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Eugene Church · 06-15-2010, 10:44 PM

The Islandian Times

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

2012 Ruthlandian East Final Recap

Cold Creek Prevails In RU East, Wynnamac 2nd
The Cold Creek Catamounts don't care that they are in the weakest division in the IPA - they won the pennant and will be in the Pro Cup playoffs for the first time since 2007. It was the Catamounts second RU East title. They beat out Wynnamac by 2 games in a close race. The Marston Nine came in third and trailed by 4 games. Fourth place went to Beechwood and Belle Plaine, who finished 6 games off the pace. The Elnora All-Stars were sixth and 9 games behind with defending champ Sugar Valley a surprising seventh and 16 games back. Eastshore was eighth and last, 21 games out. Only two teams in the division managed to break even for the season. Champion Cold Creek was 79-75 and Wynnamac was 77-77.

Manager T. Kelly Holmes' Catamounts played their best ball during the hot months of Summer and rallied past everybody to take the RU East crown... Good pitching and good power were the keys to victory. Cold Creek (79-75) had three solid starters in Payton Saunders (16-12 2.85), Tommy Weeks (16-15 3.39) and Russell Thurber (16-12 3.78)... At the plate Holmes had a trio of talented performers, paced by his grandson and CF Trip Holmes (.293/30/91/106), LF Nickie Troxell (.299/28/101/78) and RF Emile Stosha (.287/18/69/114).

Wynnamac's (77-77) starting pitching probably cost them the division, although overall the staff was steady and consistent with a 3.48 team ERA (7th). His starters were just not as strong as his relief corps... The bullpen notched a 3.05 ERA (4th)... Matt Donnelly only had one reliable starter and he was a very good one... Jerry Meeks posted a 22-12 mark with a terrific 2.17 ERA... The Sundowners had some punch in their line-up with All-Star 1B Nate Cockcroft (.342/27/87/84), LF Big Hoss Burkhalter (.290/21/82/78), RF Joey Eaton (.314/22/79/69) and CF Clive Farnham (.330/19/78/64).

The Marston Nine (75-79) improved to third place this season, up from seventh last year... Johnny Walters' crew wound up only 4 games out of first... Pitching carried Marston, especially its relievers... The bullpen registered a sensational 2.70 ERA (2nd), while the starters put up 3.55 ERA (7th)... Better hitting would have carried the day and quite possibly would have produced a pennant... Marston ranked 29th and 30th in runs and homers... Closer John Updike (7-5 2.20) sparked the bullpen with 20 saves and Zippy Hodge (19-19 2.87) and Milt Wilson (11-12 3.13) led the starters... Walters' best batters were All-Star 3B Jimmy Holman (.310/23/86/85) and RF Richie Mazzone (.284/12/52/90).

The Beechwood Bobcats (73-81) and Belle Plaine Musketeers (73-81) deadlocked for fourth place in the standings, 6 games off the pace... Both teams tailed off in the last two months of the season... The Bobcats with skipper Bret George in charge had some quality bats with the likes of 1B Ray Slater (.308/13/65/120), 2B Darrell Woods (.273/23/94/57), C Billy Gorham (.313/17/68/80), LF Clifton Czako (.289/18/76/74) and RF Dale Strickland (.279/19/83/65)... on the hill Beechwood's best were starters Dek Jumonville (18-15 2.75) and Harry Dye (17-16 3.11)... All-Star closer Carl Costas (6-6 4.60) was switched to a starting role at mid-year and saw his ERA shoot up from a brilliant 1.82 to an astronomical 4.60 by season's end.

Boo Ladrieux's Musketeers stayed in the chase because of some good pitching by starters Jorge Bonilla (19-13 3.24) and Brad Anderson (16-16 3.53) with some very strong help from closer Denny Reynaud (5-8 2.04), who chalked up 26 saves... Belle Plaine's poor hitting cost them dearly... The Muskies hit only .256 (19th) and were rated last in scoring and next-to-last in home runs... Ladrieux's leading hitter was 1B Rory Dickenson, who batted only .275 with 12 homers, 79 RBIs and 88 runs scored.

