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Eugene Church · 08-06-2010, 10:19 PM

The Islandian Times
Tuesday, June 24, 2014

2014 Ruthlandian East Midseason Standings and Team Batting

Marston Tops Super-Tight RU East
The Ruthlandian East is packed tightly at the mid-year break with all of the teams still having a shot at the pennant. Only 7 games separate first from last. The Marston Nine are on top, but not by much. They have a 1-game lead over second place Belle Plaine, 2 games over Elnora and Wynnamac in third place, 3 games up on fifth place Beechwood, 6 games in front of sixth place Cold Creek and Sugar Valley and 7 ahead of last place Eastshore. Whoever wins the flag will just be a big fish in a small pond. None of the teams will do well in the playoffs. The RU East is easily the weakest division in the IPA. Only Marston has a record over .500 and just barely.

The Marston Nine (37-36) are skippered by Johnny Walters. He has three All-Stars on his club. Hunk Sweitzer is 10-2 with a sterling 2.54 ERA. 5-time All-Star 3B Jimmy Holman (.333/15/54) and 1B Pat Farris (.390/5/31) are Marston best bats. 2-time All-Star Farris has led the RU in hitting twice (2007 and 2010) and is near the .400 mark this year and the leader with a .390 average thus far. Closer Bobby Daniel (2-4 2.83) has been a plus this season with 12 saves. Marston can pull away from the pack if it can just score more runs. Walters has some good veteran pitchers. The club is good defensively, too. The Nine has a .976 FA.

Boo Ladrieux has a good starting rotation in Belle Plaine (36-37), headed up by Matt Van Rensberg (10-4 3.90). Like Marston the season will depend on the hitters stepping it up in the second half. The Musketeers best bats belong to CF Hugh Berryhill (.325/0/35/51) and LF Juan Mendez (.319/1/28/460, both of whom lack power.

The Elnora All-Stars (35-38), tied for third with defending division champ Wynnamac, are good with the gloves (.979 FA) and possess some good starters. Manager Zoggy White has some very capable hitters, too. The future is bright, if starters Taylor Gibbs (8-8 3.03), Stevie Howard (5-2 3.38) and Matty Wilkerson (3-3 1.61) can get it going in the last half of the season. Howard was injured in May and is back now. Wilkerson has recently been promoted from the bullpen to starter. Elnora has the best trio of hitters in the division: RF Lloyd Voss, All-Star C Leon Carter and CF Denny Sawyer. Voss is one of the premier contact hitter in the IPA and is currently batting .340 with 6 homers, 42 RBIs and has scored 39 times. Voss is a career .339 batter and has whiffed only 200 times in 4000 at-bats. C Leon Carter has been great in his first two seasons, making the All-Star team both times. He is hitting .313 with 10 home runs and 33 runs batted in. Sawyer is having his best year in his career with a .305 mark, 10 roundtrippers, 30 RBIs and 54 runs scored. Many experts favor Elnora to take the pennant this year.

Matt Donnelly is disappointed with the play of his Wynnamac Sundowners (35-38) through the opening half of the season. He told reporters that the offense is down a little and the pitching is way off from a year ago. Jerry Meeks won the RU MVP Award last season, but is only 7-8 record-wise. He was 25-6 in the pennant-winning year. Meeks' ERA is up, but still is a strong 2.81 on the season. Donnelly said two standouts in 2013 Lenny Ward (8-4 4.04) and Gene Fair (7-8 3.69) could make a whale of a difference with better second halves. Wynnamac's top run producers are CF Clive Farnham (.319/12/43/38), 14-year vet and future HOF LF Big Hoss Burkhalter (.321/16/42/45) and second-year C Tweet Tillman (.280/9/39/31). Burkhalter is a lifetime .287 hitter with 365 homers to date and 1347 RBIs.

The Beechwood Bobcats (34-39) are in the fifth spot in the RU East standings, but just 3 games off the pace. The Bobcats have never won a pennant or even made the playoffs. This year could be their best chance. Manager Bret George would be in first place if Dek Jumonville, his ace, was having a typical year. Jumonville is 37 this season and has fallen on hard times with a 6-12 mark and a 3.82 ERA, about a run higher than usual. Beechwood's best twirler is another 37-year-old, Terry Kuznetsov, who has posted a 10-6 record with a 3.12 ERA. A revitalized Jumonville could do wonders for the Bobcats in the race. Leading the Beechwood offense is second-year CF Vic Valenti, who had a very good rookie season, but has really blossomed into a budding superstar with a .365 batting average, 18 homers, 65 RBIs and 51 runs. Valenti made the All-Star team and has already topped his first-year home run total and is fast approaching his last season's RBI number. Valenti went deep 17 times and batted in 78 runs in 2013. 38-year-old RF Clifton Czabo has helped Valenti with the offensive load. Czabo is hitting .317 with 4 homers, 31 RBIs and 39 runs scored. Beechwood has a good defensive team with an above average .977 FA.

