Submitted by Jeff Pierce, RBRL President.

In the American League, the Royals clinched a first round bye with a 2-0 week and the White Sox and Athletics battle for the last playoff bye.  Also worthy of noting are the Angels. The talented Halo’s have had an up and down year until this week where they went 2-0 with wins over the A’s and Blue Jays. In a 17-7 pounding over the A’s the Erikson boys Josh and Erik threw six innings of two-hit baseball. The Angels hitting stars included Chris Selfridge, Josh Caruso and Pat Jordan with two hits apiece. In a tight one versus the Blue Jays, David Spry closed out the win on the mound after extending the Angels lead with a three-run home run into the centerfield woods at Symonds field in the 6th. Ryan McCormick also paced the attack with three hits. The Mariner had a loss and a tie but showed a lot of grittiness nonetheless.  Nick McCafferty pitched well in both games and his variety of pitches are making him a real force from the hill as the season is progressing. In the tie versus the White Sox a six-run bottom of the 6th inning tied the game up and against the top ranked Phillies the shorthanded Mariners lost a 4-3 heartbreaker in the bottom of the 7th.  In that game Jake Barbera threw a beauty as he was unhittable for three innings before Connor Traugot put down a safety squeeze bunt for the winning run in the 7th.

The National League is going the Phillies' way so far with a lone loss all season as the Astros and Marlins fight for the remaining bye. The Mets are showing some good life in the second half of the season splitting with the Padres. They have solidified their rotation with rookie Conor Rosenstein who shut down the Padres with a four-inning, five-strikeout game, giving up only two hits. Chris Ehl’s three-run go ahead double in the 5th was a difference maker in the 5-3 win versus the Padres.

Last Saturday, the annual RBRL All Star Day took place with great weather down at Morton Field. In the Rookie All Star game the teams played to a 7-7 tie in ten innings before the game was stopped due to time considerations and the fact that Chuck Robinson ran out of motivational speeches. After a sloppy start the teams settled down with solid defense and pitching which included the last four innings being scoreless in the game. The Rookies did the League and themselves proud in this one.  Next on the agenda was the popular skills competition. The winners were Antonio DeGirolamo in the timed base running, Jake Barbera hitting the bucket in the centerfield throw and Joel DiMambro winning the Home Run Derby over Matt Marino in a hit off. Joel also flew a ball out of the Park over the 359 ft. marker. Prior to the Veteran game Marine Sergeant Gage Rossi honored us by throwing out the first pitch. The game featured an epic comeback by the Nationals as they erased a 10-1 deficit and won 15-14 on a walk-off single by Joe Pappalardo.

Dynamik Sports Player of the Week   

David Spry, 15, Angels

David was a difference maker in the Angels two win week. For the week he hit .600 and closed out both games on the mound striking out 4 in his two innings pitched.  In addition, Dave started a rare 6-4-3 double play in the field. In the win over the Blue Jay’s he had a double and hit a key two-run home run directly into the centerfield woods at Symonds to bust open a close game in the 6th inning.

Honorable Mention: Joe Pappalardo, 14  Astros; Tyler Greco, 15, Phillies   

Olde Redding Butcher Shoppe Rookie of the Week    

Thomas Peacock   13  Mariners

Thomas continued his consistent performance for the season. After being twice named as honorable mention player of the week prior, he takes top honors in Week five. He was four-for-eight at the plate with two doubles, pitched a scoreless inning against the powerhouse Phillies while playing flawless shortstop. As a member of the AL Rookie All Star team, Thomas had two hits and made one of the plays of the day at third base fielding a hard grounder headed to left field and making the long throw for the out that kept the game tied in the late innings.

Honorable Mention: Craig Weatherbee, 13, Padres;  Conor Rosenstein, 13, Mets