2076 Ruthlandian Union Final Leaderboards

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Tycobbian Union Final Season Report

MAHASKA FINALLY MAKES HAY IN THE TU NORTH... FIRST PENNANT IN 50 YEARS
There must have been a lot of sunshine in Mahaska this season... the Haymakers certainly made a lot of hay and raised a lot of heck... for the first time since 2028 the Mahaska Haymakers (85-69) are the best team in the Tycobbian West... 5 teams rumbled almost the entire season with the Haymakers hauling in the division crown by 3 games over second place White River (82-72), 4 better than Oxford (81-73) and 5 games in front of last year's champion Hartsdale (80-74) and North Hills (80-74) ... the preseason pollsters picked Mahaska to win and win they did... the Haymakers did it with solid pitching... they soared to the top of the TU North standings in June with a 19-7 mark and held off all comers the rest of the way... this will be the 5th postseason appearance for Mahaska... their best season to date was in 2026, when they were beaten out in the Pro Cup Finals by the Valmara Vipers... the Haymakers are seeking their very first IPA Pro Cup Trophy.

MONTANEROS BLOW AWAY TYPHOONS IN TU SOUTH
Turon was the overwhelming favorite in the Tycobbian South Division in the preseason polling... no one was expected to be within 10 games of them... nope, it didn't happen that way... instread, it was the San Alejo Montaneros (94-60) that made shambles of the pennant race and won going away... runner-up Turon (85-69) was swept to the side by 9 games... third place Summerland was 10 games back... and fourth place Arroyo Grande (79-75) was a distant 15 games behind the Monties... San Alejo went on a winning streak in mid-April and never relinquish the top spot the remainder of the season... San Alejo really took over in June (19-9) and never looked back, leaving everybody in their wake... the pennant chase was over by August... fine scoring, hitting and pitching made the difference this year... the Montaneros are appearing in the postseason playoffs for the 11th time... 2067 was their most recent TU South pennant... San Alejo has won only one Pro Cup... that was 45 years ago in 2032.

TUCKS WIN 3RD STRAIGHT TU EAST CROWN
In the preseason prognostications long-time loser Ozarka was favored to triumph in the Tycobbian East Division in a close 4-club free-for-all... this was a little surprising because the Naturals haven't been to the playoffs since 2040 and only have 14 winning seasons over those 37 years... with only one winning season in the last 7 years... since 2042 and 2043 Ozarka has rarely been a pennant contender in the TU East... this year the Nats did have a winning season and wound up in second place, but they lost the pennant to last year's champion Tuckanarra (91-63) by 7 games... the Red Bluff Red Sox (80-74) and the South Fork Stallions (80-74) were far back, tied for the third spot... the Tucks were ranked a close second to Ozarka in the preseason poll... Tuckanarra topped the division just about the whole year, taking over first place on April 19... the Tiger Cats had a solid 6-game margin at midseason, but stumbled in July (10-15) and were pressured by Ozarka, Red Bluff and South Fork... Tuckanarra turned it on in the final two months with a red-hot 33-17 record and captured its third TU East crown in a row and their fourth in the last six seasons... Ozarka was 27-24 down the stretch... Red Bluff was just 25-28... and South Fork went 26-25 in August and September... the Tucks will make their 24th postseason appearance this year and will be on the prowl for their 4th Pro Cup... it's been over four decades since the last one came in 2035... they are long overdue... Tuckanarra is a well-balanced squad and should be a serious challenger for the Pro Cup title this year... dreams could come true this year in Tuckanarra.

IN A GRUELING 6-TEAM RACE ROLLING HILLS WINS ITS SECOND STRAIGHT TU WEST
In the preseason voting the defending IPA Pro Cup and TU West champion Rolling Hills Racers were the pick of the litter again and forecast to win back-to-back pennants in a close three-team battle with the Kenwood Wildcats and La Claire Lynx... as it turned out, it was quite a catfight with 6 teams in the chase and finally won by Rolling Hills (87-67)... by the season's end Chicopee (84-70) and Kenwood (84-70) were just 3 games behind the Racers and deadlocked for the second spot in the standings.. fourth place La Claire (83-71) was just 4 games off the pace... fifth place Bayview (82-72) was only 5 games out and front-running Denton City (81-73) ended up sixth, trailing by 6 games.

