S16 World Series Preview by hurricane384

AL #1 Fargo Bison (106-56)
vs
NL #1 Charlotte Tar Heels (100-62)

#1 Fargo Bison (#2 RS; #11 ERA; #8 Fldg)
Path to the World Series:
Def. #4 Salem Beavers (3-1)
Def. #2 Charleston Cougars (4-0)

Best Position Player (Playoffs)
RF Gorkys James (16/36, 3 2B, 5 HR, 10 R, 16 RBI, 8-game hitting streak)

Best Pitcher (Playoffs)
RHP Ralph Mora (2-0, 13.0 IP, 0.62 WHIP, 0.00 ERA, 14 K, 4 H, 4 BB)

#1 Charlotte Tar Heels (#1 RS; #5 ERA; #1 Fldg)
Path to the World Series:
Def. #5 Syracuse Orange (3-1)
Def. #2 Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-0)

Best Position Player (Playoffs)
SS Mac Hyun (10/29, 2 2B, 6 R, 3 RBI, 4-game hitting streak, hit safely in 7 of 8 games)

Best Pitcher (Playoffs)
RHP Domingo Prado (3-0, 19.2 IP, 1.07 WHIP, 3.66 ERA, 13 K, 16 H, 5 BB)

Keys to the Series:
Fargo:
During the regular season the Bison pitching staff gave up 200 dingers…during this post-season, they have somewhat stemmed this tide by only allowing 13 HRs and putting up a WHIP of 1.19. In order for them to be victorious they have to keep up the strong pitching and continue the solid fielding.

Charlotte:
The Tar Heels staff allowed 192 HRs during the regular season, but have only allowed 10 this post-season. Although they were the #1 fielding team in the NL during the season, they’ve already committed 6 errors this post-season. They need to tighten up their defense and keep Fargo off the basepaths to win this.

My Two Cents’ Worth:
This should be a classic series. Both teams were tops in walks, so they are going to really stress the opposing pitching staffs. Fargo had 9 players hit 10+ HRs during the regular season, so their line-up is a bit more dangerous than Charlotte’s. Charlotte only had 6 hit 10+, but had 4 go for 30+ HRs. They are a dangerous offense backed up by a more than capable defense and pitching staff. Even though Fargo had more wins during the regular season, I think there are more question marks overall and I don’t believe that their offense will be able to bludgeon Charlotte’s pitching staff as well as it has in the past.
Charlotte in a classic 7-game series.