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Eugene Church · 04-06-2010, 08:04 PM

The Islandian Times

Monday, June 20, 2011

2011 Tycobbian Union West Mid-Season Standings, Team Batting and Team Pitching

TU West Crowded Top to Bottom, Arlon Leads at All-Star Break
It's anybody's race at mid-season in the close Tycobbian West where only 7 games separate last place La Claire from the top dog, the Arlon Champions. The Champs have the lead by 2 games over runners-up Denton City, Bay St. Clair and Rolling Hills. Just 4 games back and tied for fifth are Bayview and Kenwood. Next in seventh place are the Chicopee Braves, 6 games behind. And pulling up the rear the cellar-dwelling La Claire Lynx, who are only 7 games off the pace.

Manager Gary Louis has Arlon playing good ball both at bat and on the mound. The Champions are one of the better good all-around teams in the TU West. They sport a solid 3.68 team ERA and are batting at a .262 pace. Louis has good starters in Hubie Croft (12-5 3.25), Happy McManus (8-6 3.99) and Armando Cruz (5-9 3.54). Cruz has slumped this season and could be a decisive factor if he can get back to normal. Arlon has one of the best closers around in Johnny Rabelais (3-2 1.88), who already has saved 17 games. Batting-wise Louis has a good core of hitters. RF Chucky Gilton (.321/14/45/48) leads the way and is having a career year. Other contributors are SS Hal Corbin (.305/8/41), 1B Miles Shufford (.263/11/48) and LF Rocco Belasario (.279/14/14/48).

Three clubs, Denton City, Bay St. Clair and Rolling Hills, are deadlocked for the number two spot in the standings and trail by 2 games. The Denton City Redbirds, the division winner in 2010, still have a strong club, sparked by pitchers Mila Mohoski (10-6 2.45) and Kimo Orlando (11-6 3.38), along with the reliable vets 3B Jay Petit (.323/16/53/40), RF Lavon Gooch (.302/13/46/42) and CF Rod MacCormack (.269/10/40/35). Look for Ford Whiteman's Redbirds to be in it for long haul and will be a serious challenger for the TU West crown again.

The Bay St. Clair Buccaneers are a sound team as well, third with a .277 BA and 8th in pitching with a 3.56 team ERA. Skipper Guy Rondre has a host of fine hitters in 1B Gerry Fields (.352/10/47/36), LF Bruno DiPirro (.352/9/40/54), RF Todd Bryant (.261/15/35/51), CF Skeeter Hall (.294/7/36/35) and 2B Jimmy Sawyer (.273/11/36/40). The Bucs also have three quality starters in Norm Gross (11-4 2.48), Duke DeVree (8-7 3.18) and Hal Meissner (9-7 3.39). Rondre's club will make a strong run for the division flag.

Manager Matty Christianson uses strong pitching and home run power at Rolling Hills. Hitting overall is a sore point for the Reds as they are batting only .246 as a team. Christianson's rotation is led by Toshiharu Ito (9-6 3.27), Clem Boutte (9-6 3.38) and Fran Tomaselli (5-5 3.12). Closer Barney Kearns (3-3 1.91) is a big plus, too. He has 15 saves. The Reds get most of their runs from CF Thad Hobbs (.280/18/49/50), RF Manuel Leon (.335/17/48), 3B Clay Hoffman (.293/15/45) and LF Donnie Lewis (.308/2/17/37). SS Michael Griffin is only batting a meager .206, but has rapped 15 homers and driven in 43 runs. Rolling Hills doesn't appear to be capable of beating out the teams ahead of them in the standings. Fourth or fifth may be the best Christianson can do with the talent he has.

The Bayview Vikings are in much the same boat as the Rolling Hills Reds - home run power, but weak hitting and mediocre pitching. Currently Walter Johanssen's Viks are tied for fifth in the TU West with the Kenwood Wildcats and trail leader Arlon by just 4 games. Johanssen has only two dependable hurlers, but they are good ones - the veterans Tony Vardaman (9-3 2.70) and Georgie Fambreau (7-8 3.24). Bayview tops the TU with 91 roundtrippers and is led at the plate by 3B Karl Benson (.348/15/50/39) and CF Tommy Riddle (.304/13/49/41). SS Dan Conroy has 10 homers and a .270 BA and RF Russ Murphy has gone deep 15 times with 46 RBIs, but is hitting for a low .237 average. The Vikings will do well to finish fourth this year.

