Somerset enters week a game out of division lead

The first half of the Atlantic League season concludes in six days and the Somerset Patriots are running out of viable options to clinch the title.

Whoever wins the division title receives an automatic postseason bid and a choice of home field advantage, something the Patriots would really like to have on their side.

Somerset (37-25) won the finale of its pivotal series against the Long Island Ducks (38-24) but relinquished the division lead in the earlier games causing the possibility of a potential tiebreaker scenario to vanish as the Ducks hold a 5-4 series lead.

Winning out the half and Long Island losing remains the best situation for the Patriots to gain back the lead in the Liberty Division which, as of a few days ago, could’ve had the potential for a three-way tie with the High Point Rockers (37-27) competing for a spot too.

The reality of the Ducks dropping its next seven straight games seems all but impossible given how they have played as of late.

The Patriots’ biggest hope is that Sugar Land gets the upper hand over Long Island in their series this week and for Lancaster to limit the Rockers, who are a game behind Somerset, from making a run.

Strong pitching from the Patriots might be enough to guide them to a couple wins this week as they still hold the league’s lowest average at 3.22 but their lineup needs to produce at the plate. They’ll need the bats of Will Kengor, Craig Massey, Jimmy Paredes and others to connect early on in order to get some much needed wins.

All things considered, it’ll be an interesting next few days in the Atlantic League.

Follow Dylan Manfre on Twitter for the latest on the Somerset Patriots and the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.