L.I. Ducks: Look Who's Number One

From the desk of:  THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

Free Baseball + Long Ball = First Place

Long Island Ducks: Complete Second Straight Sweep of Rival Somerset Patriots; Take Over Liberty Division Lead.

Make that six straight wins for the Long Island Ducks, and a three game sweep over the Somerset Patriots.  In fact, the Flock complete their second straight sweep of the Patriots within the last ten days.  Even better, Long Island moves into sole possession of first place, one game ahead of always problematic Somerset.

The Ducks take a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth of Wednesday's series finale at Somerset, but a passed ball charged to catcher Dioner Navarro allows the tying run to score.  And into extra innings they go.

As they've done all series, the Flock propel themselves to another victory via the long ball.  With two outs in the top of the eleventh, right fielder Anthony Vega hits only his second home run of the season off Somerset's Dustin Antolin to put Long Island ahead.  Ducks reliever Ashur Tolliver pitches himself into a jam in the bottom of the frame, but fans the final two batters of the game to secure Long Island's 4-3 victory. 

Tolliver is credited with his very first save of the season.  Dennis O'Grady gets credit for his fifth victory in relief this season for pitching a scoreless tenth inning.  In a no-decision effort, starter Matt Larkins surrenders just one earned run on five hits and two walks through five innings pitched.

Taylor Ard raises his average to .308 with a 4 for 5 day the plate with an RBI.  Despite going just 1 for 5 this day, Jordany Valdespin is second in the circuit and leads the Ducks with a .350 average.  With two more RBI, Lew Ford ranks fourth in the league with 66 RBI.

Long Island is second in the league behind Sugar Land with 83 home runs, while Somerset ranks last with just 44 home runs.  Otherwise the Ducks are number one in hits, and total bases, and rank second behind Sugar Land in runs, team batting, slugging, and OPS.

What rival Somerset lacks in hitting, they make up for on the mound.  They allow less earned runs and less hits than Long Island.  They lead the league in WHiP, strikeouts, and fewest walks allowed, and rank second in ERA and average against.

The Long Island Ducks and Somerset Patriots do not face each other for the rest of the regular season.  They both will make their own way towards capturing the division crown from here on out.
If they are to meet again for a fourth straight Liberty Division playoff, the Ducks have no choice but to win the second half division title.  The Patriots already did their part by winning the first half title. 

These teams faced off nine times in May with the Patriots winning six.  Mid July brings more of the same with Somerset sweeping a three game set for a 9-3 season series advantage.  But as July turns to August, Long Island reciprocates with a three game sweep of their own, then follow up with this latest conquest over the Patriots.  The regular season series ends locked at nine games apiece.

Did you expect anything less?

L.I. Ducks: John Brownell Sets Atlantic League All-Time Strikeout Record

From the desk of:  THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

John Brownell Sets Atlantic League 

All-Time Strikeout Record

Long Island Ducks: Flock Keep Pressure On Somerset With 10-0 Whitewashing of Road Warriors; Remain Two Games Back.

Three Long Island pitchers join forces in Saturday's 10-0 whitewashing of the Road Warriors at Bethpage Park.  Starter John Brownell takes charge of the first seven innings, allowing just three hits and three walks, and striking out four en route to his eighth victory of the season.  He faces 29 batters while throwing 114 pitches with 65 going for strikes.  Relievers Fernando Abad and Chris Pike close out the eighth and ninth respectively, allowing a combined two hits, a walk, and striking out three.

At the plate, the Ducks are powered by home runs from Jordany Valdespin, and Travis Snider (whose 66 RBI are second in the league), and four other extra base hits off the bats of Daniel Fields, Anthony Vega, Ramon Cabrera whom goes 3 for 5 with three RBI, and Lew Ford whom was recently recognized as the Atlantic League Player of the Month for July.

In the top of the third, John Brownell notches his first strikeout of the game against Road Warrior lead-off batter Daniel Aldrich.  More significantly, it marks the 738th strikeout of his Atlantic League career, thus setting the league's all-time record.  He adds three more before his night is through.

Long Island all of a sudden is the hottest team in the league, winning eight of their last ten, and nine of their last twelve.  They also remain within striking distance of the Patriots, just two games behind first place.

L.I. Ducks: Bring on the Revolution

From the desk of:  THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

ATLANTIC LEAGUE

CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Wednesday

GAME ONE

York Revolution

vs.

Long Island Ducks

FROM

Bethpage Ballpark

Long Island Ducks: Flock Takes Third Straight From Somerset Patriots; Clinch Second Straight Liberty Division Crown.

The Ducks are heading back to the Atlantic League finals.  

