Metro East Baseball League

[hopeful1212]

Week 13 Standings

2nd Half Standings (August 1st, 2011)

               W   L   PCT  GB   This Week   Odds
Belleville    10   5  .667  --      2-3     38.72%
Breese         9   6  .600   1      3-2     26.91%
Staunton       9   6  .600   1      3-2      2.57%
Jerseyville    8   7  .533   2      3-2      5.76%
O'Fallon       7   8  .467   3      3-2     10.53%
Edwardsville   7   8  .467   3      2-3      1.47%
Alton          6   9  .400   4      3-2     14.00%
Columbia       4  11  .267   6      1-4      0.03%

Belleville stumbled a bit but still leads. 5 teams gained on them this week however, and the standings are very tight at this point. Both Breese and Staunton are only 1 game back. And the 7th place team, Alton, is only 4 back. Belleville will face Jerseyville and Edwardsville next week.

Player of the Week:

Mark Graham (1B) -- O'Fallon Immortals
10 for 18 (.556), 3 HR, 8 RBI, 7 Runs

[hopeful1212]

Week 14 Standings

2nd Half Standings (August 8th, 2011)

               W   L   PCT  GB   This Week   Odds
Breese        13   7  .650  --      4-1     41.23%
Belleville    13   7  .650  --      3-2     31.54%
O'Fallon      11   9  .550   2      4-1     14.84%
Jerseyville   10  10  .500   3      2-3      2.35%
Staunton      10  10  .500   3      1-4      0.50%
Alton          9  11  .450   4      3-2      9.34%
Edwardsville   8  12  .400   5      1-4      0.20%
Columbia       6  14  .300   7      2-3      0.01%

Breese has now tied Belleville for the lead. O'Fallon also had a good week and is now within striking distance in 3rd place. Jerseyville, Staunton, and Edwardsville are falling back while Alton, the first half winner, are still digging themselves out of their early hole.

Player of the Week:

Reed Smith (C) -- Jerseyville Beasts
10 for 22 (.455), 2 HR, 4 RBI

[hopeful1212]

Howard loses no-hitter bid with 2 outs in 9th

August 13th, 2011 -- Tonight, Alton's Ed Howard got as close to a no-hitter as anyone has yet in MEBL's two year history. He had retired 26 Edwardsville batters without allowing a hit, although he had walked four and was pushing 120 pitches. But with two outs in the 9th, Snarl 1B Steve Reed (.338, 11 HR, 46 RBI) singled to right. So close! Howard picked up his 8th win on the year and Alton is back at .500 (12-12), 3 games out in the 2nd half.


Ed Howard (SP)
8-4, 4.66 ERA, 87.0 IP, 54 K

[hopeful1212]

Week 15 Standings

2nd Half Standings (August 15th, 2011)

               W   L   PCT  GB   This Week   Odds
O'Fallon      16   9  .640  --      5-0     57.14%
Breese        14  11  .560   2      1-4     18.08%
Belleville    14  11  .560   2      1-4     13.73%
Staunton      13  12  .520   3      3-2      1.05%
Alton         12  13  .480   4      3-2      9.33%
Edwardsville  11  14  .440   5      3-2      0.41%
Jerseyville   10  15  .400   6      0-5      0.17%
Columbia      10  15  .400   6      4-1      0.08%

Both Breese and Belleville had a poor week and O'Fallon has taken the lead. We're at the halfway mark and it's still quite close. Just 6 games seperates first from last. And we've got some interesting match-ups next week. O'Fallon and Belleville will each face Alton and Breese next week.


Player of the Week:

John McNeal (LF/RF) -- O'Fallon Immortals
8 for 18 (.455), 5 HR, 6 RBI

[hopeful1212]

Week 16 Standings

2nd Half Standings (August 22nd, 2011)

               W   L   PCT  GB   This Week   Odds
O'Fallon      19  11  .633  --      3-2     69.74%
Breese        16  14  .533   3      2-3      9.90%
Belleville    16  14  .533   3      2-3      8.42%
Staunton      16  14  .533   3      3-2      2.43%
Alton         15  15  .500   4      3-2      8.99%
Columbia      14  16  .467   5      4-1      0.42%
Edwardsville  12  18  .400   7      1-4      0.05%
Jerseyville   12  18  .400   7      2-3      0.05%

O'Fallon's in better shape now, having increased their lead to 3 games. But there's a lot of teams in that 3-5 games back range. With 20 games left, if one of them were to get hot... Alton's finally made it back to .500. They won the 1st half convincingly, but got off to a slow start in the 2nd half. I wouldn't count them out just yet.


