Skeeters Struggling, Still have Strong Status for Post-Season

The Skeeters have struggled since I last posted about their pursuit of the play-offs in this space. However, Sugar Land's hometown team is still in a strong position to bring the Atlantic League post-season back to town after a one year hiatus.

The Skeeters have lost seven of their last eight games and now hold only a one game lead over York in the Freedom Division's second half race.  The Skeeters have 14 games remaining on a schedule that concludes two weeks from today on September 18.

If Sugar Land holds off York, they will qualify for the third post-season berth in the franchise's five-year history.  It will also be the club's first such appearance since 2014.

If Sugar Land falls behind York, and the Revolution win the second half title, the Skeeters' play-off chances become a bit more complicated.

If York wins the second half, they would be the first and second half champion of the division.  This occurrence would lead to the creation of a wild card position to determine the fourth play-off team. Per Atlantic League rules, the wild card is the team with the best full season record among the teams that have not already qualified for the post-season as a half-season champion.

In the event that a York second half title necessitates the creation of a wild card position, the question of who wins the second half in the Liberty Division becomes a pertinent one to Sugar Land's post-season aspirations.  At the moment, Somerset, Bridgeport and New Britain are all in a position to claim the Liberty Division.  If their hopes rest on a wild card berth, the Skeeters would need to be better than the two of these three teams that don't win the second half Liberty Division title.

The full season standings heading into Sunday's games read as follows:

Somerset- 68-58 - ---------
Sugar Land- 67-59 - 1
New Britain- 64-63- 4 1/2
Bridgeport- 58- 68- 10

Based on these standings, the Skeeters' best chance at landing a wild card berth lie with Somerset winning the second half Liberty Division.  In this case, the Skeeters record compared with New Britain and Bridgeport would be to their advantage.