WELCOME TO THE 2009 SENATORS WEB PAGE

                 2007 30+ Champion, 2008 AA Champion, 2009 Final Four Senators

Next game:
2010. :(

Another season in the books, as the Senators do themselves proud with a third consecutive strong showing in the HRNABA tournament.
The squad took a big leap of faith at the onset of the season with the jump to the daunting AAA division.  However, they strived in the beginning of the season through early division play, survived the middle of the season when teams folded and high-caliber players dispersed to other rivals, and thrived in the pressure of the stretch run and post-season with epic games and a Final Four appearance.  Pitching and defense was the key for the Senators success this year, as the move to the upper division affected some of the offensive output.  Raw power was down for the season, as the team runs, extra base hits, and slugging fell from 2008.  However, plate discipline improved greatly, as the team struck out almost 30 times less and walked almost 30 times more to bring the BB/K ratio to a much improved 0.993 (up from 0.82 in 2008).  The team batting average jumped almost 50 points to 0.322, and with the OBP remaining solid, the teams OPS (best one-stop measure of a batter) rose to a solid, if not spectacular, 0.883.  Team speed increased greatly with the additions of some burners, as the Senators swiped better than 20 bags more than 2008 while being only caught twice more to see the SB Rate rise to 86.7%.  Another reason the Senators continued the winning ways with less offense was their clutch hitting.  In 2008, the team hit 0.255 with runners in scoring position.  In 2009, that number jumped to 0.314.  In an even better indication of their ability to exctend innings, the team's RISP with 2 outs went from an anemic 0.215 to over 0.360!  With the pressure on, the Senators stepped up the game.   
Offense aside, it was the pitching that carried the club in 2009.  Almost every team record was broken by a staff that, while not deep for most of the season, twirled gem after gem week after week.  In 30-plus innings pitched less than 2008, the staff walked over 30 less batters, while striking out the same eye-popping 255.  They threw 22 complete games, winning 22 total ballgames, The staff lowered it's WHIP to an astounding 1.38 from over 1.7, raised its K/7 rate to over 8 from near 7, and raised it's K/BB to 2.2 from 1.3 last season.  They recorded 5 shutouts as a staff, and even had a member throw 17 staright scoreless innings and 25 straight innings without allowing an earned run.  After all said and done, the Senator staff finished the year with an ERA over 1 run better than 2008 at 2.70 (from 3.83).        
Defense wins championships, too, and although they didnt win one, the squad showed marked improvement in the field for 2009.  As a team, the Senators made 29 less errors, for a fielding percentage 2% better than 2008 at 0.941.  Those fewer errors led to only 30 unearned runs this year, ensuring the pitchers had to work less to get through the lineups.  In fact, unlike previous years, 2009 marked the first time that the squad played several error-free games.
Congrats to all the players that helped make this season so memorable.

Stats have all been tallied for the season (including post) and to keep the off-season interesting, different categories / records/ awards will be revealed slowly to keep everyone engaged and looking forward to a successful 2010 campaign.  Check the bottom of this page for those updates. 

**Please note** -  Batters must have 5% of team at-bats to qualify, pitchers must throw 8% of team innings to qualify, and fielders must record 3% of team chances to qualify to records and awards. 


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