Player of the Week:

Jerry Miller (1B) -- Belleville Cannons
9 for 20 (.450), 3 HR, 8 RBI

[hopeful1212]

Week 17 Standings

2nd Half Standings (August 29th, 2011)

               W   L   PCT  GB   This Week   Odds
O'Fallon      21  14  .600  --      2-3     43.93%
Belleville    21  14  .600  --      5-0     34.76%
Alton         19  16  .543   2      4-1     16.99%
Breese        18  17  .514   3      2-3      3.25%
Staunton      18  17  .514   3      2-3      1.04%
Edwardsville  15  20  .429   6      3-2      0.02%
Columbia      15  20  .429   6      1-4      0.01%
Jerseyville   13  22  .371   7      1-4      0.00%

The race is getting tighter. Belleville won all 5 games this week and moved into a tie for first with O'Fallon. Alton picked up a couple games and is now 2 back in 2nd. Breese and Staunton are still hanging in there at 3 games back. With 15 left to play, we've still got 5 teams with a real shot at this.


Player of the Week:

Mike Weaver (1B) -- Staunton Rebels
7 for 10 (.700), 3 HR, 6 RBI

[hopeful1212]

August 2011 Awards

Hitter of the Month:	Pitcher of the Month:	Rookie of the Month:
Jerry Miller (1B)	Michael Harris (SP)	Leonard Stone (3B)
Belleville Cannons	Alton River Hawks	Belleville Cannons
.414, 7 HR, 19 R, 20 RBI	5-1, 1.80 ERA, 29 K	.368, 1 HR, 13 R, 7 RBI

[hopeful1212]

Week 18 Standings

2nd Half Standings (September 5th, 2011)

               W   L   PCT  GB   This Week   Odds
Belleville    24  16  .600  --      3-2     45.08%
Alton         23  17  .575   1      4-1     41.35%
O'Fallon      22  18  .550   2      1-4     11.97%
Staunton      21  19  .525   3      3-2      1.26%
Breese        20  20  .500   4      2-3      0.33%
Columbia      17  23  .425   7      2-3      0.00%
Jerseyville   17  23  .425   7      4-1      0.00%
Edwardsville  16  24  .400   8      1-4      0.00%

Belleville had a solid week and is now in first place all by themselves. O'Fallon was tied for first just 5 games ago, but they now find themselves 2 games back in 3rd place. After a slow start to the 2nd half, Alton appears to be making their move. They've won 9 of their last 11 and are now just 1 game back. Staunton and Breese are still close enough to have a shot, but with 10 games left to play and so many teams ahead of them, they're longshots.


Player of the Week:

Chet Russell (CF) -- Jerseyville Beasts
10 for 22 (.455), 3 HR, 8 RBI

[hopeful1212]

Week 19 Standings

2nd Half Standings (September 12th, 2011)

               W   L   PCT  GB   This Week   Odds
Alton         26  19  .578  --      3-2     54.09%
O'Fallon      25  20  .556   1      3-2     18.60%
Belleville    25  20  .556   1      1-4     16.43%
Staunton      25  20  .556   1      4-1     10.88%
Breese        22  23  .489   4      2-3      0.00%
Columbia      19  26  .422   7      2-3      0.00%
Edwardsville  19  26  .422   7      3-2      0.00%
Jerseyville   19  26  .422   7      2-3      0.00%

You couldn't ask for a better finish than this. There's just 5 games left in the half and the top 4 teams are separated by just 1 game. Alton won the first half without much trouble and they're now on top in the 2nd half. Belleville had a chance to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the standings. But, they won just 1 game last week and find themselves 1 game back. O'Fallon was the leader before that. At one time they had a 3 game lead over their nearest rivals. But, they too fell back and are 1 game back of Alton. Staunton had the worst record in the 1st half and was hanging around .500 for most of the 2nd half. They made their move this past week, picking up 4 wins and moving to just 1 game from the lead. From here on out, I'll take a look at the contenders' games until this is decided.


