L.I. Ducks: Liberty Division Playoff Preview

From the desk of:  THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

LIBERTY DIVISION 

PLAYOFF

GAME ONE

Somerset Patriots

vs.

Long Island Ducks

FROM

Bethpage Ballpark

Long Island Ducks: Flock Holds On to Win 2nd-Half Flag; Face Rival Somerset Patriots in Liberty Division Playoff.

Here we go again ... the Long Island Ducks/Somerset Patriots rivalry resumes Wednesday evening at The Pond.  And quite frankly, I don't think Ducks and Patriots fans would have it any other way.

Prior to 2014, the Ducks and Patriots faced off just once in the post-season.  That came in 2013, when Long Island defeated Somerset in the finals to capture their second consecutive Atlantic League title.

But a genuinely intense rivalry has clearly emerged since then.

In 2014, league realignment moved the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs out of the Liberty Division, and into the Freedom Division.  The Somerset Patriots in turn switched from the Freedom into the same division with the Ducks.  The Patriots finished first overall in the Liberty Division that season but bowed out of the division series.  After posting back-to-back championships, the Ducks, however, failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2014, finishing both halves of the season in second place, six games behind the resettled Pats.

In 2015, the Long Island Ducks again finished both halves of the season in second place behind Somerset.  Although Long Island still gained a playoff spot via the Wild Card, they were defeated by the Patriots in the Liberty Division series, whom would go on to claim their Atlantic League leading sixth championship.

The Ducks finally snatched the Liberty Division back from the Patriots last season, finishing two games ahead of Somerset to clinch the first-half flag.  Undeterred, Somerset went on to clinch the second-half flag, finishing seven games ahead of the Ducks.

Somerset jumped out to a commanding 2-0 series lead over Long Island in the Liberty Division series, highlighted by Game Two's 10-1 romp over the Ducks.  With Long Island facing elimination, the series shifted to Bethpage Ballpark.  Back in The Pond, the Ducks staged a stunning comeback, reeling off three straight victories to win the 2016 Liberty Division title.

Long Island's potential storybook ending ended there, however.  The Sugar Land Skeeters swept three straight games from the Ducks during last year's Atlantic League finals.

MISSION: GET BACK TO FINALS

This year's road back to the playoffs was a perilous one.  Long Island closed out the month of September with a 5-11 record.

Owning a six game lead ahead of second place Bridgeport, the Ducks began a stretch (Sept. 7-17) of 12 games in 11 days in which they struggled to a 3-8 record.  Meanwhile, the red-hot Bluefish were swimming strong, and over the Sept. 9 weekend swept the Ducks in their final home series at the Pond. By doing so, Bridgeport won potential tie-breaker rights away from Long Island (should that have come into effect), and also threatened having the gates at Bethpage Ballpark locked shut till next Spring.

Why?

Because Long Island was now faced with playing their final seven games of the regular season on the road, and more importantly, needing to protect their fast eroding division lead.

With a magic number of two heading into the Sept. 15 weekend, Long Island at last managed a key victory in Sugar Land that Friday, as Bridgeport also emerged victorious over the Patriots.  Then despite Long Island's loss against the Skeeters on Saturday, Bridgeport's loss to Somerset finally awarded the second-half flag to Long Island (with just one more game left in the regular season).

Somerset punched their ticket to the post-season by winning the first-half flag, finishing with a league leading 42-18 record.  However, they barely finished just one game ahead of the second place  Fish.   The Patriots 7-9 record in September was only slightly better than Long Island's. Somerset lost six of their last ten games, but at least ended the regular season with a pair of victories.

Ironically (perhaps not so much for Bridgeport fans), the Bluefish finished tied with the Lancaster Barnstormers for the best (76-64) overall regular season record.  Yet, each team failed to qualify for the post-season.  This was the Bluefish final regular season in Bridgeport.  They made a hell of a push during each half of the season.  Unfortunately, this charter member of the Atlantic League will be relocating for the 2018 season.

Long Island posted an 73-67 overall record which was the league's third best mark behind Somerset's 74-65 record.  The Ducks and Patriots have faced each other 20 times this season.  Long Island was 6-4 at the Pond, and played to par (5-5) in Somerset.


Runs Scored:  LID 598; SOM  628

Team Average:  LID .263; SOM .270

Home Runs:  LID 110; SOM 81

Team Slugging:  LID .391; SOM .374

Team OPS:  LID .725; SOM .729

*

Team ERA:  LID 4.12; SOM 3.90

Average Against:  LID .260; SOM .251

Team WHiP:  LID 1.4; SOM 1.3

Strikeouts:  LID 1,030; SOM 1,051

The York Revolution host the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs for games One and Two of the Freedom Division playoffs.