| Time | Div. | Home | Visitor | Field | ||
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| Dates and Times are subject to change! In case of doubt check with the responsible national federation! | ||||||
| Saturday, April 04 2009 | ||||||
| 12:00 | South | Saarlouis Hornets | Mannheim Tornados | Baseballstadion... |  |
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| Sunday, April 05 2009 | ||||||
| 12:00 | North | Pulheim Gophers | Dortmund Wanderers | Gophers Ballpark | |
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| 12:00 | North | Cologne Cardinals | Bonn Capitals | Baseballstadion... | |
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| 12:00 | North | Solingen Alligators | HSV Stealers | Baseballpark We... | |
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| 12:00 | South | Gauting Indians | Mainz Athletics | Würmtal Baseba... | |
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| 13:00 | South | Haar Disciples | Heidenheim Heideköpfe | Ballpark Eglfin... | |
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by Dirk Fries
Solingen Alligators
Life for the ALLIGATORS is not easy these days. Its best homegrown talent is constantly looking for new challenges. After catcher Kai Gronauer left SOLINGEN during last season, this year’s team has to find a way to compensate the loss of Andre Hughes.
Hughes, a left-handed starter, who performed exceptionally well in national and international competition in 2008, joins Dutch Hoofdklasse team MR. COCKER HCAW. That leaves Enorbel Marquez-Ramirez as the lone holdover from Germany’s arguably best 1-2-Starter duo in the league. Jens Cornelsen, another National Team player, is primed to take Hughes spot in the rotation. Last year Cornelsen did not get a lot of work, because both Hughes and Marquez were both really dominant. The loss of Hughes, therefore, is also a chance for Cornelsen and SOLINGEN’s young pitchers, Robin Drache, Bastian Bernards and newcomer Thomas Rubis (from BONN) to gain valuable experience at the Germany’s top level.
The second-biggest change compared to 2008 was made in the coaching department. Last year’s head coach Craig Spilker was replaced by Andy Fleischacker, who back in the 1990, in his first Germany appearance, coached SOLINGEN’s rival COLOGNE CARDINALS. Fleischacker comes over from Switzerland, where he was in charge of the ZURICH CHALLENGERS for two years.
Back in an ALLIGATORS uniform will be Chris Beck, the north’s most dominant hitter in 2008. Along with Dominik Wulf, Beck will be counted on to lead the Alligator’s offense. David Hissey will replace Derek Malikian (MONTIGNY). Hissey, who is still playing at Emory University in Atlanta, will join the team a few weeks in to the season. He is supposed to be the team’s leadoff hitter.
Even without Hughes, SOLINGEN still seems to be the team to beat in the northern division. Last year’s runner-up, PADERBORN, should be the biggest challenger for the league title. Yet, the gap looks to be shrinking, so a more interesting season should be in the cards.
Paderborn Untouchables
2008 was the first year after the Martin Helmig era ended in PADERBORN. Yet the club did not suffer any negative effects, because replacement was found from within the organization. The new coaching duo of Stefan Fechtig and Octavio Medina steered a young ball club to an impressive second place finish.
Jendrick Speer and Michael Franke are established veteran players. Assistant coach Medina gives the infield an exceptional defender, who still handles the bat really well. Catcher Bjoern Schoenlau and Oliver Neisemeier are solid players. Gavin Ng had a good season last year, and is expected to be back. On the contrary, Cy Donald will not return. Sascha Brockmeyer, Daniel Rahn and Julius Uelschen all are part of the new generation of PADERBORN players. All of them are homegrown talents, of which Uelschen already has seen time with the national team.
In regards to pitching, Eugen Heilmann will again lead the staff. Daniel Hinz, Rahn and Dennis Stechmann complement him. Last year’s foreign pitcher Benigno Ozuna’s future is still up in the air. If the club does not sign another arm, Ng might step in and eat some innings.
