Hoppers & Railroaders rained out

After all the hard work and the ground crew successfully getting the field ready, a noon time 5 minute downpour was all it took to wipe out our chances for the game tonight.  The amount of water that fell along with the tears of the ground crew left standing water on the infield with no hope of drying out before game time.  The meeting between the Hoppers and Railroaders will have to wait to be rescheduled on a future date.  But "Thanks" to all those hard working souls who tried to make it happen tonight.

Railroaders off tomorrow and Home on Saturday with the Oilers for some 4th of July fireworks at the Yard.  Game time is early at 5:30 p.m. CDT.

Hoppers or Rain tonight

Last night’s rain has the ground crew already out working the field to get it ready for tonight’s game with the Hoppers. The weather forecast is questionable for the rest of day. Assuming there are no more downpours today and this evening, chances are good the Yard will be in good shape for the game.

The Railroaders have dropped 2 games in a row, one to the Miners the other to the Bombers.  The loss last night puts Fulton 3 games behind the league leading Bombers.  Although both the Railroaders and Miners are trailing by 3 games, Fulton has moved down to the third spot in the standings because of a lower win/loss percentage 

While the Bombers battle the Miners tonight in Madisonville, I believe its time for a Railroader win against the visiting Hoppers this evening.  Hoptown is a frustrated team at the moment having loss their last 6 games putting them in the basement along with the Oilers in the standings.

With 14 games left in the regular season for the Railroaders, every game is more important now.  We shouldn’t take the Hoppers lightly tonight. The Railroaders have struggled the past couple of games scoring runs and need to break that cycle tonight.  It should be good game at the Yard and hoping all the fans can make it out to support the Roaders to get them back on track.

We’ll keep an close eye on the weather to see what happens.  Assuming all goes well, see you at the Yard or on TeamLine tonight.  “Fire it Up!”

Showdown with Miners tonight

Tonight at the Yard, our second place Railroaders with a record of 15-9 will face off with the third place Miners with a record of 13-10.  Both teams are working on consecutive game winning streaks, the Railroaders with 4 straight wins and the Miners with 3 in a roll. That will continue for only one of them after tonight’s action. The Railroaders are 1½ games ahead of the Miners, so regardless of the outcome tonight, Fulton will finish the evening retaining the second place spot.

From a league prospective, the Railroaders are currently a ½ game behind the first place Bombers. The Bombers are on the road to Owensboro for a big doubleheader with the Oilers who have lost their last 4 games. The results of those games could greatly affect the standings. Meanwhile the Hoppers are off today and have dropped 5 games in the row. Both Hoppers and Oilers for 7 ½ games out of first. Still almost half the season to go, every game from now on will be important for all teams.

Back to the Railroaders and Miners for tonight.  The teams have met 6 times so far with 4 games left head-to-head.  Each team has won 3 games against each other, that tie will be broke today. Season stats show both teams match fairly even match with the Railroaders’ somewhat ahead in the numbers on offense and pitching. Head-to-head, the Miners have slight edge against the Railroaders on offense in batting average, but the Railroaders are better from the mound with about half the team ERA as the Miners.

Overall Season

Batting Stats
Team	GP	PA	OAB	Avg	Slug	OBA	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SB	HBP	SO
Railroaders	24	1023	828	.279	.384	.392	231	178	34	4	15	149	112	129	24	34	159
Miners	22	917	789	.253	.327	.342	200	157	33	5	5	106	84	93	28	17	145

Pitching Stats
Team	GS	W	L	SA	BF	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	R	BB	HB	SO	IP	ER	ERA
Railroaders	24	15	9	0	926	192	152	30	4	6	93	71	24	174	214.33	59	2.48
Miners	23	13	10	7	971	217	166	38	4	9	141	114	25	132	206.33	99	4.32

Head-to-Head

Batting Stats
Team	GP	PA	OAB	Avg	Slug	OBA	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SB	HBP	SO
Railroaders	6	256	213	.258	.376	.370	55	38	13	0	4	35	28	29	8	10	48
Miners	6	228	208	.264	.356	.317	55	40	12	2	1	23	16	12	10	5	37

Pitching Stats
Team	GS	W	L	SA	BF	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	R	BB	HB	SO	IP	ER	ERA
Railroaders	6	3	3	0	228	55	40	12	2	1	23	12	5	37	53.33	13	2.19
Miners	6	3	3	1	256	55	38	13	0	4	35	29	10	48	53.67	25	4.19

All this said, it’s going to be another good game tonight at the Yard between these two teams.  Come on out and watch as the Railroaders fire it up again to make their run towards a season title.  See you at the Yard or online TeamLine.

Hoppers first visit to the Yard

The Hoppers will visit the Yard tonight for the first time this season.  So far the Railroaders have confronted the Hoppers in five games all played in Hoptown, and Fulton has walked away with a 3-2 record head-to-head.  Both teams must play five more games before season’s end and all will be contested in Fulton at the Yard.

One thing is sure, the Railroaders and Hoppers have some great games.  The Hoppers have struggled the first half of the season achieving only a 7-12 record, well below .500 in win/loss percentage. The Hoppers will be fighting hard to improve and stage themselves for a downhill run in the season’s final half. They play their 20th game tonight with the Railroaders.

