With the Interstate Collegiate Baseball League (ICBL) title looming, the league’s best second-half team, Monarchs, will face the vengeance-seeking Ducks.
The Monarchs (14-8-1) and Ducks (7-15) meet for the ninth time this season on Tuesday night to decide the 2022 Interstate Collegiate Baseball League Championship.
The Monarchs opened the season going 6-2 and went 0-4-1 in the next five falling to a .500. Since then, the ‘Narchs has won eight of their last 10 games, outscoring opponents 51-31 during that stretch, on the way to the league’s second-best record. They have won gone 7-2 in the month of July to earn a spot in the championship round.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM DENNIS JOYCE HERE.
The Ducks upset the regular season champion, Blue Jays (10-6) to clinch a spot in the finals.
The two teams have gone head-to-head eight times this season, five of which have been decided by one run. Four head-to-head meetings have resulted in walk-off victories for the Monarchs. The Monarchs have outscored the Ducks 42-32 during the series, including a four-game sweep from July 9th to July 14th that came as part of the team’s seven-game win streak.
Head-to-Head Meetings
June 20th Monarchs 7 Ducks 6
June 21st Monarchs 9 Ducks 8
June 22nd Ducks 5 Monarchs 1
July 9th Monarchs 4 Ducks 3
July 11th Monarchs 5 Ducks 4
July 12th Monarchs 7 Ducks 3
July 14th Monarchs 4 Ducks 3
July 26th Monarchs 5 Ducks 0
The Monarchs have won the last five head-to-head meetings entering Tuesday.
How they got here: The Monarchs pulled away with a 9-5 victory over the Cardinals (19-13-1) on Monday thanks to a six-run third.
The Ducks rallied for six-runs in the sixth to upset the Blue Jays 10-6 on Monday night. READ MORE
Players to watch: Dan Tirabassi (Monarchs) holds the league’s fourth best batting average (.317) with 20 hits in 62 at-bats, leading the team with 15 RBI and six stolen bases.Troy Liebert (Monarchs) ranks fourth in ERA (1.89) with 39 strikeouts over 33.1 innings pitched. The right-hander owns a 4-1 record with one shutout in a 5-0 victory over the Ducks on July 26th. Opponents hit .183 when facing Liebert. Devin Hicks (Monarchs) leads the team in strikeouts with 43 over 26.2 innings pitched and holds a 3-3 record.
Jason Story (Ducks) leads the team in RBI (15) and home runs (3). Zachary Mock (Ducks) has an on-base percentage of .385 with 10 RBI and 14 hits over 46 at-bats. Nick Francesci (Ducks) has fanned 49 batters over 42.1 innings, good for third best in the league. He is 3-4, holding batters to a .208 AVG against.
| 2022 ICBL Championship Tale of the Tape | ||
| Ducks | Monarchs | |
| 22 | Games Played | 23 |
| 116 | Runs Scored | 117 |
| 126 | Runs Allowed | 98* |
| -10 | Run Diff | 19* |
| .201 | Average | .230 |
| .346 | On-base | .347 |
| .261 | Slugging | .305 |
| .607 | OPS | .652 |
| 166 | Strikeouts | 169 |
| 105* | Walks | 95 |
| 27 | SBs | 38 |
| 6 | CS | 3 |
| 4.76 | ERA | 2.93* |
| 1.68 | WHIP | 1.47 |
| .275 | AVG. Against | .204* |
| .934 | Fielding | .936 |
| (* denotes league best) |
Coaches: Todd Kirkey (Monarchs), Pat Bigham (Ducks)
First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Penfield’s Bachman Field.
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