Bombers League Battle!

Antonio vs. Nick in a playoffs semi-final to be posted tomorrow -- a MUST watch game pitting the leagues two biggest stars against each other! 

The Favorite: Undefeated Antonio has been steamrolling his opponents this season with rising fastballs that routinely clock around 80 MPH with uncanny precision and he also has the league's 1st no-hitter on his resume.  His rising fastball is absolutely devastating and might be the most difficult pitch to hit in all of Blitzball right now.  When thrown from a standard Blitzball distance of 45 feet, his 80+ MPH fastballs are the same as a 110+ MPH pitch in the major leagues -- and when you also factor in the 3-foot rising action of each pitch, you have to wonder if anyone on the planet (including the MLB) could hit it (on a Blitzball field of course). While his pitching talents are obvious, Antonio is also widely acknowledged to be the best hitter in the league by his peers and routinely mashes highlight reel home runs to prove it.  Antonio has been the clear #1 seed for this tournament from the start and it will be very interesting to see if anyone can pose a serious challenge to his supremacy this year.

The Challenger: If anyone in the league has a chance of upsetting Antonio in this playoff series, I believe that its Nick.  Having watched all of the regular series games this year, I believe that Nick has the 2nd best all-around game after Antonio and has the necessary "go-to" pitch that could give Antonio a lot of trouble as a batter.  Nick's 2-seam fastball routinely clocks in around the 70+ MPH range (equivalent to 95+ MPH over a major league distance) with some wicked tailing action that makes it extremely difficult to hit in its own right.  I can see Nick being able to win this one if the game becomes a very low scoring pitcher's duel (1-0, or 2-0, etc.) since I believe that Nick has a solid enough bat to capitalize if Antonio makes a few mistake pitches.  But Nick will have to have a near perfect pitching day himself, and against Antonio this will be very hard to do -- but keep in mind that Nick also has a no-hitter under his belt (in the playoffs no less) and has proven that he's more than capable of rising up to the challenge.

Prediction: Antonio wins by a final score of 3-1.  My prediction is based on the fact that I expect a few mistake pitches to be made by both sides and that I don't expect this game to be a blowout.  The pitching for both sides is very good, but there is still a sizable enough edge that goes to Antonio here and Nick will have to bring his "A" game in order to have a chance.