Round # 6 with the Hoppers tonight

We were all hoping for a win over the Hoppers last night, and WOW did we ever get one!  The Railroaders extended their streak to 7 straight wins and ended Hoptown's desire of achieving the same.  Adding the 15 runs scored last evening brings the total runs for the last seven games to 72, that's 4 more than the previous 15 games combined to start the season.  The 4 home runs hit last night (in Hoptown BTW) has the Railroaders totaling 22 on the year, 2 more than all the other five teams combined.  The Railroader bats have come alive!

Tonight's game at the Yard with the Hoppers will get both teams over the hump towards completion of the 45 game schedule.  The Hoppers remain in 1st place by 3 games over both the Oilers and Railroaders in 2nd place.  Hoptown has taken 3 of 5 Rounds with the Railroaders with 3 more to go in the season. Tonight's game will be Round 6 and time for the Railroaders to even the season fight.  But the Hoppers will not go lightly into that good night, we need to be on our toes.  They enjoy being at the top of the standings, and it will take ever win we can get to overtake them.

The forecast for Saturday night's game is looking pretty good, both weather and action.  Let's all get to the Yard and back the Railroaders up as the try to take another victory over the Hoppers.

Challenging the Hoppers

The Railroaders, now 11-10, appear to have really come together over the last week.  Fulton jumped from 5th to 3rd overnight after beating the Bombers and the Pirates falling to the Hoppers.  Through winning the last 6 straight games, the boys have totaled 56 runs across the plate.  Before the current streak of victories and a record of 5-10, the bats produced 68 runs total.  Average then was 4.5 runs per game.  Since last Friday and the 6 games played, the average has gone to 9.3 per game.  I think it's important also to note that Roaders won 2 of the last 6 games by two runs or less, games they have previously failed to win in the first 15 games of the season.  Have they turned the corner?  Friday and Saturday's games with Hoptown will clear the picture better.

The 1st place Hoppers, currently 15-6, also happen to have won their last 6 games.  Some OVL followers say they are the "hottest" team in the league.  It needs to noted though that the Railroaders have kept their 4 games back pace throughout the Hoppers wins, and Fulton is  now poised to cut into that lead going head-to-head with Hoptown.

How do the Railroaders and Hoppers match up?  In the first 4 meetings between the two teams, Hoptown is 3-1 over the Railroaders, close games with two losses by 2 runs and the other by 3.  Through 21 games each, below are key stats to compare:

						BATS
	Avg	Slug	OBA	RBI	Hits	HR	Runs	SO	BB	S. Bases
Hoppers	.253	.331	.363	85	163	3	106	111	88	43
Railroaders	.261	.385	.382	115	182	18	125	145	101	35
				PITCH
	ERA	Hits	HR	SO	BB	Runs	Hit B.
Hoppers	2.72	151	9	165	72	76	20
Railroaders	2.91	147	5	163	86	86	27

While the Hoppers appear to have slight edge on the pitching side, the Railroaders offense at the plate is stronger.  We do need to consider a little offset for the home runs since Fulton does have the short Little Monster in right field at home. Tonight and tomorrow will be some great baseball for sure and I expect some thrills will be had!

DC Bombers flying into the Yard tonight

"Say 'Hello' to my little friend"

The Bombers are coming to Fulton tonight with a 10-8 record, in second place and tied with the Oilers.  The Railroaders are a game and a half behind in 5th place, and have began to chop away at the first top 4 teams in the standings.

Only three days ago the Pirates where holding the 2nd place position until the Railroaders put them down twice, and moved them down to the 4th position.  

The Railroaders have put a string of 4 straight wins and look to continue the trend as mid-season approaches.  After starting the season 5-10, Fulton is now only a game away from .500 record.    The guns at bat have come alive, defense has tightened up and team pitching ERA it under 3.

Next up are the Bombers who have won 3 of their last 4 games.  The key to tonight's game is "keep them off the bases".  The Bombers are nearly twice the number of stolen bases at 57, as the Railroaders have 35 total.  The Railroaders have the weapons to take the Bombers out.  Four times we've faced them and have only came away with one win.  Time to improve on that head-to-head record beginning tonight at the Yard, and continuing tomorrow when the Roaders head up to DC.

Pirates at the Yard tonight

The Railroaders got their first back-to-back wins last night against the struggling Bobcats.  Wow, a 15-0 victory on the road!  Since the last post, Fulton has avoided another 5-11 start with a current record of 7-10.  Are things looking up?  I think and hope so.  Certainly the addition of Sillyman and Valdez has help at the plate, and the other Railroaders have improved their batter averages.  We're seeing a lot more power with the bats now and RBI to go with it.  I believe our overall pitching is as good and better than other OVL teams.

Tonight's game will be another challenge as the second place 10-7 Pirates enter the Yard.  The Railroaders and Pirates have faced off twice thus far, with each winning a game apiece.  They won the first by 1 run and the Railroaders took the second with an overpowering 12-0 win.  The Pirates are 3 games ahead of us in the standings and dropped their last game 6-1 to the Bombers.  In a second game last night with the Bombers, they were trailing 2-0 after three innings when the game was rained out.  I expect the Pirates to be on their toes tonight.  They are sure to play much better than the Bobcats, and their pitching will be more suited to the task of trying to shut down Railroader bats.

Fulton has a 2 straight wins, can we build on that?  I say "Yes" and expect the guys to play hard tonight. By week's end, we'll be half way thru the regular season games.  Now it the time to strike and move up in the standings.  We don't want to be playing catch up in the lower division this time next week.

FOR NOTE:  In regards to the last comment on the last blog post; an Anonymous inferred this blog was useless without fresh info after every game. To be clear, I am pretty busy creating "fresh" data contained on both the Railroaders' and OVL's websites.  I also need my beauty sleep!  This blog exist for everyone to make comments, observations and express opinions about the Railroaders and the OVL season play.  It would be helpful if those of you out there add to the content.  The more that is shared, the more "fresh" info we all can read and discuss.

Final note:  Just received a text informing that Garret Ring is scheduled to start on the mound tonight for the Railroaders.