Dirtbags, Centipedes play for title

The Spring 2023 Maui Adult Baseball League Championship Series will begin this Sunday, June 4 at Iron Maehara Stadium in Wailuku with the Upcountry Dirtbags battling the Kihei Centipedes for the title. After following up a pair of dominant wins with an inspiring come from behind walk-off victory last week against the West Maui Brewers, the Dirtbags have won over our panel of anonymous experts* who have unanimously picked Rich Doster‘s squad to take home the MABL Champions trophy. Not to be outdone, the Centipedes completed a series sweep of their own over the La Perouse Pirates to advance to their second consecutive Championship Series appearance, following a franchise best 11-3 record during the regular season.

Each team features a formidable ace and lineups that are capable of scoring runs in bunches. Including two playoffs appearances, the Dirtbags’ Trevor Caughey leads all qualified pitchers with a 1.67 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP, going 4-0 over 37.2 IP. In tight, late inning situations the ‘Bags have turned to James McOwen who has allowed only 1 run over 7.0 innings, holding opposing hitters to a .158 average and 0.82 WHIP and striking out 12 over than span. The Centipedes’ Callen Beeson has gone 3-1 with a 2.80 ERA and 1.42 WHIP over 35.1 innings between the regular season and one playoff start; with Ryan Swindle (1-0, 2 saves, 2.57 ERA, and 19 K over 21.0 IP) and closer Chad Blackwell (1-0, 3 saves, .099 opponents average, 0.32 WHIP, and 7 K over 6.0 IP), who has been absolutely lights out in limited work this season, handling most of the high-leverage situations for the ‘Pedes. A look at some advanced stats spanning the regular season and playoffs for the primary pitchers for each team are provided below.

It’s likely the Centipedes’ chances of success will depend on being able to contain the top three hitters in the Dirtbags’ lineup. The trio of Frank Lettieri, James McOwen, and Matt Palmer have been unstoppable at the plate, sporting three of the top five OPS’s in the MABL between the regular season and playoffs to date (1.008, 1.257, and 1.003 respectively) with Palmer (8 for 11, 6 R, 5 RBI) and McOwen (8 for 14 with a double, 2 triples, and 8 RBI) particularly dialed in during the Dirtbags’ playoff run. The Beeson brothers, Callen and Riley, have lead the Centipedes’ playoff offense (6 for 9 and 4 for 7, respectively). MVP candidate Roman Tillman (.932 OPS, 21 R, 12 SB) and reigning MVP Ryan Swindle (.833 OPS, 12 R, 8 RBI, 11 SB) are also significant pieces of the ‘Pedes offensive attack. Advanced batting stats for each teams’ top hitters this season, in terms of runs created, are given below.

Game 1 of the best-of-three game series will start at 10am Sunday morning, with the series set to conclude the following Sunday at Maehara Stadium. It is expected that the games will be streamed on the MABL Instagram account, with scores, stats, and photos posted on our website following the games.

*The expert picks are meant as a fun addition to the playoff game write-ups, and should be taken as such. The author of this article is not one of the individuals providing picks. And as any seasoned Maui Adult Baseball League player knows, there’s a reason you play the games! Working in the Centipedes’ favor…our experts are a combined 5-7 so far this postseason.