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Eugene Church · 05-31-2010, 10:55 PM

The Islandian Times

Friday, June 15, 2012

2012 Ruthlandian Union North Mid-Season Recap

LaGrange Powers Way Past FM Redhawks In RU North
In LaGrange Foxy Jimison's bats are booming in 2012 and have powered his Sports to first place in the Ruthlandian North at the All-Star break. LaGrange is 4 games up on the defending Pro Cup champions, the Far Mountain Redhawks. The Sports are leading the league in homers (87) and are number two in scoring (377) and have just enough pitching to get by.

Jimison told BNN, "As long as our bats stay hot, we'll be in the race. Quincy Peterson (.322/17 HR), Otto Kronvath (.298/17 HR), Bill Nance (.321/8 HR), Bill Nilsen (.248/14 HR) and Joel Reed (.274/10 HR) are solid vets and they are carrying us so far. I got two fine starters in Pedro Orantes (9-4 1.94) and Phil Bijeaux (9-4 3.86), but need some of the other guys to pick it up the second half. Rookie closer Andre Dupas (2-1 1.54) has been a godsend with 18 saves."

Alex Groveland is seeking his fourth straight RU North title and has his Far Mountain Redhawks in a good spot. They are in second place, 4 games off the pace. Groveland has a super mound staff that is leading the league with a 2.99 team ERA, headed by starters Robby Kelly (9-5 2.10), Wayne Baxley (7-2 3.18), Boomerang Hines (9-8 2.27) and Leroy Hill (7-6 3.66).

Groveland assessed it this way, "All we need is a little more offense to get back to normal and we'll be alright." Far Mountain is batting .261 (18th), but has scored only 306 runs (24th) and hit just 39 out of the park (29th).

The Kilkenny Cats are on the rise this season and are in third place, 6 games back. Manager Kieran McKenna's club finished 6th last year. The Cats have trouble scoring, but have two quality arms in vets Gregg Neal (7-6 3.75) and Mack Harrell (9-3 3.53). The 40-year-old Neal is in his 12th year and just recently won his 200th game, tops in IPA history. CF Kevin McPhail (.361 BA) has led the team at the plate, but he drastically needs some help.

The Glasco Athletics are fourth in the standings and trail by only 7 games. Last year's RU Rookie of the Year, Nicky Perrier, is having another great season and has been the team's workhorse with a sparkling 9-3 record and a strong 2.34 ERA. McDuffie Hughes' A's have been sparked at bat by 2B George Ferguson (.318/7 HR) and SS Lee Sullivan (.277/15 HR). To move up in the race, Glasco will have to have noticeable improvement both offensively and on the hill. The Athletics have decent power with 68 roundtrippers (9th).

Skipper Tommaso Lazzorda's main shortcoming in Taranto is in the bullpen. It has been absolutely lousy this season with a terrible 6.39 ERA. The Tars are doing pretty well considering that and are in 5th place and 8 games out. Starters Dan Phillips (9-7 2.93) and Angelo Zinacola (7-4 3.44) have been quality arms for Lazzorda. Taranto is 6th in hitting with a .271 batting average with 70 home runs (6th) and has been led by LR Wayne Pounders (.254) with 14 homers and RF Artie Kennedy with 11 home runs and a .309 average.

Ranford and Valmara are deadlocked for the 6th spot, 9 games behind leading LaGrange. Page Satcher at Ranford has been stuck in the cellar for the past two seasons, but he has gotten better pitching and has moved up a couple of slots this year, mainly due to Val Hudson (8-4 2.75). Hard-luck Chris Bernhoffer (5-11 2.97) has suffered greatly because of poor run support. Mediocre relief work and hitting are Satcher main problems. 1B Billy Massengale is the Bulls only run producer with 14 homers and 55 RBIs, but is hitting at a paltry .246 clip.

It's been quite a while since the Valmara Vipers have been in the first division. Manager J. Jackson Samuel's club last made the playoffs in 2006. Sadly, it looks like the Vipers will not contend this year either. Valmara has a good pitching corps that has compiled a pretty good 3.66 team ERA (10th). Samuel's starters are good ones and consist of Jasek Zielinski (9-4 3.18), Pat Kaczynski (5-6 3.22), Vasya Vasylenko (8-7 3.94) and Greg Turchin (7-9 3.69). Closer Paul Galusha (2-2 1.77) has been a rock in the bullpen. However, the Vipers are woefully weak at the plate and are batting only .246 (31st). Samuel's best bats are LF Stan Czerwinski (.283/6 HR) and RF Lou Gdowski (.284/8 HR). Rookie 2B Jan Dvorak has shown good power with 15 homers, but is hitting just .245 on the year.

Last place belongs to the Ancona Red Elephants, who are 11 games behind. Manny Mickens has some standout sticks in 2B Kevin Laroche (.355/8 HR), 1B Johnny Lee Harder (.342/8 HR) and RF Louie DiMucci (.336/10 HR). He just doesn't have enough of them. The Red Elephants sport a .267 team average (8th), but have scored only 325 runs (16th) and hit 54 homers (20th). Ancona is not doing very well on the hill either with a poor 4.23 team ERA (26th). Mickens top twirler is Kenny Flack with an 8-3 mark and a 3.88 ERA.

