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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, September 25, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Elite 8 Series Tycobbian Union BSC Bucs Bump Ozarka Nats From Playoffs The Pro Cup favorite Bay St. Clair Buccaneers just barely escaped the embarrassment of losing in the first round with a stirring comeback to capture the Tycobbian Union Elite 8 Series from the tough third-seeded Ozarka Naturals... the Bucs had to win the last two games to win the series four games to three... it took a 6-run ninth-inning rally to win game six... and they won by the slimmest of margins in game seven. Game seven was a classic duel played at Ozarka's Ellie Ewing Stadium... the Buccaneers pulled it out 2-1 with masterful pitching by ace Jody Gentry (2-0/0.35), who stopped the Naturals on one run and 8 hits over 8 and a third innings... Gentry called it a day after giving up a one-out single in the ninth... closer Don Sawyer came in and slammed the door by getting the final two outs... Ozarka starter Brady Bell matched goose eggs with Gentry until the fifth when 3B Teddy Nixon (.400) tagged him for a 2-run homer... it was Nixon's third homer in the series... Bell (0-2/3.32) worked into the seventh, struck out 12 and allowed 6 hits and a walk... in the eighth CF Ralph Bevis' double (.269) and George Jenkins' (.269) single accounted for the only run the Nats could generate. Gentry had three stellar starts in the series. He got credit for two of the victories. Gentry got a no-decision in game one, won by the Buccaneers 2-1 in 10 innings. He hurled a 4-hit shutout in game four, winning 5-0, then sealed the series with a fine outing today in game seven. Ozarka (94-60) led the IPA in victories this season, while Bay St. Clair (92-62) came in third. The Cape Coral Hurricanes (93-61) were the runner-up in wins, but were seeded eighth and last in the Pro Cup playoff rankings. They fell to the Blue Lake Blue Sox (85-69) in first round action. In the Tycobbian Final 4 it will be number-one seed Bay St. Clair battling seventh-seeded Blue Lake. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Thursday, September 26, 2030 Pro Cup Trimmed To Four Teams Several high seeds are gone after the first round of the Pro Cup playoffs. The Pro Cup favorite Bay St. Clair Buccaneers almost didn't make it. Valmara and Wynnamac survived in the Ruthlandian Union, while it was the Buccaneers and Blue Lake in the Tycobbian Union. The two, three, four and eight seeds have bit the dust. In RU Final 4 action it will be five seed Wynnamac opening up at War Memorial Stadium in Valmara, opposed by the sixth-seeded Vipers. Over in the TU Final 4 favored Bay St. Clair will host the the number seven seed Blue Lake Blue Sox at Shoreline Park. Both series will be best-of-seven. In the RU it will be Wynnamac's pitching against the well-balanced Valmara Vipers. The Sundowners staff carried them past Colfax with a 2.57 ERA. Wynnamac hit only .186, yet still won. Valmara upended the number two seed Grand City with a .263 batting average and a 3.33 ERA. The playoff-seasoned Vipers are favored to take the Ruthlandian title. Valmara has made the postseason in 7 of the last 8 years and won the Pro Cup in 2026. Bay St. Clair made a remarkable comeback to whip third seed Ozarka in seven games. The Bucs had to win the last two to advance and they did it by the skin of their teeth. Blue Lake had a far easier task and whipped eighth seed Cape Coral in six games. The Blue Sox won the series without 22-game winner Doug Kirkpatrick, who will be out until early October with a sore arm. Bay St. Clair got strong pitching against the Naturals, compiling a fine 2.42 ERA, but batted only .225. The Blue Sox hit .267 against the Hurricanes and logged a 3.60 ERA. The Bucs should be able to handle the Blue Sox this time around and should be headed to the Pro Cup Finals against Valmara. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, September 27, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Final 4 Series Ruthlandian Union Vipers Edge Sundowners 4-3 In Game 1 The Valmara Vipers opened up the Ruthlandian Final 4 Series with a late-inning comeback to edge the Wynnamac Sundownowers 4-3 in game one, played at War Memorial Stadium... Teddy Lem and Jerry Rembert teamed up in the victory... Lem (2-1/3.24) went the distance, holding the Sundowners to 3 runs and 6 hits... only one of the runs was earned as the Vipers committed 4 errors... Lem walked none and fanned 5... 1B Rembert cracked 2 into the stands to lead Valmara at the plate... behind 3-2 the Vipers rallied for 2 runs in the eighth, scoring on a passed ball and a sacrifice fly by Teddy Rudek (.320). Killara Bardo (1-2/4.74) took the loss... he also pitched a complete game, allowing 8 hits, striking out 8 and walking 1... Wynnamac got 2 runs in the first, courtesy of 2 Viper miscues, to take a 2-0 lead... Rembert's first homer tied it 1-1 in the fourth... Sundowner 1B Giles Butler's (.200) 2-run homer sent them up 3-1 in the sixth... Valmara RF Gerry Kazmarek (.290) and CF Teddy Szymanski chimed in with 2 hits apiece to help Rembert out. Tycobbian Union Bucs Bop Blue Sox 3-2 In TU Final 4 Opener Playing at home at Shoreline Park, Bay St. Clair got a nice outing from Ray McClendon and beat weak-hitting Blue Lake 3-2 in the opening game of the Tycobbian Final 4... McClendon even drove in the winning run... Bucs skipper Denny Coulon called on McClendon in place of ineffective John Karlsen and got the victory... McClendon (1-0/1.74), an 18-game winner in the regular season, had been shifted to bullpen duty in the postseason... he held Blue Lake to 2 runs and 8 hits in 8-plus innings... closer Don Sawyer came in with one out in the ninth with the tying run on first and got the final 2 outs... it was Sawyer third save of the postseason... the losing pitcher was Chris Landry (0-2/2.66), who went the route... Landry tossed a credible game, yielding only 2 earned runs on 6 hits with one walk and 8 Ks. The Buccaneers took an early 2-0 lead in the last of the third, scoring on SS Eddy Hunt's (.257) RBI double and an error by pitcher Chris Landry... Blue Lake narrowed it to 2-1 with a run in the top of the fourth on Joe McGarrett's (.400) double... and evened it up with another one in the sixth when SS Joe Korman (.179) hit into a fielder's choice... Bay St. Clair got the winning score in the seventh on a two-out single by 3B Teddy Nixon (.393) and an RBI double by McClendon (.333). |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Saturday, September 28, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Final 4 Series Ruthlandian Union W'Macs Waylay Valmara 11-3, Gain Split In Series In game two of the Ruthlandian Final 4 at War Memorial Stadium in Valmara, Wynnamac demolished the hometown Vipers 11-3 to gain a split in the series... the Sundowners slammed 13 hits and got a good effort from Jason Meeks, who bent, but didn't break... Meeks (3-0/1.73) posted his third win of the postseason, giving up 10 hits, but just 3 runs... Meeks fanned 4 and walked none... SS Chris Banner, RF Kurt Wenzel and 1B Giles Butler paced the 'Macs attack... Banner (.600) slapped 3 hits and batted in 3 runs, Wenzel (.500) had 2 hits, including a 2-run homer and scored twice, and Butler (.241) went 2-for-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs... a 6-run explosion in the top of the third sent Wynnamac on its merry way. Valmara starter Carroll Cain (1-1/3.27) caught the loss... he was battered for 6 runs and 6 hits in just 3 frames... at the plate the Vipers were led by CF Teddy Szymanski (.343) with 3-4. Tycobbian Union Joubert Blanks Bucs 5-0, Blue Sox Bang Out 12 Hits The anemic bats of Blue Lake finally came alive with 12 hits to bang out a 5-0 triumph over Bay St. Clair at the Buccaneers' home diamond Shoreline Park to even up the Tycobbian Final 4 at one game each... the Blue Sox also got a marvelous mound performance from Derek Joubert (2-1/3.65), who fired a 5-hit shutout, walked only 2 batters and whiffed 8... offensively CF Chris Halley (.316) was a one-man wrecking crew with 4 hits and 3 RBIs... Halley had a homer and a triple... 3B Matt Thompson (.353) also contributed a 2-run roundtripper... until today's explosion Blue Lake was batting a lowly .200 in the playoffs. Buccaneer starter Jody Gentry, who has been brilliant in three previous postseason starts, was slammed at will by the Blue Sox... Gentry (2-1/1.67) gave up all 5 runs and 11 hits in 6-plus innings... Gentry saw his playoff ERA shoot up from 0.35 to 1.67 this afternoon. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Sunday, September 29, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Final 4 Series (best-of-seven) Ruthlandian Union Marshall Masterpiece, W'Macs Win 3-0 In Game 3 The Granger Field fans went home happy... their Wynnamac Sundowners polished off Valmara 3-0 in game three of the Ruthlandian Final 4 to take a 2-1 edge in the series... it was a 5-hit masterpiece by Lon Marshall (2-1/0.69), who continued his excellent postseason after a mediocre 14-17 record during the season... Marshall posted 5 Ks and walked 2 in the shutout. For 6 and a half innings Marshall and Viper starter Garry Gronek were locked up in a scoreless duel... then 3B Dorak Aranda and C Lee Leslie went to work... in the last of the seventh Aranda tripled and scored on Leslie's base hit... then they teamed up again in the next inning to make it 3-0 with RBI singles... Aranda (.278) and Leslie (.226) led the Sundowners with 2 hits each... in defeat Gronek (2-1/3.42) went the route, too, permitting 3 runs on 9 hits with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. Tycobbian Union Blue Sox Bump Off Bucs 5-1 Behind Trakas For the second game in a row the previously inept Blue Lake bats were blazing... and the Blue Sox pitching was impressive again behind Billy Trakas... Blue Lake plastered favored Bay St. Clair for 11 hits enroute to a 5-1 victory to put them ahead in the Tycobbian Final 4 by a count of two games to one... Trakas (2-0/3.27) checked the Buccaneers for 8 frames on 8 hits and surrendered only one run, while striking out 5 and walking just one batter... reliever Ed Graham worked a perfect ninth to finish off the Bucs... RF Boom-Boom Baker (.237) lived up to his name with 3-3, including a 2-run homer... Baker drove in 3 runs... he also had help from CF Chris Halley (.333), who had 2 hits and an RBI... Danny Darby (1-2/2.91) suffered the loss, though he only gave up 2 earned runs in his 6 innings... the Blue Sox got to him for 10 hits and 5 runs overall. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 30, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Final 4 Series (best-of-seven) Ruthlandian Union Vips Szymanski 3-Run HR Ties Series With W'Macs At home at Granger Field, Wynnamac's Killara Bardo only made one mistake on the mound in game four and that cost him dearly - Valmara's Teddy Szymanski parked a 3-run homer into the stands in the top of the eighth and that was good enough for a 3-2 victory to even the Ruthlandian Final 4 Series at two games apiece... without it Wynnamac would have had a huge lead in the series. In addition to Szymanski's (.326) late-inning heroics, Teddy Lem was as sharp as a tack as he hurled 8 strong innings, yielded only one run and 5 hits with 7 strikeouts and a walk... Lem left with a 3-1 lead... closer Ivan Guzek got in trouble in the ninth with 2 singles and an error, but he managed to shut down the Sundowners after they cut the score to 3-2 with an unearned run... the route-going Bardo (1-3/4.18) was the loser as he permitted all 3 runs on 8 hits, fanned 7 and issued only one base on balls... at the plate Wynnamac was led by LF Lil Hoss Burkhalter (.189), who slugged a solo shot in the sixth to snapped a scoreless tie, and by RF Tommy Lambright (.185), who singled in the last run in the ninth... the Sundowners had only 7 hits. Tycobbian Union McClendon Stops Sox 2-1, Bucs Tie Series Despite an 18-9 regular-season record, Ray McClendon started the playoffs in the Bay St. Clair bullpen and did well... then manager Denny Coulon decided to return him to the starting rotation and McClendon has been outstanding with two standout starts against Blue Lake... the 30-year-old lefty stopped the Blue Sox 3-2 in game one and topped it today with a 2-1 victory in game four to even up the Tycobbian Union Final 4 at two games each... McClendon shut down Blue Lake on 3 hits and a run in 8 innings... closer Don Sawyer came in and put the Blue Sox down in the ninth and faced only 3 batters... It was Sawyer's 4th postseason save. Both McClendon and loser Chris Landry were terrific... there was only one hit in the first four frames, a first-inng single by Bucs LF Kelly Lucas (.279)... Bay St. Clair broke through with 2 scores in the top of the fifth, helped out by 2 errors by the Blue Sox and an RBI triple by SS Eddy Hunt (.234)... C Roger Webb (.289) gave the Blue Lake its only run with an eighth-inning roundtripper... Landry (0-3/1.99) had a standout game with 11 strikeouts and no earned runs... he walked 3 and allowed only 4 hits in 8 innings. