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Eugene Church · 02-27-2010, 07:08 PM

The Islandian Times

Thursday, September 23, 2010

2010 Ruthlandian East Final Recap

Sugar Valley's Strong Second Half Takes RU East Title
It was super-tight race in the Ruthlandian East at mid-year with seven teams bunched within 5 games of each other, then the Sugar Valley turned on the jets and left everybody in their tracks. The Rattlers took the flag by 8 games over runner-ups Beechwood and Cold Creek. Rounding out the first division was the Wynnamac Sundowners in fourth place, nine games back. Last year's champ Belle Plaine plummeted to fifth place, 10 games off the pace.

The Sugar Valley Rattlers (88-66) made the biggest turnaround in the RU East in 2010 as Gibby Bobkins' boys rose up from seventh place the previous season...the Rattlers were a good blend of offense and pitching and excellent on defense with a .981 fielding percentage, tops in the league... rookie Neil Howell (17-10 3.19), Jay Washington (19-16 3.60) and Connie Ehrlichmann (18-13 led the pitching corps... with a lot of help from closer Nickie Lynn (7-7 2.49), who registerd 30 saves... After a poor first half, Charles Darby (16-11 4.44) surged in the second half with an 11-6 record that really helped make the difference... Sugar Valley bats were sufficient with C Hal Stevenson (.276/28/100/87), CF Austen Conover (.293/4/78/94) and 2B Vic Chatelain (.301/2/78/71)... 1B Val Schlagel also contributed 22 homers, scored 93 times and hit at a .293 clip.

Improved pitching moved the Beechwood Bobcats (80-74) up from fifth to second this year... Bret George's team compiled an excellent 3.29 team ERA, led by two premier pitchers Dek Jumonville (23-14 2.14) and Terry Kuznetsov (19-8 2.36)... they may have been the best 1-2 punch in the IPA... RF Dale Strickland (.275/26/75/78), CF Jakie Creekmore (.272/13/72/83) and 1B Ray Slater (.294/13/56/96) led the offense.

Cold Creek (80-74) was tied with Beechwood for second place and lagged behind Sugar Valley by eight games... Neither of them did well in the second half... manager T. Kelly Holmes had a fine pitching staff with no weak links (3.64 ERA)... the Catamounts have three good starters in Terence Gilbert (19-16 2.99), Tommy Weeks (13-11 3.31) and Payton Saunders (16-15 3.71)... closer Frankie Novikov (8-5 2.34) did a good job with 15 saves... Run production was supplied by the talented CF Trip Holmes (.305/20/107/87), who runs, hits and fields with the best of them... He is the grandson of the elder Holmes, who was quite a player in his own right in the amateur leagues of old... RF Emile Stosha (.291/22/92/109) and LF Nickie Troxell (.270/25/96) sported big sticks, too.

Fourth place in the RU East went to Matt Donnelly's Wynnamac Sundowners (79-75), who wound up nine games out of first... poor relief pitching hurt the Sundowners, who had an overall 4.25 team ERA (25th)... Donnelly has a good group of starters, led by Ronald Blevins (15-8 3.02), Lefty Paddison (16-10 3.69) and Angus Conroy (16-17 3.66)... the Sundowners are still capable at the plate with LF Big Hoss Burkhalter (.280/31/106/84), 1B Nate Cockcroft (.285/19/66) , CF Dalton Leeds (.311/13/72/91) and RF Mark Buchanan (.309/17/70).

The defending RU East champs, the Belle Plaine Musketeers (78-76), faded badly in the second half and dipped down to the fifth spot in the standings... Boo Ladrieux just doesn't possess enough pitching... his best were Jorge Bonilla (21-15 3.55) and Matt Van Rensberg (17-11 4.14), who blossomed at the ripe old age of 38 after several years of futility... however the Muskies have an excellent closer in Denny Reynaud (3-4 2.82), who tied for the IPA lead with 36 saves this year... at bat Ladrieux has some good ones in LF Harry Klyman (.305/22/118/77), 1B Rory Dickenson (.306/16/89/107), 3B Warren McDaniel (.281/21/77/91) and RF Juan Mendez (.299/7/72/85).

