Team of the Week: Olive Township Mechanics

Why they can win: In 2016 Olive Township already had one of the most potent offenses in the league, scoring the second most runs in the league with 259. Over the offseason they decided to improve their lineup by picking up Bailey Rhed. Rhed had a pretty good season for the White Lightning in 2016, batting .430 and hitting 31 home runs. If he can carry those stat lines over to this 2017 season, Olive Township could possibly have the highest scoring lineup in the league.

The mechanics have seemed to establish their own version of a “Big 3” over the offseason. Last season it seemed to be Rookie of the year, Kody Webb, and manager Aidan Cotter leading the team. This offseason with the pickup of Bailey Rhed, Mechanic fans believe “the big 3” could do something special. This is the mechanics second season and a proper offseason will surely help them be prepared for this season. Also benefiting Olive Township is that they open their season at home versus an Emery’s Army team who took a year off last season. In 2016 Olive township went 6-6 at home and 1-11 on the road. If they can improve their play on the road, they could possibly be a .500 team this season, which would be a huge improvement from last season. Lastly Olive Township is the second youngest team in the league. If they can put this youthfulness to use, maybe they can outplay some of the teams in the league that are starting to age..

Why they Can’t win:

After a 1-11 road record last year, it’s hard to imagine Olive Township winning ORWBL this year. Although they had the second highest scoring lineup in ORWBL, they also had the worst defense in the league, letting up a league high (369) runs. If anybody has ever talked about sports then they have surely heard the old saying, “Defense wins championships”. We project Olive Township to have anywhere from a 10-12 win season, like mentioned before, this all depends on their defense. If there defense doesn’t show up this season they might not reach double digit wins. In the contrary, if the defense plays well they could have a shot at a .500 season.

Projected Record: 12-18

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