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, October 1, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Final 4 Series (best-of-seven) Ruthlandian Union Meeks Gives Wynnamac 3-2 Series Lead In game five of the Ruthlandian Final 4, Jason Meeks gave the Wynnamac fans a lot to cheer about at Granger Field... Meeks drove in the go-ahead runs and also tossed a 7-1 victory over the Valmara Vipers to give the Sundowners a 3-2 lead in the series... one more win and Wynnamac is headed for the Pro Cup Finals against the Tycobbian champion... The Sundowners haven't been to the Finals since 2008, when they whipped the Denton City Redbirds for the IPA title. Meeks busted up a 1-1 deadlock with a 2-run single in the bottom of the seventh... a few batters later LF Lil Hoss Burkhalter put the finishing touches on the Vipers with a grand slammer... that made it easy for Meeks (4-0/1.29), who went the distance, hurling a 4-hitter with 5 Ks and a walk for his 4th playoff victory... Meeks did not allow an earned run... J. B. Boutin got the start from manager Jet Kazmarek... Boutin did well for six frames, but was hammered hard in the seventh...in all Wynnamac got to him for 7 runs and 9 hits... Boutin (0-1/9.95) was the losing pitcher... Burkhalter (.220) and Meeks (.143) led the Sundowners at the plate with 2 hits apiece. Tycobbian Union Blue Sox Nick Bucs 2-1, Go Up In Series 3-2 Blue Lake continued to get remarkable pitching in game five of the Tycobbian Final 4... Derek Joubert continued his winning ways with a 2-1 triumph over Pro Cup favorite Bay St. Clair, stopping the Buccaneers on one run and 6 hits over his 8 and two-thirds innings... He blanked them in game one 5-0... Joubert (3-1/2.97) shut out the Bucs for 8 innings and got the first two outs in the ninth, but then needed the help of Gil Donahue, who came in and got the final out with the bases loaded... it was Donahue's second save in the playoffs... Blue Lake turned 3 double plays... the Blue Sox staff has surrendered only 7 runs in the series and now has a 3-2 edge. Blue Lake took the lead in the opening frame when CF Chris Halley (.320) reached base on an infield error, went to third on a double by 3B Matt Thompson (.304) and scored when RF Boom-Boom Baker (.217) grounded out... the Blue Sox tallied another run in the seventh for a 2-0 lead... LF Eddie Nagen (.303) singled and went to second when the right fielder bobbled the ball... Nagen stole third and rode home on 2B Skipper Smith's (.294) double... Bay St. Clair got its only score in the top of the ninth... LF Kelly Lucas (.304) and 1B Terry Adams (.292) singled to place runners on second and third... Lucas scored on C Damon Klein's (.128) base hit... each club had 6 hits. The Buccaneers committed 3 miscues with none of their runs earned... starter and loser Jody Gentry (2-2/1.37) deserved a better fate... he only permitted 6 hits, walked none and fanned 4 in his 7 innings. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, October 2, 2030 2030 IPA Final 4 Series (best-of-seven) Vipers Alive! Gronek Blanks W'Macs 1-0 In a postseason pitching classic Valmara stayed alive in the Ruthlandian Final 4 on the arm of 22-year-old rookie right-hander Garry Gronek, who fired a 5-hit 1-0 victory over the Wynnamac Sundowners at War Memorial Stadium to even the series at three games each... game seven is tomorrow afternoon, again in Valmara. Gronek struck out 4 and walked only 1... He only got in trouble in the seventh when the Sundowners put runners on first and third with two away... Gronek got out of it with no harm done... losing pitcher Lon Marshall (2-2/0.79) was superb, too... he worked a complete game, fanned 5 and walked one, while allowing only one run on 8 hits... the Vipers got their only run in the opening frame... 2B Alec Leclerc (.289) and RF Gerry Kazmarek (.320) opened the game with back-to-back singles, placing runners on the corners... LF Benny Hooper (.182) brought Leclerc in with a flyout to right. Wynnamac manager Matt Donnelly will send his ace Killara Bardo to the mound in game seven. Bardo was 21-13 in the regular season, but is only 1-3 in the postseason with a 4.18 ERA... Valmara skipper Jet Kazmarek will give the assignment to his number one starter Teddy Lem, who was 21-14 this year with a 3.31 ERA. Lem has put up a 3-1 mark in the playoffs with a 2.73 ERA. He owns two wins over the Sundowners in this series, beating them 4-3 in game one and 3-2 in game four. Tycobbian Union Blue Lake Upsets BSC Bucs In TU Final 4 The party is over for Pro Cup favorite Bay St. Clair, but it will continue for seventh-seeded Blue Lake, who upset the Buccaneers in the Tycobbian Final 4, taking the series four games to two... the Blue Sox wrapped it up with a another fine mound performance... this time from Billy Trakas, who went all the way in a 5-2 win... Trakas (3-0/2.61) shackled the Bucs on 4 hits and limited them to 2 runs, only one earned... Trakas chalked up 7 strikeouts and issued one walk. Led by 3B Matt Thompson's 4 hits, the Blue Sox collected 9 hits... they struck for 2 runs in the first frame, scoring one on LF Eddie Nagen's (.297) RBI single and another on a Buccaneer error... Blue Lake increased it to 3-0 in the top of the fifth, when Thompson (.360) drove in Skipper Smith (.289) with a single... Bay St. Clair finally got to Trakas in the bottom of the fifth on CF Chris Blanton's (.125) 2-run single, cutting the score to 3-2... but that's all they got... the Blue Sox put them away with 2 more in the top of the seventh, scoring on CF Chris Halley's (.315) sacrific fly and and RBI single by LF Boom-Boom Baker (.220). The Bucs starter John Karlsen (0-2/6.23) suffered the loss, but only allowed 2 earned runs on 9 hits in 7 innings... Karlsen fanned 4 and walked no one. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Thursday, October 3, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Final 4 Series (best-of-seven) Ruthlandian Union Vipers Win 7th Game 4-2 Behind Lem The Valmara Vipers are Pro Cup bound... they came back from a three games to two deficit to eliminate the Wynnamac Sundowners in seven games to capture the Ruthlandian Final 4 Series... Valmara ace Teddy Lem beat the Sundowners for the third time in the series... Lem (4-1/2.57) tamed them 4-2 in game seven... he was tagged for 9 hits, but gave up only 2 runs, struck out 5 and walked none... LF Billy Hooper rapped a crucial 2-run homer in the fifth inning that proved to be the margin of victory... Wynnamac's Killara Bardo (1-4/4.37) was the losing pitcher, though he only permitted 4 hits, but walked 5, while fanning 6 in his 7 innings. The Vipers took the lead right off the bat with 2 runs in the first... 2B Alec Leclerc (.292) led off the game with a single, stole second and was doubled in by RF Gerry Kazmarek (.315)... Kazmarek moved to third on a groundout and then scored when Hooper (.188) bounced out to third... Hooper led the Vipers with 3 runs batted in... C Lee Leslie (.222) narrowed the score to 2-1 with a home run in the top of the fifth... Hooper came right back with his roundtripper in the last half of the frame to make it 4-1... the Sundowners got the final run in the seventh when 1B Giles Butler (.244) led off with a double, advanced to third on a grounder and rode home on Tommy Lambright's (.188) sac fly. Valmara will meet the Blue Lake Blue Sox, the Tycobbian champion in the Pro Cup Finals... this will be the Vipers fourth trip to the Pro Cup Finals... they won it in 2026, knocking off the Mahaska Haymakers... Valmara lost in 2003 and 2023... the Vipers have played in the postseason 12 times overall in their history. This will be the first time the Blue Sox have qualified for the IPA championship... they made the playoffs in 2001 and 2010, but were eliminated in the first round each time. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, October 4, 2030 Pro Cup Finals Start Tomorrow In Valmara Game one of the IPA Pro Cup Finals is scheduled tomorrow afternoon at War Memorial Stadium in Valmara. The Vipers will host the Blue Lake Blue Sox. The series is a toss-up. Valmara is well-experienced in Pro Cup action and will be making its fourth appearance. This will be a first for the Blue Sox. Overall this is the Vipers' 12th postseason appearance. Valmara racked up its only Pro Cup title in 2026. The Blue Sox are novices with only three playoff appearances in their history. Until this season, they have never gotten past the first round. The Vipers will be in quest of a second Pro Cup, while it will be the Blue Sox first. Neither team was expected to get this far. The Vipers were seeded sixth, while the Blue Sox were rated the seventh best team in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES Pro Cup Poll. Blue Lake manager Rick Hilliard got a big boost when his ace Doug Kirkpatrick came back from a month on the DL. Kirkpatrick (22-9/2.92) did not play in the first two rounds. He will make Blue Lake's fine starting rotation even better. Kirkpatrick will join Derek Joubert, Chris Landry and Billy Trakas, who paced the Blue Sox to a very impressive 2.25 team ERA so far in the playoffs. Hilliard hasn't decided on his rotation for the finals yet. It won't be an easy decision. Trakas is 3-0 in the postseason with a 2.61 ERA, Joubert 3-1 with a 2.97 ERA and Landry was 0-3, but with an excellent 1.99 ERA. During the regular season Trakas was 13-17 with a 3.24 ERA, Joubert 12-5 with a great 1.84 ERA and Landry was 15-13 with a 2.88 ERA. On paper Blue Lake seems to have much superior pitching. Valmara skipper Jet Kazmarek will counter with the trio of Teddy Lem (21-14/3.31), rookie Garry Gronek (15-10/3.38) and Carroll Cain (15-12/3.27). In the postseason Lem is 4-1 with a 2.57 ERA, Gronek is 3-1 with a fine 2.48 ERA and Cain is 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA. The Blue Sox have a much better bullpen than the Vipers, too. For Valmara to have a chance the offense must produce much better in the championship series. They have hit only .236 so far in playoffs. The Vipers batted .272 during the year. Valmara's best bats in the postseason are RF Gerry Kazmarek (.315), 2B Alec Leclerc (.292), 1B Jerry Rembert (.267) and CF Teddy Szymanski (.259). The Blue Sox have performed better in the playoffs with a .258 team BA, sparked by 3B Matt Thompson (.360), CF Chris Halley (.315), Eddie Nagen (.297), 2B Skipper Smith (.289) and C Roger Webb (.267). Both clubs are about even in power. Blue Lake has 11 homers, while Valmara has gone deep 9 times. Scoring-wise Blue Lake has tallied 45 runs in 12 games, while Valmara has totaled 42 in 13 games. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Saturday, October 5, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Final Series (best-of-seven) Blue Sox Sock Vipers 5-1 In Pro Cup Opener It didn't matter at all that Blue Lake was playing on the road in Valmara... the Blue Sox rapped out 4 runs and 6 hits in the opening frame of the Pro Cup opener and never looked back in a 5-1 triumph over Valmara... Blue Sox 22-game winner Doug Kirkpatrick never missed a beat after missing a month with a sore arm... Kirkpatrick (1-0/1.00) lacked a little command, but held the Vipers to a run and 6 hits, walking 5 and fanning 3 in a complete-game performance. Viper starter Garry Gronek (3-2/2.95) was battered in the first, but settled down and surrendered only one more run over the next 6 frames... the Blue Sox collected 9 hits and were led by C Roger Webb (.265) with 2 RBIs... LF Eddie Nagen (.293), 1B Herb Hull (.224) and 2B Skipper Smith (.286) drove in the other runs. