Printer Friendly Version - Playoff Picture Coming Into Focus in Deep River Horseshoe League

Division A player Joe Heery of the White Sox finished with the third-highest total out of all players during Week 13 of Deep River Horseshoe League by pitching a score of 133. File photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The Deep River Horseshoe League met up twice last week after the July 4 holiday pushed back Game 12 to July 7. At the week’s end, the Royals still held onto first place in the standings. The Reds remain in second place, while the Astros and Yankees still sit a half-game apart at third and fourth place, respectively.

In Game 12, Cris Christensen of the Astros was at the top of the heap in the A Division with a high score of 142, and Tony Cutone of the Red Sox took second at 140. Mark Goodale of the Yankees threw for a score of 136 and took third place.

In the B Division, Zanelli Jr. of the Dodgers took the highest tally at 129, while Todd Nuhn grabbed second at 97. Paul Felie of the Pirates had a total of 94 for third place.

The Rangers’ Brian Walsh claimed first place in the C Division with a score of 86. The Joe Machado of the Royals came in second with a score of 85, and Howie Fisher of the Reds tallied a score of 83 for third place.

Three days later, the Cubs’ John Sciacca of the A Division topped the field with tossing a game-high of 136, and Christensen came in second just one point behind at 135. Joe Heery of the White Sox came in third at a nearly equal mark of 133.

In the B division, Cody Layton of the White Sox had the highest score this week at 107. The Orioles’ Bill Brown took second with a score of 103, and Nuhn came in third with a score of 99.

Walsh claimed first in the C Division for the 10th week in a row with a score of 103, and Tim Johnson of the Orioles took second with a tally of 93. In third place in the C Division was Paul Stevens of the Tigers with total of 91.

In Game 13, six of the top-eight teams—who are all vying for playoff spots—went head to head. The first-place Royals played the eighth-place Red Sox for a split. The Astros regained third place with a 4-2 win over the Mets, which dropped the Mets seventh. The Tigers jumped up to fifth with a narrow win over the sixth-place Pirates. Cubs continue to compete for playoff spot beating the Yankees.

No one has been able to beat 89-year old Cris Christensen in head-to-head for 13 games from the start of the season.

The Royals are in first place at 56-26, and the Reds hold second at 49-29. The Astros are in third at 47.5-29, while the Yankees at 47.5-30.5 are in fourth. The Tigers are in fifth at a 44-34; the Pirates have sixth at 43.5-34.5; the Mets are in seventh at 43-35; and White Sox cling to the last playoff spot in eighth at 42-36.

On the outside looking in are: the Red Sox (41.5-36.5), Cubs (40.5-37.5), Braves (39.5-38.5), Angels (38.5-39.5), Dodgers (37.5-40.5), Rangers (37-41), Orioles (34-44), Marlins (32.5-45.5), Padres (30.5-47.5), 29.5-48.5), Cardinals (29-49), and Indians (22-56).

The Deep River Horseshoe League has 20 teams that feature three players of each of the A, B, and C divisions. The league plays every Thursday night on the First Congregational Green in Deep River and welcomes anyone to come watch its contests. For info, visit deepriverhorseshoes.com.