Playoff Preview: #6 Covington vs. #3 Fauquier
#6 Seed: Covington
Overall Record: 23-21 .523
Record Last 10 Games: 3-7
Record Last 5 Games: 2-3
Team AVG/OBP/SLG: 268/362/387
Team ERA, BB/9, K/9: 4.97, 4.2, 7.9
Runs Scored, Runs Allowed: 241 RS, 255 RA
Hitters to Watch: Rico Noel 345/402/482; Derrick Washington 313/393/444; Marcus Nidiffer 315/441/648; Ty Rivers 329/422/386; JJ Muse 289/370/458
Pitchers to Watch: Chris Court 4-2, 3.99; Mike Pierce 4-2, 4.76; Brian Santana 1-2, 3.03, 1 save; Robbie Andrews 3-0, 4.39, 4 saves; Noah Garza 1-1, 2.92
#3 Seed: Fauquier
Overall Record: 27-17 .614
Record Last 10 Games: 6-4
Record Last 5 Games: 3-2
Team AVG/OBP/SLG: 243/342/319
Team ERA, BB/9, K/9: 2.86, 3.7, 8.2
Runs Scored, Runs Allowed: 211 RS, 168 RA
Hitters to Watch: Ryan Gauck 326/420/459; Justin Wilson 275/371/341; Greg DeSantis 261/394/333
Pitchers to Watch: Eric Alessio 3-3, 2.57; Jack VanLeur 2-2, 1.93, 1 save; Rob Whitley 4-0, 2.74; Jon Jacobs 4-1, 1.10, 2 saves; Shawn Griffith 2-0, 1.77, 13 saves; Ben Blanton 4-0, 2.33
Overview: This is a fascinating series. Covington is a hitter-heavy squad. They need to get decent pitching and continue to hit to win. Fauquier, on the other hand, is a pitching-heavy team. They need to pitch like normal and scratch out enough runs to win.
Another issue is Covington's team speed. The 'Jacks have stolen a crazy 134 bases this year- far and away the most in the league. Fauquier's catchers and pitchers will need to do a good job holding runners on.
When the playoffs roll around in the major leagues, good pitching seems to ultimately do well against good hitting. Will that happen here? By the way, making this an even tougher call, Covington won the season series, 3-1.
**Edit: Both Ryan Gauck (injury) and Justin Wilson (family) are not with the Gators!
Too hard to pick I say the series goes all 3 games.
Posted by: GeneralsSignGuyMike | July 29, 2008 at 01:39 PM
The top 2 hitters for the Gators are no longer with the team, Gauck due to injury and Wilson due to going on family vacation
Posted by: gatorsfan | July 30, 2008 at 02:29 AM