Power Rankings #1

Time for the first in-season power rankings of 2018. These will be updated before Wednesday night games. Only the top 8 teams will be listed. 

Honorable Mention: Mother Nature  

The rain has been the most dominating force this season so far. We’re not talking about little victories either. It’s not like we’ve woken up Sunday morning thinking, “Well, maybe there’s a shot at playing.” These have been mercy rule victories. Three Sundays in a row with a Wednesday night cancellation thrown in the mix is quite a run.

Power Rankings:

1.   Fradkin- In my eyes, this team has the most potent lineup coupled with one of the best pitchers in the league. Coming into the season, I didn’t think their defense would be top notch(Mr. Harris also agreed by grading them a B- in the pre-season write up), but so far they’ve only given up an astounding 8 runs in three games. All of this and they’re not even running on all cylinders yet. When was the last time you didn’t see Fradkin on the leaderboard? This team has the potential to challenge the 19-3 record set by 2014’s Team Applebaum.

2. Goldfarb- With so many young and athletic players, the only question was whether some of the top draft picks were going to make the leap and realize their potential. Marc Broome currently has 9 hits in a row, Darren Saler is near the top of the leaderboard in most categories, and Alex Goldfarb continues to stake his claim as one of the top outfielders in the league. It’ll be interesting to see how long Goldfarb and Fradkin can stay undefeated.

3. Marrone- After a shaky first game, Marrone’s squad has looked absolutely dominant outscoring opponents 44-11 in the last two games.  Before the season I predicted Marrone to go 15-7 and so far it’s a prediction I still feel comfortable with.

4. Pollock- Some may be surprised by the 3-1 start for the defending champs, but it is not all too shocking considering over half the roster consists of players from last year’s team. The formula right now is the same as it was in the 2011-2012 years that produced a championship and a semi-finals appearance: score a lot of runs and just be in the middle of the pack in runs against.

5.  Brock- Sure, it’s a head start to start out with two clear first round players including a top pitcher. Justin, however, is always forced to get a little creative in making up for their penalty. Picking the Preiss combo is paying off as is the Drashinsky clan. There are less than a handful of players where you can say “as long as you have _______ on your team, you should be good for at least a .500 season. The Brocks are part of that group.

6.  Bykofsky- Very similar to the Brocks, there is almost a certainty now that Bykofsky will put together a strong team each year. With Polguy healthy again, this team should end up in the 13-14 win territory.

7.  Jacoby- Jacoby’s team might serve as the template for how to have a successful team in an expansion year of Marlboro Softball. Draft some proven veterans early(Mamone, Gluck, Hor, Perloff) and take a chance with a rookie in the middle rounds hoping he’ll play a few rounds above his spot. Ballo looks like a steal as a 6th round pick.

8. Randell- Another team some may be surprised to see off to a good start. Sure it’s only three games but keep in mind their one (blowout)loss was sans Clampffer and they beat a tough Team Brock for their last victory. Their success partly depends on a pair of unknown rookies, but they are proving their value early in the season.