Aloha Softball Fans...

The year is anew and we're behind schedule.  We'll let the other pundits debate the new field's quirks.. Time to get to this week's lines and matchups

Quick Prediction!      HR's hit on the Day: 14

10am: Outback vs Santa Fe (Outback+12)

Hoover who?  Santa Fe does a great job of moving folks around and most importantly.. bending but not breaking.  Mark H. is a seasoned pitcher on the mound and won't loose any games for the Movers but lets their defense and hitting do the work.  Johnny Lau will continue to remain hot and we like Steve Mann to keep hitting as he builds off his game winning hit against the Keg in their last game.  We know it's colder now in HK, but Outback still needs a few weeks to try out all their new players before we see this one being much of a game.

Over Under: 24 runs

11:30: Santa Fe vs HK Brewhouse (Brewhouse +5)

This will be more entertaining to watch but the upshot will be the patient SF sticks vs. the Walks given up by Brewhouse.  Until Chewbacha proves that he can manage the game on the mound vs letting teams abuse him with big hits after walks, we don't like the BrewCrew's chances here.  A warmed up SF team will also be something to worry about.  Game changer to watch will be Ethan Farbman as he shows everyone early that the new Left Field fence isn't really all that far back anyway. 

Over/Under: 32 runs

1pm: HK Brewhouse vs Bulldogs (Bulldogs +9)

BD's hasn't shown us much to be hapy about in their first game, but then again it was just 1 game.  Unless we see a VZal, Bippert and Andy Berst apperance this game will be ugly.  Brewhouse will be warm and BD's will be happy to be out there.  Shoot out and the Dawgs won't have the power to trade bomb for bomb with the Brewcrew

Over/ Under: 23 runs

2:30pm: Bulldogs vs. Doghouse. (Bulldogs +10)

Batttle of the Dogs!  or Dawgs depending on what part of the country you're from.  Sunday Money would like to put an APB out on where this Doghouse place is... Is it mythical?  At any rate, they've already lost the battle of best beer prices.  THAT my friend goes to Bulldogs where you can buy ice cold Budweiser all day Sunday  to Thursday for only 10HKD.  That even beats club 7-11.

Back to the game.. we know that BD's always plays Doghouse (old Sportview team.. pun intended) very closely and in the off season DH signed crafty BD's starter Wayne Lau as insurance against Loo's weekend trips to San Fransisco.  Even still Loo will be on the mound and in command as he enjoys a run advantage given to him by Dave Mann and the Gimper.  Sorry Bulldogs.. but this day won't be a good one for you. 

Over Under: 35 runs

4pm: Cantor vs Doghouse (Cantor +15)

Coach Prosser's group will have the support of what will be a large crowd in this game, but it won't be enough.  Read all that I wrote above on the BD game and apply it forcefully here.  Things could open up for Cantor as odds are Wayne Lau will be pitching but Cantor pitcher Ken Clark will struggle to keep his pitches in the park agianst Mann & Co. 

Over / Under: 28 runs

5:30PM GAME OF THE WEEK!!

CANTOR vs THE KEG (Cantor +9)

Who says the schedule maker doesn't have a nose for the dramatic?? The first ever softball game played under the lights features 2 teams so closely aligned.  Nearly a third of the Cantor roster used to play for the Keg all the way up to first year Coach Ryan Prosser who has taken  a page or 2 out of Powell's book of recruiting and straffed the Keg Roster in the off season for several players.  I mean these 2 coaches raced in public nearly a year ago this weekend for pride and a mere 500HKD..... a race that the heavier Powell won we might add..

But you get our point.. there is a lot of blood in the water with these 2 squads.  Cantor will be warmed up both at the plate and on the mound and we see Clark finally finding the strike zone in this one.  However the Keg pitching is nothing to write about either.. so this will be a shootout..  The departure of Dave Trunzo over the break will hurt the Keg, but this does allow Coach Powell to insert some of his speedster rooks into the OF to see how they do.

In the end, we like the sticks of Buhl, Donahue, Hughes, Zigler and MacIntyre to do the damage and push the Keg over the top in this one.

Over Under: 38 runs

7pm : Lux vs Keg (Keg +9)

No matter how much extra weight Lux has packed on over the holidays, they always seem to have the Keg's number and we don't see this game being any different.  Ronen will be back on the mound for Lux and combined his skillz with those tricky lights and you'll have one tough ball to hit.  Now the lights could do a number on the older eyes on Lux, but we don't think this will matter too much. 

Over Under: 28