Killer Brewster's Eastshore Elegants (70-84) tied with Marston and were a distant sixth this season and ended up 18 games off the pace... Brewster has fair pitching (3.79 ERA), but not much hitting with a .252 batting average (29th)... Donnie Rinaldi (18-17 3.74) and Thomas Williams (15-20 3.42) are his most dependable starters... at the plate his best bats are LF Darrel Alston (.300/23/67), RF Stan Cuccinello (.301/19/73) and C Fran MacIntyre (.309/18/76).

The Marston Nine (70-84) are much like Eastshore... decent mound corps with a 3.79 team ERA (12th), but weak offense with a .252 BA (29th)... Zippy Hodge led the starters with an 18-14 mark and a 3.45 ERA, while in the bullpen John Updike was 8-7 with 26 saves and a 3.58 ERA... batting-wise skipper Johnny Walters depended on 3B Jimmy Holman for most of his offense... Holman slugged 26 homers, batted in 97 and hit .288 for average... 1B Pat Farris led the league with a .357 mark, 12 home runs, 62 RBIs and 72 runs... LF Carlton McClure also provided some offense with 20 roundtrippers, 82 RBIs and 75 runs with a .254 BA... Good fielding SS Danny Church hit .274 and scored 103 runs.

The biggest disappointment this year in the RU East was Zoggy White's Elnora All-Stars (67-87), who stumbled from fourth down to last place, 21 games behind pennant-winning Sugar Valley... the All-Stars had bad numbers with a 4.31 ERA (28th) and a .259 batting average (21st)... White had only one pitcher to speak of... Taylor Gibbs (8-5 2.60) worked well in the bullpen until mid-August, when he became a starter... Gibbs was 3-1 the rest of the way... talented RF Lloyd Voss led the hitters with a .338 average, 21 homers, 83 RBIs and scored 103 times... 2B Dmitri Vrotsos hit 20 out of the park, drove in 90 runs and had a .260 BA... LF Theron Latigo hit .280 with 25 home runs and 82 RBIs.

