Total Twins Draft League, Undrafted Round, Game 2: What was this again?

11/16/2024 11:45 AM

Cast your minds back to July...

...well that was a long rain delay.

Back in July, I started a tournament in Out of the Park Baseball 25, filling rosters with every Twins draft pick (through 2023) that had reached the majors and dubbing the bracket the Total Twins Draft League. The league got started, then actual baseball interrupted, then... other things.

Either way, my apologies for the delay, but it's back now!

For the full introductory post, click here; for the league rosters, click here.
(The short version is that players are divided into teams based on their drafted round and whether or not they signed, with some shifting and duplication based on roster sizes. I'll give you a few minutes to read back through for the full details if you need it...)

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(...all right, let's get back to simulated baseball.)

Right now, we're still in the first round of the playoff bracket, and I'm going to simulate through these. When I reach the second round, I'm going to add a poll for readers asking which of the next slate of games I should play through next. (The rest will simulate automatically.) OOTP simulates by day rather than by game, so there may be some which I cannot play through, but we'll get to that when the time comes.

As a reminder, the bracket stands as follows:

Now let's get into some of these games!

Undrafted Round

Game 2

Select League

(5) Lakeville Noses 3
(4) Duluth Pockets 8
Pockets lead 2-0

Duluth took an early lead with a four-run third and withstood a brief Lakeville push, claiming an 8-3 win and moving to within one game of advancing. Four Pockets had a pair of hits apiece, with Steve Tolleson driving in three runs and Lenny Faedo tallying a trio on his own.

That third inning saw the Pockets knock wild Noses starter Jim Hughes from the game, as with a run across and two outs, Tolleson singled in Willie Norwood, Hughes launched a wild pitch that advanced both runners, and Trevor Larnach rapped a single of his own to plate the final two runs of the frame.

While Lakeville later narrowed the gap to 6-3, Tolleson singled in a pair in the seventh to finish the scoring.

(6) Woodbury Poison 5
(3) Kenosha Sticks 3
Series tied 1-1

Though Kenosha scored three early runs to try and extend their series lead, Woodbury quickly pushed back, their three-run sixth swinging momentum en route to a 5-3 win. The Sticks had the offensive power, outhitting the Poison 8-5 and getting solo homers from Matt Wallner and J.D. Martinez, but Woodbury used key misplays and hits to take the win.

The fifth saw the Poison score without benefit of a hit, as Rick Dempsey walked, moved to second on a hit batsman, stole third, and scored on Zack Granite's sacrifice fly. But the sixth decided the game: with men on thanks to an error and walk, Mark Funderburk doubled a run home and Chip Hale plated two with a single, giving Woodbury the lead for good.

(7) Green Bay Tab 1
(2) Bloomington Berries 2
Berries lead 2-0

In a low-scoring affair, Darrell Jackson and Jovani Moran kept the Tab quiet enough to give Bloomington a 2-1 win and reach the threshold of playoff advancement. While Jackson gave up the first run of the game on Kelly Dransfeldt's third-inning solo homer, he and Moran stopped Green Bay from scoring for the rest of the game.

Bloomington quickly tied the game in the bottom of the third on Steve Braun's sacrifice fly, and two innings later, Brian Dozier skied a homer of his own to give the Berries the lead. No further runs were needed as the pitching shut down the Tab.

Choice League

(5) St. Paul Battles 5
(4) Madison Hints 9
Series tied 1-1

The bat of David Dellucci paced the battles, as the cleanup hitter slugged three home runs to pace the Hints past the Battles for their first playoff win. Each of his homers helped Madison claim momentum: a two-run shot in the first to cap an early 3-0 lead, a solo homer in the third after St. Paul tied the score, and another one-run blast in the fifth to extend the lead.

While the Battles tied the game in the seventh, the rest of Madison's bats picked up Dellucci's power: Yonder Alonso gave the Hints back the lead with a solo shot after the stretch, and Dalton Guthrie provided the finishing blow with a three-run dinger a frame later.

(6) Brooklyn Park Fights 2
(3) Racine Pieces 6
Pieces lead 2-0

Aaron Sele's strong pitching and the lineup's timely hitting turned a pitchers' duel into an easy win as the Pieces cruised late 6-2. Sele gave up just one run and six hits in an eight-inning outing.

Though Brooklyn Park's Bailey Ober matched Sele through four, Racine broke through in the fifth on Emil Brown's two-run single, then showed Ober out in the seventh with individual runs on a single, double, and sac fly. Though the Fights got one run back in the ninth, T.J. Mathews got Chad Moeller to pop out to squash any threat.

(7) Plymouth Holes 6
(2) Milwaukee Steam 4
Series tied 1-1

What seemed an easy Steam win turned chaotic late, as Plymouth rallies and mutual blown saves culminated in a 6-4 Holes series-tying victory.

Milwaukee led 3-1 entering the eighth only to see Plymouth score individual runs on a fielder's choice, sac fly, and single. Eddie Guardado entered to earn the save for the Holes, but lost it on Jamie Allen's game-tying single. Yet in a familiar baseball contradiction, Guardado wound up the winning pitcher on Gene Larkin's two-run single.

This week will be catching up the Undrafted Round; after that, plan for one set of games every Wednesday.

As it is now: see you before next Wednesday.