turner (St. Leo’s) who bats an impressive .439. On the defensive side Heath King (Belmont Abbey) has been solid for Morganton giving the team four wins in six starts and posting a solid ERA of 2.84. If the Militia can get a strong pitching performance from its starters and keep the game low scoring then they have a good chance of hanging with Mooresville and possibly find themselves in the title series.
Rowan Patriots (4th seed):
The story of the Rowan Patriots is athleticism. They are extremely quick off the hit and often get on base from infield hits. At the league’s Pro Workout three of the top five sixty yard dash time’s came from Patriots, including the top time of 6.50 seconds by outfielder Clinton Arnold (Northern Kentucky). Like the Militia the Achilles’ heel of this team has been pitching. Top Pitcher, Cameron Langfels (Eastern Kentucky), walking out on his teammates only worsens the problem. However, Phil Zdanowski (St. Rose) has been consistent from the mound with an ERA of 2.79.
“I have a ton of confidence in our group of guys and believe we are a very well rounded team. First and foremost we need to get healthy but after that it all comes down to execution,” said Coach Brad Vanderglass.
All the Patriots need is a few solid games from their pitchers and they have a great chance of making it to the finals. If the team can back up their athleticism with success from the mound then Rowan quickly becomes one of the most dangerous teams in the league. Do not sleep on this Patriots team.
Caldwell Warriors (5th seed):
Sometimes being the last seed can be advantageous. The pressure is off and you have the opportunity to play the role of “heart breakers” by getting an upset. While the Patriots are by no means counting on a victory in the play-in round, the pressure is definitely on them not the Warriors. Perhaps Caldwell can use this lack of pressure to put together a playoff run. This team has all the talent to play at a high level but has been plagued by errors and mental mistakes.
Second baseman Jaryd Wingler (Wilkes CC) said, “I do believe that we can make a run if we play to the best of our abilities. Baseball is all about getting hot at the right time and we have the players to go deep in the playoffs.” Wingler is one of the players that make Caldwell dangerous. He makes athletic plays at second base and uses his speed to steal bases including a steal of home that gave Caldwell the game winning run in a game against the Freedom. The team has several talented hitters such as Taishi Terashima (Herkimer CC) who has the league’s second highest batting average (.450). If Caldwell hits their stride come Friday, they have the talent to shock the league with a deep playoff run.