Player of the Week:

John Hudson (LF) -- Belleville Cannons
5 for 10 (.500), 3 HR, 5 RBI

[hopeful1212]

Breese 3, Alton 1


Breese put something together in the 3rd on a walk and three hits. It was all the scoring they'd get and all they'd need. Breese SP Jeff Hall lasted 5.1 scoreless innings and picked up his 6th win on the year. Alton had plenty of baserunners, but had trouble getting them in. The loss dropped them into a tie for 1st.


Belleville 2, Columbia 0


Belleville picked up a game on Alton with this win and is now tied for first. SP Ben Gray was excellent, throwing 8 scoreless innings and picking up his 6th win. 2B Mark Martin drove in Belleville's first run with an RBI ground-out in the 6th and PH John Hudson pushed home their 2nd run with a single in the 7th.


Edwardsville 9, O'Fallon 3


Edwardsville got off to an early lead and O'Fallon was never really able to catch up. CF Duane Wood, who was traded from Belleville to Edwardsville earlier this year, had led the attack with 2 home runs and 4 RBI. Edwardsville got at least one hit out of every lineup spot. O'Fallon missed a chance to gain on Alton and is still 1 game back.


Jerseyville 15, Staunton 9


Oh my. Staunton led 5-2 after 3 innings and 7-5 after 7. But everything fell apart for them in the 8th. Jerseyville put up a 10 spot. They sent 14 men to the plate and had 3 doubles and 2 triples in the inning. 1B Erza Ross (2-for-4, 3 R, 4 RBI) and 3B Harry Oberholtzer (3-for-5, 3 R, 2 RBI) led Jerseyville's offense tonight. Staunton is still 1 game back.

Pennant Race (4 to play)

               W   L   PCT  GB   Odds
Alton         26  20  .565  --  45.33%
Belleville    26  20  .565  --  33.08%
O'Fallon      25  21  .543   1  16.56%
Staunton      25  21  .543   1   5.03%


Tiebreakers:     Head-to-Head   Result
ALT/BEL             3-2 ALT     Alton wins
ALT/OFL             4-3 OFL     O'Fallon wins
ALT/STA             6-1 ALT     Alton wins
BEL/OFL             6-1 OFL     O'Fallon wins
BEL/STA             4-3 STA     Staunton wins
OFL/STA             3-3 Tie     Playoff

ALT/BEL/OFL        10-4 OFL     O'Fallon wins
ALT/BEL/STA         9-4 ALT     Alton wins
ALT/OFL/STA        10-4 ALT     Alton wins
BEL/OFL/STA         9-4 OFL     O'Fallon wins

ALT/BEL/OFL/STA    13-7 OFL     O'Fallon wins

[hopeful1212]

Alton 8, Breese 4


Alton's offense was relentless tonight. They put up runs in 5 different innings. CF Burton Hunt got the River Hawks started with a two-run HR in the 1st. 2B Danny McGee capped their scoring with a 2-run shot in the 7th. SP Michael Harris went 7.2 solid innings and picked up his 14th win on the year. This win put Alton back in 1st place by themselves.


Columbia 5, Belleville 2


Columbia's first three batters of the game reached base and clean-up hitter RF Jeff Decker launched a grand slam into left to stake them a 4-0 lead. That was all Columbia's ace, and 2010 Pitcher of the Year, John Kennedy would need. He threw 8 strong innings for his 15th win this year. The loss dropped Belleville out of first place.


O'Fallon 7, Edwardsville 3


O'Fallon never trailed in this one, though Edwardsville hung tough. Despite falling behind 3-0 early, the Snarl tied it in the 5th with 4 straight singles, all with 2 outs. O'Fallon quickly untied it on 3B Maurice Burke's two-run home run in the bottom of the inning. The Immortals added two more in the next inning and won this easily. O'Fallon is still 1 game out.