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Sunday, October 6, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Final Series (best-of-seven) Lem Evens Series, Vipers Down Blue Sox 7-1 In game two of the IPA Pro Cup Finals, the Valmara Vipers got just what the doctor ordered, a masterful outing from ace Teddy Lem, who downed Blue Lake 7-1 for a split in the series... and some timely hitting, too... Lem (5-1/2.16) chalked up his 5th win of the playoffs, limiting the Blue Sox to one run and 8 hits, while walking none and striking out 4 in his 8 innings... old reliable Ivan Guzek worked a perfect ninth and struck out 2 of the 3 batters... Derek Joubert (3-2/3.72) took the loss as the Vipers slammed him for 6 runs and 6 hits in 5-plus innings... Joubert departed behind 6-1 after allowing 4 runs in the fourth and 2 in the fifth. RF Gerry Kazmarek (.344) led Valmara with 3 hits, 2 runs and an RBI... 1B Jerry Rembert (.264) chipped in with 2 hits, 2 runs and an RBI... Viper C Floyd Randolph (.172) had the game's only homer, a solo shot in the eighth... both teams totaled 8 hits each... the Pro Cup Finals now switches to Blue Lake for games three, four and five. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, October 7, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Final Series (best-of-seven) Blue Lake Outduels Valmara 1-0 In 12 Innings In one of the classic games in Pro Cup history, the Blue Lake Blue Sox outlasted the Valmara Vipers 1-0 in 12 innings at Harbor Stadium to take a 2-1 lead in the series... 5 Blue Sox hurlers combined to shut out the Vipers on 10 hits... game three came to an abrupt end in the twelfth, when RF Gerry Kazmarek botched a fly ball hit by CF Chris Halley for a two-base error... the next batter 3B Matt Thompson (.355) promptly cracked a game-winning base hit to end it... Gil Donahue (2-0/0.00) blanked Valmara in the top of the twelfth for the victory with the loss going to Chris Phillips 0-1/9.00), who also came on the last inning. The Vipers did everything but win the game... they left 15 runners on and outhit Blue Lake 10 to 6... even had 4 double plays, but still didn't win... there were no extra base hits in the game... Halley (.288) and C Roger Webb (.281) led the winners with a pair of hits each... CF Teddy Szymanski (.269) with 3-6 and LF Reno DiBenedetto (.167) with 2-6 topped Valmara at the plate... Billy Trakas started for Blue Lake, but had to leave in the third with an injury... Chris Landry worked through the sixth, striking out 6 batters... followed by Derek Joubert, who worked the seventh and eighth... Freddy Camp entered in the ninth and went through the eleventh... Valmara has standout pitching, too, with starter Carroll Cain stopping Blue Lake on 4 hits over 8 innings... and Ivan Guzek held them hitless in the ninth and tenth. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, October 8, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Finals (best-of-seven) Vipers Tie Series, Beat Blue Sox 5-2 In Game 4 In game four of the IPA Pro Cup Finals at Blue Lake's Harbor Stadium, Valmara rookie Garry Gronek did the unexpected - he beat Blue Sox ace and 22-game winner Doug Kirkpatrick 5-2 to tie up the series at two games apiece... Gronek (4-2/2.77) threw a lot of pitches, but managed to keep Blue Lake off the scoreboard except for 2 runs in the fourth... Gronek surrendered 7 hits in a route-going performance, walking 5 batters and striking out 6... Kirkpatrick (1-1/2.65), just off the DL, wasn't sharp...in the loss he was shelled for 10 hits and 5 runs in 8 innings with 7 Ks and 2 walks. The Vipers got things rolling with a 2-run double by C Floyd Randolph in the top of the fourth... the Blue Sox got their only runs in the last of the fourth on a lead-off triple by 1B Herb Hull (.230) and a wild pitch... Kirkpatrick (.143) drove in the other run with a single... Valmara snapped a 2-2 tie with 2 runs in the top of the sixth... CF Teddy Szymanski (.264) tripled to start the inning, then scored on an error by 3B Matt Thompson for the lead run... later in the frame 1B Jerry Rembert scored on a fielder's choice by 3B Erek Wyszynski (.185) to make it 4-2... LF Benny Hooper (.226) singled in the final Viper run in the top of the seventh... Randolph (.182) paced Valmara with 3 RBIs... Rembert (.283) had 2 hits and scored twice. Doctors told Blue Lake that pitcher Billy Trakas (13-17/3.24) will be out for a few days with a stiff neck, injured in game three... Trakas could miss his next start, scheduled for game six on Thursday afternoon in Valmara... rookie Derek Joubert (12-5/1.84) or Chris Landry (15-13/2.88) is the likely replacement according to manager Rick Hilliard. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, October 9, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Finals (best-of-seven) Vips Trip Blue Sox 6-4, Nab Pro Cup Lead A big 4-run second inning paced the visiting Valmara Vipers to a 6-4 triumph over the Blue Lake Blue Sox in game five of the IPA Pro Cup Finals at Harbor Stadium... lousy defense played a huge part in the game as the Blue Sox committed 3 errors, giving up 5 undeserved runs and giving the Vipers a three games to two edge in the series... Valmara has won the last two games... one more victory for the Vipers and they are the 2030 champs. Valmara starter Teddy Lem (6-1/2.37) posted his sixth postseason victory... it wasn't one of his better outing, but it was sufficient... Lem allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in his 7 innings... he gave up one walk and fanned 4... closer Ivan Guzek claimed his 4th playoff save, but surrendered one run and two hits in his two wrap-up innings... losing pitcher Willie Taskins (1-1/1.93) went 4 frames and was tagged for 6 hits and 6 runs, but only one was earned... Chris Landry and Derek Joubert finished up with 5 hitless innings between them... they totally shut down the Viper bats. LF Benny Hooper (.239) led Valmara at the plate with 2 doubles and 2 runs batted in... 3B Erek Wyszynski (.191) pitched in with a solo home run... LF Eddie Nagen (.315) was the Blue Sox best bat with 2 hits, 2 runs and 2 RBIs... Nagen had a double and his 4th homer in the playoffs... CF Chris Halley (.284) added 2 hits, too... and RF Boom-Boom Baker (.188) got his 3rd roundtripper in the postseason. In game six manager Jet Kazmarek will send Carroll Cain (15-12/3.52) to the hill to bring home the Pro Cup to Valmara for the second time in its history... Blue Sox skipper Rick Hilliard will likely go with Billy Trakas (13-17/3.24)... Cain is 1-1 in the playoffs with a 2.40 ERA, while Trakas is 3-0 with a 2.38 ERA... however Trakas will take the mound with a stiff neck and is not at 100%... the Vipers will have the home field advantage in game six and also in game seven, should it be necessary. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Thursday, October 10, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Finals (best-of-seven) Blue Lake Forces Game 7, Landry Whips Vips 2-0 If you're a baseball fan, it don't get any better than this... Blue Lake whipped Valmara on the road at War Memorial Stadium 2-0 and forced a seventh and final game in the IPA Pro Cup Finals... Chris Landry took over as an emergency starter and fired 7 shutout innings to derail the Vipers title aspirations and keep his Blue Sox in the running... Landry (1-3/1.36) subbed for the injured Billy Trakas and did a marvelous job, stopping Valmara on 4 hits over 7 innings with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts... closer Gil Donahue came in and completed the victory with 2 scoreless innings to register his 3rd save in the playoffs. There wasn't much offense in the game... Viper starter Carroll Cain (1-2/2.08) worked a strong game, permitting only one earned run and 5 hits... Cain struck out 5 and walked only one in a complete-game... Blue Lake got a run in the top of the third when SS Joe Korman (.172) led off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice, then scored on CF Chris Halley's (.282) double... in the fourth the Blue Sox added another run when LF Boom-Boom Baker (.181) reached second on a throwing error by SS Teddy Ruzek and was doubled in by C Roger Webb (.275). Valmara got 7 hits in all and was led by CF Teddy Szymanski (.263) and 1B Jerry Rembert (.288) with 2 hits each... they stranded 10 baserunners. In the series finale tomorrow afternoon at War Memorial Stadium in Valmara, the Vipers hope rookie Garry Gromek (15-10/3.38) can again get the best of Blue Sox ace and 22-game winner Doug Kirkpatrick... Gromek beat him 5-2 in game four.... in the playoffs this season Gromek is 4-2 with a 2.77 ERA in 6 starts, while Kirkpatrick is 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA in 2 starts... Kirkpatrick just returned from the DL a few days ago... Kirkpatrick registered a 5-1 victory in game one of the series. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, October 11, 2030 2030 IPA Pro Cup Finals (best-of-seven) Blue Sox IPA Pro Cup Champ, Top Vips In 7 Games A great ending to a magnificent season - after three decades of futility, the eighth-seeded Blue Lake Blue Sox did what seemed to be the impossible - for the first time in history, they are the IPA Pro Cup champion... the Blue Sox came back to win the final two games in back-to-back shutouts to cop the series four games to three from the Valmara Vipers... Blue Sox Doug Kirkpatrick got a late start in the Pro Cup playoffs because of injury, but he came through with two great wins in the Finals... Kirkpatrick (2-1/1.73) fired a 5-hit 2-0 shutout to capture the title. Blue Lake got two singles from CF Chris Halley (.296) and 2B Skipper Smith (.234) and a flyout in the first frame to go up 1-0... 3B Matt Thompson (.290) got the RBI... the Blue Sox added another run in the top of the third when Kirkpatrick (.200) helped his own cause with a double, moved to third on a balk and scored when Eddie Nagen (.290) grounded out to second base... that's all the runs Kirkpatrick needed as he struck out 3 and issued no walks... Garry Gronek (4-3/2.91) caught the loss as he gave up 2 runs and 3 hits in 4 innings... the Blue Sox could manage only 6 hits off three Viper pitchers, who fanned 8 and walked just one. Blue Lake manager Rick Hilliard glowingly told the press, "We don't have any superstars on our ball club, just a bunch of great guys that play together... all doing their part for the good of the team... but I will say our pitching staff really came through for us in the playoffs... first the starters filled in while Doug was injured and got us through the first two rounds and then Doug really came through for us in the Finals with two great performances... what a game he pitched today." Valmara manager Jet Kazmarek said he was very disappointed with the Pro Cup loss. "You don't get very many shots at the gold ring and we let one get away. All we needed was one more win... just a split in the last two games... but we couldn't do it." Kazmarek, the greatest hitter in IPA history with a career .350 BA, said Blue Lake's pitching was truly remarkable. "They posted a 2.04 ERA against the best teams in the league in the playoffs. We have a pretty good hitting club, but they shut us out three times in the series and held us to one run in the other victory... now that is some kind of pitching. 1 through 8 the Blue Sox have excellent starters and relievers. There are no weak links on their staff.... We couldn't hit any of them." |
Nice to see the Blue Sox finally make it to the top of mountain after all those years of futility. Let's hope they can stay up there for awhile and not be a one-trick pony. I'm glad you're still doing to the write-ups, Eugene. This league is still fun to read.
