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Panthers half way to perfection
GRANGER- The Granger Panthers are half way home as their pursuit of perfection will surely be a big storyline to follow in the 2nd half of the season. The Panthers are looking to join an exclusive club as the LaPorte Sox are the only team in ORWBL history to have a perfect regular season, doing so in 2008.
It is no secret that the Panthers have been absolutely dominant so far this season. They are outscoring their opponents 155-40 which is just absolutely ridiculous if you think about it.
However, critics will note that the Panthers schedule has been incredibly weak to start the season. Their first four opponents have a combined record of 11-34 and as of now, the Lynn Street Leprechauns are the toughest opponent that they have faced.
While there schedule so far leaves a lot to be desired, the Panthers are doing what great teams do and that is to beat whoever is on the schedule. Therefore you can’t really knock Granger for beating up on the teams that they are supposed to beat up on.
Looking ahead to their final 12 games, a path to perfection is very much within reach. Next up on the schedule is their arch rival, the Twin Branch Billy Goats.
It is no secret that the Goats have been a disappointment so far after winning 20 games in the regular season last year. They currently sit at 5-7 and will have to play at the top of their game if they want to steal one from the Panthers. Recently traded away from Granger, Tyler Serosynski will be making his Goats debut which should certainly help their chances.
At this point, it doesn’t seem like Granger will be getting much worth note in the trade. The loss of Tiki certainly hurts their depth, which is already something that they are lacking when you compare their rosters to New Carlisle and Maple City.
It will be interesting to follow just how much the loss of Tiki could hurt this team. If Granger is able to sweep their rivals, they would then be sitting at 15-0 heading into a series with BFAM.
Much like Twin Branch, Elkhart has had a slow start to the season as they currently sit at 4-5 after going 19-5 last season. This will be a huge series for both teams as Elkhart tries to improve their playoff positioning.
While this series is going to be tough for Granger, it is worth noting that they swept Elkhart last season.
Following the BFAM series, Granger would have to travel to take on Hudson Lake in an interleague matchup. Hudson Lake has the potential to dominate anyone on any given day so this could be a very tough test for Granger if they are indeed 18-0 heading into this series.
While we all know how explosive Hudson Lake can be, we have to point out the fact that they are 4-8 and have lost 6 straight games. While a lot of things will be changing over the course of the next few weeks, as of right now this would be the 7th consecutive series that Granger has faced a team with a record under .500.
That could change as soon as this weekend as BFAM looks to get over the .500 mark. But for now, the first 7 matchups are against teams with a record under .500.
While the next 3 weeks are definitely a tougher test than what they have seen so far, Granger will be the big favorite headed into all 3 series matchups.
In the final week of the season all of that changes however as the Panthers will square off with the New Carlisle Newts in what should be a matchup for the ages. The Newts currently sit at 11-1 and have been very impressive so far here in 2020.
With some youthful additions, New Carlisle looks like they are gearing up to give Granger all they can handle. This series could very well decide who ends up with the number 1 overall seed in the National League and if Granger is able to win there next 9 games and head into that series with a 21-0 record, that series would have it all.
After looking over the Panthers 2nd half schedule, things are obviously about to get tougher for Granger. However if there is any team built to run the table in this day and age it is the Granger Panthers who are built to dominate.
With Griffin Smith and Alex Zarazee putting up MVP like numbers, this is the team to follow in the 2nd half of the season as they chase perfection. Add Seth Campbell, Austin Williams, and Daivyn Davis to that mix every week and this team is extremely tough to beat.
Granger is also coming off of a special HD Classic in which both of their teams (Granger Panthers & GP Black) made the HD Championship game. It was a close game but the Panthers main squad was able to get it done.
All in all it was an incredibly impressive performance for both Granger Panthers teams as they are riding sky high into their series vs. Twin Branch.