Staunton 7, Jerseyville 3


Staunton knocked Jerseyville's starter, Sean Wilder, out in the 2nd inning on four straight hits that were proceeded and followed by errors from Jerseyville fielders. Staunton SP Wally Adkins picked up his 6th win and nearly went the distance. He labored at the end and had to give way to the bullpen for the final out of the game. Staunton remains 1 game back.

Pennant Race (3 to play)

               W   L   PCT  GB   Odds
Alton         27  20  .574  --  56.41%
O'Fallon      26  21  .553   1  25.95%
Belleville    26  21  .553   1  10.95%
Staunton      26  21  .553   1   6.69%


Tiebreakers:     Head-to-Head   Result
ALT/BEL             3-2 ALT     Alton wins
ALT/OFL             4-3 OFL     O'Fallon wins
ALT/STA             6-1 ALT     Alton wins
BEL/OFL             6-1 OFL     O'Fallon wins
BEL/STA             4-3 STA     Staunton wins
OFL/STA             3-3 Tie     Playoff

ALT/BEL/OFL        10-4 OFL     O'Fallon wins
ALT/BEL/STA         9-4 ALT     Alton wins
ALT/OFL/STA        10-4 ALT     Alton wins
BEL/OFL/STA         9-4 OFL     O'Fallon wins

ALT/BEL/OFL/STA    13-7 OFL     O'Fallon wins

[hopeful1212]

Alton 5, Belleville 2


Alton got 5 of their 7 hits in the 4th inning and put up a 5 spot. 1B Flynn Crowder and SS Pete Knapp each drove in 2 in the inning. Alton SP Doug McDaniel pitched well over 7.1 innings for his 10th win. With this loss, Belleville is all but done. They'd need to beat Alton over the next two games AND have both O'Fallon and Staunton lose both of their games. AND THEN, they'd need to beat Alton in a playoff game. Alton, meanwhile is looking good. They can clinch with a win and a loss from O'Fallon.


Staunton 5, Edwardsville 1


It was the Davis-show for Staunton's offense today. 3B Dan Davis had three hits on the day, the first of which put Staunton ahead in the first and CF Bruce Davis hit a two-run HR in the 5th to give Staunton a 5-0 lead. SP Artie Nelson held Edwardsville's offense in check over 6 innings and notched his 10th win. Staunton still has a slim chance, but they'll need to win their last two games and have Alton lose their last two games.


O'Fallon 6, Breese 4


O'Fallon got on board first on, scoring 3 unearned runs in the 2nd on two hits and two errors. CF Theodore Wilder added on with a 3-run shot in the 7th and it looked like the Immortals had this game easily in hand. But Breese fought back, and scored two runs in the 8th and two in the 9th. They had the tying run on base, but closer David Williams struck out C Paul Morrison to end the game. O'Fallon has the best shot at winning the 2nd half after Alton. If they could win their next two games they'll have a good shot, but they could get in by winning just one if Alton loses both of theirs and Staunton loses at least once.

Pennant Race (2 to play)

               W   L   PCT  GB   Odds
Alton         28  20  .583  --  68.87%
O'Fallon      27  21  .563   1  25.00%
Staunton      27  21  .563   1   5.68%
Belleville    26  22  .542   2   0.44%


Tiebreakers:     Head-to-Head   Result
ALT/BEL             4-2 ALT     Playoff
ALT/OFL             4-3 OFL     O'Fallon wins
ALT/STA             6-1 ALT     Alton wins
OFL/STA             3-3 Tie     Playoff

ALT/BEL/OFL        10-4 OFL     O'Fallon wins
ALT/BEL/STA        10-4 ALT     Alton wins
ALT/OFL/STA        11-4 ALT     Alton wins

ALT/BEL/OFL/STA    13-7 OFL     O'Fallon wins

[hopeful1212]

Alton 10, Belleville 6


Alton's offense came up big today. 13 hits, 5 walks, and 4 home runs. 3B Justin Smith got Alton started with a solo shot in the 2nd. C Jim Bennett and SS Danny McGee led off the 2nd with back-to-back home runs and 1B Flynn Crowder added a two-run HR in the 6th. Belleville, though trailing by 8 at one time, reduced the lead to 4 runs after hitting around in the 7th, but stalled thereafter. With this win and O'Fallon's loss, Alton clinched the 2nd half.


