New England Championship Preview: Westport, CT vs. Lincoln, RI

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Westport, CT (5-0) vs. Lincoln, RI (4-1)


It's the championship game that was predicted from the beginning. Westport came into Bristol with dominant pitching and it's held more than true. Lincoln came in with the bats and that's definitely been their M.O. in Bristol. Something has to give on Saturday night.

Westport's ERA in Bristol is 1.24 with a staff WHIP of 0.90. Overall, Westport has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 7-to-1. Chad Knight will get the ball Saturday night and he's looked fantastic. He had a shaky inning to open the tournament against a tough South Burlington, VT team, but was literally perfect against Maine. He's striking out more than two batters per inning and has just one walk in 7.0 innings pitched. He has a low-to-mid 70's fastball with a nearly unhittable slider. His efficiency could come into play on Saturday night because fellow ace, Harry Azadian is unavailable to pitch. Max Popken is a great #3, but Lincoln will have the best lineup that Westport has faced all year including Coginchaug, Bristol Edgewood, and Fairfield National.

I think Lincoln can pose problems for Westport because they're lefty dominated. Knight's fastball is overpowering, but his slider is his out pitch. Will it be as effective to lefties like big Stevie Andrews, Aaron DeSousa, Kyle Marrapese, and Dominic Cunha. Those are four of Rhode Island's five best hitters. It could be a tough matchup.

Courtest of LISPN.com

Westport's offense has been just as consistently inconsistent as it has all summer during the week in Bristol. Sometimes I feel like I'm hard on Westport offensively because they had 11 players that hit the ball and nine of them with legit home run power probably, but it never seems like they're all hitting at one time. Maybe that's a good thing. They only scored three runs in the semifinal against Saco Maine, but it wasn't off the bats of Azadian or Knight. It came from Max Popken. Other times it comes from surging Matt Stone or Ricky Offenberg. Alex Reiner and Drew Rogers string hits together regularly, and Matt "Bear" Brown comes off the bench and hits moon shots every now and then. So, the offense is there. In fact, five different players have taken the ball out of the yard this week.


Lincoln's pitching situation for Saturday night will be interesting. Many different guys can get the ball. None of them are overpowering. Zarek Larisa has been confident and effective. Maybe its big Stephen Andrews. I'm not sure. Whoever it is, it can't be Kyle Marrapese. That's not good for Lincoln when they're facing someone of the quality of Chad Knight.

The key to victory for Lincoln is to get Chad Knight out of the game. On Knight's worst day, he gives up two runs. That's at the worst. Lincoln needs two runs in four innings and get into the bullpen. For Westport, its about battling at the plate, putting pressure on a good defense, and scoring four runs.

I think four runs, maybe five wins this game. I can't see Lincoln being able to put that much together against Westport's pitching advantage.

Courtesy of LISPN.com

Interesting Stat: Westport has more runs, more walks, less strikeouts, higher OBP%, and higher SLG% than Lincoln. They're just better in every facet of the game. Definitely the favorite.

Prediction: Westport, CT 4, Lincoln, RI 2


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