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Eugene Church · 08-17-2010, 02:26 PM

The Islandian Times
Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Colfax Back, Tops RU West
Clem Rogers and his Colfax Blasters rebounded from a sixth-place finish last year to the top spot in the Ruthlandian West, which wasn't as bad as it sounds as they were just 4 games away from the top spot. Playing in one of the strongest IPA divisions, the Blasters outfought two standout teams to take their 5th pennant in the last 7 years. Rocky Rapids and Volusia ran second to them and wound up 3 games back. The Sligo Rovers came in fourth in the standings, but were 13 games off the pace.

Dominant pitching gives the Colfax Blasters (94-60) a big edge over its competitors... No team in the IPA approaches Colfax's 2.87 ERA (1st)... Rogers has two of the best hurlers in the IPA in Ilya Szabo (23-8 1.75) and Jimmy Joe Cartner (25-8 2.56)... it's the third time in the last four years that Szabo had led the RU in ERA... Szabo is 220-110 in his 12 seasons, while Cartner is 142-77 in 7 years... Roger Wright (16-13 3.41) and Dennis Kretzmeier (13-13 3.53) gives Rogers quality number three and four starters... contending clubs usually only have two and sometimes three capable starters... Colfax wins with pitching and pretty good power... The Blasters hit .260 (19th), but have 155 homers (6th)... at the plate they are paced by 5-time All-Star CF Ryan Raines (.294/22/77/84), RF Paul Coniglio (.293/17/72/66), 2B Ivan Ivanchuk (.306/15/72/88) and LF Tony Tanaka (.265/18/67/100)... C Joe Alexander (.225/23/89) doesn't hit for average, but has good punch and drives in runs.

The Rocky Rapids Snappers (91-63) with famed pitcher Ryan Noland at the helm has a good mound corps, but not an elite one like Colfax... Offensively the Snappers are only ordinary like Colfax with a .262 BA (16th) and 140 home runs (12th-tied)... His Snappers posted a good 3.32 ERA (3rd) with Don Chaney (25-8 2.89) and closer Earl Pitts (4-4 1.81) leading the way... starter #2 23-year-old Junior Noland, the senior Noland's son, had a very fine season in his second year with a 19-14 mark and a 3.21 ERA... like his dad his velocity is in the 97-99 MPH range... Starter #3 Ernie Watkins (21-10 3.56) had a revival year at age 34, by far his best since he set the IPA record with 28 victories in 2006... Ben Mashburn (13-15 3.89) gives Noland a decent #4 starter... Pitts in the bullpen had a splendid season with 38 saves, number one in the IPA... Rocky Rapids best bats are LF Scott Camden (.293/26/96/92), C Hank Bethel (.286/25/92), SS Cooter Bermudez (.295/1/44/92), CF Carl Johnson (.284/20/69/86) and 3B Paul Shelton (.252/27/93/78).

The Volusia Vigilantes (91-63) are a carbon copy of Rocky Rapids with solid pitching and adequate hitting... Manager Alfonso Feliz's team ERA is 3.36 (4th) and the club hit .266 (6th) with modest power, 118 homers (23rd)... Gerry Hersh (17-12 3.24) led the staff with help from Tanner Jacobs (13-10 3.52), who came over from Beechwood of the RU East in a July trade and went 7-1 with a 2.55 ERA for the V's... 40-year-old Hank Mosley (14-11 3.79) was a reliable #3 man in the rotation... duo closers Paul Zenger (3-5 1.83) and Marty Rutigliano (7-6 2.72) had 32 saves between them with Rutigliano having 18 and Zenger 14... Sophomore CF Joe DeLucca (.310/28/105/107) surpassed his rookie numbers with another fine season... 1B Rafael Garza (.334/10/73/55) and long-time RF Briscoe Crowder (.319/9/61/78) both had typical years.

