Team of the Week: Great Lake Godfathers

Reasons they can win:

One person, Mark Haase. Last year in Great Lakes' inaugural season, Haase won AL Rookie of the Year. He put up very impressive numbers, batting .507 and hitting 36 home runs. In 2017, Haase will most likely be an MVP candidate. Although they went 4-20 last year, Great Lakes has much higher hopes for this season.

When asked about this upcoming season, Haase explained Great Lakes have made a few rookie pickups. According to Haase, these pickups are young talented athletes, and although they don’t have much experience, they have a lot of potential for this coming season. Mark also believes the experience they gained from playing in their first season last year can carry into this season to help them do something special in 2017. With all of Michigan supporting the Godfathers, maybe they can make a run in 2017.

Reasons they won't:

Unfortunately for Great Lakes, not many people believe they can make a run for the ORWBL title in 2017. Their 2016 was not good by any means. They went 4-20, and only managed to get one win on the road. One big name for Great Lakes is Mark Haase, no one is doubting his talent and skill for the Godfathers. But Great Lakes could be the most “one player dominated” team in the league. Great Lakes also seems to be one of the more elderly teams, which seems to take their wiffle down a level.

Mark was the only player on his team with 100 at bats that batted over .350, which is very, very scary. With no depth in the lineup for Great Lakes, they ended up having the worst offense in the league, only scoring 136 runs. The league's highest scoring lineup, Saugany Lake, scored 267 runs, which was nearly double the runs Great Lakes put up.

If some players other than Haase don’t step up, it could be another rough year for this Great Lakes team. When looking through Great Lakes lineup it’s very difficult to believe they can matchup with teams like New Carlisle or Maple City. It just doesn’t seem reasonable in 2017, but in Niles the fans believe their Godfathers have a shot at the title, and who knows, maybe Great Lakes will come out and shock ORWBL in 2017.

#Godfathers