GRIM SWEEPERS SWEEP VIPERS; JAKE SULLIVAN WALK OFF IN FIRST EVER EWA GAME

The final series of Slate 1 did not dissapoint. The new and improved Grim Sweepers with new acquisitions of Will Sullivan, Jake Sullivan, Mason Brown and Tallon Stauffer look to propel this team over the hump of failure after losing in the Wild Card game to the Oddballs last season. The Vipers bring back manager Wilson Szydlo into the league after being cut from the Northern Sea Monsters, and with 1st overall pick Caleb Mendler, and new acquisitions and singings of Varen Aggarwal, Zach Levitan and Rishi Aggarwal, the Vipers look to show that with their rag tag team, they can hang with the big dogs.

Game 1 had bad conditions from the start of the game. With the rivalry of Jake Sullivan and Caleb Mendler from the NWL also starting on the mound for this game, the low scoring affair started. The Vipers tacked on a run in the first inning off of walks and a hit, and Caleb Mendler was rolling from the start leaving the Vipers leading 1-0 after the 1st inning. After a scoreless second and top of the third, the Vipers tied up the game when Jake Sullivan walked to walk home a run, knotting the game up at 1 a piece. After the Vipers failed to score in the top of the 4th, Caleb Mendler removed himself from the game with upper arm and shoulder soreness. After 3 different pitchers came into pitch during the bottom of the 4th, it would not matter as Jake Sullivan in his first ever EWA game hit a walkoff singled to win Game 1 of the series 2-1.

Game 2, with many different faces, brought a very different kind of game to the table. The game started with Tallon Stauffer and Wilson Szydlo on the mound for their respective teams, with no Mendler for this game. Many walks and 11 runs later, after the first inning the Vipers led again in this series 7-4, but with Jake Sullivan having come into the game to pitch for Tallon Stauffer. After a scoreless second with some clean plays from Wilson Szydlo, Varen Aggarwal and Jake Sullivan, the score remained 7-4 Grim Sweepers. In the top of the third, the Grim Sweepers tacked on two more runs to narrow the lead after 3 innings to only 1 run. In the top of the 4th, Szydlo looked to close out the game on the mound, and after Trey Stauffer popped out to start the inning, it looked like it would be this way. 9 walks later, the Grim Sweepers had taken the lead 12-7, and as Jake Sullivan closed it down on the mound in the bottom by striking out Szydlo and Rishi Aggarwal, the Grim Sweepers had swept the series

After slate 1, the results of this series led the Grim Sweepers to be first in the American Leauge, the first time they have ever swept a series and also been first in the league let alone the division. For the vipers, they showed glimpses of performance from Varen Aggarwal, Szydlo and Mendler, but lacked putting all the pieces together, finding themselves at the bottom of the National League to start the season with an 0-2 record. The Grim Sweepers look to continue thier dominance against the #1 team in the National League, the Bomb Squad, showcasing the matchup of the twin brothers of Ethan and Trey Stauffer, as well as Aiden and Tallon Stauffer. The Vipers will play the Knights in their next series, looking to gain some ground back in the National League hoping to piece all the parts together.