Midway - Arlon. Game Seven! Here we go! :eatpop:

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Thursday, September 26, 2058

ARLON UPENDS MIDWAY IN 7TH GAME, MAKES TU FINALS
The comeback boys of Arlon pulled it out at home at Derby Downs, winning games six and seven of the Tycobbian Union Division Championship Series... Arlon was victorious four games to three in the best-of-seven series... the Champs will advance to tangle with the Southport Sun Sox in the TU Finals, the second round of the Pro Cup playoffs, a prelude to the Pro Cup Finals.

2058 Tycobbian Union Division Championship Series - Game 7

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, September 28, 2058

FINAL 4 IN TITLE SERIES SATURDAY
Part of their dream season has come true for four IPA clubs... they have survived round one in the Pro Cup playoffs... but there are two more to go... Wynnamac and Crystal Lake will battle for the Ruthlandian Union title and Southport and Arlon will meet for the Tycobbian Union crown... the best-of-seven series will begin tomorrow afternoon... the Sundowners will host the Skippers at Granger Field and the Sun Sox will be tangling with the Champions at Pleasure Beach Park... Wynnamac and Southport have the homefield advantage and they will have four home games if the series stretches out enough.

Three of the highest-rated teams failed to get past the first round... Wynnamac upset #1 ranked Volusia in five games, Crystal Lake surprised #2 Valmara 4 games to one, Arlon upset #3 Midway in a tense seven-game duel and Southport whipped #8 Luxora in six games... #4 Crystal Lake is the highest-rated team left in the playoffs... along with #5 Wynnamac, #6 Southport and #7 Arlon... there is no clear-cut favorite remaining in the Pro Cup field.

The Wynnamac Sundowners (96-58) really looked good knocking off powerhouse Volusia (105-49)... so did the Crystal Lake Skippers (89-65) in disposing of the Valmara Vipers (99-55)... the V's and the Vipers won more games than anybody this year in the regular season... the Arlon Champions (93-61) played great ball in dispatching mighty Midway (92-62) and the Southport Sun Sox (95-59) handled the lightly-regarded Luxora Zorros (89-65) in a hard-fought series.

The best-pitching team in round one was Southport... scoring runs is the Sun Sox's dilemma... the other three Pro Cup challengers all possess firepower, especially Arlon and Crystal Lake, with their homer-happy lineups... Wynnamac may be the best all-round team with good scoring ability and a solid mound staff... all the clubs are average defenders... except for Arlon, who had a terrible series against Midway defensively with 12 errors... it's anybody's guess as to who the winner will be in the 2058 Pro Cup playoffs.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Saturday, September 29, 2058

PRO CUP UP FOR GRABS THIS YEAR
Will it be Southport's pitching that wins the IPA title this year... or will it be the high-octane bats of Crystal Lake and Arlon... or will well-rounded Wynnamac win all the marbles in 2058?... the answers are coming soon as the second round of the Pro Cup playoffs continue with the Ruthlandian Union and the Tycobbian Union League Championship Series beginning this afternoon in Wynnamac and Arlon.

In the Tycobbian title series, Southport's high hopes for its fourth Pro Cup title hinge on the arms of its fine starters, Jordy Wales (23-10/3.15), Champ Shafer (19-12/3.31) and rookie Jeff Moncriffe (17-15/3.04) and its closer Troy Hill (8-2/1.37 ERA/29 saves/45 G)... the Sun Sox have a tough time scoring runs... their best offensive bats are Keiland Forrester (.302 BA/24 HR/81 R/79 R), Zee Graham (.326/19/66/69) and Walt Walmsley (.254/16/84/93/17 SB)... Southport was the overall IPA champion in '27, '44 and '47.

The Arlon batting corps will give Southport a severe test with the likes of Jaimey Stansfield (.262 BA/44 HR/118 RBI/98 R/19 SB), Art Catlin (.278/25/93/92/6 SB), Jon Cress (.327/25/80/67), Zeppo Thiel (.279/16/58/66/13 SB) and Mel Hawkes (.290/11/64/79/10 SB).

The Champs didn't fare very well against the potent Midway attack... hopefully, Erik Branham (18-5/3.12), Dicky Towers (19-11/3.17), Ty Coffee (17-19/3.57), Oscar Mathewson (14-8/3.79) and J. C. Hilburn (8-5/3.63) can get back on track against light-hitting Southport... Arlon has won two Pro Cups... the most recent came in 2051.

In the Ruthlandian Finals, it could be quite a shootout between Crystal Lake and Wynnamac... both handled the bats well in first-round play... the Skippers really socked it to a good Valmara mound corps, while the Sundowners did quite well against the best pitching in the IPA this season... the Macs held their own against Volusia's fine staff.

Crystal Lake owns two Pro Cup trophies, both claimed many years ago, back in '20 and '22... the current Skips have an awesome batting order, led by Mel Brouwer (.343 BA/29 HR/94 RBI/114 R/18 SB), Speedy McCormick (.305/25/61/111/17 SB), Jasper Shackleford (.315/28/91/100), Zippy Coburn (.320/27/103/91/7 SB) and Gib Conlan (.288/26/110/85)... the key to the Wynnamac series is how well Merle Pitts (23-6/2.35), Robin Norborne (21-11/4.32), David Plant (6-6/3.96) and David Wynne (0-0/3.86) can contain the Sundowners... closer Yuri Kirchoff (4-4/3.31 ERA/29 saves/49 G) will have to perform well in the bullpen, too.

