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Eugene Church · 06-13-2010, 11:21 PM

The Islandian Times

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

2012 Ruthlandian South Final Recap

BB Sunbirds Knock Off Claxton For RU South Flag
It was season-long battle between Belair Beach and Claxton with the Sunbirds getting the best of the Diamonds in the Ruthlandian South. Belair Beach outlasted preseason favorite Claxton by 4 games. Coming in third was San Dimas, 10 games out. The fourth spot went to Grand City, who trailed by 15. Crystal Lake and Waleska tied for fifth, 19 games off the pace. St. John was seventh, 21 games back and Valka wound up last, 24 games off the pace.

Belair Beach (89-65) overtook Claxton this year with some excellent pitching, good power-hitting and solid defense... Claxton won the RU South twice in the last four years and came in second in the other two seasons... This was the Sunbirds third division crown and first since the 2005 season... Manager Marty Pedroza had a strong pitching staff with four fine starters... Overall the team ERA was 3.28, third best in the RU, led by Tiny Lindgren (17-7 3.38), Slim Mosley (15-12 2.94), Pete Krohn (14-10 3.06) and Jeff Nieman (17-16 3.31)... A solid core of hitters provided the offense with a .263 BA (13th) and 163 homers (4th)... Sunbird bat leaders were RF Ron Dizon (.298/25/75/74), CF Billy Martz (.294/16/71/83), C Little Jake Bungarooba (.271/20/66/93) and All-Star 3B Zippy Parks (.278/72/73)... On defense the Sunbirds were the best in the division with a .976 FA.

The Old Perfesser Stacy Engel has a very fine ballclub in Claxton (85-69)... a bad August cost them the pennant... the Diamonds went 14-15, while Belair Beach was blistering 20-9 for the month... Claxton was right at the top with a .271 BA (3rd), 777 runs (5th) and 157 home runs (7th)... on the hill the Diamonds registered a good 3.54 team ERA... Defensively they were below average at .971 FA... Engel has some impressive veteran hurlers in Charlie Murphy (21-12 3.10), Doug Torvik (21-16 3.53), Alex Vanzetti (13-11 3.62) and Paul Grange (15-19 3.54)... coupled with a strong closer Tony Haverkamp (5-5 2.98), Claxton could give Belair Beach a good run... Haverkamp chalked up 29 saves... Engel had some powerful bats, too... All-Star 1B Mike Luzzatti had a wonderful year with 40 homers, 124 RBIs, 116 runs and a .332 batting average... Luzzatti will be a strong contender for the Golden Bat honors as he ranked in the top 5 in most offensive categories... Also chipping in some run production were RF Helmut Grazcyk (.297/23/81/95), 3B Paco Benitez (.304/2/54/99) and All-Star C Allen Lemay (.271/15/75/55).

The third place San Dimas Rancheros (79-75) just didn't have the offense to keep pace with Belair Beach and Claxton and they wound up 10 games back... But they did have the pitching... Paco Banderos' mound staff notched a rock-solid 3.29 ERA (4th)... his top hurlers were Carl Schmitz (22-11 2.55), Bobby Prince (17-15 2.51), Rudy Nasquez (9-5 3.28) and Rafael Vargas (10-9 3.92)... closer Raul Marroquin (4-11 2.35) had 31 saves... Schmitz, Prince and Marroquin were All-Stars... at the plate the Rancheros faltered badly with a poor .249 BA (27th)... Banderos' one decent bat was CF Rickey Alfonso with a .274 average, 13 homers, 54 RBIs and 98 runs scored... 1B Ron Armstrong (.282/16/65/59) added a little bit of offense.

The rest of the teams in the RU South had lackluster seasons and were fair to middlin' to mediocre in most respects... The Grand City Cybercats (74-80) were fourth in the standings and trailed by 15 games... Torry Joseph's top performers were closer Paul McBride (6-6 2.48) with 33 saves, starter Randy Andrews (17-15 3.71) and CF Jimmy Tremayne (.324/12/84/84)... the Cybercats moved up from last place in 2011.