The Cold Creek Catamounts (31-42) are tied for sixth with Sugar Valley and trail first place Marston by 6 games. T. Kelly Holmes is in charge of the Catamounts. His top starting pitchers are Marc Matherne (7-6 2.94) and Payton Saunders (8-10 3.64). In the bullpen Shannon Robinson (1-3) has been extraordinary with 14 saves and a terrific 1.88 ERA. 1B Terry Sauer (.324/11/37/38) and CF Trip Holmes (.294/7/34/32) shoulder most of the offensive load for the club. Cold Creek is just a second-division club and needs improved pitching and hitting to contend in the RU East.

Gibby Bobkins, who has won the division 5 times, has nothing to show but seventh-place finishes the last two years and a low finish looming again this season. His Sugar Valley Rattlers (31-42) just simply lack the talent to compete. Bobkins has very little in the way of starters. His best hurler is his closer Woody Murrell, who has compiled a 5-4 won-lost record with 15 saves and a fine 2.35 ERA. LF Austen Conover (.330/2/35/42) and C Hal Stevenson (.276/14/50) are Bobkins' top hitters.

The Eastshore Elegants (30-43) are in last place again this season, a spot they have occupied 5 of the past 6 seasons. Killer Brewster just has a bad ball club with average pitching and below-average hitting. The Elegants have only one top-notch pitcher. Second-year man Bix Hansen is a strong right-hander with an 8-4 mark and a standout 2.87 ERA. Hansen was 18-15 in his freshman year and looks like he will be a good one for many years to come. LF Stan Cuccinello (.308/12/45/32) and RF Cha-Cha Cervini (.322/5/34/22) lead the Eastshore batters.

