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Standings Series Summaries Wiffler of the Week Series of the Week Team Stats Box Scores Player Stats Central Ohio Wiffleball League 2012 Division Championship Playoff Week
Champions Division
Contenders Division
PVB - Pleasant Valley Boys UMH - Uncle Muscles' Hour AP - Abusement Park 2012 COWL Wild Card Playoff Series Summaries 2012 Division Championship Week presented a pair of very interesting match ups with a redo of the 2011 World Series for the Champions Division title with old foes The Legends and The U locking horns to see who would represent the Champions Division in the 2012 World Series. In the Contenders Division a gamble by PVB to buy their way out of the Champions Division was on the cusp of paying off as they lock up with new comers the Knights for a trip to the big show. The U has historically had the number of the Legends, being responsible for nearly 50% of the league losses the 2010 & 2011 World Series champs have suffered. The Legends were home team for the series and returned to old favorite CC field for the 1st 2 games sending 8 game winner Jerry Driggs to the mound while the U countered with talented veteran Brent Hoover. The U went quietly in inning 1 bringing up the Legends in their first official playoff appearance in 2012. The Legends began the night en fuego as both Levi crushed 5 HRs, Jerry 4 HRs and Phil 2 dingers in inning one, posting a playoff record 19 runs in the 1st inning to take a 19-0 lead. Inning 2 saw both Tyler Wiget and Jordan Nelson get in gear as both hit solo shots in inning 2. The Legends countered with solo shots by Levi and Jerry to expand their lead 21-2 after 2. The Legends ended the game with their 1st dp of the night on a Phill King Spiderman spear of a Shondrick Locklear line drive and the Legends claimed game 1 via the mercy rule 21-2. For the game Levi led all hitters with 6 HRs and 11 RBIs while Jerry stroked 5 HRs to go with 7 RBIs. Phil completed the trio with 2 HRs and 2 RBIs. Game 2 began in an entirely different fashion as the U jumped out to a 6 run lead in the top of the 1st on 2 run HRs by Shondrick Locklear and Tyler Wiget and a solo shot by Jordan Nelson. The Legends fought back with 3 in their half of the inning via 2 HRs by Jerry. The U added 3 more off of starter Phill King in the 2nd on HRs by Tyler and Shondrick. The Legends knotted the score in the bottom of the inning as Jerry added 5 RBIs on 2 more HRs and a solo shot by Phill. The U went quietly in the 3rd as Phill found his stride and the Legends claimed the lead in the bottom off of starter John Kepler by pushing across 6 more runs on a 3 run dinger by Phill a 2 run shot by Jerry and a solo bomb by Levi. Down 15-9 going into the 4th the U drew blood via a 2 run HR by Shondrick off of the Designated Reliever Levi Driggs. U Reliever Shondrick blanked the Legends in the 4th and the U entered the final frame down 15-11. The U narrowed the Legends lead to 15-14 after a 2 run crush by Shondrick and a solo shot to center by Tyler. With 1 out and Brent to ground out to short. Jordan reached 1st on a base hit to right but Levi recovered to retire John on a pop up to center, sealing the victory for the Legends and a 2-0 lead in the series. Phill picked up the win on the mound and Levi the save. Jerry led all hitters with 6 HRs and 9 RBIs while Phill had a breakout game with 3 HRs and 5 RBIs. For the U Tyler and Shondrick both had 3 HRs and Jordan had 1. Game 3 moved to TLC field with the U being the home team. The U sent Tyler to the mound in an attempt to stop the bleeding and the Legends countered with Jerry. The 1st inning again had the Legends jumping out to an early lead as they scored 4 in the top of the 1st as Levi got things going with 2 HRs to break the ice. Jerry blanked the U in the 1st and then Tyler returned the favor in the Legends 2nd. Once again the U was held scoreless in the 2nd leaving the score at 4-0 after 2. The Legends added 2 to drive the score to 6-0 as Jerry and Levi hit solo bombs. With Jerry out of innings Phill took over pitching duties in the U bottom of the 3rd and the U found the change to their liking as they exploded