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I still enjoy the IPA. This was going to be the last season. I intended to start a smaller league with 12-16 teams with OOTP13, but have changed my mind. OOTP13's last update will probably be in July. I never use a new version until they get most of the kinks out of the way with the final patch. I have decided to play through the 2050 season. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Saturday, October 12, 2030 Valmara's Lem Voted Pro Cup MVP For the first time in IPA Pro Cup history the Most Valuable Player didn't come from the championship team. The honor went instead to Teddy Lem of the runner-up Valmara Vipers. Lem outpolled five players from the the Blue Lake Blue Sox. There was no clear-cut Most Valuable Player on the Blue Sox. It was truly a team effort. In a very close vote the IPA Baseball Writers Association selected Lem as the outstanding player in the Pro Cup playoffs this season. Lem lost his first postseason start and then rattled off six straight victories, including two in the Finals over Blue Lake. The 26-year-old Lem was 6-1 with a 2.37 ERA in 7 starting assignments. During the regular season Lem posted an impressive 21-14 mark with a 3.31 ERA. This year's Pro Cup MVP also picked up the award in 2026, when the Vipers won their first Pro Cup. That year Lem was 3-0 in 4 starts with a standout 1.76 ERA. Blue Sox hurlers Doug Kirkpatrick and Billy Trakas were tied for second in the MVP balloting. Trakas got the Blue Sox to the Finals and was injured, while Kirkpatrick missed the first two rounds because of injury, but came back with a flourish and made his presence known in the Finals. The number four votegetter was LF Eddie Nagen, followed by 3B Matt Thompson and CF Chris Halley. No one else received any votes. Trakas, a stylish 23-year-old southpaw, got the Blue Sox through the early rounds with a 3-0 record and a 2.38 ERA. Kirkpatrick won two of three starts in the Finals against Valmara, going 2-1 with a super 1.73 ERA. He won game seven in a great outing 2-0. Nagen was the batting leader for Blue Lake. He hit .290 in the postseason with 4 homers, 9 RBIs and 11 runs scored. Thompson batted .303 with one roundtripper, 11 RBIs and scored 5 times, while Halley sported a .296 batting average with one homer, 8 RBIs and 7 runs. |
To make certain that Lem was the first player on a runner-up Pro Cup team to win the Pro Cup MVP, I went back and checked out all of the Pro Cup MVPs.
I enjoyed the research. It was good to relive some of the great moments in the IPA past. Wow, I think there were record views today. :) 232 views. :) Thanks to all of you. :D |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Sunday, October 13, 2030 Vipers Gronek, Rascals Johnston Top IPA Rooks The Islandian Pro Alliance announced the 2030 Rookies of the Year today. Valmara's Garry Gronek took the honor in the Ruthlandian Union, while White River's Davey Johnston was the selection in the Tycobbian Union. Gronek had a big hand in Valmara winning the RU North with a 15-10 record. Gronek, a 22-year-old right-hander, finished with a 3.38 ERA in 27 starts. The RU runner-up was Gronek's teammate and first baseman Jerry Rembert, who batted .282 with 21 homers and 70 runs batted in. He also scored 80 runs and stole 18 bases in 135 games. Coming in third in the balloting was Beechwood left fielder Herb Douglas. He posted a .296 batting average with 33 doubles, 11 triples, 6 homers, 60 RBIs and scored 72 runs, helping the Bobcats to a fourth-place finish in the RU East. The TU Rookie of the Year Davey Johnston didn't join the White River Rascals until June, but the 24-year-old hurler soon made his presence known. Johnston was one of the few bright spots in a poor season for White River. The Rascals came in last in the TU North, but Johnston rang up a fine 12-7 mark with a brilliant IPA-leading 2.10 ERA. Ozarka center fielder Lonnie Gillespie was number two in the Rookie poll. Gillespie sparkled at bat with a .303 BA, 37 doubles, 18 triples and one homer. He topped the IPA in triples, played in 127 games and scored 86 runs and batted in 58. The Naturals won the TU East division title. Number three in the voing was Blue Lake's talented third sacker Matt Thompson, one of the reasons the Blue Sox captured the TU North. Thompson chalked up a .291 average this year, hit 11 roundtrippers and drove in 62 runs and tallied 65, while participating in 138 games. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, October 14, 2030 Golden Bats Awarded By IPA Two familiar names are repeat winners of the prestigious IPA Golden Bats. Roy Hobbs of the Waleska Westerners was presented the Ruthlandian Union Golden Bat Award for the seventh time in his illustrious career and Lorne Evans of the Southport Sun Sox was honored for the second time with the Tycobbian Golden Bat trophy. Waleska's superstar outfielder Roy Hobbs scorched the opposition with a .342 batting average, while playing in 150 games. The 37-year-old Hobbs poled 35 homers and drove in 138 runs to lead the Westerners to a very close second-place finish to Grand City in the RU South pennant race. They were beaten out by just one game. Hobbs' talented teammate Loco Dillinger came in second in the Golden Bat competition. Dillinger also had an impressive season with a .319 average, 42 homers, 118 RBIs and 119 runs. Third in the balloting was LaGrange's center fielder Russell Watkins, who batted .326 with 35 roundtrippers, 103 RBIs and 103 runs scored. Watkins was a vital force in sparking the Sports to the runner-up spot in the RU North. They lost the pennant by a game to Valmara, the Pro Cup finalist. It was a magical year for the Sun Sox's Lorne Evans, who won the TU Triple Crown as well as the TU Golden Bat. Evans led the IPA with a .386 batting average and 59 home runs. The 25-year-old outfielder also led the Tycobbian Union with 134 runs batted in and the IPA with 140 runs scored. Evans' club wound up third in the TU South. The Southport slugger was only the fourth player in IPA history to accomplish the Triple Crown feat. High Mesa's Jack Elliott did it twice, in 2017 and 2021. The other two were Karol Zodoka of the East Point Panthers and Fairfax's Dane Wesner. Zodoka did it in 2002 and Wesner in 2010. Colchester's Jim Lewellan wound up second in the Golden Bat voting. Lewellan smashed 45 homers for the Elites, scored 112 times, drove in 131 runs and hit .288 in a superlative season. Colchester ended up in the second spot in the TU South standings, losing out to Cape Coral. The third-highest vote-getter was Ginza's gifted center fielder Candy Cornwall, who posted a .345 BA with 36 home runs, 124 RBIs and 109 runs. |
Good to see Loco Dillinger tearing it up!!
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At age 30 Loco is an 8-year vet with a career .316 BA, 279 homers... Dillinger averages over 30 homers and 115 RBIs yearly... won 2 RU MVP in 2028 and 2029... also won Golden Bats those years, too... was RU Rookie of the Year in 2023... 5-time All-Star. One of the all-time IPA greats, 18-year vet, Hobbs is a 15-time All-Star, twice a Gold Glover... career .346 BA with 579 homers and 2000 RBIs and 2000 runs... averages 30 homers and 115 RBIs yearly... twice RU MVP in 2026 and 2030. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, October 15, 2030 Lima and Kirkpatrick Golden Arm Winners Two youngsters hauled in the IPA Golden Arms this year. 23-year-old right-hander Joaquin Lima of the San Dimas Rancheros garnered the Ruthlandian trophy, while Blue Lake's 25-year-old Doug Kirkpatrick won in the Tycobbian Union. Lima fashioned a 21-10 mark this season with a 2.49 ERA to lead San Dimas to the fourth spot in the RU South. In his four seasons Lima has compiled a standout 80-53 record. Ancona's Razzy Angelis came in second in the poll as he posted a 22-14 record with a 2.49 ERA for the Red Elephants, who finished third in the RU North. Killara Bardo was third in the Golden Arm balloting. He crafted a 21-13 record and a 2.85 ERA and paced Wynnamac to the RU East division title. Kirkpatrick is a 6-year veteran in the IPA. He claimed the Tycobbian Golden Arm Award with a 22-9 record and a 2.92 ERA for the pennant-winning Blue Lake Blue Sox, who took the TU North. Kirkpatrick really blossomed this year. Overall he is only 82-84 in his career. He was also voted Pro Cup Co-MVP along with his teammate Billy Trakas. The Golden Arm runner-up to Kirkpatrick was southpaw Mackie McGinnity of the Colchester Elites. McGinnity was 22-7 with a 3.01 ERA and he sparked Colchester to a second-place finish in the TU South. San Alejo's Roland Oates was the third-highest votegetter in the poll. He compiled an 18-7 mark with a 2.77 ERA. His Montaneros wound up fourth in the TU South this season. