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Eugene Church · 12-24-2008, 10:21 PM

The Islandian Times

Tuesday, September 25, 2001

Tycobbian Union Final 4 Playoffs

South Fork Picked to Beat Ginza in Tycobbian Final 4
According the BNN poll, the South Fork Stallions are a slight favorite to whip the Ginza Ninjas in the Tycobbian Union Final 4. The baseball journalists cite South Fork has the edge in hitting. From top to bottom in skipper Deroche "Lips" Leon's line-up he has a solid hitter, while manager Huroko Uchiyama of the Ninjas depends mainly upon three batters to supply the offense. Both clubs have fine pitching staffs with the Stallions having a little more depth. There is not much difference in them. South Fork's hitting and power will probably give them the edge over Ginza. The Stallions are favored despite the fact that Ginza won 19 of the 30 regular season games. The Ninjas were the underdog to the Fairfax Frogs, but won the series four games to three. But South Fork had the best record in the IPA over the last 3 months of the season.

South Fork's top hitters in the playoffs have been shortstop Bobby Riley with a .400 average, 1 home run, 3 RBIs and 4 runs scored; center fielder Ronnie Lee with a .333 batting average, 1 homer, 3 RBIs and 7 runs scored; first baseman Keith Burke with a .320 average, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 3 runs scored; and right fielder Art Atkins, who has hit .269, but with 6 RBIs and one home run. All total the Stallions hit 6 roundtrippers against the Blue Lake Blue Sox in the six-game series.

On the hill Leon has Flint Battle, who went 0-0 against the Blue Sox with a splendid 1.59 ERA. He started in a 4-3 loss and hurled ten brilliant innings in a game the Stallions eventually won 1-0 in 12 innings. Ken Conner won two games in the playoffs so far. He beat Blue Lake 4-2 and 5-4. Conner's postseason ERA is 3.38 in two starts. Vince Bernini is the third man in the rotation. He is 0-1 in the playoffs with a 4.30 ERA. In his last start Bernini dropped a 1-0 decision and allowed only four hits. When Leon has to go to his relief corps he has one of the best in the IPA, headed by Glenn Turnbull, although he did not have a good series against the Blue Sox. In two games and two innings he had a 9.00 ERA and no record. However Robby Rosario was outstanding with a 1-0 record and 0.00 ERA in 5 innings and three relief appearances.

Uchiyama has three superb starters in Kaz Matsumoto, Toshiharu Ito and Kazuhiro Nakayama. In two games Nakayama was 1-0 with a splendid 1.02 ERA. He lost his first playoff game 3-2, but came back and won his second 11-0. Toshihiro Ito was even better with an 0-1 record and 0.54 ERA. He didn't get the win in a 1-0 ten-inning victory and got the loss in a 2-1 game. Matsumoto went 1-0 with a 2.74 ERA in 4-3 (no decision) and 9-2 victories.The Ninja relief corps is almost as good as South Fork and is led by closer Ken Watkins. However he was shelled in his one relief appearance in the post-season.

Batting-wise Ginza has first baseman Kenshin Yamamoto, who is hitting .286 in the playoffs with a club high 6 RBIs. Left fielder Takashi Fujimoto carries a .241 average, but has driven in 5 runs with one home run and scored 6 times. Right fielder Charlie Campbell has a .300 batting average with 3 RBIs, one homer and has scored 5 runs. However, Uchiyama's biggest bat has been third baseman Kaz Ojima with a .452 average, 2 homers, 4 RBIs and 8 runs scored. Ojima hit only .251 during the regular campaign with 6 homers.

In the opening game of the Final 4 Series tomorrow at South Fork's Jock Ewing Stadium, Lips Leon will go with Flint Battle, a 33-year-old righthander, who was 4-2 against Ginza in 7 starts with a 4.47 ERA. Uchiyama will give the start to the 25-year-old righthander Toshiharu Ito. He was great against the Stallions in the regular season, going 5-1 with a fine 2.20 ERA. Ito pitched in 10 games and made 6 starts against South Fork.