The Elnora All-Stars (70-84) of Zoggy White came in sixth, 9 games behind in the race... White had a mediocre team with few standouts... The All-Stars had little power and did not score well, ranking near the bottom of the league... Poor run support hampered a pretty fair staff... Taylor Gibbs (18-16 3.81), Robby Meredith (10-9 3.54) and Matty Wilkerson (13-18 3.88) were White's best pitchers... In late July Leroy Hill (15-14 3.250 was secured in a trade with Far Mountain for the stretch run and he pitched well, but went 3-4 despite a 3.09 ERA... RF Lloyd Voss (.348/19/95/950, one of the top bats in the IPA, had another fine season... CF Denny Sawyer (.287/23/87/73) also had a decent year.

The powerful Sugar Valley Rattlers (63-91) with 5 RU East titles and 7 playoff appearances in its 12-year history slithered in to a startling seventh-place finish... Terrible pitching was the crux of manager Gibby Bobkins problems... The Rattlers ballooned to a 5.13 team ERA, worst in the entire IPA... Bobkins' ace Charles Darby went from 20-6 with 2.71 ERA in 2011 to 17-20 and a 4.40 ERA... However, Sugar Valley could still rattle the fences with 154 roundtrippers... Superstar All-Star C Hal Stevenson had monster year with 39 homers, 128 RBIs and a .293 batting average... Stevenson lead the RU in RBIs... Pitching in more offense were LF Emile Djoravich (.286/20/59/115), CF Austen Conover (.263/4/56/103) and SS Johnny Smith (.278/29/75/82).

Twas another bad year for Killer Brewster's Eastshore Elegants (58-96), who laid claim to the RU East basement for the fifth time in its history... Not much you can do with a 4.71 ERA (31st)... There were only two bright stars on the club... CF Cris Willis topped the RU and the IPA with a .371 batting average... Willis had 11 homers, 77 RBIs and scored 85 times... LF Stan Cuccinello (285/29/102/82) put up some good numbers, too.