Fifth place went to the Crystal Lake Crushers (70-84) and Waleska Westerners (70-84), who were tied, winding up 19 games off the pace... Herman "Baby" George at Crystal Lake has one of the best players in the IPA, 1B Phil Gravelli (.291/34/110/95), who year-after-year produces great numbers... Gravelli was an All-Star for the 8th time and is a lifetime .318 hitter with 416 homers, 1280 RBIs and 1095 runs scored... Gravelli is the all-time IPA leader in home runs and RBIs... The Cybercats have a pair of fine pitchers in closer Jeff Jernigan (8-6 1.91) with 21 saves and starter Ben Dewberry (16-17 3.19)... In Waleska, McGraw Johnson has a 4-time All-Star LF Kippy Doyle (.285/28/97/91), who is closing in on 1000 career RBIs... 2B DePaul Labat (.287/15/59/112) put up some good numbers for the Westerners.

The seventh place St. John Crusaders (68-86) have Dickie Billings at the helm... They ended up 21 games behind in the pennant race... Paul Tarkovsky (15-15 3.29) and Teddy Garson (16-16 3.47) give Billings two quality arms... the Crusaders best run producers are C Virgil Carpenter (.285/27/90/72), 2B Tony Borcellino (.282/23/84/73) and RF Clayton Luck (.267/13/64/96).

The Valka Blackhawks under the leadership of Jaan Kurus fell into the cellar this season, but they did have one of the most exciting players in the IPA... All-Star LF Kurt Jankauskas flirted with the home run record for awhile and ended up with 40... the powerhitter batted .303, scored 107 times and drove in 114 runs in a standout season... RF Mike Nordmann (.294/29/86/73) also had a solid year... on the hill the Blackhawks had two capable starters with Connie Krueger (14-16 2.95) and Erke Tonisson (17-12 4.10).

