OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - ISLANDIAN PRO ALLIANCE (RUTHLANDIA and TYCOBBIA BASEBALL UNIONS)

Eugene Church · 12-26-2008, 08:39 PM

The Islandian Times

Thursday, October 4, 2001

Islandian Pro Cup Series

Volusia Slightly Favored Over Ginza in Pro Cup Series
The Islandian Pro Cup is the ultimate quest in the Island baseball circles. 24 professional teams began playing in April for the chance to add the coveted Cup to their trophy cases. 22 clubs have been eliminated and we are now down to just two - the Volusia Vigilantes of the Ruthlandian Union North Division and the Ginza Ninjas of the Tycobbian Union East Division. The two ballclubs both finished runner-ups in their divisions. The V's and the Ninjas have earned their spots in the championship series with hard-earned triumphs in two tough rounds of playoffs. Both clubs were underdogs going into the playoffs and not expected to go far, but both have shown a comeback spirit and a determination to win. They deserve to be here.

Volusia and Ginza have defied the baseball odds as they were ranked sixth and seventh respectively in a playoff poll by BNN. Both clubs had to beat two division champions to make the finals. Now the Vigilantes and Ninjas will go up against one another and it looks like a toss-up with Volusia getting a slight nod from the baseball experts.

On paper the teams are pretty evenly matched. One major thing stands out - Volusia has the best closer in the IPA in Ricky Moreno. He makes the difference in close games. In the regular season the 30-year-old righthander was 5-5 with a great 1.76 ERA in 50 relief appearances. Moreno led the IPA in saves with 26. He continued to stand out in the playoffs with a 1-0 mark and 3 saves in 4 games. He gave up no runs in 7 innings and struck out 12 batters. Ginza's closer Ken Watkins, a portsider, was 4-8 in the regular season with a fine 2.24 ERA and 15 saves in 46 games. However, due to the strong starting performances, he hasn't been used much in the postseason. He has been disappointing, giving up 6 hits and 4 runs in just one inning of work in two appearances. Watkins will definitely have to improve on that in the Pro Cup playoffs.

It looks like a trade-off in starting rotations. Vigilante manager Alfonso Feliz will send Raul Sandoval (18-15 3.15), Tommy Betanzos (3-2 1.99) and Lenny Collins (15-11 3.81) to the mound. Sandoval and Collins are lefties, while Ninja skipper Huroko Uchiyama will counter with all righthanders, Toshiharu Ito (17-6 2.74), Kojiro Matsumoto (19-11 3.00) and Kazuhiro Nakayama (13-13 2.68).

In the playoffs Volusia's Sandoval is 3-1 with a brilliant 1.32 ERA in 4 starts, Betanzos 3-1 and 2.20 in 4 starts and Collins 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 3 starts. Ginza's starting trio did equally well in the postseason thus far with Ito 1-1 in 4 starts and a sensational 0.76 ERA, Matsumoto 3-1 and 2.70 in 5 starts and Nakayama 1-1 in 4 starts with a 3.96 ERA.

The Vigilantes have the edge in hitting with six players providing the offense in the regular season: Scooter Perez (.374/8 HR/45 RBI), Francisco Abreu (.274/26 HR/85RBI), Alejandro Salazar (.285/19 HR/82 RBI), Winky Rush (.285/13 HR/75 RBI), Jesus Arroyo (.290/12 HR/75 RBI) and Alex Luna (.282/9 HR/76 RBI).

In the playoffs Abreu has been tremendous, hitting .429 with 3 homers, 9 RBIs and 9 runs. Perez carries a .364 average with 7 runs scored, Alejandro Salazar has 3 roundtrippers and 7 RBIs and Jesus Arroyo is batting .317 with 6 RBIs.

The V's have held their playoff opponents to three runs or less in 10 of the 11 playoff games, while the Ninjas did it in only 8 of 13 games.

During the regular campaign Ginza Skipper Uchiyama had only three dependable hitters in Kenshin Yamamoto (.308/23 HR/89 RBI), Charlie Campbell (.291/19 HR/88 RBI) and Takashi Fujimoto (.286/23 HR/78 RBI). They carried the ballclub.

In the postseason so far, it has vastly improved. Kaz Ojima is leading the batters with a .351 average, 2 homers, 5 RBIs and 10 runs scored. Campbell is hitting .333 with one homer, 7 RBIs and 8 runs scored, Fujimoto is at the .250 mark, but has two home runs, 6 RBIs and scored 11 times and Yamamoto has 6 RBIs with a .220 batting average. Other productive contributors are Howie Mitchell with a .278 mark and 7 RBIs and Nick Winters at .289 with one homer, 6 RBIs and 6 runs scored. Uchiyama is getting offense from just about the entire line-up.

The Vigilantes have an 8-3 postseason record, while the Ninjas were 8-5. However, Ginza will get the home field advantage because of a better regular season mark. The Ninjas were 81-69 to the V's 78-72. The Ninjas (60-52) also play better against righthanders than Volusia (42-45). All of Ginza prime pitchers are righthanded. There is only one lefty on the squad. Two of Volusia's three starters are southpaws. This might be a crucial and deciding factor.

It looks like a great series is lined up for the Islandian Pro Cup and it gets underway tomorrow at Ninja Stadium in Ginza. It will southpaw Raul Sandoval (18-15 3.15) of the Vigilantes up against righthander Toshiharu Ito (17-6 2.74) for the Ninjas.

