First Round Preview (#4 Colorado Springs vs #5 San Francisco)

#4 Colorado Springs AltiDUDES (93-69)
#5 San Francisco Sourdoughs (89-73)

Team Stats:
ERA:
CSP 3.55, 2nd in majors
SF 4.29, 11th in majors

Runs scored:
CSP 727, 28th in majors
SF 768, 19th in majors

History:

Colorado Springs is making its 4th straight playoff appearance, which puts it in a 4-way tie for most appearances by an NL team. Colorado Springs has won only one playoff series before, and has never made it as far as the NLCS.

San Francisco returns to the playoffs for the first time since season 1, when it was a #2 seed, and the NL's representative in the World Series. A lack of playoff experience isn't a concern, says third baseman Mark Abercrombie, "because really, Colorado Springs doesn't have any, either."

The Key Players:

Colorado Springs:
Antone Robbins, .293 average, 104 runs scored, 42 doubles, 53 stolen bases
Butch Cloud, .252 average, team high 38 home runs

San Francisco:
Bo Scott, .298 average, 125 runs scored, 126 stolen bases
Achilles Mitchell, .314 average, team high 30 home runs and 110 rbis

Probably Pitching Matchups:
Game One: Lenny Winchester (15-9, 3.92 ERA) @ Armando Roque (13-7, 2.54 ERA)
Game Two: Brant Rothschild (11-7, 3.50 ERA) @ Eric Corino (13-7, 2.97 ERA)
Game Three: Sammy Cordero (14-5, 3.50 ERA) @ Edgardo Wilfredo (14-7, 3.96 ERA)
Game Four, If Necessary: Johnny Cordova (10-10, 4.34 ERA) @ Lenny Winchester
Game Five, If Necessary: Brant Rothschild @ Armando Roque

Synopsis:
Season Series, San Francisco 6, Colorado Springs 4

Both teams have very good pitching. Colorado Springs is a little deeper, and overall better, but will have a tougher time slowing down San Francisco's Top 3 Hitters. San Francisco, meanwhile, go up against one of the historically weakest lineups to ever bat in a playoff series. Only one player had 100 runs scored or 30 home runs, and none had 90 rbi's. The key is to see which can happen first, San Fran cracking thru against CSP's pitching, or the AltiDUDES bats coming alive long enough to keep them in it for 5 games.

Prediction: San Francisco in 5.