02-27-2010, 07:08 PM	#1593
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,941	The Islandian Times Thursday, September 23, 2010 2010 Ruthlandian East Final Recap Sugar Valley's Strong Second Half Takes RU East Title It was super-tight race in the Ruthlandian East at mid-year with seven teams bunched within 5 games of each other, then the Sugar Valley turned on the jets and left everybody in their tracks. The Rattlers took the flag by 8 games over runner-ups Beechwood and Cold Creek. Rounding out the first division was the Wynnamac Sundowners in fourth place, nine games back. Last year's champ Belle Plaine plummeted to fifth place, 10 games off the pace. The Sugar Valley Rattlers (88-66) made the biggest turnaround in the RU East in 2010 as Gibby Bobkins' boys rose up from seventh place the previous season...the Rattlers were a good blend of offense and pitching and excellent on defense with a .981 fielding percentage, tops in the league... rookie Neil Howell (17-10 3.19), Jay Washington (19-16 3.60) and Connie Ehrlichmann (18-13 led the pitching corps... with a lot of help from closer Nickie Lynn (7-7 2.49), who registerd 30 saves... After a poor first half, Charles Darby (16-11 4.44) surged in the second half with an 11-6 record that really helped make the difference... Sugar Valley bats were sufficient with C Hal Stevenson (.276/28/100/87), CF Austen Conover (.293/4/78/94) and 2B Vic Chatelain (.301/2/78/71)... 1B Val Schlagel also contributed 22 homers, scored 93 times and hit at a .293 clip. Improved pitching moved the Beechwood Bobcats (80-74) up from fifth to second this year... Bret George's team compiled an excellent 3.29 team ERA, led by two premier pitchers Dek Jumonville (23-14 2.14) and Terry Kuznetsov (19-8 2.36)... they may have been the best 1-2 punch in the IPA... RF Dale Strickland (.275/26/75/78), CF Jakie Creekmore (.272/13/72/83) and 1B Ray Slater (.294/13/56/96) led the offense. Cold Creek (80-74) was tied with Beechwood for second place and lagged behind Sugar Valley by eight games... Neither of them did well in the second half... manager T. Kelly Holmes had a fine pitching staff with no weak links (3.64 ERA)... the Catamounts have three good starters in Terence Gilbert (19-16 2.99), Tommy Weeks (13-11 3.31) and Payton Saunders (16-15 3.71)... closer Frankie Novikov (8-5 2.34) did a good job with 15 saves... Run production was supplied by the talented CF Trip Holmes (.305/20/107/87), who runs, hits and fields with the best of them... He is the grandson of the elder Holmes, who was quite a player in his own right in the amateur leagues of old... RF Emile Stosha (.291/22/92/109) and LF Nickie Troxell (.270/25/96) sported big sticks, too. Fourth place in the RU East went to Matt Donnelly's Wynnamac Sundowners (79-75), who wound up nine games out of first... poor relief pitching hurt the Sundowners, who had an overall 4.25 team ERA (25th)... Donnelly has a good group of starters, led by Ronald Blevins (15-8 3.02), Lefty Paddison (16-10 3.69) and Angus Conroy (16-17 3.66)... the Sundowners are still capable at the plate with LF Big Hoss Burkhalter (.280/31/106/84), 1B Nate Cockcroft (.285/19/66) , CF Dalton Leeds (.311/13/72/91) and RF Mark Buchanan (.309/17/70). The defending RU East champs, the Belle Plaine Musketeers (78-76), faded badly in the second half and dipped down to the fifth spot in the standings... Boo Ladrieux just doesn't possess enough pitching... his best were Jorge Bonilla (21-15 3.55) and Matt Van Rensberg (17-11 4.14), who blossomed at the ripe old age of 38 after several years of futility... however the Muskies have an excellent closer in Denny Reynaud (3-4 2.82), who tied for the IPA lead with 36 saves this year... at bat Ladrieux has some good ones in LF Harry Klyman (.305/22/118/77), 1B Rory Dickenson (.306/16/89/107), 3B Warren McDaniel (.281/21/77/91) and RF Juan Mendez (.299/7/72/85). Killer Brewster's Eastshore Elegants (70-84) tied with Marston and were a distant sixth this season and ended up 18 games off the pace... Brewster has fair pitching (3.79 ERA), but not much hitting with a .252 batting average (29th)... Donnie Rinaldi (18-17 3.74) and Thomas Williams (15-20 3.42) are his most dependable starters... at the plate his best bats are LF Darrel Alston (.300/23/67), RF Stan Cuccinello (.301/19/73) and C Fran MacIntyre (.309/18/76). The Marston Nine (70-84) are much like Eastshore... decent mound corps with a 3.79 team ERA (12th), but weak offense with a .252 BA (29th)... Zippy Hodge led the starters with an 18-14 mark and a 3.45 ERA, while in the bullpen John Updike was 8-7 with 26 saves and a 3.58 ERA... batting-wise skipper Johnny Walters depended on 3B Jimmy Holman for most of his offense... Holman slugged 26 homers, batted in 97 and hit .288 for average... 1B Pat Farris led the league with a .357 mark, 12 home runs, 62 RBIs and 72 runs... LF Carlton McClure also provided some offense with 20 roundtrippers, 82 RBIs and 75 runs with a .254 BA... Good fielding SS Danny Church hit .274 and scored 103 runs. The biggest disappointment this year in the RU East was Zoggy White's Elnora All-Stars (67-87), who stumbled from fourth down to last place, 21 games behind pennant-winning Sugar Valley... the All-Stars had bad numbers with a 4.31 ERA (28th) and a .259 batting average (21st)... White had only one pitcher to speak of... Taylor Gibbs (8-5 2.60) worked well in the bullpen until mid-August, when he became a starter... Gibbs was 3-1 the rest of the way... talented RF Lloyd Voss led the hitters with a .338 average, 21 homers, 83 RBIs and scored 103 times... 2B Dmitri Vrotsos hit 20 out of the park, drove in 90 runs and had a .260 BA... LF Theron Latigo hit .280 with 25 home runs and 82 RBIs.