The semifinals of the Bundesliga playoffs look a little different than expected this year. Leading the pack, as usual, is Regensburg; the top three teams from the north join them in the second round.
Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg (South Champs) vs. Solingen Alligators (North Runner-up)
In the first round, Regensburg had no trouble with Dortmund, and in the key matchup against Wanderer pitcher Matt Kemp the Legionaere put up four runs on nine hits and four walks, giving the pitching staff plenty of room to breathe. The other two games were blowouts for the favorites.
Solingen had to battle hard against Mainz, but the A’s roster was hurt by a few key departures. Maybe Solingen still would have moved on, but they got plenty of work in against a good Mainz club which played Regensburg to the wire four times.
The stage is set for a good matchup, in which Regensburg has the chance to make it back to the German Championship, but will need to go through an Alligator team that is representing Germany in the European Cup promotion series later this summer. Regensburg has arms that outmatch Solingen both in terms of starters and relievers, but if Regensburg starts American Justin Kuehn in the foreigner game, then the stakes are evened out a bit. On offense, seemingly every hitter from the Legionaere hit over .300 this year, though the biggest threats remain Evan LeBlanc and Petr Cech. If they are to keep up with the best hitting team in Germany, Solingen will need clutch hits and baserunners from the bottom half, so Phil Ortez and Dustin Hughes can be productive as usual.
Solingen doesn’t want their national season to end on this note, but they’ll have to turn a series loss against Regensburg into a learning experience, and take that into the European Cup promotion series, so Germany can claim two A-Pool births next year. They can also hope that Regensburg turns down the A-Pool birth for a second time, and the Alligators will get to enjoy the success of their effort. Regensburg sweeps through to the finals.
Paderborn Untouchables (North Champs) vs. Bonn Capitals (North 3rd)
There wasn’t much doubt that Paderborn would be through to the second round, though they probably are a little embarrassed at being no-hit in their only loss to Haar. The team was sound on defense, moved runners, and keep the Disciples off the board, but the next round will see a familiar foe.
Bonn nearly swept Heidenheim out in three games, only to see the Heidekoepfe force a game five, and then take a lead into the middle of the game. Bonn scratched out a win, however, and will need all the momentum they can take against Paderborn.
The season series went 3-1 to Paderborn, but no team scored more than six runs in any of the games, meaning we should have some close games decided in the late innings. Bonn should be very confident going in to the matchup; after all, they were the first team to beat the Untouchables this year. It was a strong team effort in defeating Heidenheim, with nearly everybody picking up multiple runs and RBIs. Paderborn will need to limit that, but with their strong pitching they can likely get away with pitching around the top hitters on the Capitals lineup. On offense, the Untouchables wont be worrying since they have seen Henkenjohann and Schoening multiple times and tagging them for an ‘L’ once each. The extended BP they took against the Disciples last round has them ready to put up runs early, also. Untouchables advance to the finals in a matchup of the north and south champions. It will take four or five games for them to get there, though.
