The South Oakland Ducks of the North Side look to rebound in 2021, after a disappointing season last year. The team finished under .500 for the first time in six years in 2021. After a solid win over South Hills in the first round, we lost to a stacked BIG OIL team in the semifinals.
The big offseason news is that the Oilers merged with the Rebels and are now playing in AAA. Taking their spot in AA are the Senators and the expansion Piranhas. Returning after a year off are D2 and Bauerstown.
Bauerstown is probably the preseason favorite along with 2020 finalist Bandidos and the 2019 champion Devils. I’ll put the Piranhas right behind this group for now, but they’re supposed to be good. They’re a bunch of high school kids from a good baseball school who will likely be disappointed by our fields.
Cranberry is a no longer a sleeper pick after putting together two consecutive solid regular seasons. They also added the third woman in league history who will pitch and play outfield for them. She is a former olympian and likely the best athlete in the league. I’m curious how she’ll fare. D2 has the pitching depth to make a run, and the Eagles are due to rebound in Ethan’s second season as manager. It should be a competitive division.
South Oakland added a couple players who should contribute right away. Dimas is also returning after a year off to play second and clap. We lost Ducks legend James Fago to a new job in Chicago, and our long-time shortstop moved up to the Bulldogs after leaving South Oakland halfway through last season for personal reasons.
Every year I wonder if half our team will just get old all at once, but if it hasn’t happened yet. I think we have the pitching to compete. We need to avoid getting swept by Cranberry again this season. I am now 40. My career will span three decades, and grateful for another season at the Duck Pond.
South Oakland lost to the Hebrew Oilers 9-2 in Brookline Wednesday night. The Ducks were held hitless until the sixth when Mark Lombardi tripled to left, but the game was out of reach at that point. The Ducks leading hitter was ejected in the second in a bizarre move by the field ump. That set the tone for the rest of the game.
Overall, it was a good season despite our record. I’m not one for moral victories, but we added a few guys who will help us going forward, and it was a fun year under difficult circumstances. We were in every game but a couple. Unfortunately, one of those was our final playoff game.
We finished fourth, but we won a playoff game. A couple bounces during the regular season, and maybe we get a bye and things are different. I’ve suffered much more crushing defeats as a Duck. The future is bright in South Oakland.
Tom will post team awards at some point. Good luck to the Bandidos and Oilers in the finals this weekend.
South Oakland eliminated the South Hill Devils, winning 9-1 in Elliot last night.
The Ducks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second before both benches received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Ducks added three runs in the fourth, one in the sixth, and two in the seventh. The runs in the seventh inning came after the Devils starter beaned the Ducks second baseman after a bunt attempt. That loaded the bases for Pulice who drove in two runs with a fielder’s choice on a botched double-play attempt.
The Devils scored their run in the fourth.
Ducks starter Billy Welsh (W, 1-0) pitched five strong innings, and Fago went the last two to secure the victory.
Morgan and Lombardi had multi-hit games for the Ducks.
The Ducks play BIG OIL tonight, 8:00 at Moore Park. The winner advances to the championship series against the winner of tonight’s Bandidos Cranberry game.
The Ducks travel to Elliot to take on the defending champs in tonight’s first round matchup. The winner advances to play BIG OIL in the semifinals tomorrow night. South Oakland and the Devils split their season series, and finished even in net runs. The Ducks won 14-8 and 6-2, and lost 7-1 and 5-1. Twenty-two runs for and 22 against. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs, the game went ten innings. This appears to be an even matchup.
The other side of the bracket has the Bandidos and Eagles playing tonight with the winner taking on Cranberry in the semifinals. Andy has a preview on their site. Solid work as always. Andy also put a lot of work into our all decade teams, and scraping our league’s all-time stats from the defunct NABA site.
Here’s the AA team.
The Ducks are well represented. We’ve had some great players on this team. I’m fortunate to have played with and against a lot of ball players far more talented than I am over the last 17 years.Other Ducks who made it are Kenny Rayl who was named all decade in AAA for his time on the Black Sox. Ciccone spent most of the decade with the Oilers, but played on South Oakland from 2013-2014. Bandido/Dirty Birds Eddinger, Friend, and Gallagher played with us in Columbus so they’ve logged almost a dozen games as Ducks. Graff played with us for most of the decade.
2014 South Oakland Ducks
It’s been a tough season for a lot of obvious non-baseball reasons. I have a hard time getting too upset about underachieving this year when it’s amazing we were able to play at all. Still, there’s little solace in losing just because we’re in the middle of a pandemic.
I think every team in the tournament can make a run. We have a tough draw, but there’s still a path for us. We certainly didn’t peak too early this year.
We have Billy going tonight, and I don’t think we’re missing any starters.
South Oakland takes on the defending champs tonight in Spring Hill with a chance to win the season series. The Ducks have won two straight including Monday night’s 14-8 slug fest at South Hills.
A win tonight keeps the Ducks in the hunt for a home playoff game. South Oakland has won two straight and looks to keep the momentum going as the team heads into the post season. The team is playing with confidence.
South Oakland broke a five game winless streak, defeating the Bandidos 5-3 today in Spring Hill. Billy Welsh (W, 2-1) pitched a complete game for the win. The Ducks improve to 6-9-1 on the season.
As always the Bandidos looked great, but they still missed the boat with their new uniforms when they could’ve gone with these classics.
Baseball: Montreal Expos Andre Dawson (10) in acton, making catch vs Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field Chicago, IL 9/11/1981 CREDIT: Heinz Kluetmeier (Photo by Heinz Kluetmeier /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X26016 TK2 R5 F4 )
The Ducks next game is Monday, 8:30pm, Herschel Park vs. South Hills Devils
The Ducks are now winless in five straight after the Bandidos overcame a 3-1 deficit to win in Spring Hill last night. Bakery Square scored 2 runs in the sixth and 3 in the seventh.
South Oakland’s record is terrible, but throwback night was a success.
Bandidos missed an opportunity to go with these beauties when they settled on their new unis. Could’ve used a lowercase b in the same font for the logo.
South Oakland plays next on Sunday, 9am, at Springview Field.
South Oakland looks to snap its four-game winless streak tonight against Bakery Square. The Ducks won the first two meetings 14-8 and 6-3 (8 inn.), respectively.
Tonight is throwback night. Players from each team are encouraged to wear their oldest NABA jersey to celebrate our league’s rich 17-year history.
South Oakland and South Side battled to a 5-5 tie yesterday in Elliot. The Ducks lead 5-1 early but couldn’t add to their lead. The Eagles scored two unearned runs late in the game, and South Oakland lead 5-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh. The Eagles battled back to tie after a bunch of walks.
The Ducks failed to win another great start from Billy Welsh.
We left a lot of men on base yesterday
We are 2-2-1 in extra-innings this season
At this point, we are playing for the 4th seed, and a home playoff game – still very attainable
We are 0-3-1 without 2019 team MVP, SS, Tony Casale. Our other middle infielders have had work commitments the last couple weeks. It’s been a tough four games.
South Oakland plays next on Wednesday, 9pm, Springview Field vs Bakery Square.
Wednesday is throwback night. Both teams will wear historic NABA jerseys to celebrate our league’s illustrious 17 year history.
South Oakland Ducks Baseball 