Midseason Report: Pearl Surfers

The Pearl Surfers entered the season without one key player, as longtime captain Victoria left the team for retirement. The Surfers replaced her with Freedom Cascades castoff Cowzart, but expectations were decidedly tempered. This makes their hot first half of the season all the more surprising, as the captain-less team sits fourth in the league with a wonderful 21-11 mark. At home, the Surfers have been particularly adept at asserting themselves, with an 11-4 mark. Their road record of 10-7 is nothing to sneeze at either. They play in the West Division, and that too has gone well for them, as they sit near the top with a 6-3 division record, far outpacing any preseason expectations for a team that usually favors pool over cricket.

The team as a whole also possesses one of the most potent offenses around the league, scoring 1757 points per game as a unit. The team is led by last season's key acquisition, Watermelon, who has contributed nearly 504 points per game all by herself. Watermelon is a volatile player, however, holding a consistency of about 1.0, making her explosive at times even as she holds 28.5% of the offense. Behind her is a steadier player in Neopolitan, the long-tenured star. She hits 488 per game to make up 28% of the offense, while providing a consistency of 1.6, providing a perfect character foil to Watermelon. Behind the dynamic duo, there's another longtime Surfer, Wings, who adds 424 points per game. Wings is good for 24% of the offense, which isn't so bad on a high-powered team, and Wings holds a consistency of about 1.2, which allows him to be a game-changer himself at times. The weak spot on the team is the newcomer of the year, Cowzart, who has an average of 340. The not bad but not great mark sees him with a similar 1.2 consistency as Wings, but with only 19.5% of the offense to his name. As a whole, the Surfers are a bit more explosive than many teams. They tend to burst out for points and feed off of each other efficiently to win their battles. Because of that, I fully expect to see the Surfers holding home field in the first round of the playoffs.