The highly-rated Sligo Rovers (81-73) flopped in September with a dismal 5-15 record to fall back to fourth place in the RU West, 13 games behind leading Colfax... At mid-season many forecast a Sligo pennant... Eddie Keys' club can score, but needs improvement on the hill... The Rovers batted .262 (16th), hit 158 out of the park (5th), stole 190 bases (1st) and scored 812 runs (3rd), but compiled a lofty 3.97 ERA (18th)... leading the line-up were IPA all-time great LF Fred Collins (.313/19/89/106/20 SB) in his 14th year and a shoo-in for the HOF... CF Chris Michel (.313/18/73/98/38)... 2B Hollis Waldrup (.267/22/71/111/56 SB)... and RF Clell Renshaw (.306/12/69/108/14 SB)... Sligo ace Vinnie Rastelli (20-8 3.25) won twenty games for the third time in his five-year career... Rastelli is just 22 years old... He is Keys only stud on the staff... others in the rotation are Luka Abromowitz (15-13 3.86), Jasper LaForge (13-13 3.84) and Dix Edenborough (13-16 4.34)... it was a down season for Edenborough, who in his 11-year career is 135-90 with a 3.47 ERA.

On the rise the last couple of years, the Fort Benton Defenders (78-76) missed out on the pennant by one game in 2013... this season they ended up 5th and 16 games back... the Defenders just don't have the hosses to complete year-in and year-out... just average .259 (22nd) at the plate and better-than-average on the mound with a 3.43 team ERA (6th)... skipper Robbie Brooks has a great relief corps with a 2.65 ERA (2nd) led by David Osborn (3-3 1.15) with 29 saves... 10-year vet Tucker Dawes had a career year with a 21-15 mark and an impressive 2.59 ERA... but Ivan Gloeckner, so impressive last year with a 19-6 mark, slumped to 17-16 this season... Brooks has no real blockbusters at bat, but a few good ones... LF Forest Cummings (.274/27/101/85) led the team with some support from CF Ryan Smith (.295/28/76/106) and second-year 1B Stretch Stookey (.301/13/67/91).

Manager Willie Dickens won the RU West pennant in 2007, but it's been all downhill since for the Stoner Stars (73-81)... This year the sixth palce Stars finished in the second division for the seventh successive season and trailed by 21 games... They hit fairly well with a .265 BA (11th) and have good power with 177 homers (2nd), but are weak on the hill with a mediocre 4.17 ERA (25th)... Dickens' top players are LF Mike Jaffe, a second-year player, was outstanding with a .352 BA, 38 roundtrippers, 104 RBIs and 108 runs scored... 1B Robert Dunbar has a break out season with a .320 batting average, 25 home runs, 91 RBIs and 87 runs... 22-year-old Billy Chapel (13-17 3.18) and 23-year-old Don Patterson (17-14 4.32) show good potential, especially Chapel, who won 20 games as a rookie.

The Middlefield Roosters (68-87), managed by Smitty Michaels, had another hapless year and wound up in seventh place, 21 games out... The Roosters have some pop with 160 homers (4th) and a .265 team BA (10th), but don't score well with only 701 runs (21st)... pitching-wise they are a bad 4.14 as far as ERA (24th)... 10-year vet 2B Jim Rose (.285/29/92/96) is Middlefield's best player... 13-year vet RF Cecil Clark (.283/28/86/82) is a sound player, too... 12-year journeyman Danny Stewart (15-16 3.60) was Micheals' best pitcher.

It was a disasterous year for the Forest City Lumberjacks (67-87), who have been on a roller coaster ride the last three seasons... Rob Jackson's 'Jacks have gone from seventh to a surprising first to a jolting last... pitching, scoring and home runs were down this year... ace Paul Crews went from 19-9 and 2.38 to 9-20 and 3.41... Knucks Nomellini went from 17-16 to 10-14 and was traded to Beechwood at the trade deadline... Al Thibaut was 16-14 and 2.83 last year and 15-18 and 2.99 this year, but still had an excellent ERA... 10-year man Ernie Hill has his best season with a 14-7 mark and a 3.24 ERA... Forest City's best performer was 10-year vet LF Joe Judlin, who stood out with 37 homers, 106 RBIs and a .308 BA... Also adding some offense were CF Joe Callaway (.278/25/69/87) and 1B Andy Doiron (.305/9/61/81).