08-06-2010, 10:19 PM	#1886
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,804 Blog Entries: 1	The Islandian Times Tuesday, June 24, 2014 2014 Ruthlandian East Midseason Standings and Team Batting Marston Tops Super-Tight RU East The Ruthlandian East is packed tightly at the mid-year break with all of the teams still having a shot at the pennant. Only 7 games separate first from last. The Marston Nine are on top, but not by much. They have a 1-game lead over second place Belle Plaine, 2 games over Elnora and Wynnamac in third place, 3 games up on fifth place Beechwood, 6 games in front of sixth place Cold Creek and Sugar Valley and 7 ahead of last place Eastshore. Whoever wins the flag will just be a big fish in a small pond. None of the teams will do well in the playoffs. The RU East is easily the weakest division in the IPA. Only Marston has a record over .500 and just barely. The Marston Nine (37-36) are skippered by Johnny Walters. He has three All-Stars on his club. Hunk Sweitzer is 10-2 with a sterling 2.54 ERA. 5-time All-Star 3B Jimmy Holman (.333/15/54) and 1B Pat Farris (.390/5/31) are Marston best bats. 2-time All-Star Farris has led the RU in hitting twice (2007 and 2010) and is near the .400 mark this year and the leader with a .390 average thus far. Closer Bobby Daniel (2-4 2.83) has been a plus this season with 12 saves. Marston can pull away from the pack if it can just score more runs. Walters has some good veteran pitchers. The club is good defensively, too. The Nine has a .976 FA. Boo Ladrieux has a good starting rotation in Belle Plaine (36-37), headed up by Matt Van Rensberg (10-4 3.90). Like Marston the season will depend on the hitters stepping it up in the second half. The Musketeers best bats belong to CF Hugh Berryhill (.325/0/35/51) and LF Juan Mendez (.319/1/28/460, both of whom lack power. The Elnora All-Stars (35-38), tied for third with defending division champ Wynnamac, are good with the gloves (.979 FA) and possess some good starters. Manager Zoggy White has some very capable hitters, too. The future is bright, if starters Taylor Gibbs (8-8 3.03), Stevie Howard (5-2 3.38) and Matty Wilkerson (3-3 1.61) can get it going in the last half of the season. Howard was injured in May and is back now. Wilkerson has recently been promoted from the bullpen to starter. Elnora has the best trio of hitters in the division: RF Lloyd Voss, All-Star C Leon Carter and CF Denny Sawyer. Voss is one of the premier contact hitter in the IPA and is currently batting .340 with 6 homers, 42 RBIs and has scored 39 times. Voss is a career .339 batter and has whiffed only 200 times in 4000 at-bats. C Leon Carter has been great in his first two seasons, making the All-Star team both times. He is hitting .313 with 10 home runs and 33 runs batted in. Sawyer is having his best year in his career with a .305 mark, 10 roundtrippers, 30 RBIs and 54 runs scored. Many experts favor Elnora to take the pennant this year. Matt Donnelly is disappointed with the play of his Wynnamac Sundowners (35-38) through the opening half of the season. He told reporters that the offense is down a little and the pitching is way off from a year ago. Jerry Meeks won the RU MVP Award last season, but is only 7-8 record-wise. He was 25-6 in the pennant-winning year. Meeks' ERA is up, but still is a strong 2.81 on the season. Donnelly said two standouts in 2013 Lenny Ward (8-4 4.04) and Gene Fair (7-8 3.69) could make a whale of a difference with better second halves. Wynnamac's top run producers are CF Clive Farnham (.319/12/43/38), 14-year vet and future HOF LF Big Hoss Burkhalter (.321/16/42/45) and second-year C Tweet Tillman (.280/9/39/31). Burkhalter is a lifetime .287 hitter with 365 homers to date and 1347 RBIs. The Beechwood Bobcats (34-39) are in the fifth spot in the RU East standings, but just 3 games off the pace. The Bobcats have never won a pennant or even made the playoffs. This year could be their best chance. Manager Bret George would be in first place if Dek Jumonville, his ace, was having a typical year. Jumonville is 37 this season and has fallen on hard times with a 6-12 mark and a 3.82 ERA, about a run higher than usual. Beechwood's best twirler is another 37-year-old, Terry Kuznetsov, who has posted a 10-6 record with a 3.12 ERA. A revitalized Jumonville could do wonders for the Bobcats in the race. Leading the Beechwood offense is second-year CF Vic Valenti, who had a very good rookie season, but has really blossomed into a budding superstar with a .365 batting average, 18 homers, 65 RBIs and 51 runs. Valenti made the All-Star team and has already topped his first-year home run total and is fast approaching his last season's RBI number. Valenti went deep 17 times and batted in 78 runs in 2013. 38-year-old RF Clifton Czabo has helped Valenti with the offensive load. Czabo is hitting .317 with 4 homers, 31 RBIs and 39 runs scored. Beechwood has a good defensive team with an above average .977 FA. The Cold Creek Catamounts (31-42) are tied for sixth with Sugar Valley and trail first place Marston by 6 games. T. Kelly Holmes is in charge of the Catamounts. His top starting pitchers are Marc Matherne (7-6 2.94) and Payton Saunders (8-10 3.64). In the bullpen Shannon Robinson (1-3) has been extraordinary with 14 saves and a terrific 1.88 ERA. 1B Terry Sauer (.324/11/37/38) and CF Trip Holmes (.294/7/34/32) shoulder most of the offensive load for the club. Cold Creek is just a second-division club and needs improved pitching and hitting to contend in the RU East. Gibby Bobkins, who has won the division 5 times, has nothing to show but seventh-place finishes the last two years and a low finish looming again this season. His Sugar Valley Rattlers (31-42) just simply lack the talent to compete. Bobkins has very little in the way of starters. His best hurler is his closer Woody Murrell, who has compiled a 5-4 won-lost record with 15 saves and a fine 2.35 ERA. LF Austen Conover (.330/2/35/42) and C Hal Stevenson (.276/14/50) are Bobkins' top hitters. The Eastshore Elegants (30-43) are in last place again this season, a spot they have occupied 5 of the past 6 seasons. Killer Brewster just has a bad ball club with average pitching and below-average hitting. The Elegants have only one top-notch pitcher. Second-year man Bix Hansen is a strong right-hander with an 8-4 mark and a standout 2.87 ERA. Hansen was 18-15 in his freshman year and looks like he will be a good one for many years to come. LF Stan Cuccinello (.308/12/45/32) and RF Cha-Cha Cervini (.322/5/34/22) lead the Eastshore batters.