for 9 runs as Jordan and John punctuated solid small ball with multi run HRs in the frame. Down 10-6 the Legends inched closer after solo HRs by Jerry and Levi and Reliever Levi held the U to a single run. Trailing 11-8 heading into the top of the 5th the U got a huge break as with no out Levi attempted to stretch a single and was thrown out at second. Phill rapped a single and Jerry promptly followed with a HR which would have tied the score. Levi redeemed himself with a solo shot to left but the Legends could not score so the U came to bat in the bottom of the 5th tied 11-11. A basehit by Jordan was followed by a pop out by John, a ground out by Shondrick and a single by Tyler, bringing Brent to the plate with 2 down and the tying run on 2nd. Brent crushed a 2-2 pitch over the left center fence to end the game on a walk off and and extend the series to a 4th game. Shondrick picked up the win in relief. Levi led all hitters with 4 HRs and 7 RBIs while Jerry added 2 HRs. For the U John, Brent and Jordan had HRs and Brent had 4 RBIs. The Legends wasted no time in Game 4 against U ace John jumping out to a 9 run 1st on a 2 run HR inning by both Levi and Jerry, including a granny by the latter. Phil had found his stride on the mound and used his last inning to blank the U. The Legends reloaded as Jerry hit 2 more HRs in the inning leading to 5 more runs for the visiting team. With all innings reset, Jerry blanked the U needing as Phil and Levi turned a textbook 6-4-1 double play on a Shondrick ground ball. The Legends struck again in the top of the 3rd as Jerry hit his 4th HR of the game - a 2 run dinger, to drive the score to 16-0. After loading the bases with no outs, Phill turned in another web gem on a Shondrick line drive, doing his best imitation of Spiderman, snaring the smash and catching a runner off 1st for the dp. After a base hit to score 1 Phil fielded a routine grounder to short and stepped on 3rd to end the game via mercy rule 16-1. Phill picked up the win on the mound. Jerry led all hitters with 4 HRs and 10 RBIs while Levi added 2 HRs.. For the series Jerry led all hitters with 16 HRs and 24 RBIs while Levi added 13 HRs 21 RBIs and 24 Runs. Phill struck for 5 HRs, 9 RBIs and 18 Runs. Tyler Wiget led the U with 4 HRs and 6 RBIs while Shondrick added 3 HRs and 8 RBIs. Jordan also crushed 3 HRs, to accompany his 7 RBIs while Brent struck for 1 HR and 6 RBIs and John added 1 HR and 3 RBIs.
While it would be easy to attribute the 4 game series victory to the Legends usual slate of HRs, in reality defense carried the night for the winners. Two double plays in each of the 1st, 2nd and 4th games prevented the U from playing catch up and effectively ended potential big innings for the challengers. Levi made multiple diving plays in the outfield robbing extra base hits while Phill had a gold hand night at short, spearing and finishing numerous impossible plays. The U battled valiantly but in the end the Legends long ball prowess and solid defensive effort was too much. The U had a regular season and an even better post season, upending one of the league's elite teams in UMH in the 1st round of the playoffs. Congratulations to the U on a successful year ! ===========================================================================================
The Contenders Division Championship series was a marathon that went beyond 5 games - into extra innings in the final game with a tie score. The series pitted the Pleasant Valley Boys who enjoyed their most consisten season in claiming the Contenders Division regular season crown, and the retooled Knights, who vaulted out of the basement in 2011 into a playing for the right to go to the COWL World Series. PVB won the regular season series 2-1, but the series ended with both teams scoring an identical number of runs - and the biggest winning margin in any of the 3 games being 2 runs. We knew this would be a very tight series and as we chewed over who might survive we vacillated back and forth - eventually thinking the sheer power of the PVB offensive attack combined with the solid pitching of the Fisher boys would carry the day, but just barely. PVB entered the contest 3rd