Edwardsville 14, Staunton 7


Everyone came to hit today. Edwardsville and Staunton scored a combined 21 runs on 37 hits. Despite being slightly outhit, Edwardsville got the best of it thanks primarily to out doubling (7-5) and out homering (4-1) Staunton. LF Bob Taylor led the Snarl attack with 3 hits including a double and a home run. He scored 4 runs and drove in 2. Staunton was eliminated with this loss.


Breese 7, O'Fallon 3


This was a close game most of the way, even though Breese was outhitting O'Fallon quite handily. O'Fallon SP Ray Dixon gave us 12 hits and 3 walks over 6 innings, but somehow limited the damage to 4 runs. Breese SP James Mayfield was more effective, lasting 7 innings and allowing 3 runs (2 earned) for the win. With this loss and Alton's win O'Fallon was eliminated.

[hopeful1212]

Week 20 Standings

FINAL 2nd Half Standings (September 19th, 2011)

                    W   L   PCT  GB     This Week
1st  Alton         30  20  .600  --      4-1
2nd  O'Fallon      27  23  .540   3      2-3
2nd  Staunton      27  23  .540   3      2-3
4th  Belleville    26  24  .520   4      1-4
5th  Breese        25  25  .500   5      3-2
6th  Edwardsville  22  28  .440   8      3-2
7th  Columbia      22  28  .440   8      3-2
8th  Jerseyville   21  29  .420   9      2-3

Alton won the first half decidedly, then got off to a rough start in the 2nd half. We saw O'Fallon, Belleville, and Breese all take turns leading and Staunton had a late surge to get within 1 game of the lead. But Alton got it straightened out in the end and won the 2nd half with a clear 3 game lead.

So, since Alton won both halves, we won't need to have any playoffs this year. The River Hawks are the 2011 Champs.

[hopeful1212]

Brighton, Valmeyer win minor league 2nd half

High Minor League
FINAL 2nd Half Standings (September 19th, 2011)

                        W   L   PCT  GB
1st  Brighton          31  19  .620  --
2nd  Gillespie         28  22  .560   3
3rd  Glen Carbon       28  22  .560   3
4th  Fairview Heights  24  26  .480   7
5th  Carlyle           23  27  .460   8
6th  Waterloo          23  27  .460   8
7th  Wood River        22  28  .440   9
8th  Mascoutah         21  29  .420  10

Brighton (affiliated with Jersevyville) was the hottest team at the end of the first half and continued to play very well. They'll take the top spot, holding off Gillespie (affiliated with Staunton) and Glen Carbon (affiliated with Edwardsville). They'll face Carlyle (affiliated with Breese) in the playoffs, who finished on top in the 1st half, but has struggled lately.

Brighton won their playoff series against Carlyle, 4 games to 2, so they're the 2011 High Minors Champs.

Low Minor League
FINAL 2nd Half Standings (September 19th, 2011)

                    W   L   PCT  GB
1st  Valmeyer      35  15  .700  --
2nd  Grafton       34  16  .680   1
3rd  Trenton       28  22  .560   7
4th  Lebanon       27  23  .540   8
5th  Troy          24  26  .480  11
6th  Freeburg      23  27  .460  12
7th  Bunker Hill   18  32  .360  17
8th  Bethalto      11  39  .220  24

Valmeyer (affiliated with Columbia) edged Grafton (affiliated with Jerseyville) for the 2nd half title. Valmeyer won the 1st half as well and were doing even better in the 2nd. Grafton gave them a little scare. They finished 26-6, including a 17-game winning streak in August. But it wasn't quite enough. So, since Valmeyer won both halves, they're the 2011 Low Minors Champs.

[hopeful1212]

2011 Award Winners

Thanks to those that voted for Hitter of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, and Rookie of the Year. Here are the results!

