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Northwoods Green Bay Rockers

Offense Helps Initiate Second Half Surge

July 14, 2015 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Green Bay Rockers News Release


Logan Taylor of the Green Bay Bullfrogs
Logan Taylor of the Green Bay Bullfrogs
(Green Bay Rockers)

Green Bay, WI.- Once characterized as a pitching-dominant team ,the Bullfrogs are now most noted for their hitting in the second half. Led by coaches, Ryan Van Amburg and Buster Schneider, timely insertions into the order have now made the Bullfrogs one of the scariest lineups for opposition in the Northwoods League.

The bats have awakened in the month of July to a tune of a .270 team batting average, with six players with 20 at-bats or more over .300, and even more power with 26 total extra base hits.

"Really guys are just buying in," said Van Amburg. "At the beginning it's going to be tough, guys have to adjust to wood bats. Not trying to go out there and do too much, just keeping things simple and doing things the right way."

These Bullfrogs, even when their team average was under .240 in June, have always found ways to get on base. There is no better example than Ty Blankmeyer (St. John's). He has a .171 AVG, but a .353 OBP.

Some would say that on-base percentage is a better indicator of a team's offensive capability than anything else, and the Bullfrogs have an on-base percentage of .353, over .100 points higher than their team average (.250 overall). And only one two batters have OBP's under .300.

"Once everyone works together as a team, hitting is contagious. You hit through the lineup, you're going to win some ball games," said Schneider. "And not just the hitting, but our guys work on base, they draw walks, they see pitches, and work counts really tough throughout a ball game."

A simple yet potent approach starts with the first two in the order, typically Logan Taylor (Louisville) and Robb Paller (Columbia). These two have set the tone in the first inning onwards. Of the last seven games they have hit 1-2 in the order, at least one of them has reached base in the first inning.

Taylor has also done a great job on the road with a team high .415 batting average (17-for-41, 12R, )during a stretch in which Green Bay has only three home games in the first 17 days of July.

Together Taylor and Paller are hitting .348 ( 62-for-178) and have patrolled the outfield for a total of only three errors in 47 total starts.

A staggering change has most notably occurred in the middle-of-order. Once led almost exclusively by Ryan Donovan (Lynn) for run-support, the entrance of Brian Celsi (California), and Mikey Duarte (UC-Irvine) as everyday options has broadened the support.

Duarte has scored 18 runs in as many games played and had a streak of 12 games June 21-July 9 with at least one run scored. Celsi has 11 RBI in that many games, five of which he collected in a 6-5 July 7th win over Battle Creek. They have also combined for eight doubles with on-base percentages each around .400.

Celsi and Duarte's veteran leadership (both seniors this fall) has allowed Donovan to see better pitches, enhances the frequency of run-scoring opportunities, and has etched in a more permanent day-to-day lineup.

Fast starts followed by slow remaining innings, or slow starts rounded up by solid finishes, have now been met by more thorough run scoring outputs. With a team ERA in July at 4.93, and the bullpen having salvaged many of the efforts during an 8-4 month, the Bullfrogs offense has helped the team re-emerge from early deficits of two runs or more for victories, four times in the last week.

The Bullfrogs battle the Duluth Huskies tonight at Wade Stadium for a 6:35PM first pitch. It is the first of four road contests in Minnesota.

Single game tickets are on sale now. Visit www.greenbaybullfrogs.com to purchase tickets. The Bullfrogs' business hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.




Images from this story

Logan Taylor of the Green Bay Bullfrogs
Logan Taylor of the Green Bay Bullfrogs
   



Northwoods League Stories from July 14, 2015


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