The Wynnamac Sundowners really had a impressive season with great pitching from George Medworth (22-13/2.49), Sammy Hayes (19-11/2.61) and rookie Kuparr Bunji (21-11/3.19)... the bullpen was solid, too, anchored by closer Tiki Collazo (4-3/1.52 ERA/28 saves/44 G)... the Macs can smack the ball, too, and put runs on the scoreboard with the likes of Manny Sendejas (.291 BA/34 HR/119 RBI/109 R/8 SB), Snooky Bartels (.337/28/109/100) and Enos Benham (.379/24/93/100)... Wynnamac looks like the best team left in the postseason... they don't have an apparent weakness... the Sundowners have won two Pro Cups, the most recent came in 2055.

Deleted post... first games of the League Finals were not saved.

This is getting frustrating... it is happening too much in the playoffs... several years ago it cost Midway the chance to win its third straight Pro Cup trophy.

Sorry, no choice but to play the first games of the series again.

Post Deleted.

First games of League Championship Series will have to be replayed... AI did not save the first games.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Sunday, September 29, 2058

MACS AND CHAMPS WIN IPA LEAGUE TITLE OPENERS
Wynnamac and Arlon both has easy victories in the League Final openers... the Macs got a fine start from an oldtimer Sammy Hayes to set down Crystal Lake 7-2 in the Ruthlandian Union, while Arlon got a route-going victory from veteran Erik Branham, who shut down Southport 8-1 in the Tycobbian Union.

2058 Ruthlandian Union League Championship Series - Game 1

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 30, 2058

CHAMPS TAKE 2 STRAIGHT IN TU... SKIPS, MACS TIED IN RU
In the second game of the series Arlon defeated weak-hitting Southport 8-2 in the Tycobbian Finals... second straight triumph for the Champs over favored Sun Sox... they trounced them 8-1 in the opener.

Crystal Lake got back into the Ruthlandian Finals with a 9-3 drubbing of the Wynnamac Sundowners... the series is now knotted up a one game apiece... the Macs captured the first game 7-2.

2058 Ruthlandian Union League Championship Series - Game 2

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, October 1, 2058

CHAMPS, CRYSTAL LAKERS DOMINATE SERIES SO FAR
Good pitching can do wonders for you in the Pro Cup playoffs... in the Tycobbian Finals the Arlon Champs have put the clamps on the Southport Sun Sox with three straight victories and Crystal Lake has taken two of three from the Wynnamac Sundowners in the Ruthlandian Finals... and they are both doing on the mound.

2058 Ruthlandian Union League Championship Series - Game 3

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, October 2, 2058

CHAMPS SWEEP PAST SUN SOX FOR TU TITLE, RU TEAMS TIED
The Arlon Champions are headed for another Pro Cup run... the Champs easily swept Southport in four games to captured the Tycobbian Union title... they will now await the Ruthlandian Union victor between the Wynnamac Sundowners and the Crystal Lake Skippers... the Macs and the Skips are deadlocked at two games each after four games.

2058 Ruthlandian Union League Championship Series - Game 4

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Thursday, October 3, 2058

Ruthlandian Union League Championship Series - Game 5

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, October 4, 2058

Ruthlandian Union League Championship Series - Game 6

Wow. Arlon is on quite a roll now. It would've been interesting to see how they would've handled being in an early 0-1 hole. But they seem to have the momentum. But whoever wins game seven will be tough. On the radio talk shows around Islandia they'll be having the Rest versus Rust debate. :eatpop:

:hardware: And how about the Skippers using an 18 year old in the pivotal game five? And he nearly pitches a complete game to get his first career playoff win. And NOW Winnemac is using their rookie (at least he can drink at 23 years old) in game seven. And he's looking for his first career playoff victory. Gotta' love playoff baseball on Islandia. :eatpop:

Arlon looks like the best team overall... very good hitting with power... and three quality starters in Branham, Towers and Hilburn... Coffee gives them a fourth possibility.

Crystal Lake lacks pitching to win the Pro Cup... Pitts is the only real quality and reliable starter... Wynnamac has pitching with Hayes, Bunji and Medworth, but they have been roughed up by the Skippers.

David Plant (6-6/3.96) gets to start in the playoffs for Crystal Lake because the other two more experienced choices, Tony Calamari (7-12/5.23) and Jack Ellison (9-9/5.24) have ERAs over 5.00... Crystal Lake was forced to use another very inexperienced youngster David Wynne in the first round against Valmara… and he gave them an 11-4 win, but it was a shaky performance... Wynne joined the Skippers in August and made only 3 relief appearances… but manager Duncan Welch just doesn't seem to have faith in him... he will more than likely go with reliever Julio Cordova (1-4/3.04 ERA/5 saves/44 G) in the Pro Cup Finals should they get past Wynnamac.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Saturday, October 5, 2058

2058 Tycobbian Union League Championship Series - Game 7