Will They Finally Hit Their Target?
A Look Back at 2019:
Troopers wish they can forget 2019. They want to bury it and never speak of it. It was that bad last year for them. Biggest issue was when Captain Sunil Rangila decided to put his team in the Upper Division, American League.
The team did not have enough talent to compete with the heavyweights of the AL. Week after week they were getting butchered and they had no answers. They finished the season 2-22 and out of the playoffs by a wide margin. While mid-season acquisitions like Omar Hernandez, Mike Liang, Anthony DePalma, etc helped their cause, it didn’t detract them from losing almost every game.
They finished last in runs scored and last in runs allowed for an astounding -234 differential. Let’s move on…..
A Look Ahead at 2020:
The league going to 1 division with a lower cap than last years AL division, puts Troopers in a much better position this year. They also made some very good moves to help their ball club.
Wahid Hoosein formerly of 516/Hit Squad joins Troopers as a co-captain with Sunil. Wahid brings his championship winning veteran presence to the team. He also brought along some key players: All-Star Anthony Dindiyal, Defensive whiz at SS Kyle Bacchus, and couple of solid players in Nicholas Jairam and Dylan Hoosein. All 4 of these additions and Wahid are starting caliber players in the league.
They also retained the services of their best player Michael Kauffman. We all know about his power and arm. Anthony DePalma also returns and should be a speedy addition to the top of the lineup. Troopers were able to pry away veteran Burhan Gorgani (1st team NL Catcher last year) from TSFE.
With less than a week away from regular season, the team is still working on rounding out the roster. As of now, they have a good enough team to compete for the playoffs for sure.
Our Prediction:
Kyle, Anthony, Kauffman, Anthony Dindiyal are a very good start to a batting order. We believe they are still 2 good players away from making any big time noise. Still they have done enough to finish around 8/9th in the standings and a SNL finish.
Best Players:
Michael Kauffman is a stud LCFer. He has speed, strength, arm. He can bat in the middle of any lineup. The key is health and consistency for him. Anthony Dindiyal made it to his first All Star game in 2019, and we expect many more in his young career. To pick out a third, we are going with Kyle. He is a pure athlete and defensively one of the best SS in SASL. His bat now just has to catch up to his defense.
Players To Watch For:
Dylan Hoosein is young, but in Fall Ball we saw him place the ball and get on base at will. Anthony DePalma has the wheels to score runs anytime he gets on. We are excited to see a full season out of him.
Hear It From The Captain: Wahid Hoosein
1. What do you enjoy most about your role as team captain?
—I enjoy being a leader because it gives me the chance to be a mentor to my teammates and the younger players.
2. Who do you think will be your toughest competition this season?
—Our hardest competition will be ourselves. Softball is both a mental and physical game and you need both to succeed as a team.
3. What do you think are your team’s strong points? Weak points?
—Strong point is playing as team making plays on offense and defense. Weak-point is figuring out a line up.
4. How do you see your teams season play out this season?
—We expect to be very competitive in 2020.
