Who says parity is a bad thing? In the case of Hartsville National's Farm League, parity has proven to be fun and unpredictable.
Monday saw Pepsi come out flat and fall to First Citizens 9-6 and Palmetto Precision fall to Pennington & Meadows 9-3. Both games saw terrific defense, with only 27 runs scored over 12 innings. First Citizens was led by Cole Winburn and Andrew Askins. Pepsi's top performers were Liam Thompson, Evan Young and Lan Holloman. In the nightcap, the Dynamic Duo, cousins Ace Gibson and Law Hope, played big for Palmetto Precision, but it wasn't enough to topple the defending champions, P&M.
On Tuesday, Pennington & Meadows continued its dominance of Arborworks with an 8-4 victory. Coleman Radcliff held it down on the hot corner for P&M, while the man they call Bam Bam and Louis Griggs led the Rent Collectors at the plate. Dustin Gaymon and Bennett Laney both brought out the good wood for ADub, but their efforts were all for naught. The loss seemingly shut the door on the first half championship for ADub, but you'll find out later that there's still a little life left in the these guys.
In Tuesday's second game, somebody shook the Pepsi a little too hard as the Colas exploded for a season-high 19 runs in their win over Palmetto Precision.
On Thursday, Arborworks bounced back from their poor offensive performance against P&M with a 12-1 victory over Palmetto Precision. ADub's solid offensive performance, led by Nolan McInnis and Alex Byrd, was backed by outstanding defense from second baseman Quez Hadley, shortstop Shane Dillon and first baseman McKendrie Douglas. Palmetto Precision was led by Jose Luna, Owen Rix and Law Hope.
In the night cap, P&M was denied a loan for another piece of championship hardware by First Citizens. The hot bat of Andrew Dameron got things going for Personal Bankers. Cole Winburn, Andrew Askins and Cooper Griggs also played crucial roles for FC. Grayson Weekley, Dewsy Meadows and Coleman Radcliff played great for P&M, despite the loss.
The first half of the season was scheduled to end this week, however the champion won't be decided until week five. Amazingly, mother nature has nothing to do with it. To put a long story short, Week Five could last as short as one inning or as long as four games.
Now here's the long story:
During their first matchup, Pennington & Meadows and Pepsi tied 6-6. It was a back and forth battle that the umpires decided needed to end in a knot. Upon reviewing local league rules, it was decided the tie would be broken if it impacted the first half championship. With First Citizens defeat of P&M on Thursday night, the tie must be broken.
Pepsi and P&M will square off to break the tie on Monday (April 7th). If P&M wins, they're your first half champion. If Pepsi wins, the old foes will play again that night. Here's where it gets interesting. The P&M loss would drop them into a three-way tie with Pepsi and Arborworks. The winner of the first playoff game would play Arborworks on Tuesday at 5:30. An Arborworks win would mean that Arborworks and the Pepsi/P&M playoff game loser would square off at 7pm on Tuesday. If Arborworks goes down, the team that beat them would be declared the champion and there would be no need for a second game on Tuesday.
So, you're thinking: What happens if the three teams all go 1-1? Run differential will be the determining factor. One team will be eliminated and the other two will show down on Thursday night with the first half championship on the line.
Of course, none of the above will matter if P&M takes care of business on Monday night.
Current Standings:
P&M 5-2-1
ADub 5-3
Pepsi 4-3-1
First Citizens 4-4
Palmetto Precision 1-7
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