But not before starter John Brownell and the Ducks suffered a disheartening series opening defeat at the Pond.  Game One's 7-1 loss seemed right in line with the rest of Long Island's September malaise. Somerset roughed up Long Island's all-time wins leader for 13 hits and seven runs (four earned) through 5.1 innings of work.  Brownell faced 31 batters during the loss, walking one and fanning four.

His mound opponent Patriots winning pitcher Mark Hamburger frustrated the Ducks for seven innings. The Ducks managed eight hits but fanned ten times overall en route to stranding five runners scoring position.  Right fielder Anthony Vega's RBI single in the 4th inning plated Long Island's lone run of the game.

The Ducks evened the series on Thursday with a 4-1 victory in Game Two.  Starter Matt Larkins struggled with control, but still limited the Patriots to their lone run of the game on four hits through 5.2 innings pitched for the win.  The offense got RBI from second baseman Elmer Reyes and right fielder Lew Ford.  Catcher Alex Burg went 3 for 4, with a home run in the sixth.

On Friday, the Liberty Division showdown shifted to Somerset's TD Bank Ballpark for Game Three.   There, Long Island southpaw Jake Fisher hurled a complete game gem against the Patriots in leading the Ducks to a decisive 2-1 lead in the series.  In facing 33 batters, the 27-year old tossed 115 pitches with 83 (72%) going for strikes, while allowing the first-half champs one-earned run on six hits and a pair of walks, and fanning nine batters for the victory.

Long Island hitters racked up ten hits and five earned runs off losing Somerset starter and former major leaguer Will Oliver.  The Ducks stroked 14 hits overall including a home run from Anthony Vega as they rolled to a 6-1 victory.

In Game Four, the Ducks jumped out to a 3-0 lead on third inning RBI from Anthony Vega and third baseman Giovanny Alfonzo, and DH Angelo Songco's RBI in the top of the sixth.   However, Somerset clawed back, tying the game with an unearned run in the bottom of the frame off Ducks starter Jake Dunning, and a pair of runs charged to reliever James Jones in the bottom of the eighth.

To the dismay of Saturday's very hopeful home crowd at TD Bank Ballpark, Somerset's bullpen unraveled at the absolute wrong time.  The Patriots undoing was set in motion when Ducks lead-off batter Anthony Vega drew a walk, and Dan Lyons was hit by a pitch.  With Alfonzo Giovanny at the plate, Somerset reliever Dustin Antolin unleashed a wild pitch advancing the runners.  Giovanny then bounced into s fielder's choice plating Vega with the go-ahead run.  

Right-hander Amalio Diaz pitched the final 1.1 innings, earning the victory in relief, and closing out the Ducks third straight victory against the regular season first-half champion Somerset Patriots.

• After losing Game One by a 1-7 margin, the Ducks outscored Somerset 14-5 in games Two through Four.

This is Long Island's second straight Liberty Division title.  They will return to the Atlantic League championship series where they'll face the Freedom Division champion York Revolution.

York hosted and won the first two games of the Freedom Division finals.  After a Game Three loss in Southern Maryland, the Revolution clinched a spot in the Atlantic League finals with a 5-1 victory over the Blue Crabs on Saturday.

This is York's third trip, and the Ducks sixth trip, back to the league finals.  In 2011, the York Revolution defeated the Long Island Ducks for their second straight Atlantic League championship. 

But 2011 was also the first of three straight championship series appearances by the Ducks.  Long Island won back-to-back titles during the 2012-2013 season, then lost last season's championship series against the Sugar Land Skeeters.

Long Island Ducks: Atlantic League Playoff Preview

From the desk of:  THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

*  2016  *

ATLANTIC LEAGUE

DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS

Freedom Division Series

YORK REVOLUTION

vs.

SUGAR LAND SKEETERS

This year's Freedom Division series opens Tuesday evening, and features the first-half champion York Revolution facing off against the second-half champ Sugar Land Skeeters.  The series opens in Sugar Land, then shifts to York for games three through five (if necessary).

• Finishing the season with the league's second most victories, York last won back-to-back Atlantic League titles in 2010-2011.

• Two short years after Sugar Land's founding, the Skeeters were swept in the 2014 A.L. championship series by the Lancaster Barnstormers.

Liberty Division Series

FLOCK at the GATES..!!

Long Island Ducks

vs.

Somerset Patriots

FROM

TD Bank Ballpark

Bridgewater, N.J.

On Wednesday, old time rivals resume hostilities when the defending Atlantic League champion and this year's second-half Liberty Division winner Somerset Patriots host the first-half champ Long Island Ducks.

