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Leagues | Story | 12/9/2017

PGNIL 18U Playoff Preview

BJ Fish

18U Playoff Preview

National Seeds
1) NJ Axemen Blue (8-1-2) - Wayne, New Jersey
2) Starters Red (9-2-1) - Shakopee, Minnesota
3) PG Black (8-4) - Cedar Rapids, Iowa
4) PG Navy (7-4-1) - Cedar Rapids, Iowa
5) PG Gold (7-5) - Shakopee, Minnesota
6) Starters Black (2-9-1) - Shakopee, Minnesota
7) NJ Axemen Red (1-8-2) - Wayne, New Jersey
8) PG Red (1-10-1) - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Game #1 - #1 NJ Axemen Blue (8-1-2) vs #8 PG Red (1-10-1) - Sunday 12/10 3:20PM CT

NJ Axemen Blue

Player	AB's	Hits	Runs	HR	RBI	AVG	Max Dis	Avg Velo	Max Velo
Sam Armstrong	110	55	29	3	21	.500	353	79.0	91.7
Steve Rabe	117	50	26	4	30	.427	349	75.8	92.4
Devyn Fahnestock	69	29	12	5	16	.246	353	75.8	92.8

This year's #1 overall seed in the 18U division once again goes to a team from Players Edge in NJ Axemen Blue. Armstrong and Rabe have both been extremely impressive, with both hitting over .400. Devyn Fahnestock has missed some time, but when he is around, this team is very hard to beat. Fahnestock is currently the Nation's HR leader at 5, however, his teammate Steve Rabe is right behind him with 4. It will be interesting if they can bring it all together to win a title.

PG Red

Player	AB's	Hits	Runs	HR	RBI	AVG	Max Dis	Avg Velo	Max Velo
Anthony Kernwein	126	60	11	0	8	.476	285	69.9	86.8
Peyton Stuckey	186	58	13	0	10	.312	282	67.2	82.6

Plagued by scheduling problems and injuries all season, PG Red has had to deal with what they have had from week to week. Coming in with a record of 1-10-1, a win this weekend over the #1 seed would save the season and make for a great underdog story.

Game #2 - #4 PG Navy (7-4-1) vs #7 PG Gold (7-5) - Sunday 12/10 3:40PM CT

PG Navy

Player	AB's	Hits	Runs	HR	RBI	AVG	Max Dis	Avg Velo	Max Velo
Konstantinos Papazoglou	171	104	43	3	39	.608	380	81.5	95.8
Colten Bell	132	52	20	0	21	.394	317	74.6	90.7
Joshua Burrell-Nash	92	14	5	0	7	.152	272	63.6	85.1

PG Navy, led by reigning 16U MVP Konstantinos Papazoglou has been a tough team to figure out all season long. They have shown stretches where they have turned the corner and exploded for runs and had some other games where they just didn't hit the ball well. However, Konstantinos Papazoglou has been a very consistent player for this team and the team will go as far as he carries them. On the year, he has hit for a league leading .608 average and is second in RBI's with 39.

PG Gold

Player	AB's	Hits	Runs	HR	RBI	AVG	Max Dis	Avg Velo	Max Velo
Zak Packingham	118	66	35	2	40	.559	375	82.5	98.2
Lane Thole	118	44	16	0	20	.373	292	71.8	88.2
Nick Saathoff	151	72	30	0	24	.477	265	73.3	87.6

Last season around this time, Nick Saathoff was the batting champ of the league and leader of his PG Gold team as they came just short of the playoffs. This season, off an open heart surgery, Nick has defied the odds and has continued tearing it up. Zak Packingham has been the undeniable leader for this team, hitting for a league best 40 RBI's. When this team is clicking, they can beat anybody.

Game #3 - #2 Starters Red (9-2-1) vs #7 NJ Axemen Red (1-8-2) - Sunday 12/10 4:40PM CT

Starters Red

Player	AB's	Hits	Runs	RBI	AVG	Max Dis	Avg Velo	Max Velo
Frankie Volkers	54	30	7	8	.556	313	74	91.6
Dillon Hanson	36	17	6	5	.472	271	73.8	87.3
Thomas Gross	98	45	11	20	.459	305	72.8	86.3
Nathan Trecker	114	52	17	14	.456	278	66	82.1
John Volkers	62	16	11	5	.258	314	68.8	87.7

With a team Batting Average of .440, Starters Red has one of the best averages of any team at the 18U level. With 4 of their batters hitting over .450, they have a very balanced attack and with timely hitting, have potential to go on a huge runs. At .556, Frankie Volkers ranks 3rd Nationally in Batting Average.

NJ Axemen Red

Player	AB's	Hits	Runs	RBI	AVG	Max Dis	Avg Velo	Max Velo
Kyle Kane	76	29	5	5	.382	304	70.7	81.5
Anthony Bassi	37	14	2	3	.378	287	68.4	82.3
Zach Casey	66	19	3	5	.288	276	68.4	81.3
Anthony Marchetto	104	34	10	7	.327	286	63	78.7

The NJ Axemen Red team is currently hitting .339 as a team this year but has had some issues converting those AB's into runs scored. Anthony Marchetto currently leads the team in RBI's at 7 and Kyle Kane has probably been the most consistent performer, sitting at an average of .382.

Game #4 - #3 PG Black (8-4) vs #6 Starters Black (2-9-1) - Sunday 12/10 4:20PM CT

PG Black

Player	AB's	Hits	Runs	HR	RBI	AVG	Max Dis	Avg Velo	Max Velo
Dylan Schultz	129	60	27	0	23	.465	330	76.6	89.7
Alex Greene	108	48	24	1	28	.444	349	73.2	96.6
Tyler Oberbrockling	82	32	12	0	22	.390	335	79.7	94.2
Michael Weiss	103	37	23	0	16	.359	266	69.5	84.4

Probably the team that spends it's most time at Perfect Game, PG Black heads into the playoffs as Facility Champions here at Perfect Game. They may be without Power Hitter Alex Greene this weekend, however, they have played through adversity all year and we expect them to compete for the title regardless. Dylan Schultz is probably the team's most consistent player, hitting at a .465 clip.

Starters Black

Player	AB's	Hits	Runs	RBI	AVG	Max Dis	Avg Velo	Max Velo
Calvin Ybarra	61	24	6	6	.393	302	67.9	86.3
Andrew Ellingson	109	38	9	14	.349	258	65.2	83.5
Joshua Gabrick	67	18	6	2	.269	312	57.2	87.5
Samuel Szymanski	47	10	1	1	.213	272	54.8	85.5
Evan Zamec	36	5	1	0	.139	310	62.2	85.2

Starters Black has not haad the season that they had hoped for at the beginning of the year, however, they have put together a couple good games to get to two wins this year. Calvin Ybarra and Andrw Ellingson are probably the two leaders on this team, combining for 20 of the teams 23 RBI's and 15 of the team's 23 runs.

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