Somerset’s fourth championship since 2001 served as a reminder to the Barnstormers. If they’re going to become one of the Atlantic League’s elite teams, they’re going to have to find a way to overcome the boys from Bridgewater, N.J.
Lancaster and Somerset have been division rivals since the Barnstormers entered the league in 2005. Let’s compare the records of the two franchises during that time. As you can probably guess, it doesn’t work out favorably for the local team.
Somerset
| Year | First half | Second half | Total | Win % |
| 2005 | 42-28 | 36-34 | 78-62 | .557 |
| 2006 | 33-30 | 32-31 | 65-61 | .516 | 2007 | 35-28 | 40-23 | 75-51 | .595 | 2008 | 40-30 | 34-36 | 74-66 | .529 |
Lancaster
| Year | First half | Second half | Total | Win % |
| 2005 | 27-43 | 37-33 | 64-76 | .457 |
| 2006 | 38-25 | 37-26 | 75-51 | .595 | 2007 | 29-34 | 28-35 | 57-69 | .452 | 2008 | 30-40 | 34-36 | 64-76 | .457 |
Somerset has won 55 percent of its games, has claimed two championships and has advanced to the final series three times during this stretch. The Barnstormers have won 49 percent of their games and their 2006 title run is their lone playoff appearance.
A couple of other things stand out. The Patriots haven’t had a losing season. In fact, their only losing half came this year after they clinched a playoff spot. The only time the Barnstormers finished ahead of Somerset was when BASA was running the baseball operations for both teams. That’s obviously not going to happen again.
Clearly, Sparky Lyle and his gang set the bar in the Atlantic League. But why?
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*They have a knack for finding players who will stick around all season despite producing impressive numbers. Josh Pressley, for example, posted a 1.045 OPS and didn’t get signed. Same goes for Brandon Larson and his 30 homers and 95 RBIs. Or Jeff Nettles , who played four full seasons there before finally getting picked up.
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*They find terrific in-season replacements. Their pitching staff was boosted by Kip Bouknight, who posted a 2.52 ERA in 15 games, and Joel Kirsten – who played the Josh Stevens role of showing up late and starring in the playoffs. The Patriots are great at evaluating talent. They rarely swing and miss when they add a player.
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*They build deep, balanced rosters. Their offense led the league in stolen bases and home runs last season. How is that for power and speed? Their pitching staff was second in ERA and first in hits allowed. They never seem to have a glaring weakness and if they develop one, it usually gets filled.
Heading into 2009, the Barnstormers have to decide if their philosophy will allow them to keep pace with Somerset. Can Lancaster continue to sign players from lesser indy leagues and expect to compete? Can they continue to bring back so many players from the previous season without things getting stale? Can they find the talent to match up with the league’s best and lure that talent to Clipper Magazine Stadium?
The Barnstormers know where the bar is set. We’ll see if they can reach it.
