Mister Baseball

The German National Team was the reason for two weeks off in the Bundesliga, as they travelled to Rotterdam to play in the World Port Tournament. The team may have only won a single game, but was the surprise of the tournament after they nearly beat Cuba twice and played each team tough. Armed with some hard earned respect, the players return to their club teams to finish up some exciting playoff races.

In the north, Hamburg will try to get some important wins and fight back into a playoff spot when they play Dohren. Dortmund sits in fourth currently, but will take on the red-hot team from Bonn. Solingen has an easy matchup against Berlin, meaning they have a shot at Bonn’s second place seat. Paderborn plays Pulheim in the last matchup of the week.

Baseball in the south will be just as exciting, as Heidenheim travels to Haar with second place on the line. Should Haar sweep their guests, they’ll clinch a playoff birth with a Mannheim loss in Mainz, as the teams kick off the weekend on Friday night under the lights. Two games separate the teams, so Mannheim will need a positive result to stay in the playoff chase. Gauting hosts Bad Homburg in the battle for last place, while Regensburg is stuck with a third week off.

North:

HSV Stealers vs.Dohren Wild Farmers

The two teams are down on their luck this season, and will both need some wins to keep the outlook bright. The Stealers have slid down the standings after once sitting in third place, while Dohren is taking their last shot at staying in the playoff hunt. In order to do so, they’ll have to beat the new import pitcher in Hamburg, Justin Staatz, who lost his Bundesliga debut to Bonn. Although Dohren has a two game winning streak after sweeping Berlin before the long break, they’ve more likely to return to the losing column. Hamburg will stay in contention for fourth with their two wins.

Dortmund Wanderers vs. Bonn Capitals

The Wanderers have done a great job of overcoming adversity this season, and their persistence has them in fourth place with just eight more to play. They’ve been buoyed by the performance of Matt Kemp, who beat Hamburg and Solingen in two of his last four starts, and the lineup has had a noticeable improvement since the midway point of the season. The team from Bonn will be a tough one, however, as the Capitals continue to fight to hold on to second place. They sent a handful of players to the World Port Tournament on the German National Team, so they are now rested and well prepared for the Wanderers and Kemp. While it is hard to count the Wanderers out, things look in Bonn’s favor to sweep.

Solingen Aligators vs. Berlin Sluggers

Solingen, who just a few weeks ago looked as though they would stumble into the playoffs, has righted their ship in tremendous fashion, putting pressure on Bonn for the remainder of the regular season. Strong performances in the Buchbinder Cup and European Cup Qualifier, added to sweeps in the last two Bundesliga game days, have the rest of the league on notice. In Berlin, the team is trying to position themselves to get out of the relegation spot, but its easier said than done. With just three wins this season, they are deep but overmatched team in the first league.Without a single batter hitting over .300, they can’t matchup against Solingen, and the Alligators take two wins at home.

Paderborn Untouchables vs. Pulheim Gophers

The Untouchables had their perfect record spoiled by Bonn, but they didn’t let that slow them down and have returned to steamrolling their opponents. This weekend, the Gophers have the unfortunate luck of putting their playoff hopes in front of the Paderborn Express. They could pull within one game of fourth place this weekend if they were to sweep, but Paderborn has Bonn still in striking reach of their spot atop the standings and can’t afford to coast into the playoffs. Shouldn’t be a problem, though. The Untouchables will win both, and the magic number to clinching the top spot will be two.

South:

Mainz Athletics vs. Mannheim Tornados

The fourth and fifth place teams will start the series on Friday night, which the Mainz team hopes to use in their favor. After holding on to second place through the first half of the season, when they played every game on the road while waiting to open their new field, the team has slipped down the standings even when playing in the comforts of home. They’ve lost four of six in the new digs, and need at least a win to hold on to their spot. Mannheim will look for a sweep to get some momentum going into the end of the season. Both teams play Gauting and a top team over the final two weeks, so the schedule doesn’t benefit either. If Mainz’s pitching is recovered after the long break, they should win two and be a lock for the playoffs.

Haar Disciples vs. Heidenheim Heidekoepfe

The two teams which were in fourth and fifth place after 10 games are now battling for second, an impressive turn around for two very different clubs. Heidenheim has fought back to regain some respect after a dismal start to a season of high expectations, while Haar has finally made the jump into the conversation of top teams in the south. The team from the Munich suburbs has won four in a row convincingly while Heidenheim has sweated out six wins in a row; just one of them by more than 3 runs. The deciding factor may be whether Haar can do away with their lazy starts after time off, but the chance to grab second place should motivate them for at least a split.

Gauting Indians vs. Bad Homburg Hornets

The Gauting players were well represented at tournaments around Europe during the break, a departure from their disappointing season. In order to move out of last place, they’ll turn to the pitching trio of Dominik Hartinger (dominant at World Port Tournament), Benji Waite (strong performance in Prague Baseball Week), and John Dobkowski (also strong at Prague Baseball Week). It isn’t the arms which have been the problem, though, but instead a .924 fielding percentage and a .233 team batting average. The Hornets started the season with the goal of playing spoiler, and they’ve succeeded in as much: wins over Mannheim and Mainz have put both on the verge of missing the playoffs. Now, they can take a step towards clinching 6^th place week a sweep. The strong pitching of Gauting will be too much for the Hornets bats, though, and the Indians will trade spots with the Hornets.

Standings North

Standings South

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