• Finishing the regular season with the league's best record, the Somerset Patriots are chasing their seventh ever Atlantic League championship.  They've also lost four championship series along the way.

• After losing to York in the 2011 championship series, the Ducks rebounded to win back-to-back titles in 2012-13, then failed to qualify for the 2014 post-season.  They were then eliminated in the first round of last year's playoffs.

Overall Record

Patriots  77-63

Ducks    72-68

These rivals last faced off on August 11, with Somerset gaining a 7-4 victory at Bethpage Ballpark.   

However, these teams could not be more evenly matched.  The Ducks and Patriots met 20 times in the regular season, with each claiming ten victories.  

The Patriots opened the regular season by sweeping four games from the Ducks.  But despite posting a 7-3 first-half record against Long Island, it was the Flock that would capture the first-half crown.  

In an ironic reversal of fortune, the Ducks kicked off the second-half with a three game sweep of the Patriots, en route to a 7-3 record over Somerset.  However, Somerset ensured themselves the opportunity of defending their league title by capturing the Liberty Division second-half flag.

If only marginally, Somerset seemingly enters these playoffs the hotter club.  The Patriots posted an 11-8 record in September, but finished 5-5 over their last ten games of the season.  Long Island posted an 8-10 record in September, but finished 6-4 over their final ten games.

The Patriots seemingly own a slight offensive advantage over the Ducks.  Long Island's pitching, however, seems to enjoy the edge over that of Somerset's.

At The Plate

Team Slash

• SOM - .272/.349/.401
• LID - .270/.334/.388

Runs

• SOM - 694
• LID - 635

Home Runs

• SOM - 116
• LID - 84

Total Bases

• SOM - 1,933
• LID - 1,808

Stolen Bases

• SOM - 166
• LID - 124

Long Island's MVP candidate Fehlandt Lentini is the only Atlantic League player to score over 100 runs this season.  He additionally leads the circuit in total hits and doubles, places second in stolen bases, fifth in both batting average and RBI, and leads the Ducks with a .455 slugging average.

With a .321 batting average, the Ducks Delta Cleary Jr. ranks third.  Aharon Eggelston batted .310 and Eric Farris batted .301 this season for the Patriots.  Eggelston is fifth in the League with a .388 OBP, while Ruben Gotay ranks ninth and leads the Ducks with a .372 mark.

Anthony Vega is sixth in the league with 75 runs scored, while Somerset's Farris and Eggelston are ranked seventh and tenth respectively.

The Patriots' David Vidal is second in the league with 26 home runs.  Anthony Vega leads the Ducks with eleven, while catcher Mike Blanke has ten.  Fehlandt Lentini, however, leads either team with a .455 slugging average, while Carlos Guzman leads Somerset with a .408 mark.

Bryan LaHair leads the Patriots and ranks second in the league with 86 RBI.  For Long Island, Fehlandt Lentini drove in 75 runs, and Cody Puckett is sixth with 73 RBI.

Ducks outfielder Lew Ford spent considerable time on the disabled list this season due to a strained hamstring, but is expected to be a regular starter during the playoffs.  Originally injured on May 28, he remained out through June 24.  After just five games back, he was sidelined again on June 30 through August 23.  Ford finally returned to action on August 24, and has remained on the field since.

On The Mound

ERA

• SOM - 3.90
• LID - 3.87

WHiP

• SOM - 1.29
• LID - 1.33

Average Against

• SOM - .256
• LID - .256

Slugging Against

• SOM - .392
• LID - .382

Strikeouts

• SOM - 1,080
• LID - 1,084

Base on Balls

• SOM - 361
• LID - 394

There's a good reason why the Ducks finished the second-half in last place with a 32-38 record.  The month of July took a ruinous toll on their pitching staff.  The contracts of Mark Blackmar, Jack Snodgrass, Darin Downs, Bruce Kern, and others, were all purchased away.

Mainstay John Brownell remains, giving the Ducks a fighting chance.  The usually reliable Bobby Blevins endured a rough season.  The Ducks will instead be looking to Matt Larkins, Jarrett Leverett, Daniel Hererra, and Nick Struck to get them through.

Long Island batters will be opposed by Will Oliver, Nik Turley, the familiar Shaun Garceau, and perhaps Efrain Nieves.

Patriots closer Jon Hunton led the Atlantic League with 37 saves, while posting a 3.76 ERA over 50.1 innings pitched.  Ducks closer Todd Coffey registered 27 saves with a 3.08 ERA over 44 innings pitched.

The best of five series shifts to Long Island's Bethpage Ballpark for games three through five (if necessary).