in scoring, but 34d from the bottom in defense. The key number for PVB was their 2nd place position in total number of HRs hit, averaging 7.6 per game and a whole 2+ more per game than the Knights. The Knights came into the series near the middle of the pack offensively and one place below PVB defensively. The Knights hit 5.5 HRs per game during the season but have averaged 7.5 per game during the playoffs. The advantages for PVB are definitely their HR power at every position in the lineup and the pitching prowess of the Fisher boys. Their deficiencies are mostly defensive - centering around lack of defensive stopping power - especially notable when Trevor is not at short doing his usually stellar job. The Knights strengths are their consistency on both sides of the plate. They don't score profusely but all contribute with Corey White and Josh Wonderleigh being tow of the better hitters in the league. If they have a notable weakness it is their defense as they are solid but turn in very few web gems for stolen hits and runs. PVB chose TLC field as their home field and Trevor Thomas as their designated reliever. The Knights chose CC field as their home and Corey White as their reliever. Game 1 got under way as ace Brett Fisher took the mound to face the Knight's Amos Weaver. Inning 1 saw a slow start for both teams as Josh opened up the scoring for the Knights with a 2 run HR and PVB countered with Dave crushing his 1st - a 2 run shot also. More Knights got involved in inning 2 as Corey White, Amos Jones and Josh all hit HRs for a total of 5 in the inning. PVB struck back as Gabe Fisher, Brent Fisher and Dave all crushed HRs to reclaim the lead 9-7. Corey added another HR for KG in the 3rd as they tallied 3 and PVB opened up a little daylight by scoring 6 on HRs by Dave and Brent. Inning 4 saw KG score 4 on HRs by Corey, Josh and Dustin Weaver's first of the series. PVB sealed the game with 5 more in the 4th as Dave, Gabe and Brent crushed HRs to expand the lead to 20-14, where it remained as Brett retired KG in the 5th, using up his last inning of pitching - a key development. For the game Dave and Brent Fisher led all hitters with 4 HRs as Dave added 10 RBIs. Gabe Fisher added 2. For the Knights Josh and Corey crushed 3 HRs as Dustin and Amos both hit 1. Game 2 began with Dave Fisher taking the mound against Dustin Weaver. KG struck 1st by scoring 5 in the top of the 1st on HRs by Corey and Josh. PVB responded with 2 on a HR by Gabe. KG added 2 more in the 2nd on another HR by Corey. PVB loosened up a bit by pushing across 5 in the 2nd to knot the score at 7, via HRs by Trevor Thomas and Brent. KG again was stuck on 2, again via a 3rd Corey 2 run bomb. PVB struck hard, scoring 7 on HRs by Brent and Dave, and were added in their effort by some peg mis-throws by the Knights clearing the bases on once occasion. Inning 4 began with PVB up 17-9. KG managed to cut into the lead with 3 on a blast by Amos but PVB made that a wash by playing more small ball and taking advantage of several KG fielding miscues. Down 21-12 heading into the final frame the Knights engineered a solid rally as Josh, Amos and Corey all hit HRs and narrowed the score to 21-20 with only 1 out and the tying run on 1st. Dave ignored the heckling of his brothers to record a strike out and then end the game on pop up by Amos. For the game Corey led all batters with 4 HR and 7 RBIs while both Josh and Amos added 2 HRs. For PVB Brent again led the team with 2 HRs while Dave and Trevor both added 1 HR and 5 RBIs. Gabe also had a HR. The series moved to CC field with the Knights down 2-0 and needing a win to keep the series alive. KG sent Dustin back to the mound to finish his final 2 innings and he responded by holding PVB to a single run on a Trevor HR - the lone one of the game for PVB. KG claimed their first significant lead on HRs by Josh and Corey who found the confines of CC field to their liking. PVB added a 2nd run in the 2nd playing small ball and once again Josh and Corey crushed long HRs to expand the lead to 6-2. Oddly, the game turned into a pitching duel as Brent Fisher and Amos / Josh / Dustin all held the opposition scoreless and the Knights