In April Denton City went an amazing 22-3 and jumped way ahead of everybody... Rolling Hills was already 6 and a half-game behind... in May the Redbirds dropped off to 12-15, but still held a 4-game edge over the La Claire Lynx... in June Denton City was again just 12-15... it is now a 6-team horse race with Rolling Hills 5th and 4 and a half-game back...in the next month the Racers turned it on with a 16-8 mark and they are tied for first place with La Claire... 6th place Bayview is just 4 games out... that's how close the race is... Rolling Hills goes 16-12 in August and now has a 2-game lead over Kenwood... Chicopee is now 6th and 6 games behind... in September the Racers close out the final month with a 13-10 record and hold off hard-charging Chicopee, who finished up 17-6 and came in tied for second place with Kenwood, 3 GB... after an exhausting pennant race Rolling Hills now gets a shot at back-to-back Pro Cups... could a 9th Pro Cup Trophy be on the horizon for the Racers?... come November everyone in Islandia will all know.

2976 IPA Final Standings
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2076 Tycobbian Union Division Champions

(Special Thanks to knuckler and txranger for the fine logos... Mahaska and San Alejo)

2076 Tycobbian Union Final Leaderboards

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Three seasons ago I was pulling for the inspiring underdog Stoner Silver Sox - they came up just a bit short... maybe, just maybe, this will be their year.

I'm looking forward to the postseason preview of each series.

Sligo edged them out last year and went to the Pro Cup Finals and lost to Rolling Hills... the Silver Sox are a similar team... and they beat the Rovers this year... maybe a good omen for Stoner.

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Thursday, October 1, 2076

PRO CUP FEVER SPREADS ALL ACROSS THE ISLANDS
It's everywhere you go in Islandia -- Pro Cup Fever -- that annual event that infects the whole nation for the next month... yep, baseball is on the brains and in the hearts of the whole country... the Islandian Pro Alliance playoffs begin this Saturday afternoon, pitting 8 division champions against one another for the glory awaiting one of them -- the cherished IPA Pro Cup Trophy... last year's champion Rolling Hills is back with a chance to win again... the Racers already have 8 trophies in their possession, but they would relish doing it again for the 9th time... four teams wll be attempting to gain their first IPA title: Valka, Stoner, Glasco and Mahaska.

In the Ruthlandian Union favored Wynnamac will face the Glasco Foxhounds in first-round action... all series are best-of-seven... the Sundowners will host the first two games at their place... then head to Glasco for the next three, if needed... Stoner will entertain the Valka Blackhawks in the other RU series... in the Tycobbian Union opening round Rolling Hills will be on the road in Tuckanarra and San Alejo will welcome the Mahaska Haymakers... the Montaneros are the Tycobbian favorite and forecast to play the Macs for the Pro Cup Trophy... the Wynnamac Sundowners are given the best chance to win the 2076 IPA Pro Cup championship.

Here's how the 8 teams are ranked by the baseball experts in The Islandian Times' Pro Cup Poll.
1. Wynnamac
2. San Alejo
3. Tuckanarra
4. Rolling Hills
5. Valka
6. Stoner
7. Glasco
8. Mahaska

1. WYNNAMAC SUNDOWNERS (96-58)
The Macs are one of the top-scoring teams in the IPA and one of the best on the mound, too... the Sundowners have a high-powered attack led by Ethan Youngman, Tasmin Beasley and Max Crossman... on the hill they depend on Don Brick, Noel Arboneaux and Clarence Marlowe... the Macs are the best fielding team in the playoffs, too... Wynnamac is picked to win the Pro Cup this year by the scribes and broadcasters... this will be the Macs 21st trip to the playoffs... they have won the Pro Cup 3 times with the most recent one coming in 2070.

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2. San Alejo Montaneros (94-60)
The Monties handle the bats as good as anybody in the IPA and can put runs on the scoreboard aplenty with the likes of Enrique Clarizio, Matty Cardoso, Rodolfo Vera and Jerry Jeff Usher... the San Alejo mound staff topped the IPA with a 3.22 ERA this season... solid hitting, good home-run power and excellent pitching should bode well for San Alejo in the playoffs this year... they are a sound and capable club... the Montaneros have been to the IPA postseason 10 times in their history... 2067 was their last pennant... they won their only Pro Cup in 2032.

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3. Tuckanarra Tiger Cats (91-63)
The Tucks are right up there with Wynnamac and San Alejo... the Tiger Cats can hold their own with anybody at the plate and on the hill... top batters are Conn Donaldson, Dennis Ojeda, Lonny Garrett and Kit Coffman... top hurlers are Jonathan Bascom, William Pike and Skip Hennessy... Tuckanarra will be seriously gunning for another Pro Cup Trophy this year... 23 times they have made the playoffs... the Tiger Cats have won 3 Pro Cups, but it's been eons since they were the IPA champs, way back in 2035... 2076 just might be the Year of the Cat.

