The Time: September 23, 2017 at 11:30 AM

The Place: Eisenhower Park, Field D

The Match-up: #3 Spartans vs. #5 Thunderbirds

The Tag Line: For the Elusive Cup!

The Story: Well well.  It is the veterans of CSL from both sides who will square off in the 10^th season of the CSL Chip.  Let us start by defining Captain Junior’s relationship in CSL.  Farooq recruited him in 2014 for one reason only.  It was to defeat the bad Bandits (Farooq’s old team) which featured current Spartans Junior, Mike, Pops, Yasar, etc.  Well Junior delivered on his promise and played a vital role in knocking out the 18-0 Bandits team from the playoffs. 

Two seasons later, he started the Spartans and won a chip – And, will look to defend it.  Meanwhile, the TBirds have been in the league now for 4 seasons.  They have yet to win a chip.  This team started by Waqas and Farooq have come close but no cigar.  Will this be the season that the TBirds can hoist the cup for the very first time?  If Captain Waqas can win this, it could solidify his chances for the Crescent Hall of Fame. 

The Road to the finals:  The Thunderbirds started the playoffs in facing the Asad led All Day 2.0, who maybe the toughest rookie team in the league history. The birds gave them the business in two close games and moved on to face their rivals, the boys in blue, DC, in which both games had storybook ending. Game 1 down by 4, the birds came back and won the game on a walk off grand slam by Jon, then in game two; they were leading by 3 and came back with hit after hit. The Spartans on the other than, dismantled a panthers team in round one, in which they never looked back and finished them with ease. In the semis however, the Spartans faced their opponents in a rough three game series in which it was a seesaw battle and they were able to come out victorious by staying united, calm, collected and never looked back.

Keys to winning:

Thunderbirds: Continue to get timely hits, make smart decisions in the field, and limit the base running blunders in the field.  Go with a 10-man line-up. 

Spartans: Aim for line drives.  Avoid going for the long ball each time.  Let Jaimie set the pace on defense.  He has the best IQ. Stay composed.  Do NOT waste your time with the ump.  Listen to Captain Junior.  He knows what he is talking about. 

Head-to-head Comparison:

OUTFIELD: The TBirds have the edge with speed, arm strength, and IQ.  They feature Omar, Billal, Waqas, and Ramy.   Spartans have some issues covering the gaps.  They are solid overall.  However, not good as TBirds.

INFIELD: We see Spartans with the edge here with Junior, Sammy, and company.  The TBirds seem to lack the experience. 

PITCHING: Spartans get the edge with Jaimie.  The guy has a deceiving motion and nice high arc. Kareem is a great story but he lacks the big game experience.

Community Prediction:  We believe this will turn out to be one of the best finals in CSL history, going to three games in which the stars, like Ramy, Billal, Jon, Junior, Mike, and Jamie will really give us some solid hits. Games will be fun to watch and there will be many distractions from the likes of Pops, Farooq, Riz, Mike. Unfortunately, for both teams, there will be only one winner and we predict the results to be of the following:

Game 1: Thunderbirds 14 - Spartans 12

Game 2: Spartans 13 - Thunderbirds 7

Game 3: Thunderbirds 9 - Spartans 5 

TBirds and Spartans punch their tickets into the FINALS!

In an incredible display of CSL softball at its finest we saw 4 teams go the limit and 2 came out.  Spartans shook off a game 2 loss to defeat the upstart Butchaz in 3 hard fought games.

The other series ended in 2 games but it was definitely not easy.  TBirds were down 7 runs in both games going to the final inning.   However they staged two rallies for the ages.  In game 1 Jon ended the game in the bottom of the 7th with a 2 out walk off Grand Slam HR.  In game 2 the entire TBirds team woke up in the top of the 7th and scored 7 runs.  DC loaded the bases and had the game tying runs on but TBirds D was solid and now will be tested with the defending champs: Spartans!

We want to thank our Commisioner Commander Mo for an unprecdented successful season.  We saw great games throught the year, but especially the playoffs.  His volunteer hard work and dedication really paid off and should be a sign of greater things to come!  Lastly we want to wish a speedy recovery to Raheem who suffered a serious injury while pitching for the Butcherz.

Two heated rivals on the field.  Kebab eating buddies off it will look to get their teams back to the Championship Game!

The Time: September 16, 2017 at 10:45 AM

The Place: Eisenhower Park, Field 14

The Match-up: #2 ButcherZ vs. #3 Spartans

The Tag Line: Last Season Finals Rematch

A match up of last year's championship, these two teams will face off again and anticipated give a championship caliber performance.  Both teams have had their respective difficulties throughout the season, but they have showed up to play when it counted.  At full strength, these two have the best talent on offense and defense.    

Match-up.

Spartans have been the heavy favorites to bring the chip home again this year.  However, the Butcherz quickly raised some doubts with an incredible and explosive start to the season. Both teams; however, ended the season on a weak note coupled with several unwarranted loses.  At the end of the day, the regular season does not mean a thing now.  It comes down to which team makes the clutch plays and gets the timely hits.

Keys.

The key to victory for the Spartans is to limit the walks, pitch around the middle of Butcherz's lineup, and make a lot of noise on offense. They were able to put away the Panthers early last week. However, the pressure of the semifinals are on and they will need to continue to play smart ball and avoid any unnecessary internal bickering. 

The key to victory for the Butcherz is to get an early lead on the Spartans and keep their defense tight. Any sloppy play will undoubtedly result in big innings for the Spartans.  If the Butcherz can contain the Spartans offensively, then they will be able to set their eyes on the championship round.

Prediction:

This is going to be a matchup of two highly disciplined teams.  However, we surmise that Spartans will come out on top.  Game 1: Spartans-12 Butcherz-17; Game 2: Spartans-18 Butcherz-7; Game 3: Spartans-9 Butcherz-5.