Hit Squad (10-8) vs. TSFE (9-9)
The Venue: Seamens Neck 4 Dirt @ 8:30am
Matchup with Hit Squad and TSFE will go a long way in determining seeding and is a very important matchup for half the SASL teams. Everyone will be eagerly awaiting the results from this game. If Hit Squad sweeps they will be clear of SNL and will most likely end as the 4th/5th seed. The same goes for TSFE as they will be looking to sweep and put a difficult start to the season behind them.
With as many as 6 teams within one game of each other and trying to avoid SNL, it is essential to own the tie breakers. Tie breakers include head to to head results and then head to head run differential, so even in a sweep it is important to outscore your opponent in a combined score.
How They Got Here
Hit Squad:
Hit Squad has been all over the place this season. They gave impressive wins over Dynasty and North while getting swept by Dothrakis and The Ones. Week to week, we haven’t yet pegged down what this team is capable of. With all their SASL experience, Hit Squad is always capable of beating any team but they are just missing the spark we have seen from them for the last two championship years.
Overall they are in the middle of the pack in both hitting and defense this year. Their middle of the order of Halimi, Ramy, Binu etc are not having seasons that we usually expect out of them but rookie Vivek as well as players like Ishaq, Ali, etc are having better than expected numbers.
TSFE:
Preseason, TSFE were ranked #1 in the Power Rankings. The finalists from last year added prominent players like Jason Reis, Chris Mui, Saad Yousuf, Dheeraj, Jason Gregory to raise the expectations even higher. But they started a ghastly 1-5 this season, but has played much better since then. They have since gone 8-4 and are right back in the thick of things.
The real weak spot this season has been their hitting. They have only scored 166 runs thru 18 games. That averages out to about 9 runs per game this season which is 10th in the league. On the other hand, they give up 11 runs per game, which is 5th in the league. Their outfield speed and defense is definitely their strong suit.
On Field Matchups
Pitching/Catching:
The tandem of Wahid Omarzai and Vivek Sukumaran is one of the best in the league. Wahid is a First Team All-time Pitcher with a variety of pitches that keeps most hitters off balance. Both players are also above average hitters.
Rakesh Nankumar pitches for TSFE and was a write in all star last year. He is a consistent strike thrower who will make you hit the ball to his defense. Shazim should be catching and while he isn’t the hitter he was couple of years ago, he can still put some muscle behind those line drives.
Advantage: Hit Squad.
Infield:
Hit Squad will feature Ankit Ramchandani at SS and Billal Lateef at SS and 3B. Both have a lot of range and good arms. At the dish, they are about .500 hitters with some potential extra base hit potential. We expect Ishaq and Binu to play 2B and 1B. Binu is an above average bat but at this point of his career we don’t expect much power. Ishaq has the highest batting average on the team and is a solid glove at 2B.
TSFE will probably play Chris Mui, Jason Gregory, Jason Reis and Prince Panicker in the infield. It isn’t the best defensive infield in the League, but that is some solid offense there. Prince is hitting a team leading .564 for the year, while Chris leads the team in most power categories like HR, RBI, OPS, etc.
Advantage: Even
Outfield:
Former MVP Ramy Abdelhamid is at Left field and he is having an average season for him. His .517 average would be a career low. Ahmad Halimi who had a career season in 2019, is having himself a down season riddled by injuries. On the right side of the outfield Yaqub is locking it down at RCF and is having a very good season with the bat. Ramin will probably play at RF. He is surprisingly mobile and can have a big week with the bat on any given Sunday.
The Outfield of TSFE should be their biggest strength. Saad Yousuf at Left, Dheeraj Ramchandani and Travis Mahadeo at Center and Harvey Harding at Right field provides speed and range along with some good bats. However this season, all 4 players are not playing up to par. Dheeraj especially is having a tough year but the last two weeks have looked a lot better.
Advantage: Even
Keys To Winning
Hit Squad:
1. He Who Has Health Has Hope: The injuries have really hurt them the past month. They seem to be rounding into shape just in time.
2. Know The Opponents: Scouting and shifts are the first two things you think of when you think of Hit Squad. TSFE has a lot of veterans so it should be an easy scouting job for Ali, Ammad, Soly and co.
3. Early Bird Gets The Worm: Hit Squad scored 6 runs last weekend. That won’t get it done this week. They need to come early and warm up to hit the ground running.
TSFE:
1. Put The Past In The Rearview: They need to move forward and not think about what happened in last years Finals where they got swept by Hit Squad.
2. Attendance, Attendance, Attendance: Will their main players like Dheeraj, Jason Gregory, etc show up? If they are missing 1-2 key players, it won’t be a good scene Sunday.
3. Treat It Like The Playoffs: With a sweep, they have a shot to go all the way up to 4th. With two losses they are pretty much locked into SNL.
Prediction:
A Finals rematch oddly feels a little muted with the season both teams have had and playing about .500 ball. However, we think Hit Squad plays better in big games and we are going with a SWEEP FOR HIT SQUAD!!