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4. Rolling Hills Racers (87-67)
What a history!... on 24 occasions the Racers have made the postseason playoffs... 8 times they hauled off the Pro Cup... 5 times in the last 16 years... the Racers may not be the high-octane hitters of past seasons, but they still have a solid core of batters in Liam Gerraghty, Jarod Shufford, Hugo Sutton, Kit Clemmons, Emmett Spangler, Dandy Ervin, Philip Bliss and Art Horn... they can still bang with anybody... and this year, the pitchers may be improved over previous seasons... Andre Zajac and Jon Hawkes have steadied the starting rotation this season, but it is still the ballclub's sore spot... the Racers will have a tough time beating Wynnamac, San Alejo and Tuckanarra... they all have better mound corps... then again, Rolling Hills has hit their way to the Pro Cup Trophy before... could happen again this year.

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5. Valka Blackhawks (87-68)
The Blackhawks are in the same boat as Rolling Hills... they have the offense, but are lacking in pitching... Valka has seven .300 hitters in its potent lineup, led by Olev Kotli, Jackie Hansford, James Ray Hanna, Alec Donelson, Jimmy Czarnecki, Markko Petrov and Elmar Jaakson... this is pretty much the same team that reached the Pro Cup Finals three seasons ago... in fact, they are hitting much better... with a little better pitching Valka could be dangerous this year in the postseason playoffs... the pitching of starters Ron Honore, Jalen Whitmire and Al Cruise will be the key... the Blackhawks have been here before in recent years... 4 times in the last 5 years... but overall, this is the 9th appearance... Valka is still without a Pro Cup Trophy in its showcase.

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6. Stoner Silver Sox (89-65)
In their club history, Stoner has made the IPA playoffs only 5 times... but this is the third time in five years... in 2072 Stoner fell to Turon in the Pro Cup Finals... many of those same players are back and doing better than ever... their main rival the last few years, the Sligo Rovers, made the Finals last year, losing out to Pro Cup champ Rolling Hills... the Silver Sox beat the Rovers by 10 games this year... maybe that is a good indication of things to come... maybe they have a shot at this year's Pro Cup trophy, which Stoner has never ever won... the bats of Curtis Russell, Nat Churchill, Tony Bellina, Billy Burbank, David Farragut, Brayden Earwood and Koy Magruder do a fine job... so does the pitching corps of Al Ptacek, Bobby West and Leon Landers... plus the Silver Sox are strong defensively... if Sligo could reach the 2075 Pro Cup Finals, so can the Stoner Silver Sox... Stoner may be better than the prognosticators think.

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7. Glasco Foxhounds (86-68)
For the first time since 2045 Glasco is finally back in the IPA playoffs and in search of their first IPA crown... the Foxhounds and their predecessors, the Athletics, have made the postseason only 3 times and never captured a Pro Cup Trophy... if hitting and offense could win a Pro Cup, this year Glasco could do it... top-to-bottom in the batting order there is a solid stick, paced by Benny Hazzard, Gayle Henley, Jordy Dubroc, P.J. Tivis and Jeff Matthews... how far the Foxhounds go depends on hurlers Brent Konigsen, Jason Albert and Russell Krohn.

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8. Mahaska Haymakers (85-69)
Lordy mercy, it has been almost 5 decades since the Haymakers made some hay in the IPA playoffs... yep, 2028 was the last time... this is only the 5th time in its history the club has made the postseason... Mahaska got some good pitching this year from Mike Jones, Nelson Sinquefield, Jay Jay Hatchett, Claude Renoir and Bobby Perry... in a tight 5-team fracus in the TU North, the Haymakers prevailed with solid pitching... offense was just adequate enough... that's why Mahaska is rated last in the Pro Cup Poll... teams without a good offense rarely win the Pro Cup... the only decent threat in the lineup is Dingo Douglas... 'nuff said, the Haymakers will get knocked out early in the playoffs... Mahaska is not likely to get its first IPA Pro Cup Trophy this year.

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Sunday, October 4, 2076

PITCHERS DOMINATE IPA FIRST-ROUND OPENERS
The old axiom "you win Pro Cups with pitching" held true in the first-round openers in the 2076 Islandian Pro Alliance playoffs... 3 of the 4 victors reigned supremely on the mound... Tuckanarra blanked Rolling Hills 5-0.
San Alejo stopped Mahaska 6-2... Valka excelled over Stoner 5-2... and Wynnamac outscored Glasco 6-4.

2076 IPA Stars of the Day
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2076 Ruthlandian Union First Round Series - Game 1
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2076 Tycobbian Union First Round Series - Game 1
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