12-26-2008, 08:39 PM	#638
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,940	The Islandian Times Thursday, October 4, 2001 Islandian Pro Cup Series Volusia Slightly Favored Over Ginza in Pro Cup Series The Islandian Pro Cup is the ultimate quest in the Island baseball circles. 24 professional teams began playing in April for the chance to add the coveted Cup to their trophy cases. 22 clubs have been eliminated and we are now down to just two - the Volusia Vigilantes of the Ruthlandian Union North Division and the Ginza Ninjas of the Tycobbian Union East Division. The two ballclubs both finished runner-ups in their divisions. The V's and the Ninjas have earned their spots in the championship series with hard-earned triumphs in two tough rounds of playoffs. Both clubs were underdogs going into the playoffs and not expected to go far, but both have shown a comeback spirit and a determination to win. They deserve to be here. Volusia and Ginza have defied the baseball odds as they were ranked sixth and seventh respectively in a playoff poll by BNN. Both clubs had to beat two division champions to make the finals. Now the Vigilantes and Ninjas will go up against one another and it looks like a toss-up with Volusia getting a slight nod from the baseball experts. On paper the teams are pretty evenly matched. One major thing stands out - Volusia has the best closer in the IPA in Ricky Moreno. He makes the difference in close games. In the regular season the 30-year-old righthander was 5-5 with a great 1.76 ERA in 50 relief appearances. Moreno led the IPA in saves with 26. He continued to stand out in the playoffs with a 1-0 mark and 3 saves in 4 games. He gave up no runs in 7 innings and struck out 12 batters. Ginza's closer Ken Watkins, a portsider, was 4-8 in the regular season with a fine 2.24 ERA and 15 saves in 46 games. However, due to the strong starting performances, he hasn't been used much in the postseason. He has been disappointing, giving up 6 hits and 4 runs in just one inning of work in two appearances. Watkins will definitely have to improve on that in the Pro Cup playoffs. It looks like a trade-off in starting rotations. Vigilante manager Alfonso Feliz will send Raul Sandoval (18-15 3.15), Tommy Betanzos (3-2 1.99) and Lenny Collins (15-11 3.81) to the mound. Sandoval and Collins are lefties, while Ninja skipper Huroko Uchiyama will counter with all righthanders, Toshiharu Ito (17-6 2.74), Kojiro Matsumoto (19-11 3.00) and Kazuhiro Nakayama (13-13 2.68). In the playoffs Volusia's Sandoval is 3-1 with a brilliant 1.32 ERA in 4 starts, Betanzos 3-1 and 2.20 in 4 starts and Collins 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 3 starts. Ginza's starting trio did equally well in the postseason thus far with Ito 1-1 in 4 starts and a sensational 0.76 ERA, Matsumoto 3-1 and 2.70 in 5 starts and Nakayama 1-1 in 4 starts with a 3.96 ERA. The Vigilantes have the edge in hitting with six players providing the offense in the regular season: Scooter Perez (.374/8 HR/45 RBI), Francisco Abreu (.274/26 HR/85RBI), Alejandro Salazar (.285/19 HR/82 RBI), Winky Rush (.285/13 HR/75 RBI), Jesus Arroyo (.290/12 HR/75 RBI) and Alex Luna (.282/9 HR/76 RBI). In the playoffs Abreu has been tremendous, hitting .429 with 3 homers, 9 RBIs and 9 runs. Perez carries a .364 average with 7 runs scored, Alejandro Salazar has 3 roundtrippers and 7 RBIs and Jesus Arroyo is batting .317 with 6 RBIs. The V's have held their playoff opponents to three runs or less in 10 of the 11 playoff games, while the Ninjas did it in only 8 of 13 games. During the regular campaign Ginza Skipper Uchiyama had only three dependable hitters in Kenshin Yamamoto (.308/23 HR/89 RBI), Charlie Campbell (.291/19 HR/88 RBI) and Takashi Fujimoto (.286/23 HR/78 RBI). They carried the ballclub. In the postseason so far, it has vastly improved. Kaz Ojima is leading the batters with a .351 average, 2 homers, 5 RBIs and 10 runs scored. Campbell is hitting .333 with one homer, 7 RBIs and 8 runs scored, Fujimoto is at the .250 mark, but has two home runs, 6 RBIs and scored 11 times and Yamamoto has 6 RBIs with a .220 batting average. Other productive contributors are Howie Mitchell with a .278 mark and 7 RBIs and Nick Winters at .289 with one homer, 6 RBIs and 6 runs scored. Uchiyama is getting offense from just about the entire line-up. The Vigilantes have an 8-3 postseason record, while the Ninjas were 8-5. However, Ginza will get the home field advantage because of a better regular season mark. The Ninjas were 81-69 to the V's 78-72. The Ninjas (60-52) also play better against righthanders than Volusia (42-45). All of Ginza prime pitchers are righthanded. There is only one lefty on the squad. Two of Volusia's three starters are southpaws. This might be a crucial and deciding factor. It looks like a great series is lined up for the Islandian Pro Cup and it gets underway tomorrow at Ninja Stadium in Ginza. It will southpaw Raul Sandoval (18-15 3.15) of the Vigilantes up against righthander Toshiharu Ito (17-6 2.74) for the Ninjas. Last edited by Eugene Church; 12-30-2008 at 09:26 PM.