Mister Baseball

With temperatures breaking 25°C from north to south, baseball weather across the country will host some interesting matchups. In the north, Solingen vs Pulheim is the headliner of the weekend, with the winner able to breath easy for a while longer as every matchup has playoff implications. Bonn hosts Dohren,; Hamburg will host the team from the East, Berlin; and Dortmund will look to surprise Paderborn and crawl back into the middle of the standings.

In the south, the standings are certain to change by Monday. In the series of the week the Haar Disciples host Mainz in an important matchup for both teams. Mainz is coming of a pair of stunning 1-0 wins in Heidenheim and is tied in second place, while the Munich side can knock them back to .500 and move into second with a sweep at home.

North Division

HSV Stealers – Berlin Sluggers

Hamburg had hoped to contend for the top of the league this season after making waves with their acquisitions in the off season, but the team has seen their offense turn off in the second game of each double header, and resulting with a split in each series. Hitters Jakub Vojak, Brehan Murphy, and Jerome Rousseau have had strong starts to the season, with Murphy riding an 8 game hitting streak. Pitching injuries, and untimely errors have compounded the problems of the power outage at the plate in each second game. Berlin has had similar issues with injuries, and although they held tough in two close losses against Solingen, their offense has yet to have a big day. Although a split isn’t out of the question, a loss to the Sluggers would be a caution sign of Hamburg’s building frustration.

Bonn Capitals –Dohren Wild Farmers

Dohren picked up their first win in less than brilliant fashion last weekend, while Bonn has turned their fortunes around and is riding a 5-game winning streak. The offense is leading the way, with Philipp Spade, Christian Nsien, Brad Roper-Hubbert and Florian Nehring putting up good stats. Although they currently have risen to third in the standings, Bonn is in good shape to make a rush for the top as they play the bottom two teams over the next two weekends. Dohren, lead by Garrett Rogers on the mound in Game 2, has been strong, although there hasn’t been any support from the lineup that is hitting .206 behind him. Bonn, with their eyes on making the jump to second place, will sweep, with American pitcher Bryce Schoening keeping Dohren off the bases to make Rogers’ performance irrelevant.

Solingen Alligators – Pulheim Gophers

Solingen had a tough time in Berlin as was expected, and now have a chance to show they can compete against the top teams in the division this year. Despite a split with Bonn, life hasn’t been the same for the Alligators this season. They sit in second place with games against the top half of the standings in the coming weeks, and opponents, starting with Pulheim, have the chance to bring them back into the pack in the middle of the standings. Pulheim gave in to the hype the last two weekends, when they rolled over in games against Paderborn and Bonn. Daniel Lamb-Hunt and Anderson Alvarez Echavarria lead a lineup that is scrappy but not strong, and they should make trouble for an Alligators pitching staff that leads the league in giving free passes to batters.  If the Gopher pitchers can keep the ‘gators batters off balance, they’ll take at least one, and a second win would put the teams even in the standings.

Dortmund Wanderers – Paderborn Untouchables

Paderborn has been in a class of its own thus far in the north, hitting .372 as a team and posting a team ERA of 1.13 through seven games. Just four pitchers have needed to take the mound for the Untouchables, giving up a total of 12 runs all year. At the plate, they’re starting to heat up as well, winning by 10+ runs in the last 4 games.  While Dortmund won’t be as easy of a matchup, the difference between the teams is still great. Game 2 will pit the Wanderers Matt Kemp and his microscopic 0.56 ERA against a well-rounded Untouchables lineup that has seven starters hitting over .300, although a good lineup hasn’t stopped Kemp from picking up the win in the past. Last year he ended the season with 10 consecutive starts of 9+ K’s. A split would be great for Dortmund, but the Dortmund bats won’t be enough to help Kemp.

South Division

Haar Disciples – Mainz Athletics

Both teams have been impressive up to this point, and this showdown has a lot riding on it for both teams. Mainz, fresh off a sweep of Heidenheim on the road, can thank two pitchers and some good timing for their 5-3 start: pitchers Pat Haugen and Jan-Niclas Stoecklin have been nothing short of dominant. Over eight games, they’ve allowed a mere 13 earned runs combined, making life easy for an offense that wouldn’t turn many heads. They’ll run into a Haar team that tops the league in offense at this point of the season, lead by Ty Eriksen, offseason addition Nils Hartkopf, and Mitch Stephan.  Back at home for a 4 game home stand, Haar hopes to be the first team to tag two L’s on Mainz in a weekend, and jump in front of Heidenheim and Mainz in the standings before the second half of the season.  Both games will boil down one key matchup: Mainz pitching vs Disciple hitting, and if the Disciples can break through for 5+ runs, it might be too much for Mainz to keep up with.

Heidenheim Heideköpfe – Bad Homburg Hornets

Bad Homburg continues to suffer from injuries to key players, and after having some time off they have the unlucky task of playing a Heideköpfe team that has dropped three of four at home. Heidenheim was messy in the field for the series against Haar, and with a chance to move further ahead in first place, they managed just nine hits against Mainz. Now, highly motivated to reclaim a spot at the top, they get to take out their frustrations on the Hornets.  While the stats say Bad Homburg should be competitive even against Heidenheim, injuries and inexperience have the cards stacked against them. Heideköpfe move back into a playoff spot, and the Hornets can still be happy they are in front of Gauting.

Gauting Indians – Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg

Both Gauting and Regensburg are underperforming, but one is in first and the other in last. The Legionaere scraped out four wins over the first three series with unimpressive hitting (besides Evan LeBlanc). Gauting, with a pitching staff other teams could get by with, has neither the defense or the offense to put their staff in a position to win. They grabbed their first win of the season in Bad Homburg a week ago, but Regensburg is healthy and experienced, in contrast to the previous opponent. While the first game could be kept close by Dominik Hartinger, Regensburg isn’t worried about their lead at the top of the standings.

Time	Div.	Home	Visitor	Field
Dates and Times are subject to change! In case of doubt check with the responsible national federation!
Saturday, May 07 2011
13:00	North	HSV Stealers	Berlin Sluggers	Langenhorst Ham...
13:00	South	Haar Disciples	Mainz Athletics	Ballpark Eglfin...
Sunday, May 08 2011
13:00	North	Dortmund Wanderers	Paderborn Untouchables	Hoeschpark Dort...
13:00	North	Bonn Capitals	Dohren Wild Farmers	Stadion Rheinau...
13:00	North	Solingen Alligators	Pulheim Gophers	Baseballpark We...
13:00	South	Heidenheim Heideköpfe	Bad Homburg Hornets	Heideköpfe Bal...
13:00	South	Gauting Indians	Buchbinder Legionäre	Würmtal Baseba...

Standings North

Standings South

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