06-13-2010, 11:21 PM	#1747
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,898	The Islandian Times Tuesday, September 18, 2012 2012 Ruthlandian South Final Recap BB Sunbirds Knock Off Claxton For RU South Flag It was season-long battle between Belair Beach and Claxton with the Sunbirds getting the best of the Diamonds in the Ruthlandian South. Belair Beach outlasted preseason favorite Claxton by 4 games. Coming in third was San Dimas, 10 games out. The fourth spot went to Grand City, who trailed by 15. Crystal Lake and Waleska tied for fifth, 19 games off the pace. St. John was seventh, 21 games back and Valka wound up last, 24 games off the pace. Belair Beach (89-65) overtook Claxton this year with some excellent pitching, good power-hitting and solid defense... Claxton won the RU South twice in the last four years and came in second in the other two seasons... This was the Sunbirds third division crown and first since the 2005 season... Manager Marty Pedroza had a strong pitching staff with four fine starters... Overall the team ERA was 3.28, third best in the RU, led by Tiny Lindgren (17-7 3.38), Slim Mosley (15-12 2.94), Pete Krohn (14-10 3.06) and Jeff Nieman (17-16 3.31)... A solid core of hitters provided the offense with a .263 BA (13th) and 163 homers (4th)... Sunbird bat leaders were RF Ron Dizon (.298/25/75/74), CF Billy Martz (.294/16/71/83), C Little Jake Bungarooba (.271/20/66/93) and All-Star 3B Zippy Parks (.278/72/73)... On defense the Sunbirds were the best in the division with a .976 FA. The Old Perfesser Stacy Engel has a very fine ballclub in Claxton (85-69)... a bad August cost them the pennant... the Diamonds went 14-15, while Belair Beach was blistering 20-9 for the month... Claxton was right at the top with a .271 BA (3rd), 777 runs (5th) and 157 home runs (7th)... on the hill the Diamonds registered a good 3.54 team ERA... Defensively they were below average at .971 FA... Engel has some impressive veteran hurlers in Charlie Murphy (21-12 3.10), Doug Torvik (21-16 3.53), Alex Vanzetti (13-11 3.62) and Paul Grange (15-19 3.54)... coupled with a strong closer Tony Haverkamp (5-5 2.98), Claxton could give Belair Beach a good run... Haverkamp chalked up 29 saves... Engel had some powerful bats, too... All-Star 1B Mike Luzzatti had a wonderful year with 40 homers, 124 RBIs, 116 runs and a .332 batting average... Luzzatti will be a strong contender for the Golden Bat honors as he ranked in the top 5 in most offensive categories... Also chipping in some run production were RF Helmut Grazcyk (.297/23/81/95), 3B Paco Benitez (.304/2/54/99) and All-Star C Allen Lemay (.271/15/75/55). The third place San Dimas Rancheros (79-75) just didn't have the offense to keep pace with Belair Beach and Claxton and they wound up 10 games back... But they did have the pitching... Paco Banderos' mound staff notched a rock-solid 3.29 ERA (4th)... his top hurlers were Carl Schmitz (22-11 2.55), Bobby Prince (17-15 2.51), Rudy Nasquez (9-5 3.28) and Rafael Vargas (10-9 3.92)... closer Raul Marroquin (4-11 2.35) had 31 saves... Schmitz, Prince and Marroquin were All-Stars... at the plate the Rancheros faltered badly with a poor .249 BA (27th)... Banderos' one decent bat was CF Rickey Alfonso with a .274 average, 13 homers, 54 RBIs and 98 runs scored... 1B Ron Armstrong (.282/16/65/59) added a little bit of offense. The rest of the teams in the RU South had lackluster seasons and were fair to middlin' to mediocre in most respects... The Grand City Cybercats (74-80) were fourth in the standings and trailed by 15 games... Torry Joseph's top performers were closer Paul McBride (6-6 2.48) with 33 saves, starter Randy Andrews (17-15 3.71) and CF Jimmy Tremayne (.324/12/84/84)... the Cybercats moved up from last place in 2011. Fifth place went to the Crystal Lake Crushers (70-84) and Waleska Westerners (70-84), who were tied, winding up 19 games off the pace... Herman "Baby" George at Crystal Lake has one of the best players in the IPA, 1B Phil Gravelli (.291/34/110/95), who year-after-year produces great numbers... Gravelli was an All-Star for the 8th time and is a lifetime .318 hitter with 416 homers, 1280 RBIs and 1095 runs scored... Gravelli is the all-time IPA leader in home runs and RBIs... The Cybercats have a pair of fine pitchers in closer Jeff Jernigan (8-6 1.91) with 21 saves and starter Ben Dewberry (16-17 3.19)... In Waleska, McGraw Johnson has a 4-time All-Star LF Kippy Doyle (.285/28/97/91), who is closing in on 1000 career RBIs... 2B DePaul Labat (.287/15/59/112) put up some good numbers for the Westerners. The seventh place St. John Crusaders (68-86) have Dickie Billings at the helm... They ended up 21 games behind in the pennant race... Paul Tarkovsky (15-15 3.29) and Teddy Garson (16-16 3.47) give Billings two quality arms... the Crusaders best run producers are C Virgil Carpenter (.285/27/90/72), 2B Tony Borcellino (.282/23/84/73) and RF Clayton Luck (.267/13/64/96). The Valka Blackhawks under the leadership of Jaan Kurus fell into the cellar this season, but they did have one of the most exciting players in the IPA... All-Star LF Kurt Jankauskas flirted with the home run record for awhile and ended up with 40... the powerhitter batted .303, scored 107 times and drove in 114 runs in a standout season... RF Mike Nordmann (.294/29/86/73) also had a solid year... on the hill the Blackhawks had two capable starters with Connie Krueger (14-16 2.95) and Erke Tonisson (17-12 4.10). Last edited by Eugene Church; 06-17-2010 at 09:57 PM.