Tonight's Softball Line

Big game tonight. The Overtown Centerfielders travel to Mills Pond to take on the Master Batters. Let's break it down.

LINE: OVERTOWN +3.5, OVER/UNDER 22.5

Meat's pick: OVERTOWN +3.5 and UNDER


Line opened up at Overtown +2.5. Some Master Batters bet it up to 3.5. There are beers on the line here. This shit is intense.

Now, I gotta ride Overtown here. I like the way this team is starting to gel even though I hate their offense. I originally wanted to take the Over, but looking at the two teams and their combinations of decent defense (Master Batters at times play very good defense) and suspect offenses, I gotta go Under. I'm thinking like a narrow 11-10 Centerfielders win.

Overtown sports a nice top of the lineup and has some of the better power in the league, but they've still struggled to bring in runners. SS Chris Scurry has been a force for this team all season but other than that, they are a pretty inconsistent bunch. Their clean-up hitter has hit 5 HRs this season, but he's probably hit at least 10 shallow fly-outs. The lead-off guys can either go 4-4 or 0-4. CF Chad Van Horn has locked the lead-off spot up as of late, with 3B Larry Noel struggling in his chance and being moved back to his more familiar 5- or 6-hole. Larry is a guy that can give you a 1-4 with three weak ground outs or a solid 3-3 with 3 line drives. Chad was like that but now he's trying to man up and swing for the fences because it's manly. And because the Centerfielders are usually down by 7 at that point.

Outside of that, the Centerfielders saw the bottom of their line-up step up last week. 1B Tom Burkett had some solid drives and P Mike Aguanno hit an inside-the-park home run to go along with 5 innings of solid pitching (he had one rough inning, but don't we all). The Centerfielder ladies have had their ups-and-downs as well. If C Katie Lamberti, 2B Alana Lamberti and CF Jordan Joyce can get a little air under their hits and drop them in shallow outfield like at the beginning of the season, this team can be an offensive force. Their problem is inconsistency. They never seem to all put it together for a single game.

Defensively, the Centerfielders have looked much better as of late. Jordan and Chad have played some excellent outfield, Scurry's been his typical Hoover vacuum self, and Larry has made the tougher plays at third. This is why I'm leaning toward taking the under...you can't pop-up your way to 20 runs on this team anymore. The main way to beat them is to act like fucking douchebags and take walks.

Now, the Master Batters are a similar team to the Centerfielders, but they have a lot more consistency and experience. Like Overtown, the Batters have a lot of guys who can hit, but it seems like they never can all do it at once. Overtown saw that up close last week when teh usually dependable SS Brandt Shuler stepped in for them and weakly went like 0-3 along with some Titus Young-ian effort in right field. But he can usually hit, so you have to be careful with him. P/3B Max Mortarello and CF Jesse Morrow also have some big bats, but while they have a bit more power than Shuler, they lack the same consistency. This team has some excellent females who can hit and play anywhere on the diamond, so there's no gimmes in this line-up. They also make most of the plays on defense that they should. They are clearly more consistent on the defensive side of the ball than the Centerfielders, but I think the Centerfielders can make some of the highlight-reel plays that the Batters cannot.

So, while the public appears to prefer the experience, skill and consistency of the Batters, I'm taking the Centerfielders here to cover the 3.5 runs. Overtown does NOT walk, so their bats better be alive if they are going to make me look good here. I think they have it in them.


PICK: Overtown +3.5, $25


EDIT: I failed to consider the impact of the Master Batters' best pure hitter, C "Big Play" Ray Shuler. Big Play Ray may not get the headlines, but he's batting damn near 1.000 from what I've seen. The Centerfielders will have to limit his damage if they want a shot at a victory tonight.