Staten Island Yankees Open New York-Penn League Championship Series in West Virginia

From the desk of:  THE RICHMOND COUNTY NINE

2015 

McNamara Division Champions

NEW YORK-PENN LEAGUE

CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

GAME ONE

Staten Island Yankees

vs.

West Virginia Black Bears

FROM

A Ballpark Far Away From NYC

Staten Island Yankees: Richmond County Bombers hit the Appalachian Trail in search of a championship...

The 2015 New York-Penn League championship series opens Monday evening with the West Virginia Black Bears hosting the visiting Staten Island Yankees in Game One.

The Baby Bombers captured the McNamara Division title by a slim 1.5 game margin over the Aberdeen IronBirds, while West Virginia qualified for post season play via the Wild Card.

After ending the regular season with a sweep of the Brooklyn Cyclones, Staten Island then swept the Tri City Valley Cats in the opening round of playoffs.  The Yankees enter this evening's action riding a 6-game winning streak.

The Black Bears defeated the Pinckney Division champion Williamsport Crosscutters to advance into the final round.

Offensively speaking, the Yankees are a sum of their parts.  Not a single Baby Bomber ended the regular season within the league's top ten in batting average, OPS, home runs, or RBI.

Staten Island's three outfield regulars led the club in production.  Jeff Hendrix ranked 6th in the circuit in runs scored, left fielder Trey Amburgey was 11th in home runs, while Jhalan Jackson, whom has not played since Sept. 6th against Brooklyn, finished 12th in the circuit in RBI.


Team Rankings: Offense

• Staten Island - 9th in average, 6th in OPS, 4th in home runs and runs scored.
• W.V. Black Bears - 3rd in team batting, 4th in OPS, 3rd in runs scored, but oddly ranked dead last in home runs.

Starter Luis Cedeno was 4th in the league with a 2.73 ERA.  His 1.33 WHiP, however, registered 16th in the league.  Yoel Espinal finished 9th in strikeouts.  With a 6-4 record, Derek Callahan tied for the 3rd most victories.

Team Rankings: Pitching

• Staten Island - 5th best ERA, 6th best WHiP, 3rd most strikeouts.  They surrendered the 8th least runs, the 3rd least hits, and issued the 5th least walks.
• W.V. Black Bears - 7th in ERA, 2nd in WHiP, 4th in strikeouts.  They surrendered the 8th least runs, the 3rd least hits, and issued the 5th least walks.

The series will shift to Staten Island for Game Two, and if needed, Game Three.