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, October 16, 2030 Waleska's Hobbs, Southport's Evans IPA MVPs The IPA Golden Bat winners Lorne Evans and Roy Hobbs really cleaned up this season. They each have added the even-more prestigious Most Valuable Player honors to their resumes. Evans of the Southport Sun Sox was chosen the Tycobbian Union MVP with Hobbs getting the Ruthlandian Union MVP trophy. What a season Lorne Evans had! A Triple Crown year! Not only did he lead the IPA with a lofty .386 batting average, Evans topped it with 59 homers and also paced the TU with 134 runs batted in. Stats good enough to get him the Tycobbian Most Valuable Player Award for the third time in his career. Evans also took the trophy in 2027 and 2028. The sensational 25-year-old right fielder was an important ingredient in Southport's third-place finish in the TU South. Evans is just the fourth player in IPA history to have a Triple Crown year. A player must lead his league in batting average, homers and RBIs to win the honor. Blue Lake's splendid right-hander Doug Kirkpatrick was the MVP runner-up in the Tycobbian Union. Kirkpatrick sparked the Blue Sox to the TU North division title for the first time in 20 years. He compiled a 22-9 mark with a 2.92 ERA. Colchester standout center fielder Jim Lewellen, third in the Golden Bat competition, was also third-best in the MVP race. Lewellen had an impressive year with 45 homers and 131 RBIs. The 7-year vet batted .288 for the Elites. Waleska's Roy Hobbs has had a storybook career. This was his second Ruthlandian Union MVP honor. He also won it in 2026. This season the 37-year-old Westerner center fielder helped his club to a close second-place finish in the RU South. Hobbs led the IPA with 138 RBIs and hit .345 with 35 roundtrippers. He also won his seventh Golden Bat Award and made All-Star team for the 15th time. Ranking second in The Islandian Times poll was San Dimas' fine starter Joaquin Lima. The 25-year-old righty put up a 21-10 record with a 2.49 ERA. Lima won this year's RU Golden Arm Award. Third place went to Waleska right fielder Loco Dillinger, a teammate of Hobbs. Dillinger had a marvelous season and was second to Hobbs for the RU Golden Bat with a .319 BA, 42 home runs, 118 RBIs and 119 runs. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Thursday, October 17, 2030 IPA Awards 2030 Golden Gloves There were quite a few newcomers to the IPA Golden Glove teams this season selected in The Islandian Times poll. Only five of them had previously been honored. Catcher Jaak Pajukivi of Valka was the only past Ruthlandian Union Golden Glover. Pajukivi won his second Golden Glove trophy. Repeat winners in the Tycobbian top defenders were Joe DeLucca of Summerland, a four-time honoree, Eddie Darby of Tuckanarra, three-time winner, and Frisky Franks of High Mesa and Jed Turchin of Tuckanarra, both of whom picked up their second Gold Gloves. There were no rookies on the Golden Glove squads this season. Ruthlandian Union Golden Glove Team: Pitcher: Ronald Schmitt (Marston) (1.000 FA/12-15/4.53 ERA) Catcher: Jaak Pajukivi (Valka) (.995 FA/2 PB/32.5% RTO/.298 BA/18 HR/76 RBI/61 R) First Baseman: Josh George (Crystal Lake) (.997 FA/268 BA/20 HR/87 RBI/101 R) Second Baseman: Robby Johnson (Eastshore) (.977 FA/.240 BA/6 HR/54 RBI/61 R) Third Baseman: Skippy Shearer (Glasco) (.952 FA/.285 BA/17 HR/73 RBI/51 R) Shortstop: Rusty Adler (Far Mountain) (.965 FA/.277BA/10 HR/49 RBI/63 R) Left Fielder: Percy Whitehead (Ranford) (.996 FA/.341 BA/7 HR/67 RBI/66 R) Center Fielder: Scotty Lagrange (Eastshore) (.995 FA/.272 BA/29 HR/89 RBI/91 R) Right Fielder: Sterling Hall (Crystal Lake) (1.000 FA/.349 BA/5 HR/67 RBI/70 R) Tycobbian Union Golden Glove Team: Pitcher: Dixie Brooks (East Point) (1.000 FA/18-14/3.51 ERA) Catcher: Mel Danley (South Fork) (.993 FA/7 PB/43.7% RTO/.282 BA/30 HR/77 RBI/54 R) First Baseman: Gerry Hathaway (Luxora) (.998 FA/.316 BA/29 HR/82 RBI/75 R) Second Baseman: Eddie Darby (Tuckanarra) (.984 FA/.283 BA/6 HR/66 RBI/68 R) Third Baseman: Freddy Franks (High Mesa) (.982 FA/.246 BA/13 HR/78 RBI/67 R) Shortstop: Jed Turchin (Tuckanarra) (.960 FA/.323 BA/20 HR/90 RBI/88 R) Left Fielder: Joe DeLucca (Summerland) (.993 FA/.278 BA/13 HR/60 RBI/79 R) Center Fielder: Chris Halley (Blue Lake) (.991 FA/.316 BA/3 HR/53 RBI/76 R) Right Fielder: Babe Hankins (Kenwood) (.986 FA/.345 BA/23 HR/109 RBI/110 R) |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, October 17, 2030 GC's Joslin, Blue Lake's Hilliard Top IPA Skippers The young guard was named the Managers of the Year in the Islandian Pro Alliance this year. Wade Joslin guided the Grand City Cybercats to the Ruthlandian South division title to capture the league Manager of the Year Award. Joslin inproved the Cybercats from seventh to first this year as they went from 74-80 to 90-64. The top Tycobbian skipper was Rick Hilliard of the Blue Lake Blue Sox, who rose up from fifth place (73-81) to the TU East pennant (85-69) in one season. Both award winners were selected for the first time this year in The Islandian Times poll. Ilya Szabo of the Colfax Blasters came in second to Joslin in the balloting. Szabo led his club's rise from 68-86 (7th) to a first-place finish in the RU West with an 84-68 mark. LaGrange's Quincy Peterson and Valmara's Jet Kazmarek rounded out the vote, winding up third and fourth respectively. Peterson's Sports (86-68) blossomed to second place in the RU North and gave Kazmarek's Vipers (87-67) a tough run for the pennant this season. Powerful Valmara won its division for the fifth time in a row and seventh time in the last eight seasons. Ozarka manager Frank Kiffin ran second to Hilliard in the Tycobbian race. Kiffin's Naturals climbed from fifth (73-81) to first (94-60) in the TU East and won more games than anyone in the IPA this year. Denny Coulon of Bay St. Clair came in a close third as the Bucs moved from seventh to the TU West crown, going from 75-79 to 92-62. Cape Coral's Flipper Bird wound up fourth in the poll and Aaron Hankins of Kenwood was fifth. Bird's Hurricanes moved up from fourth (80-74) to first (93-61) in the TU South, while Hankins' Wildcats went from fifth (76-78) to second (91-63), beaten out by Bay St. Clair in the TU West. |
IPA Season 2031 coming soon to a ballpark near you.
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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, October 24, 2031 2031 IPA Mid-Season Standings Ruthlandian North Valmara Way Ahead In RU North Under manager Jet Kazmarek the vaunted Valmara Vipers have won the RU North 7 times in the last 8 years and the last 5 years in succession. They are at it again with a 7-game lead at the halfway point in the Ruthlandian North. The veteran-led Vipers are dominating the division with the best hitting and pitching. The LaGrange Sports are a distant second thus far, followed by the Far Mountain Redhawks in third and trailing by 9 games. Don't expect Valmara to fold. The Vipers have the best record in the IPA at the All-Star break and appear to be the cream of the crop this season. They are poised for another run at the IPA Pro Cup. Last year Valmara lost in seven games to the Blue Lake Blue Sox. Ruthlandian North |
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Tuesday, October 24, 2031 2031 IPA Mid-Season Standings Ruthlandian South San Dimas Pitchers Prevails In RU South Superior pitching has given the San Dimas Rancheros a 3-game lead over second place Valka in the Ruthlandian South at mid-year. Manager Wesley Pate has the luxury of four formidable starters in his rotation and top-notch relievers, too. Valka has the best hitting in the division and Grand City, last year's champ, has the power. San Dimas comes up way short in firepower and is last in scoring. Grand City is in the third spot in the standings and is 5 games back. This is the strongest division in the IPA with 7 of the 8 clubs over the .500 mark. Only last place Waleska has failed to break even and they are just one game under .500. |
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Tuesday, October 24, 2031 2031 IPA Mid-Season Standings Ruthlandian East 6-Team Race In RU East, All-Stars and Bobcats Tied It's quite a donnybrook in the Ruthlandian East with 6 clubs tightly bunched at the mid-season mark. Upstart Elnora has charged up from last year's cellar finish to tie with Beechwood for the top spot. Belle Plaine is a very close third, just 2 games off the pace with Sugar Valley in fourth, only 3 games back. Last year's pennant winner Wynnamac is still very much in the hunt and is tied with Eastshore for fourth. They are only 4 games behind and very much within striking distance. 6 of the teams have winning records. The RU East is just about as tough as the RU South in that respect. |
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Tuesday, October 24, 2031 2031 IPA Mid-Season Standings Ruthlandian West Sligo Tops RU West, FTB 2nd, Volusia 3rd Three teams are in the running for the Ruthlandian West title this season. At the All-Star break the Sligo Rovers have the top spot in the standings with the the Fort Benton Defenders and Volusia Vigilantes nearby. The Defenders are 2 games out, while the V's trail by 4 games. The Rovers have the high octane and can put runs on the scoreboard, but they need some help in the pitching department. Fort Benton and Volusia have both been outstanding on the mound in the season's first half, but they each could use some bats. How well each club can solve its shortcoming will be the deciding factor in the pennant race. |
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Tuesday, October 24, 2031 2031 IPA Mid-Season Standings Tycobbian North 4-Club Battle In TU North, Zorros Lead At All-Star Game For the fourth straight season the Luxora Zorros have stepped it up and climbed in the Tycobbian North standings. Manager Lacey Tompkins has the Z's riding high in first place this season and primed to snare the elusive crown. The Zorros are up by a scant game over the division runner-up Mahaska Haymakers, 2 in front of last year's Pro Cup titlist Blue Lake and 3 better than fourth place North Hills. The Blue Sox have to be the favorite for the TU North crown with their superb pitching, but Luxora and Mahaska will also have some say in the matter, especially the Haymakers with the good offense. Mahaska has a well-balanced attack with good hitting and good pitching. Neither Blue Lake, nor Luxora have much at the plate. |
This is going to be Valmara's year.