recorded their 1st win. Game 3 had Corey and Josh leading hitters with 2 HRs each while Trevor had the lone PVB dinger. Seeking to even the series KG sent Amos to the mound to use his remaining 1 inning ings and game 4 began as game 3 ended with PVB being blanked in the 1st frame. Amos wasted no time helping his cause, crushing a mammoth HR to give KG a 1-0 lead. Josh then finished his last inning as PVB used the change to score 2 and take the lead on a Gabe Fisher 2 run blast. With all other PVB's out of innings Gabe was forced to take the mound and the Knights like the change, pushing across 6 as Amos hit a towering 3 run HR and Corey added a 2 runner, driving the score to 7-2 after 2. PVB could not get anything going in the 3rd as Dustin went back to the mound with a fresh slate of innings. The Knights put the game out of reack with 5 more runs on 2 more HRs by Amos and solos by Josh and Corey. PVB did manage to score 2 on a Brett Fisher 2 run shot, but fell 15-4 as the series evened at 2 games each. Amos led all hitters in the game with 4 HRs and 10 RBIs while Corey added 2 dingers and Josh 1. Gabe managed to go yard 2 times for PVB and Brett once. So the marathon series returned to TLC field for the deciding game 5 - with PVB being the home team but being required to send Gabe to the mound to finish his last inning before the innings reset. The Knights countered with Dustin. Inning 1 was representative of how the game would proceed. Josh crushed 2 HRs in inning 1 to give KG a 4-0 but this was only temporary as Gabe got PVB back into the game with a 3 run dinger to narrow the score to 4-3 after 1. Corey added a solo in the 2nd for KG. PVB reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the 2nd as Brent coaxed a 91 foot 3 run HR to reclaim the lead at 6-5. With the tension mounting the Knights used the bat of Josh to score 4 more in the 3rd and take a 9-6 lead. Utilizing a couple of solid defensive playes the Knights managed to hold PVB to 1 run on Gabe's last HR of the series. KG used solos by Amos and Josh to push their lead to 11-7 and PVB countered with 2 more off of fine base running and an errant peg throw, drawing the score to 11-9 heading into the last inning. Needing runs to seal the win the Knights just could not get anything going as ace Brett Fisher held them scoreless. Down to their last at bat and trailing 11-9 PVB quickly knotted the score on a clutch 2 run HR by Brent. Quickly PVB got hits by Trevor and Brett, placing the winning run on 2nd with just 1 out and the middle of the lineup to bat. Josh led Gabe to hit a slow roller to Corey at short who stepped on 3rd for the 2nd out. Dave Fisher, PVB statistical leader stepped to the plate and a good pitcher / batter duel ensued. Finally, with the count 5-2 and Josh coerced Dave into an inning ending deep fly to left center. The Knights took advantage of the good fortune in the 6th, scoring 6 runs on HRs by Josh and Dustin. Trailing 17-11 PVB did mount a charge after another 2 run HR by Brent, but successive grounders to short and a pop up to right ended their rally and season - allowing the Knights to claime a come back 17-13, 3 games to 2 series win. For the series Josh Wonderleigh and Corey White took hitting honors with 13 HRs each and 22 and 25 RBIs each. Amos added 7 HRs with 17 RBIs, including 10 in the pivotal game 3. Dustin contributed 2 HRs and 7 RBIs. For PVB Gabe celebrated his last game hitting solid balls with 8 HRs and 13 RBIs while Brent also had 8 HRs to go with his 17 RBIs. Dave added 7 HRs and 16 RBIs while Trevor had 3 HRs and 9 RBIs. Brett had an uncharacteristically quiet night with just 1 HR and 2 RBIs. Stealing a page from PVB, the Knights crushed 35 HRs while PVB only hit 27. In our opinion, the razor tight series was decided by the pitching - after all the HRs and defensive plays, the consistency of the Knights pitching was the deciding factor. They just simply made PVB scratch at every at bat - pitching around Dave and Gabe when they were hot and could have swung the momentum to PVB. This was accenuated by the youth of the Knights as it appeared PVB faded a bit down the stretch as the long, long night wore on and on.
