In a battle of last place teams this past weekend Gefle took two games from Alby, 17-12 and 22-12, in the Swedish Baseball League regular season finale. Gefle ends the season with a 9-21 mark while Alby managed only a single win in 30 contests.
The first round of the playoffs begin on Saturday when the league-leading Karlskoga host Stockholm. The Bats (25-5) boast the top hitter and pitcher in the league in Shawn VANCE (.465) and Adam SOWELL (12-0, 1.67) but dropped 2-of-3 games to Stockholm this season.
Stockholm (17-13) is hitting .301 as a unit and is paced by dual threat Magnus PILEGARD who has a .406 batting average and is 5-1 on the pitching mound. The ace pitcher shutout the Bats 9-0 during the regular season while the offense mauled the league’s top pitching staff for 31 runs in three games.
The Sundbyberg Heat are the second seed in the playoffs and will host Tranas on Saturday. The Heat (21-9) are led by top hitter Rickard LJUNG (.482) and their ace pitcher Nick SOUBIEA (5-3, 2.53) and swept three games from Tranas in May.
Tranas (18-12) ended the regular season on a high note going 8-2 in ther last 10 games. A sweep of Sundbyberg two weeks ago and a 12-6 win over Karlskoga makes Tranas a dangerous playoff foe. Tony DERMENDZIEV (.350) is the top hitter and Ryan LEAKE (6-3, 2.89) anchors the pitching staff.
Analysis and prediction of Semifinal matchups:
Karlskoga Bats (25-5) vs BSK Stockholm (17-13)
Scouting Report #1: The Bats have won 18 of their last 20 games and boasts the Swedish Baseball League top hitter (Shawn VANCE, .465) and pitcher (Adam SOWELL, 12-0). Went 1-2 against Stockholm during regular season. Top players includes Kent KARLSSON (10-4, 2.31) and Joe ROVIROSA (.445). Karlskoga hit .319 as a team and sported a league-best 2.94 ERA.
Scouting Report #2: Stockholm ended the regular season by winning five of their last six games and ace pitcher Magnus PILEGARD (5-1) blanked the Bats 9-0 on June 2. Bjorn JOHANNESEN (.395), Dean LINDBERG (.381), and Petter DIURLIN (.336) lead a unit hitting an impressive .301.
Prediction: Stockholm matches up well with Karlskoga and a win in Game 1 might be all the momentum needed for a serious playoff run. But the Bats are loaded with offensive weapons and a trip to championship series awaits the regular season champs.
Sundbyberg Heat (21-9) vs Tranas (18-12))
Scouting Report #1: The Heat were cruising along with a 20-2 six weeks ago but have gone a dismal 1-7 in their past eight games including a pair of losses (6-3 and 5-3) to Tranas. Top hitters Philip GAJZLER (.386) and Eric MERCADO (.344) pace a squad hitting at a .297 clip.
Scouting Report #2: Tranas has won five straight games and sports a 9-2 mark in their last 11 games. Lost first three meetings against the Heat before sweeping a struggling Sundbyberg squad two weeks ago. Erik FALKENANG (.347) and Matt MERRIFIELD (.325) are the top hitters.
Prediction: The Heat are struggling which makes this series a virtual toss-up. Tranas will be confident but it will not be enough. Sundbyberg regroups and makes a return to the league finals.
I believe that Karlskoga beat Stockholm with at least 31 runs, and that Pilegard most certainly didn’t pitch a 9-0 shutout against the Bats during the regular season. If I remember correctly, he got chased after 4 innings in a game that Karlskoga won by 11-0 (second game overall against Stockholm in the regular season, Karlskoga won the first game with 11-0 aswell).
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I think the game mentioned referes to the game played in Karlskoga during the middle of the season and not the opening weekend in Stockholm. Pilegård pitched a complete game for the Stockholm win. Karlskog did not beat Stockholm by 31 runs, that is nonsense. THey did however end up wining the semifinals in a confident way and ended up being Swedish champs for the first time in club history after winning the finals 3 games to 1.
The 0-9 game refered to was actually a 4-3 win for Karlskoga over Stockholm in the 11th inning, but due to pitching regulations for american pitchers in the swedish leauge the win was given to Stockholm. So the runs scored for Stockholm this season was 25, and that was over five games. Both the two first games between Stockholm and Karlskoga, at opening day, ended with 11-0 victories to Karlskoga.
So the runs scored where 46 for Karlskoga and 25 for Stockholm and 4-1 in games, if the result would stay as it was played
In the game the win was given to Stockholm it was Joakim Claesson that pitched the complete game for Stockholm. He only pitched in four games , 38 innings 2-1, for Stockholm this season, before an arm injury ended the season for him.
Pilegård pitched a complete game win in the middle of the season, but it wasn’t a shutout, the score was 9-4 to Stockholm.