12-24-2008, 10:21 PM	#631
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,940	The Islandian Times Tuesday, September 25, 2001 Tycobbian Union Final 4 Playoffs South Fork Picked to Beat Ginza in Tycobbian Final 4 According the BNN poll, the South Fork Stallions are a slight favorite to whip the Ginza Ninjas in the Tycobbian Union Final 4. The baseball journalists cite South Fork has the edge in hitting. From top to bottom in skipper Deroche "Lips" Leon's line-up he has a solid hitter, while manager Huroko Uchiyama of the Ninjas depends mainly upon three batters to supply the offense. Both clubs have fine pitching staffs with the Stallions having a little more depth. There is not much difference in them. South Fork's hitting and power will probably give them the edge over Ginza. The Stallions are favored despite the fact that Ginza won 19 of the 30 regular season games. The Ninjas were the underdog to the Fairfax Frogs, but won the series four games to three. But South Fork had the best record in the IPA over the last 3 months of the season. South Fork's top hitters in the playoffs have been shortstop Bobby Riley with a .400 average, 1 home run, 3 RBIs and 4 runs scored; center fielder Ronnie Lee with a .333 batting average, 1 homer, 3 RBIs and 7 runs scored; first baseman Keith Burke with a .320 average, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 3 runs scored; and right fielder Art Atkins, who has hit .269, but with 6 RBIs and one home run. All total the Stallions hit 6 roundtrippers against the Blue Lake Blue Sox in the six-game series. On the hill Leon has Flint Battle, who went 0-0 against the Blue Sox with a splendid 1.59 ERA. He started in a 4-3 loss and hurled ten brilliant innings in a game the Stallions eventually won 1-0 in 12 innings. Ken Conner won two games in the playoffs so far. He beat Blue Lake 4-2 and 5-4. Conner's postseason ERA is 3.38 in two starts. Vince Bernini is the third man in the rotation. He is 0-1 in the playoffs with a 4.30 ERA. In his last start Bernini dropped a 1-0 decision and allowed only four hits. When Leon has to go to his relief corps he has one of the best in the IPA, headed by Glenn Turnbull, although he did not have a good series against the Blue Sox. In two games and two innings he had a 9.00 ERA and no record. However Robby Rosario was outstanding with a 1-0 record and 0.00 ERA in 5 innings and three relief appearances. Uchiyama has three superb starters in Kaz Matsumoto, Toshiharu Ito and Kazuhiro Nakayama. In two games Nakayama was 1-0 with a splendid 1.02 ERA. He lost his first playoff game 3-2, but came back and won his second 11-0. Toshihiro Ito was even better with an 0-1 record and 0.54 ERA. He didn't get the win in a 1-0 ten-inning victory and got the loss in a 2-1 game. Matsumoto went 1-0 with a 2.74 ERA in 4-3 (no decision) and 9-2 victories.The Ninja relief corps is almost as good as South Fork and is led by closer Ken Watkins. However he was shelled in his one relief appearance in the post-season. Batting-wise Ginza has first baseman Kenshin Yamamoto, who is hitting .286 in the playoffs with a club high 6 RBIs. Left fielder Takashi Fujimoto carries a .241 average, but has driven in 5 runs with one home run and scored 6 times. Right fielder Charlie Campbell has a .300 batting average with 3 RBIs, one homer and has scored 5 runs. However, Uchiyama's biggest bat has been third baseman Kaz Ojima with a .452 average, 2 homers, 4 RBIs and 8 runs scored. Ojima hit only .251 during the regular campaign with 6 homers. In the opening game of the Final 4 Series tomorrow at South Fork's Jock Ewing Stadium, Lips Leon will go with Flint Battle, a 33-year-old righthander, who was 4-2 against Ginza in 7 starts with a 4.47 ERA. Uchiyama will give the start to the 25-year-old righthander Toshiharu Ito. He was great against the Stallions in the regular season, going 5-1 with a fine 2.20 ERA. Ito pitched in 10 games and made 6 starts against South Fork.