Both teams are to be congratulated as this was a fantastic series with lots of intensity and ups and downs - a real indication of how close these two teams are - and how close they were in the regular season. The Knights move on to face 2010 and 2011 COWL World Series champs the Legends. Good luck to all ! COWL Wiffler of the Week Division Championship Wild Card Week 8
Josh Wonderleigh Corey White There were several potential candidates for Wiffler of the Week in the Divisional Championships. Father and Son team Jerry and Levi Driggs combined for 29 HRs and 52 RBIs, plus a win and a couple of saves in their 3-1 division title over the U. Brothers Brent and Dave Fisher combined for 15 HRs and 33 RBIs plus a pitching win in PVB's narrow 3-2 loss to the Knights in the Contenders Division Championship series. In the spirit of dynamic duos, the Wiffler of the Week for Division Championship week is the Knight duo of Corey White and Josh Wonderleigh. The pair both crushed 13 HRs each in their come-from-behind 3-2 championship series over PVB. Corey contributed 25 RBIs and Josh 22 in the win. But their contributions go way beyond mere stats. Both took over portions of the series when the Knights were on the ropes - Corey and Josh took turns carrying the Knights thru out the series and in particular games 3, 4 and 5 when the Knights were on the verge of elimination in must win situations and the pair came through in spectacular fashion. Their combined efforts have anchored a miraculous turnaround for the Knights - from last place in their division in 2011 to World Series contenders. Congratulations to the Knights as a team and Corey and Josh for joining the Wiffler of the Week fraternity.
Box Scores (Home team on top) Return to Top Legends 19-2-X= 21 Legends 3-6-6-0-X= 15 The U 0-1-9-1-1 = 12 The U 0-0-4 = 4 The U 6-3-0-2-3 = 14 Legends 0-4-2-3-2= 11 WP – Jerry Driggs WP – Phill King WP – John Kepler Jerry Driggs LG(5) Phill King LG(3) Jerry Driggs LG(2) Phill King LG(2) Shondrick Locklear U(3) Brent Hoover U(2) Tyler Wiget U(1) Tyler Wiget U(3) Jordan Nelson U(1) Jordan Nelson U(1) Levi Driggs LG(1) John Kepler U(1) Eric Lewis UMH(1) Jordan Nelson U(1) Blake Lansing UMH(1) The U 0-0-1 = 1 Legends 9-5-2 = 16 WP – Phill King HRs - Jerry Driggs LG(3) Levi Driggs LG(2) PVB 2-7-6-5-X= 20 PVB 2-5-10-4-X = 20 Knights 4-2-0-0-X = 6 Knights 2-5-3-4-0= 14 Knights 5-2-2-3-8 = 21 PVB 0-2-0-0-0 = 2 Brent Fisher PVB (4) Brent Fisher PVB(2) Josh Wonderleigh KG(2) Corey White KG(3) Amos Jones KG(2) Trevor Thomas PVB(1) Josh Wonderleigh KG(3) Josh Wonderleigh KG(2) Gabe Fisher PVB (2) Gabe Fisher PVB(1) Amos Jones KG(1) Dave Fisher PVB(1) Dustin Weaver KG(1) Trevor Thomas PVB(1)
Knights 4-2-0-0-X = 6 PVB 3-3-1-2-2-2= 13 PVB 0-2-0-2-0 = 4 Knights 4-1-4-2-0-6= 17 WP – Amos Jones WP – Josh Wonderleigh HRs - Amos Jones KG(4) HRs - Josh Wonderleigh KG(5) Corey White KG(2) Corey White KG(2) Gabe Fisher PVB(2) Gabe Fisher PVB(2) Josh Wonderleigh KG(1) Brent Fisher PVB(2) Brett Fisher PVB(1) Dustin Weaver KG(1) Amos Jones KG(1)
Weekly Team Stats - Thru 8 Weeks Return to Top
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