Renbarger family reunion crashes playoff party

Four out of five Renbarger managers (80%) skippered their clubs to I-75 League playoff berths in the 2020 season.

Non-Renbarger managers, which outnumber the Renbargers 10-5, only filled two spots. That’s a pitiful 20%.

Bosh.

Furthermore, Renbargers swept the division titles, with Bushwood’s Dave leapfrogging Satellite Beach one last time to win the North and join Mike’s Superior Titans (West Division champs) and John’s Boulder Tree Huggers (South Division champs) as plaque-earners.

Ryan’s Dyersville Treblemakers went on a 15-win blitz in October to surge into the sixth playoff spot and become the fourth Renbarger manager to qualify for the postseason. That’s one more than the 2016 season when three Renbargers filled half the playoff field.

The other wild-card berths are filled by teams from the North, with Margaritaville finishing hot and claiming the fourth seed, while Satellite Beach hung on for the fifth seed.

Thus the playoff pairings look like this:

• No. 3 Bushwood (92-68) vs. No. 6 Dyersville (89-71). Winner plays No. 2 Boulder (96-64). Bushwood won the season series over Dyersville 6-4.
• No. 4 Margaritaville (91-69) vs. No. 5 Satellite Beach (90-70). Winner plays No. 1 Superior (96-64). Satellite Beach won the season series over Margaritaville 8-7.

Superior and Boulder both finished at 96-64; Superior earned the No. 1 seed over Boulder by virtue of its 7-3 record in head-to-head play between the two teams.

So, remarkably, only seven victories separate the top seed (96) and sixth-seeded (89) playoff teams. It suggests a throw-the-seeds-out postseason in which every series could be up for grabs.

Mike and Dave are tied for the most world championships in league history with six each; John McMillan has two. John Renbarger, Steve Nieroda and Ryan Renbarger are each seeking their first world title.

Congratulations to all of the participants and best wishes to all!

Clip Files for October

Applegate finished the 2020 season with an 83-77 mark, giving the Clips their eighth winning season in the past nine years. Alas, 83 is far short of the win total the Clips anticipated heading into the season as Applegate missed the playoffs and finished third in the Western Division. The Clips’ hopes were momentarily bouyed as they went 11-4 in their first 15 games of October and mathematically, a path to the playoffs seemed possible. But then Dyersville obliterated the Clips 4-1 in Applegate’s final series of the year, averaging more than eight runs a game by mashing 16 homers, seven off the bat of Matt Olson, who drove in 19 runs while hitting .500.  Applegate was held to 24 runs in that series.

Lava Flow for October

As provided by John McMillan:

Saving their best for last, the Volcanoes surged to 15 October victories, second place in the Northbound division, and the presumed No. 4 playoff seed.  The Volcanoes opened October play taking 4 of 5 from the Bushwood Gophers, won 3 games (out of 5) against the Hypnotoads and Beach Bums, and then closed the month with a 5-0 sweep of the Beach Bums.  The offense continued to roll, batting .312 and hitting 49 Home Runs while scoring 137 runs.  With at-bat usage limiting Chris Yelich to 44 at-bats, Sam Hilliard filled in with a Yelich-esque .400 BA, 5 HR’s and 13 RBI’s in 30 at-bats.  Other October batting stars included Charlie Blackmon’s 30 hits (18 extra-base hits) in 74 at-bats (.405 BA) with 20 runs and 24 RBI’s, Wilmer Flores and Jordan Luplow left-mashing for .400+ BA, 6 combined HR’s and 14 combined RBI’s, and Mitch Garver and Francisco Lindor each hitting 6 HR’s.  Shane Bieber and Luis Castillo had good months, each going 3-0 – Bieber with a 1.52 ERA and Castillo with a 2.63 ERA.  Deadline pickup Scott Oberg was 1-0 with 2 saves and a 0.00 ERA in 4 games; Daniel Hudson and Rowan Wick also posted 0.00 ERA’s on the month.

The game of the month was the second game of the Bushwood series.  The Volcanoes opened October play with an 8-1 loss to Justin Verlander (Oh, I hate that guy)

‘The previous season is under review’

It’s over. Is it though? Is it really?

A chaotic final month of the 2020 I-75 League season saw one team, the Satellite Beach Brawlers, begin October play in a position of having to intentionally walk opponents in order to get through games without violating usage rules and accepting forfeits.

Another team, the Savannah Scorpions, wasn’t so fortunate; the Scorps overused three of their star hitters and were socked with three forfeits that changed the complexion of the South Division race as well as the wild-card playoff picture.

So at this writing, the games are over. But the stats must be reviewed before playoff pairings can be set, because everything finished so… so tight.

The Brawlers started October in first place in the South with 83 wins. Piecing together a pitching staff with bubblegum and barbed wire, Satellite Beach wheezed and gasped its way to seven wins and 90 total. But not only were the Brawlers overtaken by Bushwood, which entered the month one behind S.B., but also Margaritaville. Bushwood’s 10-win month gave the Gophers 92 for the year, and the Volcanoes exploded for 15 wins to climb all the way to 91. Satellite Beach: Third in the division, fifth in the seeding.

Think that was wild? In the North, Boulder coasted in with 11 more wins and 96 total to win a division it had long ago wrapped up. Savannah put up 11 of its own on the field to post an 86 and what looked to be the sixth and final playoff position.

Lava Flow for September

As provided by John McMillan:

“Stop me if you’ve heard this one before …”

Yes, the Volcanoes can bang the ball.  In September play the Volcanoes scored 135 runs, behind a .282 Batting Average and 47 HR’s.  Mitch Garver’s 8 HR’s and 21 RBI’s led the team.  Chris Yelich’s usage was down (57 at-bats) but he still contributed 6 HR’s and 11 RBI’s.  Kris Bryant led the team with 20 runs.  Joc Pederson chipped in with 6 HR’s.

Run prevention still is proving to be an elusive skill in Margaritaville.  In September play, the Volcanoes allowed 91 runs.  Brandon Woodruff’s era was 7.50, Domingo German’s was 7.20, and season-long under-achiever Luis Castillo chipped in with a 7.77era.  In his 4 September starts, Castillo gave up 28 hits, 8 HR’s, and 19 runs in 22 innings pitched.

But the story was more than just runs scored and runs allowed.  The Volcanoes were 0-2 in extra inning games, were 1-4 in 1-run games, and stranded 12 more runners than their opponents, which all added up to an 11-9 month.