The Kenwood Wildcats with Aaron Hankins at the helm have strong pitching with an impressive 3.39 ERA (4th), but not much offense. The team is hitting a poor .244 (29th), but are surprisingly ranked 13th in scoring, despite knocking only 47 home runs. Hankins has some first-rate arms in Denny Yarrow (8-5 2.90), Sol Yakis (6-5 3.08), Dan Phillips (4-5 2.80) and Todd Combs (7-7 3.88). In the bullpen Kenwood has a solid closer in Fred Kimball (7-4 2.79). 3B Leo Gambetta (.289/6/27/31) is the Wildcats only decent batter. Experts are picking Kenwood to wind up fifth or sixth, done in by poor hitting.

The Chicopee Braves are as close as they will get in the TU West flag chase. Harry Fleetwood has them in seventh place and only 6 games behind, but that will not last long. The Braves just don't hit well enough with a .253 BA (25th) and 69 homers (18th). Chicopee's top batters are 3B Nick Sweet (.295/5/39/44), 1B Robby Maynard (.288/13/41) and CF Big Boy Gianata (.279/13/41). The best thing the Braves do is score runs, ranking 12th in that category. On the hill Fleetwood has three reliable vets in Bill Branch (9-5 3.31), Wayne Baxley (9-6 3.81) and Tommy Ruffin (6-10 3.54). In the end Chicopee may get passed by last place La Claire. The Braves fall short in offense and pitching.

Rip Calkin's La Claire Lynx may be too good for the basement and could escape it by season's end. Calkin has the 7th best hitting team with a .270 average, fourth in runs scored and 8th in homers with 79, but La Claire is in last place, 7 games off the pace. A 4.03 team ERA (23rd) may be the culprit, mainly in the relief corps, which has an atrocious 4.64 ERA. However, looking at his starters Calkin has some that are better than average. Bernie Halsey (7-4 2.97) has been very effective. Doug Lyons (8-6 3.45) is a dependable veteran, who has double-digit victories the last nine years and has rung up 144 wins in his 11-year career. Rick Navronski (8-5 4.01) has turned in some fine performances at times this season. It's in the batter's box the Lynx have shined with three .300 hitters. LF Zeppy Deshotel (.330/20/58/64) is having a terrific year. CF Chazzie Lombardo (.318/9/37/42) and 2B Dale Pace (.307/10/37/50) are having strong seasons, too. RF Jay D'Armond (.273/15/51) and 3B Luis Marquez (.267/7/50) have been good contributors, too. La Claire is too good to be a second division team. The Lynx could finish as high as fourth and should - they are that good.

