The Power Rankings return this year, and to start things off we have a picture that describes our current thoughts on this year’s young season
| Ranking | Change | Team | Notes |
| 1 | – |  |
One week in, but what a dominating performance. Tasked with facing last year’s finals teams and disposing of both of them with ease. With some caveats – the Wolves were without their ace in Mikael Ratansi, and the Lions had a full roster…ok so no excuse for the Lions but we’ll chalk it up to how much they miss the services of Riaz Champsi. They’ll have to prove they belong, but for now pitching a 2-hitter (Hussein Allidina) in SloPitch Softball and winning both your games gets you this top spot. |
| 2 | – |  |
Despite their uniforms, this team is not to be confused with the loveable dinosaur many of you grew up with. This team disposed of the Tigers who we thought would be impressive, and then held out against the Falcons. Their pitcher, Sebastian Gianino, made his presence felt as he was raking in the strikes. Just giving hitters no room to breathe and forcing them to put the ball in play. Also, the real Minhal Jaffer has stood up! Dominating performance at SS – apparently the introduction of a gold glove award has made him give the Lions’ Asad Hussain a warning shot that he’s going to have to earn that award. We would have them in first had it not been for the late faltering against the Falcons. |
| 3 | – |  |
The Falcons seem best when they play a 9 inning game, unfortunately the games are 7 innings and they need to figure out how to get runs on the board sooner. This outfield is scary – Tanveer Husnani (LF), Raheel Rawjani (CF), Aadil Jaffer (Rover) – these guys will not let a ball drop, and they didn’t. Batters should be scared to put a ball in the air, it’s never going to see the ground – 13:2 – that’s the ratio of fly balls to ground balls that this team faced. If that continues, there are going to be some low scoring games. Once this team’s captains – Shane Worthington and Abbas Nasser figure out that they’re allowed to hit the ball past the infield then this time is going to be scary. |
| 4 | – |  |
Owls came out roaring (hooting…? Whatever noise angry owls make). They started out really strong offensively, but need to figure out how to keep that momentum going. This team will need Asad Nasser to show up on a consistent basis to make sure they have a chance to stay in the game. Either that or look to this team to make a trade to get a consistent pitcher. Kumail Meghani is going to be a tough out for most teams. He’s come out really strong but teams seem afraid to pitch to him, let’s see if that trend holds. |
| 5 | – |  |
The Tigers were down very early to the Owls, they chipped away and got the win, then their fallibility was shown against the Bucks. Granted they were missing Maysum Jaffer and Mehdi Hasan Najarali but it’s going to be problematic if Azad Najfi can’t regain his tournament form. We also know that this coming week it’s going to be problematic if the captains are absent. Let’s see if the paper version of the Tigers can translate on the field. |
| 6 | – |  |
These guys like the lower rankings to keep them motivated. With two losses last week, they should expect nothing less. They will take some time to regain their form, and the addition of Mikael Ratansi should make a difference for them, although Mohamed Walli held his own, the losses weren’t as a result of any pitching missteps. The middle of the order is where the future lies Said Samater, Samir Damani and Hasanain Panju will need to figure out their offence for this team to be competitive. |
| 7 | – |  |
We know what you’re thinking – how can a team that go 1-1 end up last in the power rankings, where teams that went 0-2 are ahead of them – that’s why it’s a power ranking, and the Lions are lacking power. 2 hits in a game against the Eagles. The only two hits coming from the captains, and both singles, also 8 errors in that game. Following a game in which they could only muster 6 hits. 8 hits for the day – to put that in perspective only the Tigers (7) failed to get that many hits in each game they played. Time for those practice at Berczy park to start paying off. |