The club expects to make the playoffs, and should have no trouble reaching that goal. Whether they can move past the first round this time remains to be seen. They were so close last time, and with another whole year of experience, one must really like their chances. Yet there is always the chance that the new guys are now known commodities, and suffer what is so often called the sophomore jinx.
Cologne Cardinals
It is not quite clear what to expect from the COLOGNE club this season. The club announced the signing of a new head coach, yet the selected backed away from his agreement with the club due to undisclosed reasons. A new skipper was found in longtime CARDINALS player Torsten Krapf, who had originally planned to slowly round out his playing days after returning from SAARLOUIS during the off-season. The start of his coaching career must have come rather unexpected.
Krapf’s biggest challenge will lie in handling the pitching. With Moritz Sckaer most likely not returning to the team this year, Pascal Raab is the club’s most established pitcher. The youngster, who made significant strides last season -his first in the league -, will be counted on to start game 1. Marcel Kujau should be the first guy out of the bullpen, and behind him it’s pretty much bullpen-by-committee- Position players Sascha Steffens, Mehmet Alkan, Jens Warrelmann, as well as Krapf himself give the coach some options, yet none is really proven.
Japanese Ryo Kagami looked like the first option for game 2 of the doubleheader. To bolster the staff, management decided to look for help from the US, and brought over right-hander Kalev Betancourt.
Offensively the club will field almost an identical lineup in 2009. Only Japanese Taishi Nakamura will be missing from last season. The team relies on another Japanese import, Toshija Ohashi, to fill the gap.
With veteran players like Florian Nehring, Warrelmann and Steffens, as well as speedy Anderson Alvarez, the CARDS offense should score its fair share of runs. If the pitching holds up, the playoffs again are a possibility.
Dortmund Wanderers
2008 marked the WANDERERS debut in Germany’s elite league. After a successful season, which saw the team edge out BONN for the last playoff spot, at least a repeat is planned for 2009.
Former national team standout Rene Herlitzius leads the clubs offense. Together with imports Kyle Cherney and Trevor Howell he is responsible for driving in runs. If both Americans can perform at a similar level as last year’s Matt Kemp, Joshua Lively and Jack Kopacz, the offense will once again be the stronghold of the club. Even more so, if Tobias Willach and Daniel Groer are able to improve on already productive seasons.
Herlitzius was Dortmund’s most effective pitcher. The club will again look for him to handle game 1 of the doubleheader. Michael Kaber returns looking to improve on his 2008 performance. Raoul Vychodil struggled mightily in 2008, he by far could not live up to expectations. He and Kaber will be indispensable in forming a reliable relief corps. Coach Jens Hawlitzky will use himself on the mound in an emergency.
The club is still trying to lure a proven German pitcher to Dortmund. The addition of another quality arm could be of immense help to the team for the stretch run or make an impact in the playoffs.
Bonn Capitals
Until last season, the CAPITALS were a lock to make the playoffs year in and year out. Well, not anymore. Having to cut back on its spending and with star pitcher Tim Henkenjohann injured for almost the whole year, the CAPS missed the playoffs for the first time in about a decade.
Mathias Winterrath´s team was extremely young and inexperienced, and it especially showed on offense. While U-21 player Lennart Weller and Simon Falke led the offense with .330 averages, only veteran Thomas Hoffmann came close to that type of production. The group of youngsters that includes Adrian Stommel, Ricardo Migliore, Michael Ulrich and Jan Jacob, expectedly struggled at the plate. To top it off, US-import Jonathan Marshall was everything but spectacular. The CAPITALS will also need improved production from their foreigner. If the actually sign one, that is. Because right now it still looks as if young Raffael Vychodil will be handed the catching duties.
Defensively the CAPITALS are also looking to improve. The youngest infield defense in the league played sloppy at times in 2008, something that coach Winterrath surely addressed over the winter. Last year the Capitals committed 66 errors, more than any of the north´s playoff teams. With Tim Henkenjohann fully recovered from last year´s broken hand, expect fewer balls put in play, possibly helping the defense as well.