08-17-2010, 02:26 PM	#1908
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 36,136	The Islandian Times Tuesday, September 23, 2014 Colfax Back, Tops RU West Clem Rogers and his Colfax Blasters rebounded from a sixth-place finish last year to the top spot in the Ruthlandian West, which wasn't as bad as it sounds as they were just 4 games away from the top spot. Playing in one of the strongest IPA divisions, the Blasters outfought two standout teams to take their 5th pennant in the last 7 years. Rocky Rapids and Volusia ran second to them and wound up 3 games back. The Sligo Rovers came in fourth in the standings, but were 13 games off the pace. Dominant pitching gives the Colfax Blasters (94-60) a big edge over its competitors... No team in the IPA approaches Colfax's 2.87 ERA (1st)... Rogers has two of the best hurlers in the IPA in Ilya Szabo (23-8 1.75) and Jimmy Joe Cartner (25-8 2.56)... it's the third time in the last four years that Szabo had led the RU in ERA... Szabo is 220-110 in his 12 seasons, while Cartner is 142-77 in 7 years... Roger Wright (16-13 3.41) and Dennis Kretzmeier (13-13 3.53) gives Rogers quality number three and four starters... contending clubs usually only have two and sometimes three capable starters... Colfax wins with pitching and pretty good power... The Blasters hit .260 (19th), but have 155 homers (6th)... at the plate they are paced by 5-time All-Star CF Ryan Raines (.294/22/77/84), RF Paul Coniglio (.293/17/72/66), 2B Ivan Ivanchuk (.306/15/72/88) and LF Tony Tanaka (.265/18/67/100)... C Joe Alexander (.225/23/89) doesn't hit for average, but has good punch and drives in runs. The Rocky Rapids Snappers (91-63) with famed pitcher Ryan Noland at the helm has a good mound corps, but not an elite one like Colfax... Offensively the Snappers are only ordinary like Colfax with a .262 BA (16th) and 140 home runs (12th-tied)... His Snappers posted a good 3.32 ERA (3rd) with Don Chaney (25-8 2.89) and closer Earl Pitts (4-4 1.81) leading the way... starter #2 23-year-old Junior Noland, the senior Noland's son, had a very fine season in his second year with a 19-14 mark and a 3.21 ERA... like his dad his velocity is in the 97-99 MPH range... Starter #3 Ernie Watkins (21-10 3.56) had a revival year at age 34, by far his best since he set the IPA record with 28 victories in 2006... Ben Mashburn (13-15 3.89) gives Noland a decent #4 starter... Pitts in the bullpen had a splendid season with 38 saves, number one in the IPA... Rocky Rapids best bats are LF Scott Camden (.293/26/96/92), C Hank Bethel (.286/25/92), SS Cooter Bermudez (.295/1/44/92), CF Carl Johnson (.284/20/69/86) and 3B Paul Shelton (.252/27/93/78). The Volusia Vigilantes (91-63) are a carbon copy of Rocky Rapids with solid pitching and adequate hitting... Manager Alfonso Feliz's team ERA is 3.36 (4th) and the club hit .266 (6th) with modest power, 118 homers (23rd)... Gerry Hersh (17-12 3.24) led the staff with help from Tanner Jacobs (13-10 3.52), who came over from Beechwood of the RU East in a July trade and went 7-1 with a 2.55 ERA for the V's... 40-year-old Hank Mosley (14-11 3.79) was a reliable #3 man in the rotation... duo closers Paul Zenger (3-5 1.83) and Marty Rutigliano (7-6 2.72) had 32 saves between them with Rutigliano having 18 and Zenger 14... Sophomore CF Joe DeLucca (.310/28/105/107) surpassed his rookie numbers with another fine season... 1B Rafael Garza (.334/10/73/55) and long-time RF Briscoe Crowder (.319/9/61/78) both had typical years. The highly-rated Sligo Rovers (81-73) flopped in September with a dismal 5-15 record to fall back to fourth place in the RU West, 13 games behind leading Colfax... At mid-season many forecast a Sligo pennant... Eddie Keys' club can score, but needs improvement on the hill... The Rovers batted .262 (16th), hit 158 out of the park (5th), stole 190 bases (1st) and scored 812 runs (3rd), but compiled a lofty 3.97 ERA (18th)... leading the line-up were IPA all-time great LF Fred Collins (.313/19/89/106/20 SB) in his 14th year and a shoo-in for the HOF... CF Chris Michel (.313/18/73/98/38)... 