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Tuesday, October 24, 2031 2031 IPA Mid-Season Standings Tycobbian South Ginza Grabs 4-Game Edge In TU South, Suns 2nd After stumbling down to fifth last season, the Ginza Ninjas have rebounded to take a 4-game lead at the halfway mark in 2031. Manager Huroko Uchiyama has the only team with a winning record in the Tycobbian South. Home run power is keeping the Ninjas in business this year. Last season's pennant-winning Cape Coral Hurricanes are back on the bottom after a couple of years of success. The 'Canes are in a severe batting slump and the mound corps has fallen on hard times, too. Arroyo Grande is second in the chase. Turon, with its fine pitching staff, is tied with Southport for third. The Colchester Elites and Summerland Sunsets are tied for the sixth spot in the standings and are 6 games behind Ginza. Turon may be the surprise team this year. The Typhoons wound up sixth last season, the sixth consecutive year in the second division. Perhaps Turon's fortune is about to change. |
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Tuesday, October 24, 2031 2031 IPA Mid-Season Standings Tycobbian East 4 Contenders In TU East, East Point Leading Lots of good ball clubs in the Tycobbian East this season. 6 of them have posted winning records at mid-year. The best of the lot so far is the first place East Point Panthers, who have a 2-game margin over the runner-up South Fork Stallions. In the third spot 4 games off the pace are the Red Bluff Red Sox, followed by the fourth place Tuckanarra Blue Jays, who are 5 games out of first. The Panthers, Stallions and Blue Jays have outstanding pitching, while the Red Sox have booming bats. East Point may be the favorite because they also pack some punch in their lineup. Red Bluff may not have the pitching to overcome the Panthers, Stallions and Blue Jays. It's been a dismal year for Ozarka, last season's TU East champion. The Naturals have fallen flat on their faces this year with bad pitching and sub-par batting. Very little has gone well for last year's Tycobbian Manager of the Year Frank Kiffin. At the All-Star hiatus the Nats are 34-39 and are in the division basement 11 games behind in the race. Last year Ozarka led the IPA with a 94-60 mark. |
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Tuesday, October 24, 2031 2031 IPA Mid-Season Standings Tycobbian West RH Reds Best In The TU West, 3-Team Battle Quality teams abound in the Tycobbian West. 6 clubs are playing winning baseball, but in reality only 3 of them are given any chance in the pennant chase. The first place Rolling Hills Reds are the best-balanced squad with a solid mound corps and excellent hitting and scoring. At the halfway point the Reds have put up a 2-game lead over the Kenwood Wildcats and last year's champion Bay St. Clair Buccaneers, who are deadlocked in second place. Three clubs, La Claire, Denton City and Bayview are tied for fourth and trail by 5 games. The Wildcats come up a little short in pitching, but they do hit the ball with authority, while the Bucs will have to hit better to surge past Rolling Hills. Bay St. Clair and La Claire have the best pitchers overall, but lack the bats. |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, June 20, 2031 Superstars Selected For IPA All-Star Game The stars will be bursting forth this Wednesday afternoon at Harbor Stadium in Blue Lake, which will host the 31st edition of the Islandian Pro Alliance All-Star classic. The Tycobbian Stars hold a decided edge in the series with 20 victories in 30 games, but Ruthlandia has taken four of the last six clashes. Last year's Pro Cup-winning manager Rick Hilliard of Blue Lake will be at the helm of the TU All-Stars, while Valmara's Jet Kazmarek will handle the RU All-Stars. The Ruthlandian Stars will be led by Russ Woodward, who has been selected 8 times to the elite squad. Loco Dillinger will be appearing in the classic for the 6th time, and Ivan Guzek, Derek Roman and Leevi Viri for the 4th time. Heading up the Tycobbian Stars will be Crash Davis. The Ginza star made the club for the 14th time. Errol Gaudet was picked for the 8th year, Dennis Hartwig for the 5th time, and Frank Blair, Jody Gentry, Lynn Starr, Jan Kessinger, Travis Tuttle and Lorne Evans for the 4th time in their careers. Ruthlandian Union All-Stars SP Aron Libertini (Sugar Valley) 12-2/2.20 SP Jakob Wagner (Far Mountain) 10-5/1.68 SP Freddy Pfeffer (Elnora) 11-5/2.60 SP Earl Perkins (Sligo) 10-2/2.15 SP Jay Barajas (San Dimas) 10-4/2.42 SP Alex Gillespie (LaGrange) 10-6/1.91 SP Augie Marquis (Fort Benton) 10-3/2.44 SP Ryan Janssen (LaGrange) 8-4/2.08 MR Zack Dowdle (Beechwood) 3-0/1.21/12 saves MR Ivan Guzek (Valmara) 5-0/1.71/9 saves C Lee Leslie (Wynnamac) .281/10/44/30/.995 FA/2 PB/61.5% RTO C Derek Roman (Belle Plaine) .315/11/45/40/.992 FA/2 PB/30.4% RTO C Kyle Hunt (Ranford) .332/4/26/33/.995 FA/2 PB/33.3% RTO 1B Mick Langston (Grand City) .308/20/47/49/.988 FA 1B Steve Daniels (Cold Creek) .305/11/48/32/.986 FA 1B Josh George (Crystal Lake) .294/11/44/45/.991 FA 2B Byron Johannsen (St. John) .349/4/37/39/.992 FA 2B Alec Leclerc (Valmara) .340/0/31/36/.988 FA 3B Eric Hollister (Middlefield) .303/15/47/30/.931 FA 3B Leevi Viri (Valka) .287/10/42/38/.964 FA SS Cloyd Middleton (San Dimas) .327/0/20/27/.983 FA SS Timmy Robinson (Crystal Lake) .314/11/41/38/.947 FA LF Wes Marlowe (Grand City) .293/25/65/47/.979 FA LF Loco Dillinger (Waleska) .312/21/52/50/.979 FA LF Benny Hooper (Valmara) .315/17/62/44/.988 FA CF Russ Woodward (Marston) .335/15/46/48/.989 FA CF Shelby Glasscock (Belle Plaine) .320/17/44/54/1.000 FA CF Scotty Lagrange (Eastshore) .326/15/48/42/.994 FA CF Russell Watkins (LaGrange) .362/14/48/36/.979 FA RF Pettis Pentleton (Elnora) .395/8/47/45/.979 FA RF Gerry Kazmareki (Valmara) .329/1/30/45/.964 FA Tycobbian Union All-Stars SP Dixie Brooks (East Point) 11-4/2.58 SP Benny DeVito (Luxora) 11-6/2.03 SP Frank Blair (East Point) 11-6/2.35 SP Jody Gentry (Bay St. Clair) 10-3/2.39 SP Pat Kovacs (LaClaire) 10-6/2.45 SP Tom Pierson (Rolling Hills) 9-5/2.43 SP Quinn Starr (Tuckanarra) 10-6/2.47 SP Errol Gaudet (Rolling Hills) 10-5/2.65 CL Don Sawyer (Bay St. Clair) 4-2/1.06/11 saves CL Matt Reeves (Chicopee) 4-2/1.42/10 saves C Luis Alvarado (Southport) .294/11/33/34/.990 FA/3 PB/40% RTO C Tony Brinkerhoff (Rolling Hills) .280/6/56/35/.986 FA/5 PB/26.8% RTO C Crash Davis (Kenwood) .244/6/35/38/.993/3 PB/29.4% RTO 1B Garris Aiken (.301/17/41/46/.981 FA 1B Lynn Starr (.291/12/52/42/.993 FA 1B Billy Christianson (Rolling Hills) .344/3/20/58/.997 FA 2B Jan Kessinger (Kenwood) .381/1/28/38/.972 FA 2B Jose De Leon (Fairfax) .338/1/36/33/.982 FA 3B Bubby Blackwell (San Alejo ) .341/6/34/44/.875 FA 3B Pat Ellis (Red Bluff) .297/15/43/40/.878 FA SS Jed Turchin (Tuckanarra) .307/8/33/34/.961 FA SS John Velasco (Fairfax) .333/5/40/36/.966 FA LF Boom-Boom Baker (Blue Lake) .315/11/36/42/.993 FA LF Dennis Hartwig (Oxford) .319/16/42/30/.975 FA CF Pasha Yablonski (Mahaska) .373/1/27/62/.971 FA CF Jim Lewellan (Colchester) .290/18/49/43/.989 FA CF Kelly Chamberlain (LaClaire) .307/9/47/40/.989 FA RF Travis Tuttle (Mahaska) .354/17/45/44/.938 FA RF Charlie Jensen (Chicopee) .318/18/44/45/.951 FA RF Lorne Evans (Southport) .276/20/44/48/.957 FA |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, June 25, 2031 TU Stars Rule, Top RU Stars 7-2 The Tycobbian All-Stars made quick work of the Ruthlandian All-Stars in the 31st All-Star Classic played at Harbor Stadium in Blue Lake... The TU Stars routed them 7-2, led by the game's MVP CF Pasha Yablonski (Mahaska) with 3 hits and 3 RBIs, including a solo homer in the first frame... Tycobbia smacked 10 hits off 8 Ruthlandian hurlers, while allowing 7 hits... Frank Blair got the win, pitching a perfect third inning... RU starter Aron Libertini (Sugar Valley) took the loss... he was tagged for Yablonski's homer... the TU Stars battered Alex Gillespie (LaGrange) for 6 runs in the fifth to seal the verdict... RF Travis Tuttle (Mahaska) slammed a 2-run shot in the decisive inning... Tycobbia's triumph boosted its lead in the All-Star Series to 21-10 over Ruthlandia. |
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Monday, September 22, 2031 2031 Ruthlandian North Final Standings |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 22, 2031 2031 Ruthlandian North Final Recap Valmara Dominates RU North Again For the eighth time in nine years the Valmara Vipers are again the class of the Ruthlandian North. The Vipers totally dominated the division this season winning by 21 games over second place LaGrange and Glasco. Fourth place belonged to the Kilkenny Cats, who finished 23 games off the pace. Valmara is expected to make another serious run for the Pro Cup crown. They won it in 2026 and were finalists last year and in 2023. For the sixth year in succession Jet Kazmarek's club is the RU North winner... Valmara (99-55) coupled great pitching and solid hitting to lead all comers in the IPA with 99 victories... the Vipers batted .275 as a team, ranked fourth in scoring and paced the IPA with a superior 2.85 team ERA... top performers were Garry Gromek (21-17/2.76), Teddy Lem (17-9/2.74), Carroll Cain (17-13/3.22), Ivan Guzek (10-3/2.06/22 saves), LF Benny Hooper (.325/25/115/92), CF Reno DiBenedetto (.285/16/100/101), RF Gerry Kazmarek (.313/10/64/105), C Floyd Randolph (.295/20/97/64) and 1B Jerry Rembert (.264/25/72/77)... Valmara is just average on defense with a .972 FA. The LaGrange Sports (78-76) were co-runners-up with the Glasco Athletics... manager Quincy Peterson had three fine starters in Ryan Janssen (20-12/2.41), who led the IPA with 311 strikeouts, Alex Gillespie (16-13/2.64) and Mike York (18-17/2.97), along with reliever/starter Walt Thurber (8-8/2.91/11 saves)... offense was supplied by CF Russell Watkins (.330/30/100/79), 1B Chris Charbonnier (.281/32/82/88) and RF Randall Hawson (.235/28/77/47). Barry McCord finally got the Glasco A's (78-76) in gear by winding up with a winning record and a first-division finish for the first time in 9 seasons... his Athletics had good power with 181 homers (2nd) and scored 737 runs (3rd)... but not much on the hill with a 4.17 team ERA (29th)... Sam Gilmore (18-10/3.24) was the best starter... Glasco's best hitters were CF Shane Murphy (.291/25/77/107), 1B Wallace Buchanan (.286/26/89/75) and C Eddy Martin (.306/18/72/80). The fourth-place Kilkenny Cats (76-78) were skippered by Rusty Denicola... the Cats featured a solid pitching corps with a 3.29 team ERA, but hit poorly with a .244 BA and ranked low in scoring (30th)... for the fifth time in his career Dave Whiteaker (22-13/2.38) racked up 20 wins... Dean Harris (13-9/2.50) was also effective... SS Johnny Gentry (.271/18/81/79) was the most productive batter... RF Jamie Turner (.257/22/78/64) and 1B Jesse Clayton (.258/23/60) also chipped in with a little power. The Far Mountain Redhawks (71-83) were relegated to the fifth spot in the RU North standings and ended up far back, 28 games back... manager Don Nichols' club did a fine job on the hill with 3.22 team ERA (7th) with the likes of Jakob Wagner (15-13/2.45) and Keith Griggs (14-13/2.77)... closer Hans Becker (1-0/1.06) was also impressive... at the plate the Redhawks were anemic with a .250 BA (28th) and ranked last in scoring (32nd)... none of the everyday players had a good year. Ancona (68-86) excelled in little with a .250 BA (27th) and a 3.82 ERA (23rd) to drop from third to sixth this year... the Red Elephants were 31 games behind pennant-winning Valmara... Gene Stinson (13-10/3.22) and Joey Meisner (11-9/3.89) were fairly good starters... ace Razzy Angelis (11-17/3.59) has a sub-par season... Angelis won 22 games last year... vets 3B Koora Nawajuk (.274/8/62/76) and SS Todd Nasso (.236/16/59/71) were the best of the lot in the batter's box. The Ranford Bulls (66-88) came in seventh and trailed by 33 games under the leadership of Rick Fargnoli... the Bulls only had average offense (16th) and poor pitching 27th)... 1B Elton Graff (.319/12/73/68) and C Kyle Hunt (.317/9/71/74) were the bat leaders with .300 averages... 2B Terry Kerr (.286/19/99/74) topped the team in RBIs and homers... pitchers Angelo Coppolo (11-16/3.16) and Manny Mateo (13-14/3.13) was capable starters, but did not have winning marks. It was a terrible season for the last place Taranto Tars (55-99), who were 44 games out of first place... the Tars set a team record for losses this year... manager Denny Radke had little to smile about with a .239 team BA (31st) and a 4.41 team ERA (31st)... RF Rhett Gentry was the only productive bat with 99 RBIs and 29 home runs, but he batted a dismal .235 for average... none of the starters had winning records... all of them lost 20 games... Paulie Pieroni (13-24/3.54) and Laz Tomassini (12-22/3.95) were the only ones under the 4.00 ERA mark. |