06-15-2010, 10:44 PM	#1749
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,699 Blog Entries: 1	The Islandian Times Tuesday, September 18, 2012 2012 Ruthlandian East Final Recap Cold Creek Prevails In RU East, Wynnamac 2nd The Cold Creek Catamounts don't care that they are in the weakest division in the IPA - they won the pennant and will be in the Pro Cup playoffs for the first time since 2007. It was the Catamounts second RU East title. They beat out Wynnamac by 2 games in a close race. The Marston Nine came in third and trailed by 4 games. Fourth place went to Beechwood and Belle Plaine, who finished 6 games off the pace. The Elnora All-Stars were sixth and 9 games behind with defending champ Sugar Valley a surprising seventh and 16 games back. Eastshore was eighth and last, 21 games out. Only two teams in the division managed to break even for the season. Champion Cold Creek was 79-75 and Wynnamac was 77-77. Manager T. Kelly Holmes' Catamounts played their best ball during the hot months of Summer and rallied past everybody to take the RU East crown... Good pitching and good power were the keys to victory. Cold Creek (79-75) had three solid starters in Payton Saunders (16-12 2.85), Tommy Weeks (16-15 3.39) and Russell Thurber (16-12 3.78)... At the plate Holmes had a trio of talented performers, paced by his grandson and CF Trip Holmes (.293/30/91/106), LF Nickie Troxell (.299/28/101/78) and RF Emile Stosha (.287/18/69/114). Wynnamac's (77-77) starting pitching probably cost them the division, although overall the staff was steady and consistent with a 3.48 team ERA (7th). His starters were just not as strong as his relief corps... The bullpen notched a 3.05 ERA (4th)... Matt Donnelly only had one reliable starter and he was a very good one... Jerry Meeks posted a 22-12 mark with a terrific 2.17 ERA... The Sundowners had some punch in their line-up with All-Star 1B Nate Cockcroft (.342/27/87/84), LF Big Hoss Burkhalter (.290/21/82/78), RF Joey Eaton (.314/22/79/69) and CF Clive Farnham (.330/19/78/64). The Marston Nine (75-79) improved to third place this season, up from seventh last year... Johnny Walters' crew wound up only 4 games out of first... Pitching carried Marston, especially its relievers... The bullpen registered a sensational 2.70 ERA (2nd), while the starters put up 3.55 ERA (7th)... Better hitting would have carried the day and quite possibly would have produced a pennant... Marston ranked 29th and 30th in runs and homers... Closer John Updike (7-5 2.20) sparked the bullpen with 20 saves and Zippy Hodge (19-19 2.87) and Milt Wilson (11-12 3.13) led the starters... Walters' best batters were All-Star 3B Jimmy Holman (.310/23/86/85) and RF Richie Mazzone (.284/12/52/90). The Beechwood Bobcats (73-81) and Belle Plaine Musketeers (73-81) deadlocked for fourth place in the standings, 6 games off the pace... Both teams tailed off in the last two months of the season... The Bobcats with skipper Bret George in charge had some quality bats with the likes of 1B Ray Slater (.308/13/65/120), 2B Darrell Woods (.273/23/94/57), C Billy Gorham (.313/17/68/80), LF Clifton Czako (.289/18/76/74) and RF Dale Strickland (.279/19/83/65)... on the hill Beechwood's best were starters Dek Jumonville (18-15 2.75) and Harry Dye (17-16 3.11)... All-Star closer Carl Costas (6-6 4.60) was switched to a starting role at mid-year and saw his ERA shoot up from a brilliant 1.82 to an astronomical 4.60 by season's end. Boo Ladrieux's Musketeers stayed in the chase because of some good pitching by starters Jorge Bonilla (19-13 3.24) and Brad Anderson (16-16 3.53) with some very strong help from closer Denny Reynaud (5-8 2.04), who chalked up 26 saves... Belle Plaine's poor hitting cost them dearly... The Muskies hit only .256 (19th) and were rated last in scoring and next-to-last in home runs... Ladrieux's leading hitter was 1B Rory Dickenson, who batted only .275 with 12 homers, 79 RBIs and 88 runs scored. The Elnora All-Stars (70-84) of Zoggy White came in sixth, 9 games behind in the race... White had a mediocre team with few standouts... The All-Stars had little power and did not score well, ranking near the bottom of the league... Poor run support hampered a pretty fair staff... Taylor Gibbs (18-16 3.81), Robby Meredith (10-9 3.54) and Matty Wilkerson (13-18 3.88) were White's best pitchers... In late July Leroy Hill (15-14 3.250 was secured in a trade with Far Mountain for the stretch run and he pitched well, but went 3-4 despite a 3.09 ERA... RF Lloyd Voss (.348/19/95/950, one of the top bats in the IPA, had another fine season... CF Denny Sawyer (.287/23/87/73) also had a decent year. The powerful Sugar Valley Rattlers (63-91) with 5 RU East titles and 7 playoff appearances in its 12-year history slithered in to a startling seventh-place finish... Terrible pitching was the crux of manager Gibby Bobkins problems... The Rattlers ballooned to a 5.13 team ERA, worst in the entire IPA... Bobkins' ace Charles Darby went from 20-6 with 2.71 ERA in 2011 to 17-20 and a 4.40 ERA... However, Sugar Valley could still rattle the fences with 154 roundtrippers... Superstar All-Star C Hal Stevenson had monster year with 39 homers, 128 RBIs and a .293 batting average... Stevenson lead the RU in RBIs... Pitching in more offense were LF Emile Djoravich (.286/20/59/115), CF Austen Conover (.263/4/56/103) and SS Johnny Smith (.278/29/75/82). Twas another bad year for Killer Brewster's Eastshore Elegants (58-96), who laid claim to the RU East basement for the fifth time in its history... Not much you can do with a 4.71 ERA (31st)... There were only two bright stars on the club... CF Cris Willis topped the RU and the IPA with a .371 batting average... Willis had 11 homers, 77 RBIs and scored 85 times... LF Stan Cuccinello (285/29/102/82) put up some good numbers, too. Last edited by Eugene Church; 06-16-2010 at 11:38 PM.