05-31-2010, 10:55 PM	#1721
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,719 Blog Entries: 1	The Islandian Times Friday, June 15, 2012 2012 Ruthlandian Union North Mid-Season Recap LaGrange Powers Way Past FM Redhawks In RU North In LaGrange Foxy Jimison's bats are booming in 2012 and have powered his Sports to first place in the Ruthlandian North at the All-Star break. LaGrange is 4 games up on the defending Pro Cup champions, the Far Mountain Redhawks. The Sports are leading the league in homers (87) and are number two in scoring (377) and have just enough pitching to get by. Jimison told BNN, "As long as our bats stay hot, we'll be in the race. Quincy Peterson (.322/17 HR), Otto Kronvath (.298/17 HR), Bill Nance (.321/8 HR), Bill Nilsen (.248/14 HR) and Joel Reed (.274/10 HR) are solid vets and they are carrying us so far. I got two fine starters in Pedro Orantes (9-4 1.94) and Phil Bijeaux (9-4 3.86), but need some of the other guys to pick it up the second half. Rookie closer Andre Dupas (2-1 1.54) has been a godsend with 18 saves." Alex Groveland is seeking his fourth straight RU North title and has his Far Mountain Redhawks in a good spot. They are in second place, 4 games off the pace. Groveland has a super mound staff that is leading the league with a 2.99 team ERA, headed by starters Robby Kelly (9-5 2.10), Wayne Baxley (7-2 3.18), Boomerang Hines (9-8 2.27) and Leroy Hill (7-6 3.66). Groveland assessed it this way, "All we need is a little more offense to get back to normal and we'll be alright." Far Mountain is batting .261 (18th), but has scored only 306 runs (24th) and hit just 39 out of the park (29th). The Kilkenny Cats are on the rise this season and are in third place, 6 games back. Manager Kieran McKenna's club finished 6th last year. The Cats have trouble scoring, but have two quality arms in vets Gregg Neal (7-6 3.75) and Mack Harrell (9-3 3.53). The 40-year-old Neal is in his 12th year and just recently won his 200th game, tops in IPA history. CF Kevin McPhail (.361 BA) has led the team at the plate, but he drastically needs some help. The Glasco Athletics are fourth in the standings and trail by only 7 games. Last year's RU Rookie of the Year, Nicky Perrier, is having another great season and has been the team's workhorse with a sparkling 9-3 record and a strong 2.34 ERA. McDuffie Hughes' A's have been sparked at bat by 2B George Ferguson (.318/7 HR) and SS Lee Sullivan (.277/15 HR). To move up in the race, Glasco will have to have noticeable improvement both offensively and on the hill. The Athletics have decent power with 68 roundtrippers (9th). Skipper Tommaso Lazzorda's main shortcoming in Taranto is in the bullpen. It has been absolutely lousy this season with a terrible 6.39 ERA. The Tars are doing pretty well considering that and are in 5th place and 8 games out. Starters Dan Phillips (9-7 2.93) and Angelo Zinacola (7-4 3.44) have been quality arms for Lazzorda. Taranto is 6th in hitting with a .271 batting average with 70 home runs (6th) and has been led by LR Wayne Pounders (.254) with 14 homers and RF Artie Kennedy with 11 home runs and a .309 average. Ranford and Valmara are deadlocked for the 6th spot, 9 games behind leading LaGrange. Page Satcher at Ranford has been stuck in the cellar for the past two seasons, but he has gotten better pitching and has moved up a couple of slots this year, mainly due to Val Hudson (8-4 2.75). Hard-luck Chris Bernhoffer (5-11 2.97) has suffered greatly because of poor run support. Mediocre relief work and hitting are Satcher main problems. 1B Billy Massengale is the Bulls only run producer with 14 homers and 55 RBIs, but is hitting at a paltry .246 clip. It's been quite a while since the Valmara Vipers have been in the first division. Manager J. Jackson Samuel's club last made the playoffs in 2006. Sadly, it looks like the Vipers will not contend this year either. Valmara has a good pitching corps that has compiled a pretty good 3.66 team ERA (10th). Samuel's starters are good ones and consist of Jasek Zielinski (9-4 3.18), Pat Kaczynski (5-6 3.22), Vasya Vasylenko (8-7 3.94) and Greg Turchin (7-9 3.69). Closer Paul Galusha (2-2 1.77) has been a rock in the bullpen. However, the Vipers are woefully weak at the plate and are batting only .246 (31st). Samuel's best bats are LF Stan Czerwinski (.283/6 HR) and RF Lou Gdowski (.284/8 HR). Rookie 2B Jan Dvorak has shown good power with 15 homers, but is hitting just .245 on the year. Last place belongs to the Ancona Red Elephants, who are 11 games behind. Manny Mickens has some standout sticks in 2B Kevin Laroche (.355/8 HR), 1B Johnny Lee Harder (.342/8 HR) and RF Louie DiMucci (.336/10 HR). He just doesn't have enough of them. The Red Elephants sport a .267 team average (8th), but have scored only 325 runs (16th) and hit 54 homers (20th). Ancona is not doing very well on the hill either with a poor 4.23 team ERA (26th). Mickens top twirler is Kenny Flack with an 8-3 mark and a 3.88 ERA. Attached Images Last edited by Eugene Church; 05-31-2010 at 11:56 PM.