Mission Notes - FSL Championship Series

THE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ... The 2012 Florida State League Championship Series opens at Roger Dean Stadium, the home of the South Division champion Jupiter Hammerheads for the first two games on Friday and Saturday (Game times to be announced). The best-of-five series then moves to Lakeland for game three on Sunday at 5 p.m. Games four and five, if necessary, will be played Monday and Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Joker Marchant Stadium.

THE FLYING TIGERS (73-58, 2-0 Playoffs) ... Lakeland swept through the first round of the playoffs posting back-to-back shutouts over Dunedin. The Flying Tigers made a Tyler Collins’ first-inning hold up for a 1-0 win in game one in Lakeland. Lakeland then travelled to Dunedin and got a home run from Wade Gaynor and another from Collins in a 3-0 win. The last time Lakeland was in the FSL Playoffs in 2005, the club also swept Dunedin in the first round before falling three games to two to Palm Beach in the championship series. Overall, this is Lakeland’s 17th trip to the playoffs with FSL championships coming in 1975 and 1976 under current Detroit Manager Jim Leyland and a 2002 championship under manager John Lipon. Lakeland has a 32-29 record in FSL postseason games (including this season).

THE HAMMERHEADS (74-62, 2-1 Playoffs) ... Jupiter beat St. Lucie and Mother Nature for its first two FSL postseason wins. The Hammerheads opened the postseason with a 3-1 win over St. Lucie in a game delayed 2:58 due to rain. Game two was delayed 2:00 for inclement weather with the Mets prevailing 2-1. Thursday’s game featured rain of a different kind as the two clubs combined for 18 runs on 25 hits as Jupiter won its first-ever divisional championship with an 11-7 win. Ryan Fisher and Noah Perio each had five hits in the divisional playoffs while Taylor Krick and Alfredo Lopez each had four hits. Jupiter, which joined the league in 1998 as an affiliate of the Montreal Expos, became an affiliate of the Miami Marlins in 2002. The Hammerheads are making their fifth appearance in the FSL post-season and have a 2-9 playoff record thru the 2012 Division Series.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
    9/07 - RHP Warwick Saupold (2-2, 3.77 ERA) ... Warwick Saupold struggled in his last start on Aug. 31, allowing five runs on four hits in 3.0 innings against Tampa. The five runs was more than he had allowed in his previous four starts. Saupold is 1-2 with a 3.22 ERA in five games as a starter.
    9/08 - LHP Alex Burgos (8-10, 4.90 ERA) ... Alex Burgos has allowed just two earned runs over 19.2 innings in his last five starts, but is just 1-0 in that stretch. In his last start on Sept. 1 against Tampa, he held the Yankees to one unearned runs on four hits in 4.0 innings with two walks and two strikeouts. He is 6-8 with a 6.04 ERA in 17 starts on the road this season. Burgos held Jupiter hitless through six shutout innings to pick up a win in the season series.
    9/09 - RHP Luis Angel Sanz (11-3, 3.46 ERA) ... Luis Sanz walked a season-high four batters in a season-low 4.2 innings in his start against Dunedin in the FSL Division Playoffs on Tuesday night. He ended the regular season with seven wins in his last seven decisions and had five or more strikeouts in six of his last eight games. Sanz is 7-0 with a 3.02 ERA in 13 appearances (nine starts) in the friendly confines of Joker Marchant Stadium. He posted a pair of wins in two starts against Jupiter, holding the Hammerheads to one earned run over 11.2 innings for a 0.77 ERA on 10 strikeouts.
    9/10 - RHP Drew VerHagen (0-3, 3.67 ERA) ... Drew VerHagen tossed six shutout innings against Dunedin on Wednesday in the Division Series deciding game. He held the Blue Jays to three hits as Lakeland wrapped up its first Division championship since 2005. The win was his first professional victory. VerHagen allowed a season-high four runs in a season-low 2.1 innings in his last regular season start on Aug. 28 against Brevard.
    9/11 - To Be Announced.

THIS YEAR ... Lakeland won four of the six meetings between the two clubs this season, including three of four played in Jupiter on June 1-4. The Flying Tigers won games two and three in the series by a combined 21-1 score. Tropical Storm Debby greeted the two clubs when the series came to Lakeland in the second half and the first three nights were washed away. The two squads finally got in a doubleheader in on June 27 with Lakeland winning game one, 3-2, and Jupiter taking game two, 2-1. Luis Castillo led Lakeland in the series with eight hits, including three doubles, while Marcus Lemon and Dixon Machado each had seven hits. Lakeland hit .274 in the series while Jupiter was held to a .189 team batting average.

