2006 NPF Playoff Preview
Akron Racers vs Connecticut Brakettes

The Akron Racers are hitting on all cylinders at exactly the right
point of the season. The Racers have gone 9-2 in the month of August,
including a five game winning streak against the New England Riptide
and the Chicago Bandits, both play-off bound, to end the season.

The Racers have relied on great pitching, giving up only slightly more
than a run a game this month, and on the offensive side of the ball,
the Racers have utilized 15 longballs in August to light up the
scoreboard on their opponents.

Akron’s pitching staff has been anchored by Radara McHugh who is tied
for the lead in ERA (1.26) with Connecticut’s Sarah Pauly, and wins
with 15 along with the Riptide’s Jocelyn Forest. Along with McHugh,
Brandee McArthur’s eight wins make the two the winningest pair of
teammates in the NPF.

Meanwhile, the Racers have gotten offensive firepower from all over
their lineup. Twelve different Racers have gone yard this season.
First baseman Oli Keohohou leads the way for the Racers with eight
homeruns, good enough for second in the league. It starts at the top
for the Racers, as leadoff hitter Iyhia McMichael holds the highest
batting average of players currently with the team at .333, and her
team leading 26 runs gave her the most career runs in franchise history
with 117.

The Racers also, have experience on their side as five players making
the trip to Connecticut are champions from a year ago when the Racers
won the NPF title.

As for Connecticut, they will rely on the pitching of ace Sarah Pauly
to put the brakes on the Racers offense. Pauly is tied with McHugh for
the lead in ERA at 1.26. She also has guided the Brakettes to 13 wins
and has struck out 118 on the year.

Offensively, the dual attack of Kelly Kretschman, who leads the league
in batting average (.400), and Jessica Merchant, who leads the league
in home runs will be the fuel for the Brakettes offense.

The Brakettes have ended the year going 7-3 in August with a three game
road trip this week to Philadelphia, who they swept at home earlier in
the month.

Connecticut has the built-in advantage of having the playoffs held on
their home turf in Stratford, Connecticut where the Racers and
Brakettes split their only meeting this year in June, 2-2.

Chicago Bandits vs New England Riptide

The Chicago Bandits bring the best record to Stratford when they take
on the New England Riptide.

Along with the best record, Chicago also has the lowest team ERA (1.59)
in the playoffs. Their pitching staff has been anchored by Amy Harre
whose 1.45 ERA and 10 wins lead the Bandits.

The biggest obstacle facing the 2005 runner-ups may be the injury of
Jaime Clark. Clark hurt her knee last week and with her out of the
lineup Chicago only produced two runs in three games. If the team’s
leader in homeruns, RBI’s and runs is out of the lineup it will put
extra pressure on Anne Steffan, Nicole Trimboli and company to find a
way to get the offense rolling.

The Bandits have cooled off considerably as the end of the season
approaches, going 7-5 in August, giving the 30-12 team nearly as many
losses in the final month as they had in the first two monthes of the
season.

The Riptide have relied upon the arm of Jocelyn Forest all year long
and it probably won’t be any different in the playoffs. Her league
lead tying fifteen wins and 1.32 ERA account for more than 60% of her
teams wins this year.

The Riptide’s 2.3 runs per game are at least a full run lower than any
of the other playoff teams making the biggest question mark for the
Riptide whether their offense can put up the needed run support for
Forest.

The Riptide have also fell off as of late losing three out of four
games in their final two series of the season.

When the Riptide and Bandits met earlier this year the Bandits took two
out of the three games played.

The 2006 NPF Playoffs will be taking place in Stratford, Connecticut
this Saturday and Sunday the 26th and 27th.