SHOOTER McGAVINS (2) vs. HIT SQUAD (3)
What a season it has been for both teams. Both teams came into this season with high hopes and both are now in the semifinals after a great season. Shooters came in to the season as a rookie team with some veteran players and led the league in wins most of the season until late in the year when Scoobies Force overtook them for 1st seed. Hit Squad is the reigning defending champions and once again showed why they are a tough out.
Regular Season:
Shooter McGavins: They started their franchise with 13 straight wins before losing a game to the Bengals. They finshed their season however with a 5-6 record with losses coming to Bengals, Scoobies Force, Dynasty and Bats. The early season dominance looked to be in peril. Mike Velez led the team in most offensive categories. Under strong leadership from captains Ronak Jain and Aasheesh Shravah, they finished the season as the second best offense in the league but the 5th best defense. Khurram, Nick, Irfan, VJ, Jashan, Ali, and Waqas all had solid seasons. This team is as deep as any team in the division. Sometimes that can be a problem in the playoffs if players have egos.
Hit Squad: This team is made for playoffs ball. Defense, Pitching and timely hits. They are never a big regular season win. There was some grumbling of championship hangover when we saw them lose big to Scoobies Force, Shooter McGavins and Dynasty during the season. Does anyone remember all the firepower they lost preseason? Gone are MVP Frank Perez and last year’s ROY Obaid. Captains Ali Najmi and Ammad Sheikh have done a masterful job with recruiting the type of players their culture fits: Binu, Ramin, Ankit, Khaled, Wahid Hoosein, and Darwin. They finished as the third seed with a 16-6 record. They finished their season as the 4th best offense and 3rd best defense.
1st Round:
Shooter McGavins: The Shooters faced the 7th seeded Ones in the first round. The Ones made it to the NL Finals in 2018 so everyone knew they were not going to be a cakewalk. Shooters beat The Ones convincingly in game 1 with a score of 14-7. With their backs against the wall, The Ones came out swinging in game 2 and took a early lead. However, Shooters battled back and won in extra innings 11-10.
Hit Squad: What a series they had in the first round against Bats. These two teams have a long history and as such, they knew each other well. Bats were in the hole in game 1, but stormed back to win game 1 9-6. Game 2, Bats as the home team opened up a lead until the late innings where Hit Squad tied it up with their last few outs remaining. They went on to win 8-7 to go to game 3. In game 3, Bats seemed defeated and did not have it in them to fight it out against the champs. Hit Squad won in grand fashion with a final score of 14-2.
Sundays Semifinals:
| POSITIONS: | SHOOTERS | HIT SQUAD | ADVANTAGE |
| CATCHER: | JASHAN DEOL | WAHID HOOSEIN | HIT SQUAD |
| FIRST BASE: | RICH YUN | TIM ALICIEA | HIT SQUAD |
| SECOND BASE: | IRFAN MUSLIWALA | HAKIM NAJIMI | SHOOTERS |
| THIRD BASE: | WAQAS ALI | BINU NAIR | HIT SQUAD |
| SHORTSTOP: | KHURRAM SYED | ANKIT RAMCHANDANI | SHOOTERS |
| LEFT FIELD: | JOJO RODRIGUEZ | YAQUB NAJIMI | HIT SQUAD |
| LEFT-CENTER: | NICK TOMAYA | AHMAD HALIMI | HIT SQUAD |
| RIGHT-CENTER: | MIKE VELEZ | SOLYMAN NAJIMI | SHOOTERS |
| RIGHT FIELD: | VJ SAMAROO | KHALED AHMEDY | SHOOTERS |
| PITCHER: | AASHEESH SHRAVAH | WAHID OMARZAI | HIT SQUAD |
| BENCH: | RONAK, JOEL, ALI, UMANG, GAGE | RAMIN, DARWIN, AMMAD | SHOOTERS |
This one is tough to predict. During the regular season they faced each other one weekend. Between the two game Shooters won both with a combined score of 36-13. We expect this series to go 3 with Hit Squad edging out the Shooters with their experience and superior pitching/defense.
HIT SQUAD IN 3.