Nonetheless, BONN would like Mirko Heid to regain his pre-2008 form. That would take a lot of pressure of the youngsters. Marcel Penger, Rene Wolf and Marco Lambertz saw some time on the hill in 2008, and one can expect all three to see increased playing time this season. Especially Penger is the prime candidate to shoulder the workload left behind by the departure of Thomas Rubis, who now plays for rival SOLINGEN. Dominican Martin Amparo is also expected back for this year. While his 2008 stats weren´t overly impressive, he played a key role trying to pick up the injured Henkenjohann.
While SOLINGEN and PADERBORN battling for the northern division crown, BONN is looking to secure one of the remaining two spots. But with an improved HSV, the solid COLOGNE CARDINALS and DORTMUND also in the hunt, expect a very close race. Only if the Capitals can improve their offensive production, they have a chance to not make it a second straight playoff miss.
HSV Stealers
For a few years now, the HAMBURG team set out to make the playoffs. After the season, it was always next year. Now, with DORTMUND a capable new force in the league, it won’t get any easier.
Coach Shawn Pynn is looking to build a playoff caliber team around an already existing core of players. Thomas Riedner, former national team captain, came back strong in 2008 and is set at 3rd base. Brehan Murphy, another longtime STEALER, is the club’s catcher. Christian Schoettler and Human Aghel emerged last year as solid offensive performers, and should see more playing time this time around. Veteran player like Jochen Feindt and Daniel Kadir provide the team with valuable leadership.
Ortwin Stotz, best known from his time with BENNIGSEN and HANNOVER, will join the club and could provide some left-handed power. All the other additions of Germans are local players from the other HAMBURG teams, and cannot be expected to make an impact in 2009. Americans Jon Adamec and Kody Hightower were brought in to shore up the infield, and exceed the performances by last year’s trio of Thomas Haugh, Andrew White and Peter Frates.
Of the STEALERS´ 2008 pitchers, Americans Haugh and White will not be back. Both combined for 80 innings last year. Incoming Hightower and Adamec are expected to at least equal that total. With a fastball clocked as high as 92 mph, the STEALERS hope Hightower can be a more dominant force than last year’s imports. With the second game covered by the new guys, game 1 might still spell trouble. Hamburg is short on experienced and reliable pitching. Marcel Brede, the STEALERS game 1 guy, will look to improve on his 2008 performance. Behind him, things are looking rather grim. Christoph Ehlers and Florian Riedel look to be the first alternatives out of the pen. Riedner could see some more time on the hill, but his skills are needed to anchor the STEALERS infield defense.
It doesn’t look as if this year will bet the year the STEALERS finally make the playoffs. Management hasn’t found a way to become a stronger hitting ball club. The team lacks one or two strong German hitters. Possibly they can develop some of their talented youngsters into that role, but if so, it seems to be a good bet that this will not yet happen in 2009.
Pulheim Gophers
After a 6-year long absence from the first division, the GOPHERS are back at the top. And will try to stay there with a young and mostly local talent complemented by a few American players.
Coach Ben Bizier, who guided the GOPHERS through the second league, will be back.
Veteran Philipp Spade, Fabio Lo Jacono and Christopher Gentles were already around the last time the Gophers played in the first league. Christian Weiland has 1st league experience with NEUNKIRCHEN. Besides these guys, the team is still very young. First baseman Philipp Krah leads the way, along with pitcher Christopher Gerlach.
Newcomers are American player O´Brien Taylor and Joseph Overby, as well as group of young guys, including Sebastian Jaap and David Wohlgemuth, who are coming over from the DOHREN WILD FARMERS.
Expect the GOPHERS to battle the STEALERS for 6th place. The jump from the second to the first division is usually a big one, especially as hitters need time to adapt to the better pitching. If things go well for PULHEIM they can fight for as high as 5th place.
Photo: © www.eisenhuth-photographie.de
