KCL Week 5: Undefeated Week for the Caps

Author: Jackson Ewers

In Week 5 of the KCL, the competition intensified as each of the 4 teams played just 3 games. The Blue Caps, who started the week in last place, emerged victorious, clinching a flawless 3-0 record, and snatching 3rd place from the winless Bobcats. Although the Blue Caps had a promising week, it’s worth noting that the last time their success was highlighted, they stumbled in the following week. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself. The Blue Caps not only tied for 1^st in runs scored but also boasted the best defensive record, conceding the least number of runs.

Caleb Royer of the Blue Caps rightfully earned the title of batter of the week with his outstanding performance, going 5-9 at the plate, including an impressive double, triple, and home run, amassing 6 RBIs, 3 runs, and even a stolen base. On the pitching side, Ben Plumley of the Ground Sloths claimed the pitcher of the week title, pitching a remarkable 4 innings, securing the win, and allowing 0 hits, runs, and only 1 walk while striking out an impressive 7 batters. The KCL action continues with the next game scheduled for June 28th.

STANDINGS & MATCHUPS

Season Standings

Team	Wins	Losses	Games Behind	Run Differential
Ground Sloths	13	7	–	33
Merchants	12	8	1	16
Blue Caps	8	12	5	-18
Bobcats	7	13	6	-31

Week 5 Standings

Team	Wins	Losses	Run Differential	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed
Blue Caps	3	0	11	26	15
Ground Sloths	2	1	-3	17	20
Merchants	1	2	9	26	17
Bobcats	0	3	-17	13	30

Week 5 Game Logs

Season Head-to-Head

Team	Ground Sloths	Merchants	Bobcats	Blue Caps
Ground Sloths	–	5-2	5-2	3-3
Merchants	2-5	–	5-1	5-2
Bobcats	2-5	1-5	–	4-3
Blue Caps	3-3	2-5	3-4	–

Batting/Pitching/Fielding leaders in the KCL can be found on the KCL main page, along with each individual team’s leaders. Below is a more fun and interesting list of leaders that gives a little more insight into who’s doing well in the KCL League.

FANTASY PERFORMANCES

Players’ fantasy points are calculated using ESPN’s Fantasy Baseball standard scoring system (excluding pitching holds). (https://support.espn.com/hc/en-us/articles/360057163871-Standard-Scoring-for-Public-Baseball-leagues)

Season Top 10 Hitting and Pitching Fantasy Leaders

Hitting			Pitching
Player	Team	Fantasy Points	Player	Team	Fantasy Points
Judah Morris	Ground Sloths	94	Will O’Gorman	Blue Caps	63.0
Caleb Royer	Blue Caps	83	Gus Lucas	Ground Sloths	51.2
Chase Mason	Merchants	73	Ben Plumley	Ground Sloths	40.9
Logan Van Heuklon	Merchants	67	Jack Barham	Merchants	40.0
Justin Gutierrez	Ground Sloths	66	Nathan Garard	Merchants	38.0
Jack Shields	Merchants	66	Zach Odonnell	Bobcats	31.5
Gage Wolfe	Blue Caps	64	Braden Roesch	Blue Caps	30.0
Tyler Thompson	Bobcats	60	Ian Donaldson	Merchants	28.0
Liam McGill	Blue Caps	58	David Smith	Merchants	26.0
Alec McGinnis	Bobcats	55	Gavin Wernsing	Bobcats	25.0

Week 5 Top 10 Hitting and Pitching Fantasy Leaders

Hitting			Pitching
Player	Team	Fantasy Points	Player	Team	Fantasy Points
Caleb Royer	Blue Caps	23	Ben Plumley	Ground Sloths	20.0
Nick Bacura	Merchants	19	Jack Barham	Merchants	15.0
Gage Wolfe	Blue Caps	17	Jacob Hahs	Bobcats	13.0
Luke Smock	Blue Caps	17	Braden Roesch	Blue Caps	9.0
Logan Van Heuklon	Merchants	15	Kayden Althoff	Blue Caps	8.0
Chase Mason	Merchants	14	Wes Hunt	Merchants	8.0
Liam McGill	Blue Caps	13	Luke Amend	Blue Caps	6.6
Daniel Contretas	Bobcats	13	Hunter Pudlo	Blue Caps	6.0
Eduardo Letamendi	Ground Sloths	13	Alex Smith	Bobcats	6.0
Collyn Ballard	Blue Caps	12	Cade Sharp	Merchants	6.0

Week 5 Top Batter Game Performances

Player	Team	Opponent	Date	Game Stats
Luke Smock	Blue Caps	Merchants	6-23-23	2-3, 3B, HR, 4 RBIs, 2 Rs
Eduardo Letamendi	Ground Sloths	Merchants	6-25-23	2-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBIs, 2 Rs
Caleb Royer	Blue Caps	Ground Sloths	6-21-23	3-4, 2B, 4 RBIs, 1 R
Gage Wolfe	Blue Caps	Ground Sloths	6-21-23	3-4, 2 2Bs, 1 RBI, 3 Rs

Week 5 Top Pitcher Game Performances

Player	Team	Opponent	Date	Game Stats
Ben Plumley	Ground Sloths	Merchants	6-25-23	4 IP, W, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 Ks
Jack Barham	Merchants	Blue Caps	6-23-23	4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 Ks
Jacob Hahs	Bobcats	Blue Caps	6-25-23	5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 Ks

GAMES vs GAMES w/ HIT

Top 10 Hitters with the highest proportion of games with a hit (minimum of 15 games played)

Player	Team	Games	Games w Hit	GwH%
Judah Morris	Ground Sloths	16	14	0.875
Jack Shields	Merchants	18	15	0.833
Justin Gutierrez	Ground Sloths	17	14	0.824
Logan Van Heuklon	Merchants	17	13	0.765
Gage Wolfe	Blue Caps	20	15	0.750
Chase Mason	Merchants	20	15	0.750
Caleb Royer	Blue Caps	19	14	0.737
Tyler Thompson	Bobcats	19	14	0.737
Liam McGill	Blue Caps	18	12	0.667
Alec McGinnis	Bobcats	19	12	0.632

HITTING STREAKS

Top 10 Current Game-Hitting Streak Leaders

Player	Team	Hitting Streak
Logan Van Heuklon	Merchants	7
Eduardo Letamendi	Ground Sloths	6
Justin Gutierrez	Ground Sloths	6
Daniel Contretas	Bobcats	5
Rance Bryant	Ground Sloths	5
Dylan Holmes	Merchants	5
Nick Bacura	Merchants	5
Dan Mosele	Bobcats	4
PJ Jerszynski	Ground Sloths	4
Caleb Royer	Blue Caps	3
Gage Wolfe	Blue Caps	3
Liam McGill	Blue Caps	3
Cale Steinbaugh	Ground Sloths	3
Eli Kieser	Ground Sloths	3
Bryce Bishop	Merchants	3
Chase Mason	Merchants	3

Top 10 Season-Long Game-Hitting Streak Leaders

Player	Team	Hitting Streak
Pat Mulcahey	Bobcats	10
Caleb Royer	Blue Caps	9
Alec McGinnis	Bobcats	9
Judah Morris	Ground Sloths	8
Shea Zbrozek	Ground Sloths	8
Jack Shields	Merchants	7
Logan Van Heuklon	Merchants	7
Tyler Thompson	Bobcats	6
Eduardo Letamendi	Ground Sloths	6
Justin Gutierrez	Ground Sloths	6