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Monday, September 22, 2031 2031 Ruthlandian South Final Standings |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 22, 2031 2031 Ruthlandian South Final Recap SD Rancheros Romp In RU South The San Dimas Rancheros won the Ruthlandian South for only the second time in history. The last year they took the division pennant was way back in 2008. This season the Rancheros pulled away in the second half and won comfortably by 7 games over second place St. John. Third place went to the Grand City Cybercats and the Belair Beach Sunbirds, who were 9 games off the pace. The Cybercats were the RU South titlist last year. Manager Wesley Pate guided division champ San Dimas (93-61) up from fourth in 2030 with standout mound work from Jay Barajas (23-10/2.68), Joaquin Lima (22-14/3.10) and Miguel Valdes (17-11/2.99) with quality help from Shannon White (13-10/3.47) and closer Hector Villa (5-6/2.24/25 saves)... Villa topped the RU with 25 saves... Pate only had an average offense (17th) with little power (32nd)... 2B Joey Harris (.314/10/76/81) was the team's top batter, followed by SS Cloyd Middleton (.299/3/58/67), 3B Gregg Mathis (.291/9/55/73) and CF Ramon Escobar (.279/10/76/88)... San Dimas was tied with St. John defensively with .977 FAs, ranked second in the RU. The number two club was the St. John Crusaders (86-68) that rose up from fifth to second under the leadership of skipper Clayton Luck... the Crusaders hit well and scored well with a .273 BA and 711 runs (7th-tied), but possessed average pitchers with a 3.60 team ERA... the leader at the plate was SS Byron Johannsen (.327/10/86/91)... LF Joey Daigrepont provided 17 homers and 78 RBIs, while batting .268... 1B Johnny Zahn in a platoon role hit .347 with 5 homers and 48 RBIs... other quality bats were CF Brad Maddox (.277/2/56/77) and 3B Norm Murdoch (.292/3/72/66)... on the hill the threesome of Russell Larsen (24-13/3.11), Don Baillie (18-12/3.29) and Kazuki Hara (13-5/3.34) were prime starters. Last year's flag winner Grand City (84-70) had firepower with 176 roundtrippers (3rd), but was just average with a .262 BA and 3.51 ERA... the sluggers were LF Wes Marlowe (.268/42/111/89), 1B Mick Langston (.321/30/89/84), CF Thomas Hall (.297/25/88/75) and RF Tyler LaFontaine (.289/23/77/77)... C Jumbo Carver (.316/6/55/84) also chipped in with some offense... Charley Chisholm (20-13/3.99) was the club's biggest winner... manager Wade Joslin also had 40-year-old Les Patterson (18-16/2.73) in his rotation... Patterson was picked up in a trade with Sligo... Quintin Tyler (18-14/3.52) and Sammy Cagle (12-9/3.99) were also dependable starters... Cagle missed 6 weeks with back problems. For the first time in 5 years the Belair Beach Sunbirds (84-70) made the RU South first division, tying for fourth place, 9 games out of first... Jake Bungarooba's Sunbirds blossomed and climbed out of the cellar with a solid attack and fairly good pitching... Belair Beach batted .271 (10th), ranking fifth in runs and 13th in homers with 132... on the hill the team put up a 3.74 team ERA (20th)... star 1B Kees Draeger (.301/25/92/73) sparked the club offensively with help from 2B Edmund Derksen (.283/7/51/105), 3B James Cline (.296/14/79/81) and LF Rico Caballero (.310/3/60/71)... in the pitching depart Joel Gregg (15-9/3.22) stood out... the other starters were Jaime Pedroza (16-13/4.02) and Casey Grimm (18-13/4.14). The Waleska Westerners (82-72) missed out on the first division for the first time in 10 years by coming in fifth, trailing by 11 games... IPA icon RF Roy Hobbs slowed down considerably at age 38 and played only parttime... nonetheless he hit .305 with 8 homers and 37 RBIs... Hobbs is a lifetime .345 hitter with 594 home runs and has passed the 2000 mark in runs and RBIs... rumor has it that longtime skipper McGraw Johnson may step down this year and Hobbs might replace him... Waleska dropped off at the plate and also on the mound this year... but LF Loco Dillinger (.333/43/114/114) still swings a mean bat and led the RU in homers and was ranked high in RBIs and runs scored... 1B Glenn Childress (.300/14/80/97), 3B Pawnee Cody (.304/16/73/53) and 2B Doug Melton (.306/5/64/67) were also productive for the Westerners... mound stalwarts Wild Bill Butler (13-10/3.13) and Terry Richards (16-13/3.32) were down a bit... last year they totaled 20 victories each... Eric Mayes lent a hand with a 14-11 mark and a 3.46 ERA... the bullpen was down as well... Jarred Laclair (11-9/3.79/17 saves) saw his ERA shoot up from 2.40 the previous year. The Valka Blackhawks (78-76) faded in the second half and slumped to sixth place in the standings... manager Ron Landauer's squad finished 15 games back of San Dimas... they were within 3 games of the first place Rancheros at the All-Star break... Kristo Kivi (15-10/3.23) led the mound staff, while at the plate 3B Leevi Viru (.306/18/90/85) and 1B Mikk Kukk (.314/21/87/89) were the leaders. The Claxton Diamonds (77-77) broke even for the year, yet wound up seventh in the competitive RU South and 16 games behind the division champion... just an average club, Claxton's best performers were Frddi Hahn (17-17/2.57), 1B Brad Jenkins (.327/10/65/63), 2B Gary Colton (.287/15/73/83) and RF Ivan Krause (.271/21/70/70). It was not a good year for Baby George in Crystal Lake (69-85) where the Crushers had their worst season since 2016... George had a good run with 6 pennants in the last 11 years, but not this season... hitting was down from .287 to .270 (13th) and pitching was mediocre with a 3.97 team ERA (25th)... only 1B Josh George (.270/21/90/98), SS Timmy Robinson (.289/22/81/84) and LF Ryan Ray (.273/20/81/70) had respectable numbers in the lineup... ace T. D. Burnham dipped to 14-18 after winning 20 games in each of the last 2 seasons... likewise Arnie Cason had a subpar year going from 20-12 to 7-10. |
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Monday, September 22, 2031 2031 Ruthlandian East Final Standings |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 22, 2031 2031 Ruthlandian East Final Recap Elnora Easily Wins RU East It was a 6-team race in the Ruthlandian East until the surprising Elnora All-Stars went on a second-half rampage and claimed the pennant with ease, winning by 11 games over the defending division champion Wynnamac Sundowners and Beechwood Bobcats, who deadlocked for the runner-up slot. The Sugar Valley Rattlers came in fourth and finished 14 games behind the All-Stars. This was Elnora's first flag since 2023 and the fourth overall in its history. They have been stuck in the second division for most of the last decade. Last season was a fright for manager Leon Carter and his Elnora All-Stars (95-59) when they suddenly slipped to last place, mainly because of its pitching... this year the staff rebounded with a vengeance, improving from a poor 4.03 ERA to solid 3.42 ERA (12th), sparked by Lucien Vashon (22-10/3.18), Jeremy Sellers (22-11/3.09), Freddy Pfeffer (18-13/3.65) and 34-year-old Marv Elderson (12-8/3.89), who blossomed in a starting role after 8 years of mediocrity in the bullpen... the Elnora bats backed them up with a RU-leading .286 BA (1st) and ranked second in scoring, led by RF Pettis Pentleton (.353/15/98/111), who led the league in hitting, CF Travis Glass (.338/25/95/91), 1B Mel Long (.291/25/103/77) and 2B Matt Boyd (.314/13/85/76)... Look for the All-Stars to severely test the Valmara Vipers in the playoffs. Last season's champ Wynnamac (84-70) faded in August and could not repeat... manager Matt Donnelly's bats went south on him this year, declining from .274 to .255 (25th), but his mound corps did their job well with a 3.18 team ERA (5th), especially the starters Lon Marshall (18-12/2.55), Jason Meeks (19-9/3.41) and Killara Bardo (14-14/2.39)... Both Marshall and Bardo suffered from a lack of run support... lack of good relief hampered the Sundowners, too... they ranked 28th in the bullpen with a 4.08 ERA... despite missing 40 games LF Lil Hoss Burkhalter still paced the team with 28 homers and 86 RBIs, while batting .262... C Lee Leslie helped out with 21 roundtrippers, 82 RBIs and a .267 BA... the rest of the Sundowners mainstays had off-years: 3B Dorak Aranda (.253/15/59/68), CF Allen Dundee (.253/23/74/73) and 1B Giles Butler (.277/20/56/65). The Beechwood Bobcats (84-70) used their bats to tie for second place with Wynnamac, moving up from fourth place in 2030... Bret George's boys hit .279 (2nd) and topped the RU in scoring (767 runs)... the Bobcats were in the race until August, then dropped out of the running, winding up 11 games behind... veteran starters Ken Arby (21-10/2.96) and Maury Patterson (18-11/3.11) again stood out on the mound... and got strong help in the bullpen from Zack Dowdle (5-4/2.35/19 saves), who appeared in 67 games... at the plate it was LF Herb Douglas (.296/5/72/118), CF Howie Baldwin (.250/25/101/97), 1B Ron Griffin (.311/5/67/82), SS Thomas Laske (.322/5/53/55) and Jimmy Winters (.286/1/73/71) leading the way. The Sugar Valley Rattlers (81-73) had a decent season in spite of falling from second place to the fourth spot this year, losing out to Elnora by 14 games... skipper Gibby Bobkins' club just doesn't hit for average, but does pack a wallop with 210 home runs (1st), tops in the IPA... but the .228 batting average is a killer... even with the homers the Rattlers ranked 25th in scoring... the Sugar Valley staff put up a 3.39 team ERA (11th)... better contact hitting would put the Rattlers near the top each year... RF Ray Ford is the club leader with a .268 mark... Ford had 33 home runs and 75 