BMFL Tournament Preview: Rogues busting out the Fu Manchus for the weekend

Yup, once again it's the Blackburn Mens Fastball Tournament time, and honestly, no one really knows what to expect. Our results in this Tournament have varied significantly over the years, from losing 5-1 to the Valley Raiders in the 2002 Finals, to not winning a single game the following year, as well as 2007. We've made the semi finals twice, and have not made the Sunday playoffs several times as well. What will be different this time around? Well, facial hair for one. No less than 5 Rogues will be sporting the Fu Manchu mustaches this weekend.

The Tourney format is a little strange, but not too bad. A total of 9 teams are divided into 3 pools of 3. You play each Pool team once, and you play one inter-pool game for a total of 3 each. Since there are nine teams, one of the teams has to play TWO inter-pool games for a total of 4 round robin games, then have one of the inter-pool games randomly withdrawn. As luck would have it, that team is us. The top 2 teams from each pool move on to Sunday, where The 3rd ranked team plays the 6th ranked team, 4th plays 5th, and 1st and 2nd place teams receive byes. Then there's semi-finals against the top 2 seeded teams, then the finals. For the Rogues to win the tournament, it will take playing between 6 and 7 games this weekend.

ROUND ROBIN GAME #1

Rogues vs Brockville

Friday July 17th

7:45PM - Blackburn Arena Diamond

Far too little is known about the boys from Brockville. Billed as a team of "rec guys", Brockville is bringing their team to Blackburn Hamlet for the first time, and their first game is at 7:45 against the green and gray. The Rogues will be countering with 11 players for the Friday nighter, including pitchers Cox, Musicka, Wilson and Blakely, catchers Emmerson and Soucy, outfielders Edmunds and Fauteux and infielders Peters, Desjardins, and Dishaw. This, along with our last game against Exit A's, is a Pool game, (guaranteed to count) making it that much more important to win.

ROUND ROBIN GAME #2
Rogues vs Trend Arlington

Saturday July 18th
9:00AM - Queensway Diamond

Our second game features the Rogues taking on the guys from the Trend Arlington Fastball League in their first inter-pool game, which plays off of Greenbank Road in the west end. Rumour has it the TA guys have picked up Fitzroy Harbour's Bud Hanlon and Quyon Flyers' Matt Greer to pitch for them this weekend, which would be a coup for the team heading into this weekend's action. The Rogues would have their hands full with some tough pitching, but the TA bats will have to get the job done. Should be a great early morning battle.

ROUND ROBIN GAME #3

Rogues vs Stan's Diner
Saturday July 18th

1:00PM - Blackburn Arena Diamond

The other inter-pool game is against Stan's Diner, who won our only match against them this season 8-4. Stan's is a solid team, whose regular season record (5-10-1) is not indicative of their ability to win, mainly due to their ace Pierre Lalonde being out for most of the season. With his arm back in their rotation, the former Draughts should have a good run in the tourney this year. Our only other time facing this team in the BMFL Tournament was a 1-0 loss 2 years ago. Lalonde defeated Musicka in a classic pitchers duel. This game, or the Trend Arlington one this morning, will be randomly eliminated from our results.

ROUND ROBIN GAME #4
Rogues vs Exit A's

Saturday July 18th
9:00PM - Blackburn Arena Diamond

Another very important match-up, this game could be the deciding game based on how we do the rest of the way. The very last round robin game of the tournament, fates could be decided in the last inning of this one. We've only faced the A's once this year, in a game that was defaulted when they only had 5 regular players show. We played them anyways with 3 spares in their line-up, and tied 1-1. To give an indication of how our pitching was, all 4 hurlers made an appearance. The 9PM start, after completing their previous game by no later than 3PM, will mean the Rogues will be plenty full of beer and food by the time the captains meeting takes place.

So that's it. The fun starts Friday night at 7:45, and the Rogues will hopefully use the new-look facial hair to rally past some tough opponents and finish near the top of the standings by the end of Saturday. Look for updates and pictures on the Rogues website at http://roguematt.5u.com/rogues.