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Playoff Brackets Set as Deep River Horseshoe League Completes Regular Season

The regular season of the Deep River Horseshoe League (DRHL) recently came to a close and the playoff brackets are set. There were some surprises at the end of the year, and eight teams will attempt to battle through a quarterfinal, semifinal, and final round for ultimate bragging rights as the DRHL 2021 champion.

While there were some unexpected results in Week 17 of the DRHL, there was one foregone conclusion, and that was the Reds earning the No. 1 seed in the league. The Dodgers also had solid hold on second, and both those teams were pitted against each other in Week 17 in a potential playoff final preview. Dodgers’ Division B player, Butch Carotenuto, of Hamden, picked up the third highest series score with a mark of 110, while Reds’ B player Andy Perna, who lives in Chester, outpaced Carotenuto for second highest series at 116. The Dodgers’ C player, Scott Allen, Jr., also had third-best marks in his division with a score of 101.

DRHL statistician and media liaison Joe Heery knew that the Reds and Dodgers would bring their best even though the result of the contest would have little to no consequence in terms of playoff seeding.

“The Reds reached 70 wins, and they played the second place Dodgers, too. That game didn’t matter to the Dodgers or the Reds, and the Marlins couldn’t really catch the Dodgers so that game didn’t really matter,” said Heery. “They were both playing to win, though. They bounced back and forth. The Dodgers put up 310 as a team, and the Reds scored 276. Butch was one of the leading scorers, Andy was a leading scorer, and Scott was a leading scorer. You had a lot of top scorers there. They were playing to win. There are no tankers here.”

The Marlins earned the No. 3 seed, and as usual, Clinton resident and Marlins’ Division A player Mark Goodale led the way. Goodale threw a 170 series for the best score of the week, and came just a couple of points away from throwing four 40-point games. Marlins’ Division C player Karen Perna (Chester) also continued her torrid pace by leading the C Division with a series score of 118. The Marlins battled the Angels in the final week of the season, and Angels’ B player Damin Roberts (Cromwell) took the top series score in the division with a tally of 140. Heery has a hard time imagining a scenario where the Marlins aren’t the favorite to take the championship, unless they get snake-bitten by their own success through the handicap. Angels won the contest 3.5-2.5, yet still slid in the standing to the No. 8 seed.

“Damin Roberts had his best game of the season with 140. The Angels won that series and still lost ground,” Heery said. “Every week you expect a new standard from Mark Goodale, and he did it again.

“He came within two points of scoring four 40-games which would have been a first. He scored in every frame, not a single open box. I think they are positioned to take it all,” Heery added. “When the season started, I thought the Marlins and the Dodgers would be the top picks. Karen and Mark are the top scorers from last year. The only thing that hurts them now is that they give up 52 points of handicap.”

Heery’s own Rangers made a huge jump in the standings after turning in a strong effort in Week 17. The Rangers were locked in a tie for eighth place heading into the final week, and had to battle the Braves, who were in third place at the time. The Rangers stunned the Braves with a 5.5-0.5 victory and leap-frogged through the standings to finish the season as the No. 4 seed. The Braves dropped to fifth place and the No. 5 seed.

“We were tied for eighth, and we jumped up to fourth. We jumped basically five spots by beating the Braves. They’ve really had an up-and-down season,” Heery said. “They went 0-6 two weeks in a row, and then won 6-0 two weeks in a row. They are a strong team, though. We had the scoring edge on them, but they are really competitive. They were in third. We won 5.5-0.5, so that knocked them down to fourth and the Marlins hung on for third place.”

One of the biggest surprises of the week came in the series between the Yankees and the Pirates. The Pirates, who have been moving up and down in the top-10 spots of the standings throughout the season, ended up with a 3.5-2.5 victory, but that wasn’t enough to keep pace with the rest of the top-8 teams. The Pirates finished the year in ninth place, on the outside of the playoffs looking in by a half-game margin. Pirates’ Division C player, Sheryl Serviss (Deep River) still managed a solid showing with the division’s second best tally at 105. The Yankees fell a spot in the standings and enter the playoffs as the No. 7 seed.

“The heartbreak match was really the Pirates against the Yankees. The Pirates had a 3-2 lead going into the last game of the series with an eight-point handicap in their advantage,” said Heery. “They need nine points, but they only got eight. That last point knocked them out of the playoffs. If they won, they would have knocked the Angels out of the playoffs. It came down to the last box, and the Yanks pulled a ringer.”

The Tigers also secured a playoff position as the No. 6 seed. Out of all the potential playoff teams who matched up last week, the Tigers probably had the best bout on paper going against the 14th-place Padres. While the contest seemed easily decided on paper, Heery did see that both teams actually had comparable throwers going head to head.

“Tigers played the Padres, and the Padres weren’t really in the playoff picture. Both teams’ A players are equally matched. The B players both matched up fairly evenly, too. The Tigers had a sub, but they also matched up well,” Heery said. “I thought that game would come down to the B’s and C’s, but it turned out to be the A players. It was a tough night for Mike Didomizio. Tigers won 4-2 and they ended up with a tie in the Yankees. So for seeding we had to determine the tiebreak from when the Tigers and Yankees played, but they split. The Tigers had the edge by total points plus handicap and got the higher seed.”

Other top scorers from the A Division in Week 17 were the Red Sox’s, Bill Beckwith (Old Lyme) with 138 and the Cardinals’ Kris Toohey (Westbrook) at 141.

The full standings after the final week of the regular season were Reds (70-32), Dodgers (61.5-40.5), Marlins (57-45), Rangers (55.5-46.5), Braves (55.5-46.5), Tigers (54.5-47.5), Yankees (54.5-47-5), Angels (54-48), Pirates (53-49), Red Sox (52-50), Cardinals (50-52), Royals (49-53), Cubs (48-54), Padres (43-59), White Sox (42.5-59.5), Giants (41.5-60.5), Mets (39.5-62.5), Orioles (37-65).

The first round of the playoffs will see the No. 1 Reds facing No. 8 Angels, the No. 2 Dodgers against No. 7 Yankees, No. 3 Marlins versus No. 6 Tigers, and No. 4 Rangers facing No. 5 Braves best-of-5 series. The semis will follow the same best-of-five format, while the finals will be a best-of-7 bout.