RBIs, CF Tyler White hit 33 with 83 RBIs, but had a terrible .212 BA, 1B Bucko Parks slammed 31 out of the park, drove in 78 with a .259 BA, 3B Johnny Doyle batted only .221, but collected 21 roundtrippers and 55 RBIs and SS Artie Morton drilled 20 homers, hit .235 and batted in 66 runs... 8 Rattlers had double-digit home runs... ace Aron Libertini had a marvelous 25-10 season with a 2.67 ERA... Benny McConnell had a good year with a 17-9 record and a 3.56 ERA... the 34-year-old McConnell reached the 200-win milestone this season and is 216-157 in his 13 seasons... Jeremy Blanchard posted a fine 3.20 ERA, but only had an 11-26 mark to show for it... and closer Dallas Casey (4-4/2.31/19 saves) did a good job in the bullpen... the Rattlers are the best defensive club in the division with a .976 FA. Longtime manager Killer Brewster saw some improvement this year with his Eastshore Elegants (80-74), who wound up in the fifth spot in the RU East standings, trailing by 15 games... it's been 12 years since the Elegants' glory years when they won 4 consecutive flags and 2 Pro Cups from 2016 to 2019... Eastshore was sixth the last three seasons... the bats perked up this year with a .270 BA (14th), 136 homers (10th-tied) and ranked 11th in runs... on the hill the Elegants chalked up a 3.58 team ERA (15th)... offensively CF Scotty Lagrange had a great year despite missing more than a month of the season... Lagrange had 34 homers, 93 RBIs and scored 88 runs in only 119 games with a .326 BA... LF George Shepherd (.292/23/69/104) and SS Larry Romney (.288/11/71/72) were the other good sticks... Randy Boone, a 9-year vet, topped the pitchers with a 14-14 mark and a 3.07 ERA. After two fine seasons when Danny Church first took the reins of the Marston Nine (72-82), the club has fallen on hard times and sunk into the second division the last four years... Marston came in sixth this season and were 23 games behind Elnora... the Nine batted .271 (11th), ranked 18th in runs and compiled a 3.93 team ERA (26th)... leading the Marston attack were superstud CF Russ Woodward (.313/28/97/92), still a star at age 37... other bat leaders were LF Ken Armstrong (.311/20/82/77), 3B George Varsh (.299/5/38/80), C Ron Marlowe (.295/19/81/68) and rookie SS Johnny Church (.282/9/62/85), the manager's 19-year-old son... Dennis Carravaggio (18-17/4.05) and Doug Hansack (15-19/3.47) are the most effective pitchers... Marston needs help on the mound to get back into contention. 20 years have gone past since the Cold Creek Catamounts (68-86) had a good team... 2012 was the last good year when they won the RU East pennant... the Catamounts are a perennial loser stuck mainly in the depths of the second division... occasionally they slip into fourth place, but no higher... manager Scoop Lemieux's team has ended up seventh for the last three years.... this year Cold Creek trailed by 27 games... Lemieux has solid pitching with a 3.26 team ERA (8th), but lacks offense, hitting only .256 (23rd) with 96 homers (26th) and ranked 29th in run scoring... starters Eddie Brasher (17-16/2.29) and Tommy Smith (14-17/3.19) are quality pitchers... relievers J. J. Gillespie (6-5/2.14/6 saves) and Bobby Reid (5-4/1.75/11 saves) have been quite effective, too... 1B Steve Daniels (.305/33/107/83), RF Carl Glick (.293/14/68/82) and free agent 2B Yancy Duvicque (.290/6/38/67) are the only proven hitters in the Catamounts lineup... Duvicque was previously with Turon in the Tycobbian Union. The last place Belle Plaine Musketeers (67-87) ran a good race until mid-season - they were just 2 games out - then ran out of gas and plunged down to the cellar, ending up 28 games off the pace... manager Dave Torregrossa has a good-hitting club with a .273 BA (7th), 690 runs (12th-tied) and 139 home runs (8th), but fails miserably in the pitching department with a 4.27 ERA (30th)... only starter Johnny Davenport (16-11/3.03) and closer Mac Shaw (7-5/2.44/15 saves) are proficient pitchers... but the Muskies have three rock-solid hitters in CF Shelby Glasscock (.299/36/88/121), C Derek Roman (.309/23/92/85) and 1B Marty Blake (.314/20/77/78), still a stud at age 37 and 19 years in the league. |
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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 22, 2031 2031 Ruthlandian East Final Standings |
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 22, 2031 2031 Ruthlandian West Final Recap Sligo Staves Off FB Defenders In RU West It was pretty much a four-team race in the Ruthlandian West all season long with the Sligo Rovers beating back challenges by Fort Benton, Colfax and Volusia. The Rovers captured their third division flag in the last five seasons, staving off Fort Benton by 3 games, defending division champion Colfax by 6 games and fourth place Volusia by 8. Sligo has finished in the RU West first division for eight successive years. Manager Eddie Keys got improvement in pitching and at the plate this year as his Sligo Rovers (86-68) claimed the RU West crown... Keys' mound staff was solid with a 3.36 ERA (10th) and his offense was sufficient with a .260 BA (19th) as the Rovers ranked 15th in scoring... defensively they were bad with a .966 FA... top pitchers were starters Earl Perkins (15-11/2.75), Bud Foster (13-11/2.60), Terry Bailey (16-13/3.36) and Lou Page (11-7/3.87), along with closer Andy Velasco (7-7/2.36/19 saves)... Sligo had no standout sticks... CF Darryl Collins (.283/22/71/82), 1B Maury Rice (.271/22/71/69) and 3B Howie Robertson (.276/2/56/82) were the most dependable. A 12-17 July slump cost the Fort Benton Defenders (83-71) the division title this year... otherwise they were right up there with Sligo... skipper Robbie Brooks is still looking for his first flag in his 31 years at the helm... they have never made the Pro Cup playoffs... 2031 was his chance... the Defenders have a well-balanced club with a 3.17 team ERA (4th) and a .276 BA (3rd), but do have some difficulty putting runs on the scoreboard, ranking 15th... they only hit 91 homers (27th-tied)... top to bottom there are no weak links in Brooks' pitching corps... Fort Benton has five solid starters in Augie Marquis (19-8/2.88), Chris Calsworth (18-15/3.12), Matt Harmon (8-7/3.29), Frankie Quinn (13-19/3.38) and Edd Farmer (10-8/3.02)... Brooks has a quality bullpen, too, with a 3.08 ERA... the Defenders have four .300 hitters in the batting order, led by new acquisition SS Hans Gustavsen (.327/2/59/51), who batted .420 in 49 games after being traded by Claxton, RF Danny Riesner (.321/9/80/87), 3B Monty McMurtry (.315/6/35/104), C Leo LaRocca (.309/8/56/83) and LF Rob McMahon (.299/20/80/68)... if stats could win a pennant, you would think that Fort Benton would have been a shoo-in. Last year's RU West winner, the Colfax Blasters (80-74), had a poor first half, playing .456 baseball (35-42), but manager Ilya Szabo got things going after the All-Star game and the club became a player for the pennant... but the Blasters came up 6 games short and came in third... Colfax had good offense, but were short on power and starting pitching... they hit .272 (8th) with only 95 roundtrippers (25th) and ranked 9th in scoring... the Blaster pitching was not strong enough with a 3.82 team ERA... heading up the Colfax attack were C Mitch Fullerton (.318/20/71/87), LF Hank Lunsford (.302/1/67/81), 1B Doug Kirkwood (.299/15/77/78), CF Hal Granders (.297/3/55/79) and 3B Vic Draper (.290/11/81/51)... only one starter Jon Cruise (17-17/3.44) managed a break-even record and posted an ERA under 4.00, but Szabo had three impressive relievers in Rudy Rosario (6-1/2.69/10 saves), Norb Harbison (10-7/2.50/9 saves) and Milton Garnett (7-2/2.88/1 save). The fourth-place Volusia Vigilantes (78-76) were running neck-and-neck with Sligo and Fort Benton going into September, but the V's flopped miserably with a 5-15 mark and fell 8 games off the pace... but it was still a decent year for manager Alfonso Feliz as the club rose up from seventh the year before... strong pitching was the reason... the Vigilantes chalked up a 3.10 team ERA (3rd)... at the plate they were mediocre with a .256 BA (24th) and only 108 homers (22nd), while ranking 24th in run scored... all four starters were effective, but lacked run support... Jamie Gustafson (18-2.84), Cisco Almeida (15-16/2.98), Poochie Patrick (14-10/3.39) and Greg Moss (13-16/3.54) all deserved better... the only reliable bats belonged to CF Vasco Aguilar (.328/22/73/83), 1B Scott Rogers (.301/5/39/75) and SS Joao Rosales (.254/15/78/72). The Stoner Stars (69-85) declined drastically this year, falling from second to a fifth-place tie with Forest City, 17 games out of first... just two years ago the Stars won the RU West crown... manager Benny Stern's club endured a huge hitting drought this year, dropping from .281 down to .257 (22nd)... the pitching suffered a bit as well, rising up from 3.41 to 3.62... Raul Hidalgo (18-11/3.19) was the only reliable starter... veteran Glenn Tackett, a 21-game winner the past two seasons, slumped to 10-15 with a 3.92 ERA... Stoner's top offensive performers were 1B Fletch Fowler (.336/18/85/66), CF Al Rispone (.285/17/74/84), RF Neil Mooney (.316/65/58) and 2B Dominic Gdowski (.297/10/54/52). For the 19th year in a row the Forest City Lumberjacks (69-85) missed the playoffs... the 'Jacks tied for sixth place, finishing 17 games behind in the race... the only thing the Lumberjacks do well is play solid defense with a .978 FA... otherwise they are just a second-division ball club, batting only .258 (21st) with a poor 4.03 team ERA (28th)... skipper Joe Judlin had two fair starters in Rich Barstow (13-13/3.73) and Jeff Watford (14-11/3.96)... at the plate it was 2B Rog Clemens (.267/28/107/85) doing most of the damage with some help from 1B Steve Burns (.306/12/62/76). For seven straight years now the Rocky Rapids Snappers (62-92) have been entrenched in the RU West second division... this year the Snappers were in last place with Middlefield and 24 games out under manager Junior Noland... they had the worst pitching in the IPA with a 4.51 ERA, combined with not much offense... the Snappers hit just .260 (20th) and ranked 20th in scoring... Matt Loudermilk (18-14/3.33) was the ace of the staff with little after him... the bullpen was even worse with a 4.74 ERA (32nd)... most of the offense was supplied by C Allie Blackwell (.328/15/67/76), 3B Kelvin Cassidy (.290/15/67/65), 1B Angelo Nardone (.264/23/74/67) and SS Tommy Noland (.279/12/68/58). After winning four consecutive pennants from 2023 to 2026, the Middlefield Roosters (62-92) have now hit rock bottom, falling all the way to the cellar, 24 games back of Sligo... the Roosters still go deep, mainly because of the small band box they play in... they rapped 156 homers (5th), but didn't hit much for average... only .244 (30th) and ranked 28th in runs... not much pitching, either, with a 3.82 ERA (22nd)... Judson Davis (12-20/3.41) and Tyrus Cobb (14-17/4.01) were the best that manager Bailey Norcross had... however Norcross had two solid hitters in 3B Eric Hollister (.314/32/97/69) and 1B Rusty Reese (.275/28/83/74)... Hollister was a free agent, formerly with Kenwood in the Tycobbian Union. |
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