Down to the wire

Our win last night and Owensboro's come-from-behind victory over Marion, makes the final finish for the top 3 team as tight as it can be. A defeat of the Bobcats tonight in the Yard will lock Marion in 3rd place and ensure Fulton a 2nd in the standings. A Railroader win tonight is all we can control in a confusing ending on the season.

The Oilers have held on to their half game lead, and must now face off with the frustrated Pirates tonight. With 2 games left and planted in 4th place, the Bucs will be playing for pride in far away places. The Oilers also have 2 games remaining and would need to dropped both for the Railroaders to take 1st if Fulton wins on Saturday. One of those 2 games for Owensboro is a suspended tie with Marion going into the bottom of the 11th inning. Will it have to be played?

The Bobcats aren't finished yet either with a shot at 2nd in the standings. With 3 games yet to complete, the Cats could end up tied with the Railroaders in that spot. "Sudden death game?"

So there's still plenty of drama to be had in the 2011 regular season, then we have the Post
Season Playoff series. Post season games are due to begin on Tuesday, yet there's still no clear picture of seeding for the playoffs other than the Bucs in 4th. Can or will the Pirates help the Roaders, and spoil the mix on Saturday and Sunday for the Oilers and Cats?

Go Railroaders! Go Pirates!

Final thought on the Pirates: If Tradewater wins their last 2 games and Marion is beaten in all their 3 remaining games, They would be tied at the bottom of the standings.

Railroaders' best chance for the Pennant

The Owensboro Oilers, currently in 1st by 0.5 games, have 3 games left to complete. They are 1 with the Pirates on Saturday, and 2 with the Bobcats in which one is the suspended game (tied) from July 10.

The Marion Bobcats are currently 1 game behind us in 3rd and 1.5 in back of the Oilers. The Bobcats have 4 games left; 1 with the Railroaders on Saturday, 1 in Tradewater on Sunday, and of course 2 against the Oilers with 1 tonight and the other being the suspended game.

The Railroaders must win their last 2 games to get a 23-19 record. Should that occur, here are three possible situations:

1) If the Oilers win 2 of 3 games left, we’re tied in 1st place. If they don’t play the suspended game and win the other 2, they’re in 1st place by a 0.5 game. The Railroaders would have to insist on the completion of the suspended game. If they lost it we’d be tied in 1st place, a win would give them the season title finishing 24-18.

2) Oilers lose 2 of 3, they finish 2nd second place a game in back of us at 22-20.

3) The Bobcats are different story, behind us by 1 game with 4 to complete. Assuming we win our 2 final games, one being with the Bobcats, that 1 loss finishes them off because the best record they could achieve would be 22-20.

The Pirates are the spoilers in this finish. They have 3 games left, one with each team. Bottom line, we win 2 and the pressure is on the Oilers & Bobcats.

Too many leaks!

The Railroaders no longer control their destiny after losing a third straight game to the Oilers. With 35 runs scored against us in those 3 losses, we’d better find a fix and fast or we’ll end up where we were a month ago, in last place! The Oilers have a 1 ½ game lead and we have no more games with them to redeem ourselves. Our chance for the season title comes down to sweeping the Pirates in 3 games and beating the Bobcats on Saturday, and we’ll need help from the Cats & Bucs to chop away at the Oilers who have 4.9 games left to play (one w/Pirates and 3.9 against the Bobcats). The 3.9 games include a suspended tie game between the Oilers and Cats with the score 6-6 in the middle of the 11th innings. Long story, see the league website on the archive page.

So the stage is set. The Railroaders must win out through Saturday at Home. Our best chance would come with the Pirates beating the Bobcats and Oilers with their final 2 games. That would put us in 1st place by a game over the Oilers and Bobcats trailing by 3. What’s left . . the 4 games between the Oilers and Bobcats, with one being the suspended game. If this occurs, the Oilers would need all 4 games to finish first, while the Bobcats would be unable to catch us even if they took all 4 of the games.

Tall order, I must say, especially if we can’t get the leaks fixed by tonight. The Pirates are coming into town for a doubleheader and the Heat is on in every direction. Time to separate the men from the boys. Let’s go and get the job done, guys.

Let's clean it up Guys!

Someone must have throw the wrong switch somewhere, this is not the track we're suppose to be on. Let's get this train back on the tracks and fixed ASAP. Okay, everyone has a bad day, but 2 butt kickings in a row? The only good thing on the evening came as a gift from the Pirates who downed the Cats twice. Alright then, we're only a half game down and we can make it up on Wednesday. I'm sure the Oilers feel like they have our number now and wouldn't mind clobbering us a third straight time. Come on men, time to get into the game and play some ball. Its going to get hotter in the next few days, but I know you can finish strong. Go to Owensboro and take the final game with the Oilers, come back home and take the pennant at Home. The Fans will be out in force this weekend, what a great time for baseball. You can do it, there's no doubt in my mind.

Tuesday night Railroaders & Oilers, online TeamLine

Big game for both teams in Fulton, and its all business tonight! The Railroaders looking to extend their lead and the Oilers trying to overtake. The Bobcats in Tradewater for a doubleheader with the Pirates. Standings will shift one way or the other tonight.

Final week of regular Season

As of Monday, July 18, 2011

For those who like analysis of the pennant race, there are plenty of various combinations in this tight race that made is interesting and puzzling. Every game played now will focus the picture better, but we can see a little of it now. It’s still anyone title to take. The Pirates hold the hardest road as they’ll need to win out with 8 games left to have a shot. As for the top 3 teams, Wow! A person can get lost in all the scenarios and numbers. Assuming no team will win all their remaining games, I believe the Railroaders will need a 23-19 record to finish 1st place in the standings. To do that they must take 4 of their final 6 games left to play.

With that in mind, here’s one possible scenario: The Railroaders sweep the Oilers in 2 games, take 1 of 3 with the Pirates then win on Saturday against the Bobcats. Fulton gets 23 wins. The Pirates would be out of it even if they took all their remaining 5 games with the Oilers & Cats. The Oilers’ best possible record at that point would tie us at 23-19, however, they would have to win all 5 of their remaining games consisting of 1 with the Pirates and 4 against Bobcats, a very tall task. For the Bobcats to match a 23-19 record, Marion would need to take 6 of 8 undecided games consisting of 4 each with both the Pirates and Oilers. Again, a tall task indeed.

However it does play out, it’s going to be great finish for the OVL in its first year, and some good baseball left to watch. To top it off, there is still the Post-Season Playoffs that will be starting next week. How will the seeding for Playoffs turn out? If you think you see a good scenario in the numbers, let’s hear it!