The Railroaders on the other hand have reached the crest, moving on with 21 games under their belt. There was no expected “slow season start” for the Railroaders as has been the history over the last five years.  No, these 2015 Railroaders have kept pace in the upper half of the standings, and their downhill run has momentum. The offense is responding when down in the in score, and come-from-behind wins and close games occur often. Of the Railroader 9 losses this season, only 2 were loss by more than 2 runs. Opponents must fight hard to overcome the Railroaders at bat.  Pitching has improved and can stand toe-to-toe with any of the teams.  Field defense has been questionable at times with errors, but they have had only 2 in the last 4 games.

 

Overall Team Stats

Batting Stats
	GP	PA	OAB	Avg	Slug	OBA	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SB	HBP	SO
RAILROADERS	22	938	758	.285	.396	.396	216	166	31	4	15	138	105	116	24	32	138
HOPPERS	18	781	670	.237	.304	.340	159	127	23	5	4	81	67	89	36	16	136

Pitching Stats
	GS	W	L	SA	BF	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	R	BB	HB	SO	IP	ER	ERA
RAILROADERS	22	13	9	0	852	174	140	25	4	5	87	67	24	159	196.33	54	2.48
HOPPERS	19	7	12	2	823	184	146	25	4	9	118	106	22	105	176.00	84	4.30

The engine is fired up and the players are ready to go.  Tonight’s weather is not in question and will actually be a bit cooler than this past week has been.  We’re looking forward to another great night of baseball at the Yard with the Railroaders and Hoppers.  See you there or online TeamLine.

Bombers or Rain, which will fall from the sky?

As you can see, there’s an issue with the weather for tonight game in Fulton.  We are sure to get something but the question is when, how much and how long will it last.  The cold front is west and moving east in our direction.  Time of arrival is around 5 to 6 pm and should be completely past us by 8 pm tonight. If it’s quick to move through and doesn’t dump a lot of rain, we’ll be able to the game in. We could see a rain delay to start the game.

We are just over halfway through the season and the Railroaders are currently holding their ground in the standings. A confident, first place Dubois County Bombers team is coming to the Yard to take on the second place Railroaders who are currently 2½ games behind in the standings. The two teams have met in battle five times with the Bombers taking a 3-2 lead in the season series. Both will face off for five more games, beginning tonight.

Time for the Railroaders to move ahead in the race with 19 games left.  The third place Miners trail just 1½ games behind the Railroaders and are idle tonight. The fourth place Hoppers and last place Oilers are scheduled for today in Hoptown as both teams will fight to avoid the basement.

We’ll be keeping an eye on the weather this afternoon and will update as needed if conditions change.  But for now, we’re on for more OVL baseball tonight in Fulton.  See you (hopefully) at the Yard or online TeamLine.

Big Bomber Battle tonight

The first place Bombers were successful in beating the Railroaders the last time they flew into the Yard this past Monday.  The Railroaders have faced off with the Bombers four times so far with the Railroaders only taking one of the games.  It is time to turn that trend around tonight at the Yard.  At 2 ½ games behind the Bombers, the second place Railroaders have a chance to gain a game with a win this evening.

There was lots of rain yesterday but the field in Fulton should be dry by game time for the showdown.  The Railroaders need to man the fighters early this time and shoot down the DC planes before they extend their lead in the standings.  This will be the third visit to the Yard by the Bombers, and the Railroaders yet to get a win against them in front of the hometown Fans.  We have the Top Guns for the job, we just need to use them and eliminate the errors.

The Bombers may play in the biggest stadium in the OVL, but on the field they are just another team.  Two of the three Railroader losses with the Bombers were by a single run so it should be a close one, however I prefer blasting them out of the sky at the plate for an overwhelming victory.  We can get done and need the help of all hands, both on the field and in the stands.  Let’s man-up and shoot down some Bombers. I’ll see you at the Yard tonight or join us on TeamLine.

Team Stats

Offense	GP	PA	OAB	Avg	Slug	OBA	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SB	HBP	SO
Railroaders	15	658	533	.278	.390	.394	148	115	18	3	12	98	74	83	23	25	98
Bombers	16	689	548	.248	.321	.378	136	106	24	2	4	114	87	95	28	26	86

 

Pitching	GS	W	L	SA	BF	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	R	BB	HB	SO	IP	ER	ERA
Railroaders	15	8	7	0	609	129	106	18	3	2	69	50	18	109	137.00	41	2.69
Bombers	16	11	5	2	651	141	118	16	4	3	67	64	11	112	143.33	46	2.89

UPDATE 10:45 a.m.:  I've gone to the Yard and it's looking good. The sun is beginning to pop out of the clouds that should be clearing out around noon time.  The Ground Crew is out and working the few remaining wet spots remaining, "Hats off to them."   With the temperature rising, all looks well for tonight's contest . . the game is on!

Railroaders and Oilers once more at the Yard

Both the Railroaders and Oilers are well rested with some time off.  The weather is questionable of course, with the remnants of tropical storm Bill moving moisture up into the Ohio Valley.  But so far all looks well for baseball at the Yard tonight.

The Oilers are coming to the Yard tonight to take on the Railroaders.  The Oilers are riding high after a 14-0 victory over the Hoppers on Monday and breaking an 8 game losing streak.  Owensboro will also be looking to move up out of last place tonight with hopes for the Miners to sweep a doubleheader scheduled today against the 4th place Hoppers.

The 3rd place Railroaders on the other hand having dropped two straight games and are looking to get back on track.  Fulton’s last win was against the Oilers on Saturday this past week.  Fulton will be inclined for the Hoppers to take the doubleheader over the 2nd place Miners to take them down a notch. The Railroaders and Oilers have met three times thus far with Fulton taking a 2-1 advantage head-to-head.  Tonight’s game should be good one. Fire it Up!