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October 7, 2008

Team 5 (Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln) fell on the final day to a surging Team 3 (Omaha Skutt) which caused a three-way tie with Team 3 and Team 4 (Papio), all with three wins and two losses, but was able to claim the 2008 Fall Line Drive League Championship on the basis of finishing with the highest point total.  Team 5 was able to stay at the top of the rankings for all five weeks of the season.  Congratulations to the team of Chris Battaglia, Beau Brownlee, Keith Grap, Ryan Porter, Connor Reynolds, Kyle Rommel and Dan Wettengel.

On the final Sunday Team 3 had the best performance by any team this season with a 23.92 outburst, led by Ryan Bolt and Tom Ruzicka with six points each.  However, due to Team 5's considerable lead in Cumulative Points going into final week, the margin of Team 3's 23.92 to 12.00 victory over Team 5 on Sunday was not great enough to secure the Championship. 

Team 3's Jaime Johnson and Team 2's Adam Shaw and Mike Smutny were all at the University of Kansas baseball camp on Sunday which had an impact on both team and individual final standings.  Team 2 especially felt the absence of those hitters as they dropped from second to fifth on the final day. 

In the individual championship race, Team 3's Ryan Bolt vaulted from somewhere south of the Top 10 to forge a tie with Team 5's Kyle Rommel for First Place with a 6.0 performance on the final day.  Rommel, who had been at the top of the Leaderboard for the past two weeks, held on for a piece of the crown with 1.5 points on Sunday. 

Bolt's improvement exemplifies what the Fall Line Drive League is all about, noted Coach Wetzel.  "We saw vast improvement in all the hitters' performances,"  commented Mark, "but perhaps none more so than Bolt."  At the beginning of Sunday's session, Mark made a rather drastic change in Bolt's set up at the plate.  Bolt responded to the adjustment with an individual performance that tied the highest of the season to claim a share of the Championship.  "That's what this league is all about," noted Mark.  "Improvement." 

Wetzel also noted that, as in the past, this year's Line Drive League revealed three or four "young diamonds in the rough, such as Bolt, who we expect to really come on strong next season."  Mark also praised the group for having strong showings in games against Iowa Western and Dana during the season.  "Playing well against college teams is a real confidence booster and a great experience for these guys," noted Mark.

Many thanks to the excellent crew of coaches who helped make Season Two a success:  Jerry Kreber, Eric Janosek, Cory Cleminger and Scott Godsen.  

September 30, 2008

Team 5 (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season (to Team 2, also 3-1) but remains in First Place with a 16.27 point lead over Team 2.  Team 2 trimmed the Team 5's lead by five points with the 14.0 - 9.0 win.  However, with only one week remaining, it will take a Herculean (or Bonds-ean) effort by Team 2 to overtake the league-leading Abraham Lincoln team. 

Team 4 (2-2) moved into sole possession of 3rd place with a 16.33 - 12.5 win over Team 6 (1-3).  Team 4's point total was the highest on the day, thanks to 4.5 point performances by teammates Grant Garrison and Jake Placzek -- also the highest on the day.  Team 4 has a higher point total than second-place Team 2 but trails in the win column due to a first week loss to Team 2.  Team 4 will need some help from Team 2's opponent next week, last place Team 6 (1-3), if they are to overtake Team 2 in the final week.

In the individual race, Kyle Rommel continues to hold onto first place with 14.0 points followed by Garrison and Placzek who are tied at 12.5 points apiece.  With only 3.0 points separating the top six hitters, it should be an exciting race next Sunday for the top spot.  With the action returning to NP Dodge Park, it could be that a timely long ball determines the individual championship.

September 23, 2008

Team 5 strengthened its grip on first place with a 17.00 point outburst, lead by Kyle Rommell's four-point performance.  Rommell has put together three consistent weeks to reach the top of the Leaderboard with 11.0 points.  Former leader Ryan Porter is a close second with 10.0 points.

Justin Paul of Team 4 was the Top Hitter on the day with 5.0 points, including a lead-off home run.  Also putting balls over the outfield fence were Adam Shaw and Jaime Johnson.

Although Team 5 has a commanding 20+ point lead with only two weeks remaining, the middle of the pack is a virtual dead heat with Teams 3 and 4 tied at 42.00 points apiece and just trailing Team 2 with 42.33 points. 

September 16, 2008

Team 5 (2-0) holds onto first place this week with another strong performance (22.17 points) led by Ryan Porter with five points and Kyle Rommel with four points.  Porter was the leading Hitter for Week 2 and sits atop the leaderboard with eight points in two weeks.

Team 1 was hurt by having three Hitters absent.  As noted last week, when one or two Hitters are absent, the team's score is adjusted upward using the average scores of those Hitters present.  However, if more than than two Hitters are absent, the Team's lowest individual score for the previous week is assigned to the absent Hitters.  Thus, Team 1 received three zeroes for the absent Hitters. 

Next week's games will be outdoors at NP Dodge Park.

As Mark has stated several times "we're here to get better."  The focus is on improvement.

September 9, 2008

Congratulations to Team 5 (Abraham Lincoln) for posting the high score (20 points) in the Week 1 competition.  Team 5 had a balanced attack, led by Connor Reynolds with 5 points, Chris Battaglia with 4 points and three guys with three points each (Dan Wettengel, Kyle Rommel and Ryan Porter). 

The Top Hitter for Week 1 was Jack Folsom (Team 1 - Creighton Prep) with 6 points.

Coach Wetzel and his staff were very pleased with the attitudes and coachability of the Hitters.  The emphasis for next week will be on getting into a good hitting position and attacking the inside of the baseball.

Since Team 1 had just five hitters Hitters present for Week 1, and all other teams had seven Hitters, Team 1's team score was adjusted by multiplying their aggregate Hitter points by the fraction 7/5.  

A similar adjustment to team scores will be made each week in the case of teams that have one or two absent players.  (Divide aggregate Hitter points by number of Hitters present, then multiply by number of Hitters on team.) However, if more than two players are absent, the lowest Hitter score for that team from the previous week will be used for the missing Hitters.   

Players who are absent will not receive any points for that week for purposes of individual recognition.  For purposes of identifying Top Hitters for the team or for the League Leaderboard, each individual on a tea, will be awarded his actual score without regard to any adjustment that may have been made for any given week.

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Week 1 Ranking

Week 2 Ranking

Week 3 Ranking

Week 4 Ranking

Week 5 Ranking / Final Cumulative Ranking

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