Maple had its best month of the season in August going 16-12, however; an early 1-3 start in September has us sitting 5 games back of San Francisco in 3rd place in the Thurman Munson League Billy Martin Division.
We might not be a collective group of the best teams in the ABL, however; each year our division races have come down to the wire! Jersey who is in last place is just as likely to win this division this year as San Francisco who sits in 1st place. I am going to predict that 80 wins will win this division this year!
In September we have the following schedule ahead:
Home
1 x South Carolina
3 x Jersey
3 x Las Vegas
3 x Cabo
4 x San Francisco
Away
3 x Boston
3 x Eureka
3 x South Carolina
1 x Jersey
In October:
Away
2 x Jersey
So overall 14 at HOME and 12 AWAY for the Marauders. To get to 80 wins I will need to go 16-10 the rest of the way. This looks on paper to be a big task as we face playoff teams Cabo, Las Vegas and Eureka. We will need to get the broom sticks out at HOME vs. SF, Jersey and South Carolina to have this happen. We are also hoping our record in close games pays dividends as the pressure turns on. We are 8-3 in Extra Inning games and 19-18 in 1 run games.
September Call Ups:
Maple has called up the following players for their stretch run:
Ramon Torres MR - He will add some depth in long relief for a team that has a very tired pen.
Don Strickland 1B - Remember his glorious 1st season in the ABL? After acquiring Vic Jennings from Las Vegas he was a lost member of the Maple Organization. He could provide that clutch pH off the bench and also is a vacuum cleaner at 1B defensively
John Powers CF - Our OF has been on / off injured all season and our biggest weakness defensively has been the CF job. Powers can hopefully contribute as well offensively. He was the source of many trades at the deadline which Maple passed on.
Tom Hunter 2B/INF - Tom is no stranger to the ABL. He is also a defensive specialist that will be asked to fill in at 2B/SS/3B as needed. He might also get the odd RF duty during the final weeks of the season.
Oliver Davis LF - Oliver has been a terror to minor league pitching. Like so many others he has yet to get his chance and prove his value at the ABL level. This might be his last opportunity to make an impression.
Antonio Alvarez CF - Similar to John Powers, Antonio is an interesting prospect and based on his defensive capabilities and the numerous injuries and fatigue in the OF he will get some swings and also some late inning work.
Minor League Report:
George Evans OF will remain in the AAA Astoria team the rest of the way barring any further injury to big club. He is likely to roam the OF for Maple next season joining youngster Billy Greer. Evans is hitting .293 bavg, .357 obpct and .606 slugging so far this year in 108 games at AAA including 35 bombs. If you had this to his AA #s he is on pace to hit 50+ HRs in the minors this year!
Brad Thomas OF has been fast tracked to AAA Astoria after some excellent play at Kingwood A ball. Brad has come out of no where on the organization depth chart to rank among the top 100 specs. He was hitting .285 bavg. .382 obpct and .417 slugging this year with 32 extra base hits (16 HRs) in 128 games so far this year.
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