CSL Finals Schedule Released; HSL Bracket Coming Friday
By Patrick Curran
Posted at 10:59 p.m. on Aug. 29, 2012
The Congressional Softball League kicked off a big news week in the D.C. softball scene by releasing the bracket and game schedule for its 2012 finals round Wednesday.
The 16 teams that survived group play will compete in a single-elimination tournament Sept. 8, the winner of which will hold the title of CSL champion until next year.
Due to cancellations from last Saturday’s rain, however, the West Group has yet to determine who it will send to the Sweet 16. Those teams will play the morning of the Sept. 8, with the lower-seeded winner advancing to play the fourth-ranked GSPM PoliTricks and the higher-seeded winner playing the 27th-ranked Fallen Angels.
The No. 3 Masters of Disaster are the obvious favorites to win the group’s top berth, but the second bid is up for grabs — the rest of the group appears to be so evenly matched that the only surprise would be if the No. 73 Overdrafts steal a few wins and make the tournament.
Things will get really interesting once the single-elimination round starts. Assuming the Masters of Disaster don’t fall victim to a massive upset, the top four teams in the league will have made the tournament — not surprising but also not a certainty due to the league’s unorthodox group play system.
The top-ranked Injured Reserves aren’t the most intimidating team out there but have to be considered the prohibitive favorites, seeing as they haven’t lost a game this year. The second-ranked Bada Bings boast a powerful hitting lineup, and the fourth-ranked PoliTricks are probably the deepest squad we’ve seen this year. The seventh-ranked Naked Shorts can hit with the best of them and look nearly unbeatable when they’re fielding well.
Still, anything can happen in this tournament. The No. 65 Gold Standards, for example, upset three higher-ranked teams to win the group’s berth. Come out to Beulah Fields in Alexandria, Va., to see the action for yourself.
The House league, meanwhile, will be holding its annual selection show party at the Pour House on Friday. We’ll have you covered with a post and analysis of that bracket as soon as possible this weekend.
