3rd in the Frick Frontier
4.5 GB of the Seattle Storm RABBITS ROLL ON INTO MAY
Just two weeks ago, Edmonton looked to be slipping back into irrelevance after a home sweep at the hands of Des Moines made the Jackrabbits 2-10 in their last twelve ballgames. But some sort fire was lit under the Bunnies, who immediately turned around to sweep Long Beach, and have gone 9-2 in their last eleven contests. At a game over .500, Edmonton is now tied with geographic rival Calgary for the third Wild Card in the Frick League.
"I was going to do it, but Chet beat me to the punch," said manager Ernie Lara after the team's second consecutive complete-game shutout. "It was right after the Kernels series. I came downstairs before the next game to call a meeting but there was Chet, standing in the middle of the locker room, getting the guys fired up. And I sort of just hung back and wound up not saying anything. Sometimes being the leader in the clubhouse means knowing when to let somebody else pick up the reigns for a minute."
"Most of what I said was, 'we can prove them wrong'," explained Chet Parrish (2 - 2, 4.30 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 31 K), the 21-year-old pitching phenom and Michigan native. "We hadn't even played 30 games and everybody was ready to write us off again. This is a different squad. There's a different energy when we get here every day. We want to win."
After four straight series victories, including a home sweep against Long Beach and another potential sweep against the Spuds, the Jackrabbits find themselves 9th in the league-wide Power Rankings, a virtually-unheard of position for a franchise that has never won more than 70 games in a season.
SUZUKI, PARRISH FIRE DUELING SHUTOUTS
The Boise Spuds are a brand-new team, but a well-managed one that's kept their heads above water so far in 2035. The Spuds were 17-18 heading into a three-game series at Ducey -- and then they ran headlong into Taisuke Suzuki (4 - 1, 2.60 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 27 K) and Chet Parrish (2 - 2, 4.30 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 31 K).
On Friday night, a pair of runs batted in each from Declan Crauen (.395/.429/.693, 7 HR, 27 RBI) and Eric Fabre (.286/.331/.438, 4 HR, 17 RBI) paved the way for Suzuki to get the win in a 4-0 shutout. Suzuki's record moved to 4-1 on the year, and his ERA dropped all the way to 2.60. The Spuds managed eight hits, but couldn't scratch across a run. This has easily been Suzuki's best season at the BBA level so far, as the 28-year-old is enjoying career highs in ERA, WHIP, and HR/9, posting his first above-average ERA+ (167.)
Then Chet Parrish (2 - 2, 4.30 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 31 K) said, "I'll do you one better." The very next day, Parrish limited Boise to just two hits, striking out eleven Spuds, in a shutout victory of his own. In his second season with Edmonton, Parrish is expected to become a top-of-the-rotation anchor alongside Bobby Lynch (4 - 1, 3.60 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 41 K). He's got plenty of time to do so; Parrish is just 21 years old and is already a favorite around the clubhouse.
The shutouts brought the rotation's ERA down to 3.88, which is third in the Frick.