04-06-2010, 08:04 PM	#1661
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,903	The Islandian Times Monday, June 20, 2011 2011 Tycobbian Union West Mid-Season Standings, Team Batting and Team Pitching TU West Crowded Top to Bottom, Arlon Leads at All-Star Break It's anybody's race at mid-season in the close Tycobbian West where only 7 games separate last place La Claire from the top dog, the Arlon Champions. The Champs have the lead by 2 games over runners-up Denton City, Bay St. Clair and Rolling Hills. Just 4 games back and tied for fifth are Bayview and Kenwood. Next in seventh place are the Chicopee Braves, 6 games behind. And pulling up the rear the cellar-dwelling La Claire Lynx, who are only 7 games off the pace. Manager Gary Louis has Arlon playing good ball both at bat and on the mound. The Champions are one of the better good all-around teams in the TU West. They sport a solid 3.68 team ERA and are batting at a .262 pace. Louis has good starters in Hubie Croft (12-5 3.25), Happy McManus (8-6 3.99) and Armando Cruz (5-9 3.54). Cruz has slumped this season and could be a decisive factor if he can get back to normal. Arlon has one of the best closers around in Johnny Rabelais (3-2 1.88), who already has saved 17 games. Batting-wise Louis has a good core of hitters. RF Chucky Gilton (.321/14/45/48) leads the way and is having a career year. Other contributors are SS Hal Corbin (.305/8/41), 1B Miles Shufford (.263/11/48) and LF Rocco Belasario (.279/14/14/48). Three clubs, Denton City, Bay St. Clair and Rolling Hills, are deadlocked for the number two spot in the standings and trail by 2 games. The Denton City Redbirds, the division winner in 2010, still have a strong club, sparked by pitchers Mila Mohoski (10-6 2.45) and Kimo Orlando (11-6 3.38), along with the reliable vets 3B Jay Petit (.323/16/53/40), RF Lavon Gooch (.302/13/46/42) and CF Rod MacCormack (.269/10/40/35). Look for Ford Whiteman's Redbirds to be in it for long haul and will be a serious challenger for the TU West crown again. The Bay St. Clair Buccaneers are a sound team as well, third with a .277 BA and 8th in pitching with a 3.56 team ERA. Skipper Guy Rondre has a host of fine hitters in 1B Gerry Fields (.352/10/47/36), LF Bruno DiPirro (.352/9/40/54), RF Todd Bryant (.261/15/35/51), CF Skeeter Hall (.294/7/36/35) and 2B Jimmy Sawyer (.273/11/36/40). The Bucs also have three quality starters in Norm Gross (11-4 2.48), Duke DeVree (8-7 3.18) and Hal Meissner (9-7 3.39). Rondre's club will make a strong run for the division flag. Manager Matty Christianson uses strong pitching and home run power at Rolling Hills. Hitting overall is a sore point for the Reds as they are batting only .246 as a team. Christianson's rotation is led by Toshiharu Ito (9-6 3.27), Clem Boutte (9-6 3.38) and Fran Tomaselli (5-5 3.12). Closer Barney Kearns (3-3 1.91) is a big plus, too. He has 15 saves. The Reds get most of their runs from CF Thad Hobbs (.280/18/49/50), RF Manuel Leon (.335/17/48), 3B Clay Hoffman (.293/15/45) and LF Donnie Lewis (.308/2/17/37). SS Michael Griffin is only batting a meager .206, but has rapped 15 homers and driven in 43 runs. Rolling Hills doesn't appear to be capable of beating out the teams ahead of them in the standings. Fourth or fifth may be the best Christianson can do with the talent he has. The Bayview Vikings are in much the same boat as the Rolling Hills Reds - home run power, but weak hitting and mediocre pitching. Currently Walter Johanssen's Viks are tied for fifth in the TU West with the Kenwood Wildcats and trail leader Arlon by just 4 games. Johanssen has only two dependable hurlers, but they are good ones - the veterans Tony Vardaman (9-3 2.70) and Georgie Fambreau (7-8 3.24). Bayview tops the TU with 91 roundtrippers and is led at the plate by 3B Karl Benson (.348/15/50/39) and CF Tommy Riddle (.304/13/49/41). SS Dan Conroy has 10 homers and a .270 BA and RF Russ Murphy has gone deep 15 times with 46 RBIs, but is hitting for a low .237 average. The Vikings will do well to finish fourth this year. The Kenwood Wildcats with Aaron Hankins at the helm have strong pitching with an impressive 3.39 ERA (4th), but not much offense. The team is hitting a poor .244 (29th), but are surprisingly ranked 13th in scoring, despite knocking only 47 home runs. Hankins has some first-rate arms in Denny Yarrow (8-5 2.90), Sol Yakis (6-5 3.08), Dan Phillips (4-5 2.80) and Todd Combs (7-7 3.88). In the bullpen Kenwood has a solid closer in Fred Kimball (7-4 2.79). 3B Leo Gambetta (.289/6/27/31) is the Wildcats only decent batter. Experts are picking Kenwood to wind up fifth or sixth, done in by poor hitting. The Chicopee Braves are as close as they will get in the TU West flag chase. Harry Fleetwood has them in seventh place and only 6 games behind, but that will not last long. The Braves just don't hit well enough with a .253 BA (25th) and 69 homers (18th). Chicopee's top batters are 3B Nick Sweet (.295/5/39/44), 1B Robby Maynard (.288/13/41) and CF Big Boy Gianata (.279/13/41). The best thing the Braves do is score runs, ranking 12th in that category. On the hill Fleetwood has three reliable vets in Bill Branch (9-5 3.31), Wayne Baxley (9-6 3.81) and Tommy Ruffin (6-10 3.54). In the end Chicopee may get passed by last place La Claire. The Braves fall short in offense and pitching. Rip Calkin's La Claire Lynx may be too good for the basement and could escape it by season's end. Calkin has the 7th best hitting team with a .270 average, fourth in runs scored and 8th in homers with 79, but La Claire is in last place, 7 games off the pace. A 4.03 team ERA (23rd) may be the culprit, mainly in the relief corps, which has an atrocious 4.64 ERA. However, looking at his starters Calkin has some that are better than average. Bernie Halsey (7-4 2.97) has been very effective. Doug Lyons (8-6 3.45) is a dependable veteran, who has double-digit victories the last nine years and has rung up 144 wins in his 11-year career. Rick Navronski (8-5 4.01) has turned in some fine performances at times this season. It's in the batter's box the Lynx have shined with three .300 hitters. LF Zeppy Deshotel (.330/20/58/64) is having a terrific year. CF Chazzie Lombardo (.318/9/37/42) and 2B Dale Pace (.307/10/37/50) are having strong seasons, too. RF Jay D'Armond (.273/15/51) and 3B Luis Marquez (.267/7/50) have been good contributors, too. La Claire is too good to be a second division team. The Lynx could finish as high as fourth and should - they are that good. Attached Images Last edited by Eugene Church; 04-06-2010 at 08:17 PM.