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The Islandian Times
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Kenwood Best In the TU West
Going into September the Tycobbian West was up for grabs with four clubs battling for the pennant. The front-running Kenwood Wildcats staved off determined efforts by the Denton City Redbirds, Arlon Champions and Chicopee Braves. Kenwood nipped defending champion Denton City by a 2-game margin with Arlon and Chicopee tied for third and 5 games off the pace. The Wildcats almost blew a good lead with a bad 11-17 record in August. But they finished strong with a 12-8 in September for their first division title ever in the team's 13-year history.
The Kenwood Wildcats (86-78) had a fine all-around season under manager Aaron Hankins... They hit very well with a .270 BA (2nd), scored adequately with 131 homers (23rd), had a superb mound corps with a 3.32 ERA (2nd) and were good with the gloves with a .979 FA (2nd)... but that what it took to hold off a very talented Denton City club... Hankins has three impressive starters with Connie Gavagan (18-13 3.05), Sammy Shaw (18-12 2.59) and Tank Tucker (9-3 2.76)... Todd Combs (14-19 3.46) also gave the Wildcats a fourth quality pitcher, although he has a sub-par year... Kenwood featured the best bullpen in the TU with a super 2.45 ERA (1st), led by Sol Yakis (10-2 2.99) and closer Rick Brickell with 24 saves and a 2.66 ERA, but only a 3-7 record... RF Dennis Riley (.320/19/87/62) and 3B Brad Walker (.290/14/78/86) were the top bats, but had offensive help from four other steady hitters.
Runner-up Denton City (84-70) had a chance to overtake Kenwood in August, but couldn't take advantage of it... The Redbirds could only break even with a 14-14 mark and came up 2 games short at season's end... starter Jeff Russell missed the last six weeks with a bad knee... Ford Whiteman has been short on pitching the last several seasons... DC posted an average 3.90 ERA (16th), but did hit solidly with a .263 BA (12th) and 177 homers (6th)... Mila Mohoski (21-10 3.20) was the ace of the mound staff, but didn't have much help... Russell (15-9 3.97) saw his numbers dip drastically in his second year... Russell was 21-9 with a 2.90 ERA in his rookie year... The Redbirds had four steady sluggers with C Pete Gibbs (.308/29/93/60), RF Lavon Gooch (.291/25/90/98), LF Rod MacCormack (.273/30/89/114) and 3B Jay Petit (.303/25/81/73).
The Arlon Champions (81-73) and Chicopee Braves tied for third place and trailed the Wildcats by 5 games... Skipper Gary Louis had very little offense with a .254 BA and only 123 home runs (26th)... on the hill the Champs registered only a 4.00 ERA (20th), but Louis had a solid bullpen with a 3.31 ERA (7th)... in fact his relievers carried Arlon this season... closer Johnny Rabelais racked up 32 saves with a 3-2 record, while compiling a brilliant 1.44 ERA... middle relievers Ross Birchford (8-4 2.36) and Wayne Haun (3-1 2.95) were excellent, too... starter Happy McManus (19-13 4.06) was Louis' top starter... vet Armando Cruz (15-16 3.37) suffered from lack of scoring, but pitched well... 10-year veteran LF Rocco Belasario topped the team with a .310 mark, 29 roundtrippers, 87 RBIs and 117 runs scored, along with 59 stolen bases, which led the entire IPA.
Skipper Harry Fleetfoot of the Chicopee Braves (81-73) gives most of the credit for the third-place finish to starters Tommy Ruffin (21-11 2.85) and Desmond Quartermain (17-19 2.46)... Quartermain really suffered because of low-run support... it cost Ruffin some wins, too... Overall the Braves tallied a 3.42 team ERA (6th), but hit just .256 (25th) with only 118 homers (30th)... C Ivan Burkholder (.278/22/65) was the best of the lot offensively.
The fifth place Bay St. Clair Buccaneers (77-77) crumbled at crunch time in September with a poor 7-13 record and wound up 9 games back in the race... Not much offense to speak of... The Bucs went deep just 127 times (24th) and batted only .263 (15th) as a team with a 4.12 ERA (28th)... Manager Guy Rondre's best pitcher was Lloyd Weber (19-16 4.01) and his best bats belong to 1B Gerry Fields (.289/24/99), CF Todd Bryant (.282/27/90/102) and second-base whiz Bud Walker, who hit .307 with 7 home runs, 50 RBIs and 105 runs in a very good sophomore season.
Matty Christianson had his Rolling Hills Reds (75-79) really rolling, especially in the first half of the season, but they conked out in the hot days of summer, eventually ending up in the sixth spot in the TU West final standings, 11 games behind... The Reds featured good power with 168 homers (9th-tied) and average bats with a .261 mark... On the hill Rolling Hills compiled a 3.95 ERA (19th) with only one strong starter in Sal Jordan, who improved from a 12-12 mark in his rookie season to 18-13 this year with a standout 2.93 ERA... At the plate Christianson's crew were sparked by 3B Clay Hoffman with a .330 BA, 27 HRs and 82 runs batted in and CF Donnie Lewis with a .331 mark, 9 homers, 66 RBIs and 105 runs... SS Michael Griffin (.250/31/92/79) and RF Manuel Leon (.282/27/87/76) were also good sticks, too.
Tiny Downtown Plaza Stadium continues to give fits to pitchers with its short fences... The Bayview Vikings (67-87) smashed 227 out of the park, the second-best number behind High Mesa's 234, but still finished seventh and 19 games back with a terrible 4.57 team ERA... Walter Johanssen's top performers were long-time star RF Tommy Riddle (.293/46/119/110), fine second-year LF Davey Krueger (.298/39/94/87), slick-fielding sophomore 2B Tommy Shore (.315/19/62/103) and standout 3B Karl Benson (.292/24/90/79)... on the mound Rick Pritchard (15-16 3.54) and Norm Roy (16-17 3.54) were steady and consistent starters.
For the fifth year in the row the La Claire Lynx (63-91) have played below .500 baseball... Rip Calkin's club wound up deep in the cellar 23 games off the pace... The Lynx hit only .248 (28th) with 153 homers (13th), while chalking up a dismal 4.32 ERA (27th)... 40-year-old Doug Lyons had a remarkable season with a 15-12 record and 2.68 ERA... 3B Flash Devlin batted at .323 level to lead the club... Devlin smacked 23 homers, scored 87 times and drove across 82 in a good second year for him.
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