(7) South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (0-0)

at

(6) Pittsburgh D2 (0-0)

8:30pm

Herschel Park

The Ducks travel to Elliot tonight to take on D2 in the first round of the 2022 Pittsburgh NABA playoffs. South Oakland lost a heart breaker to D2 in the 2019 playoffs in a game that spanned two locations after the lights went out at Herschel Park. Both teams are confident the lights will stay on for the duration of the game this evening.

On the other side of the asymmetrical bracket, the Piranhas have already forfeited to the Devils. This gives the Devils a big advantage in the second round, and affects the losers bracket game as well. The loser of the 7/6 matchup (I think) will face a team that didn’t have to use an arm against the loser of Devils, Piranhas game to advance.

The last time a team folded before the playoffs, the Ducks were the two-seed and played D2 after they advanced without having to play now-defunct, West View. The Ducks then lost in the aforementioned two-field game, and then were eliminated by eventual finalist Bauerstown.

This year was frustrating for many reasons. We lost fourteen games, some by a lot, others on the last at-bat. We didn’t have a functional rotation until mid-June, and we struggled with attendance issues the whole summer. I don’t think we’ve had all our starters and pitching in the same game this year. What bodes well for us is we will have all our players for the playoffs. We won’t have any excuses.

We can make up for a mediocre regular season with one more winning streak, but we have to get through tonight first. We will face a tough pitcher and a solid team in D2 that has had a lot of post-season success. On paper, it looks like it should be a low-scoring game. If we can scratch a couple across early and play with a lead, we have a good shot. We will be ready to go tonight.

Bad News for D2