Hitter of the Year				Pitcher of the Year				Rookie of the Year
		LF/RF John McNeal (60%) O'Fallon Immortals In 100 games: .336/.447/.650, 0 SB 28 HR, 97 R, 72 RBI 174 OPS+, 55.3 VORP				SP Arthur Scott (100%) O'Fallon Immortals In 27 starts: 16-5, 3.26 ERA, 1.10 WHIP 182.0 IP, 23 HR, 17 BB, 108 K 150 ERA+, 3.95 FIP				3B/2B Leonard Stone (67%) Belleville Cannons In 79 games: .348/.385/.468, 4 SB 5 HR, 54 R, 34 RBI 116 OPS+, 18.3 VORP

Gold Gloves
P Thom Miller (Jerseyville)
C Kevin Arnold (Belleville)
1B Trent Baker (Columbia)
2B Danny McGee (Alton)
3B Ronald Godfrey (Columbia)
SS David O'Herlihy (Columbia)
LF Tom Schultz (Columbia)
CF Mark Graham (O'Fallon)
RF Alex Koch (Alton)

[hopeful1212]

Week 1 Standings

1st Half Standings (May 7th, 2012)

               W   L   PCT  GB   This Week   Odds
Columbia       4   1  .800  --      4-1     25.79%
O'Fallon       4   1  .800  --      4-1     25.49%
Jerseyville    3   2  .600   1      3-2     18.71%
Staunton       3   2  .600   1      3-2     15.95%
Alton          2   3  .400   2      2-3      4.32%
Edwardsville   2   3  .400   2      2-3      4.10%
Breese         1   4  .200   3      1-4      3.32%
Belleville     1   4  .200   3      1-4      2.32%

For 2012, I tweaked the odds calculation to use runs scored and runs allowed instead of just the won-loss record. This should be similar most of the time, but there will be some differences early when there's not much to differentiate teams based only on their record. I should probably consider taking into account last season's record. But for now, I'm still just basing it on the current season.

After the first week, the standings look a little different than they did for most of the last two years. Columbia and O'Fallon are on top after the first week, with 4-1 records. O'Fallon's not much of a surprise, but Columbia, Jerseyville, and Staunton all started out above .500, while Alton, Breese, and Belleville struggled. It's still very early of course, so we'll have wait and see if the balance of power has actually shifted or not.


Player of the Week:

Bruce Davis (CF) -- Staunton Rebels
8 for 16 (.500), 2 HR, 6 RBI

[hopeful1212]

Sirett takes no-hitter into the 8th (was perfect through 6 2/3)

May 11th, 2012 -- In the third year of the MEBL, we're still looking for our first no-hitter. Belleville's Tony Sirett made a bid to enter the history books tonight. Facing first-place Columbia, he retired the first 20 batters that he faced before hitting 3B Ryan Carl in the 7th. The perfect game was gone, but he took the no-hitter into the 8th. With two outs, CF Lawrence Dudley (.259, 1 HR, 5 RBI) drove a 3-2 pitch to left for a clean single. Sirett had to settle for the win and 8 innings of 1-hit ball. He was dominate, striking out 8 and walking none.

Sirett led the league in strikeouts in both 2010 and 2011, pitching for Edwardsville. But, he went 17-23 with an ERA over 5.00 and was hurt by Edwardsville's atrocious defense. He was traded to Belleville in the offseason and has gotten off to a very good start with his new team.


Tony Sirett (SP)
2-0, 3.24 ERA, 16.2 IP, 18 K

[hopeful1212]

Week 2 Standings

1st Half Standings (May 14th, 2012)

               W   L   PCT  GB   This Week   Odds
Columbia       8   2  .800  --      4-1     46.41%
O'Fallon       7   3  .700   1      3-2     24.22%
Staunton       5   5  .500   3      2-3      9.08%
Jerseyville    5   5  .500   3      2-3      8.23%
Breese         4   6  .400   4      3-2      4.52%
Edwardsville   4   6  .400   4      2-3      3.33%
Alton          4   6  .400   4      2-3      3.30%
Belleville     3   7  .300   5      2-3      0.90%

We're just ten games into the first half of 2012, but Columbia looks formidable. They went 4-1 for a second week in a row and have first place all to themselves. And they're starting to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the league: the only other team that's above .500 is O'Fallon.


Player of the Week:

Danny McGee (SS) -- Alton River Hawks
10 for 19 (.526), 3 HR, 7 RBI