2B Hollis Waldrup (.267/22/71/111/56 SB)... and RF Clell Renshaw (.306/12/69/108/14 SB)... Sligo ace Vinnie Rastelli (20-8 3.25) won twenty games for the third time in his five-year career... Rastelli is just 22 years old... He is Keys only stud on the staff... others in the rotation are Luka Abromowitz (15-13 3.86), Jasper LaForge (13-13 3.84) and Dix Edenborough (13-16 4.34)... it was a down season for Edenborough, who in his 11-year career is 135-90 with a 3.47 ERA. On the rise the last couple of years, the Fort Benton Defenders (78-76) missed out on the pennant by one game in 2013... this season they ended up 5th and 16 games back... the Defenders just don't have the hosses to complete year-in and year-out... just average .259 (22nd) at the plate and better-than-average on the mound with a 3.43 team ERA (6th)... skipper Robbie Brooks has a great relief corps with a 2.65 ERA (2nd) led by David Osborn (3-3 1.15) with 29 saves... 10-year vet Tucker Dawes had a career year with a 21-15 mark and an impressive 2.59 ERA... but Ivan Gloeckner, so impressive last year with a 19-6 mark, slumped to 17-16 this season... Brooks has no real blockbusters at bat, but a few good ones... LF Forest Cummings (.274/27/101/85) led the team with some support from CF Ryan Smith (.295/28/76/106) and second-year 1B Stretch Stookey (.301/13/67/91). Manager Willie Dickens won the RU West pennant in 2007, but it's been all downhill since for the Stoner Stars (73-81)... This year the sixth palce Stars finished in the second division for the seventh successive season and trailed by 21 games... They hit fairly well with a .265 BA (11th) and have good power with 177 homers (2nd), but are weak on the hill with a mediocre 4.17 ERA (25th)... Dickens' top players are LF Mike Jaffe, a second-year player, was outstanding with a .352 BA, 38 roundtrippers, 104 RBIs and 108 runs scored... 1B Robert Dunbar has a break out season with a .320 batting average, 25 home runs, 91 RBIs and 87 runs... 22-year-old Billy Chapel (13-17 3.18) and 23-year-old Don Patterson (17-14 4.32) show good potential, especially Chapel, who won 20 games as a rookie. The Middlefield Roosters (68-87), managed by Smitty Michaels, had another hapless year and wound up in seventh place, 21 games out... The Roosters have some pop with 160 homers (4th) and a .265 team BA (10th), but don't score well with only 701 runs (21st)... pitching-wise they are a bad 4.14 as far as ERA (24th)... 10-year vet 2B Jim Rose (.285/29/92/96) is Middlefield's best player... 13-year vet RF Cecil Clark (.283/28/86/82) is a sound player, too... 12-year journeyman Danny Stewart (15-16 3.60) was Micheals' best pitcher. It was a disasterous year for the Forest City Lumberjacks (67-87), who have been on a roller coaster ride the last three seasons... Rob Jackson's 'Jacks have gone from seventh to a surprising first to a jolting last... pitching, scoring and home runs were down this year... ace Paul Crews went from 19-9 and 2.38 to 9-20 and 3.41... Knucks Nomellini went from 17-16 to 10-14 and was traded to Beechwood at the trade deadline... Al Thibaut was 16-14 and 2.83 last year and 15-18 and 2.99 this year, but still had an excellent ERA... 10-year man Ernie Hill has his best season with a 14-7 mark and a 3.24 ERA... Forest City's best performer was 10-year vet LF Joe Judlin, who stood out with 37 homers, 106 RBIs and a .308 BA... Also adding some offense were CF Joe Callaway (.278/25/69/87) and 1B Andy Doiron (.305/9/61/81).