Down to the Wire
By Will Hillyard
WBL Columnist
  
 


Will's Column is a proud supporter of the WBL, WEEI, and Autozone.

  

When Kevin Conway was added to the Water Baseball League in the latest round of expansion, it meant that seven players would be competing for just four playoff spots. The short six-game schedule pretty much guaranteed that the playoff race would become a dogfight right down to the wire. And that’s exactly what has happened. With just two games left to play, things are about as wide open as they could possibly be. And strangely enough, coming into the week, there’s only one player who has already clinched a playoff spot: Kevin Conway.

Nathan and Ben v. John and Sam
Whatever happens in this game, the Morgan-Clevelands will have clinched a playoff spot. The only question will be which seed each will receive. Nathan can also clinch a tie for fourth with a victory, but a loss will mean that he’ll be at the mercy of the outcome of the final game of the season. A victory by John in the second game would knock him out of the playoffs. John may have the toughest task ahead of him, as both games will effectively be must-wins. The good news is he has control over his own destiny.

John and Will v. Dan and Kevin

Only in Water Baseball could one game take literally the entire season to play. But that’s the case with this game, which kicked off the season back on June 1. Assuming he wins the first game, John will still want to win this one, which would guarantee him a spot in the playoffs. If he has already lost the first game, John will have nothing to play for in this one. Ditto his teammate, who has already firmly chained himself to the wall in the basement. Dan has to win this game in order to have any chance of making the post-season. Unlike John, Dan’s destiny is out of his hands. If J and Sam lose the first game, Dan will be eliminated. And as for Kev, he has already clinched the top seed in the playoffs. He could, however, help determine who he plays in the first round.

I always find visual aids very helpful in this kind of situation, so I’ll show you how each of the potential scenarios might play out. If Nathan and Ben win the first game, then the standings before the make-up game will look like this:
1. Kevin 5-0
2. Ben 4-2
3. Sam 3-3
4. Nathan 3-3
5. John 1-4
6. Dan 1-4
7. Will 1-5

So the only way the make-up game will mean anything is if John and Sam are victorious beforehand. In that case, the standings will appear this way:
1. Kevin 5-0
2. Sam 4-2
3. Ben 3-3
4. John 2-3
5. Nathan 2-4
6. Dan 1-4
7. Will 1-5

In this case, the final spot will be decided in the last game of the season. A win by John would eliminate Nathan and Dan. A win by Dan would really make things complicated. That would cause a three-way tie for fourth that would require a couple playoff games to produce the 4th playoff seed. So as you can see, there are many different potential scenarios. Only time will tell who keeps playing and who goes home.





Will Hillyard is a player and columnist for the WBL. He can be reached at wrh@student.umass.edu.

Copyright 2003 © Water Baseball


 
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