SERIES COMPARISONS ... The 2012 FSL Championship series features the top two hitting teams in the league. Lakeland finished the regular season with a FSL-best .267 team batting average, while Jupiter was second with a .265 mark. The Hammerheads were second only to Dunedin in runs scored (623) while the Flying Tigers pitchers have allowed the third fewest runs (539) of any FSL staff. Neither team stood out in the homer department with Lakeland tying for second fewest homers in the FSL (66) and Jupiter finishing tied for third fewest (71). Lakeland swiped the fourth most bases in the league (135) and was caught stealing the fewest times (36). Jupiter stole the fourth fewest bases (99) but was caught the fifth most times (47). Hammerhead pitchers had the second best ERA in the league (3.51) while the Flying Tigers finished ranked seventh with a 3.79 mark. Jupiter hurlers struck out the fourth most batters (1,013) while Lakeland punched out the fourth fewest (897).

LAKELAND IN THE PLAYOFFS ... Lakeland is making its first appearance in the playoffs since 2005 when the Flying Tigers fell three games to two to Palm Beach in the championship round. Lakeland opened the 2005 playoffs by sweeping Dunedin in two games. Overall, Lakeland has a 32-29 record 17 appearances in the playoffs thru the 2012 Divisional Series and  is 14-9 in FSL Championship Series. Lakeland last won the FSL Championship in 1992 under manager John Lipon and also won back-to-back titles in 1976 and 1977 under Jim Leyland, who is now the manager of the big league Tigers.

LOTS OF GOOSE EGGS ... With the back-to-back blankings of Dunedin in the first round of the FSL playoffs coming on the heels of a shutout in the season finale, Lakeland has posted three straight shutouts, something the club has not done in at least the last 17 years. The Blue Jays had finished the regular season as the FSL’s top scoring team, but failed to get on the scoreboard in the two games as Lakeland’s pitchers tossed 18 consecutive scoreless innings. Throw in the series finale and five innings in the game before that, Flying Tigers pitcher have not allowed a run in the last 32 innings. In the Divisional Series, Lakeland pitchers struck out 16 in the 18.0 innings with seven walks and allowed 12 hits.

DOUBLE DOUBLE-DOUBLES ... Tyler Collins finished second in the FSL with 35 doubles - the second most in Lakeland history. But when it go the playoffs, Collins doubled a double into a homer and doubled that with homers in each of the Flying Tigers two playoff games. His first inning home run stood as the only Lakeland run in a 1-0 win in game one while he capped the scoring in game two with his second homer of the postseason in a 3-0 win over Dunedin. Collins batted .429 in the Divisional Series with a 1.714 slugging percentage.

NICE TIMING ... Drew VerHagen was a fourth round pick of Detroit’s in this year’s draft and finished the regular season with an 0-3 record in Lakeland. But the former Vanderbilt star saved his best for the postseason, tossing six shutout innings at Dunedin, holding the Blue Jays to just three hits to pick up his first win as a professional.

SOMETHING AGAINST HONDO? ... Hernan Perez hasn’t had much to say to first base coach Larry “Hondo” Herdon as of late. It’s not that they’re not talking, it’s just that when Perez has gotten a base hit, he hasn’t stopped at first base. Of Perez’s last eight hits, seven have been for extra bases including five doubles, a triple and a home run.

ON A SOLID TRAJECTORY ... Even thought postseason stats do not count toward a player’s final statistics, Michael Rockett has had hits in five straight games and is 7x17 during that span for a .412 clip.

WINNINGEST ACTIVE MANAGER ... Manager Dave Huppert, who was just named to the Florida State League Hall of Fame, recorded his 1,700th victory as a minor league manager on Sunday, June 3 when the Flying Tigers posted an 11-1 win at Jupiter. He is in his second season with Lakeland and his 24th season as a minor league manager. Huppert, who became the winningest active manager in the minor leagues with Lakeland’s sixth win on April 19 of this year, brings a 1,745-1,592 record into the playoffs. Coincidently, Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland is the winningest active manager in the majors.