No longer the the “Mystery Team” of SASL
While we knew who the team was built around, there were a lot of new names. A rookie team with a bland, vanilla, unimaginative team name. A rookie team featuring MVP candidate Denen Olsen. A rookie team building around some hugely underrated players in Mauris, Wahid and Jason. A rookie team with one of the hardest working GM’s in Sanjay Sharma. What did Sanjay and Jason have under their sleeve?
For starters, they bought in two of the best rookies the league has seen this year: Rafael “Yoba” Liriano and Steve Quock. Between them they mashed 15 home runs and bought in 78 runs while batting above .500. While Steve plays solid defense, Rafael played at an all star level. Then there was a supporting cast of newbies in Anthony, Tyler and Kyle. All 3 rookies were rock solid in their introduction to the league.
2018 Season Recap:
516 finished with a 14-12 record. While they scored the most runs in the league with 270, they also gave up the second most runs in the league with 244 runs. If you take their average, that works out to an average game score of 10-9. The 14-12 record seems like exactly where they should have finished. A 16 run run-differential wasn’t going to cut it as an elite team.
Their season got off to a BANG with a resounding sweep of the defending champion Savages by a total score of 32-8 over two games. As a matter of fact they went an impressive 3-1 against Savages on the season proving they can hang with any team on any given Sunday and has the firepower to match all teams in the league.
516 then cruised along with a 7-3 record to bring their record to 9-3 before a clash with the undefeated Ducks and those Savages again. The Ducks weekend pitted the top two teams in the league and that’s where the first cracks appeared. Ducks swept 516 with a dazzling display of defense and put 1st place out of reach. Savages split with 516 the following weekend; while scoring 39 runs in two games. With a 1-3 stretch, 516 looked vulnerable.
They finished their season rather forgettably with a 4-6 record with two of those wins coming via forfeit. The aura of the early season start was gone. They seemed vulnerable. They barely finished with the 5th and final seed, and had to play in the Saturday Night Lights 1 game wildcard game against Outlaws.
2018 Playoffs:
In the SNL, they faced a scrappy Outlaws team. Even tho, 516 came in as the lower seed and a 1-3 record against Outlaws, most viewed them as the favorite to win. And win they did. A huge 15-3 uprising later, they were thru to the next round. They played beautifully in both sides of the ball with key players like Anthony, Mauris, Jason etc stepping up. Things looked promising.
They were then tasked to face an undefeated Ducks in the semifinals at Eisenhower D. Most experts couldn’t predict which way these games were going to go. Can they shock the SASL world and move on to finals to face Savages/Mets? Game 1 got off to a rocky start. Ducks superb defense smothered 516 and finished off an impressive 11-3 win. Game 2? That was one for the ages with many twists and turns.
A Denen grand slam? Check. 17 runs scored against the best defensive team in SASL? Check. Big lead going into the last innings to push the series to 3? Check. Then came the untimely errors that has plagued them all season. It all culminated with a disheartening and brutal 18-17 loss to put the final nail in the coffin of their 2018 season.
Looking into the future:
There are rumors GM Sanjay is moving to another state. If that happens, can Jason and Denen keep this thing going? They sure have a ultra bright future with a lot of young talent. This team can only get stronger. Their core is as strong if not stronger than any team in the league. Why break it up?
-Jason, Denen, Rafael, Steve, Wahid, Mauris makes as good as any lineup in the league. Re-sign them up right away for next season.
-Build up Anthony, Tyler and especially Kyle to be the next generation of stars.
-get Chris Bacchus to be committed as a full time. An apparent superstar that can make an immediate impact to the league and a difference maker.
-KEEP YOUR COOL! The 516 v Savages fight. Walkgate against Mets. Multiple arguments in the bench when things are going bad. Signs of weak leadership. And we know 516 are better than that.
-DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS. You can score 20 a game. But doesn’t work if you give up 25. Shore up that defense if you want to take the next step.
Final words:
516 has the makings of the next great franchise in SASL. A mix of young players mixed with veterans and led by a MVP player. Can they find that defense, cohesiveness, and chemistry to take that championship step? If we were to bet now for 2019, we give them as good a shot as any in the league.
