[Eugene Church]

The Islandian Times
Tuesday, June 23, 2015

2015 Tycobbian West Mid-Season Recap

BSC Bucs Lead Tough TU West
The Tycobbian West just might be the toughest division in the league with six of the clubs playing .500 or better baseball. The mid-year leader is the hard-hitting Bay St. Clair Buccaneers, who have a 4-game bulge over runner-up Arlon, 6 games up on third place Chicopee and 7 games on Denton City and defending Pro Cup champ Kenwood, who are tied for fourth place. Bayview is sixth, trailing by 9 games.

Bay St. Clair Buccaneers (46-27)

Improved hitting has boosted Guy Rondre's Bay St. Clair Buccaneers into the TU West lead... the Bucs have sizzled at the plate, hitting at a hefty .282 clip (3rd), led by All-Star 1B Gerry Fields (.360 BA/21 HR/55 RBI/53 R), All-Star SS Jimmy Sawyer (.323 BA/13 HR/49 RBI/47 R), C Vince Herbert (.314 BA/10 HR/43 RBI/30 R) and a revitalized LF Frank DiPirro (.328 BA/4 HR/26 RBI/51 R), who missed last year with a bad elbow injury... Rondre has a solid pitching rotation with veteran starters Bobby Joe Belvin (9-7 3.42), Lloyd Weber (12-4 3.47) and Sean Lawrence (8-2 3.90)... Chris Van Arden (4-0 1.71) is a capable closer... The Bucs play good defense, too, with a solid .976 FA.

Arlon Champions (42-31)

Gary Louis depends on his pitching, defense and the home run for survival in the TU West... two solid starters, a sensational closer and three pretty good hitters are responsible for the Champs lofty position this season and will be key for the long haul in the second half of the year... Arlon's pitching rotation consists of Wayne Haun (7-3 3.03) and Tony Zaretti (10-3 2.62) in the number one and two spots, along with Happy McManus (7-5 4.00) as number three... Johnny Rabelais (0-2 2.91) is the closer and has 16 saves... providing the offense are Gold Glover and All-Star LF Rocco Belasario (.282 BA/16 HR/50 RBI/46 R), RF Scott Connor (.296 BA/11 HR/29 RBI/48 R) and CF Chucky Gilton (.327 BA/8 HR/32 RBI/23 R)... Belasario should break the 300-HR threshold this season and has a shot at crossing the 1000-RBI milestone as well... Louis is hoping Bay St. Clair will come down-to-earth with its hitting in the second half. Louis' philosophy is "good pitching will beat good hitting". He also said "Defense can win games, too."... Arlon is a good defensive club with a fine .976 FA.

Chicopee Braves (40-33)

The Chicopee Braves espouse the same baseball philosophy... Manager Harry Fleetfoot's mound corps has a superb 2.97 ERA (2nd), but has trouble scoring with a .256 BA (18th) and only 41 homers (31st)... Currently the Braves are third and 6 games in back of first place Bay St. Clair... Chicopee's ace is All-Star Desmond Quatermain, who is 10-6 with a sensational 1.31 ERA. by far the best ERA in the IPA... shoddy defense has been costly to Quartermain this season... Chicopee is an average defensive team with a .973 FA... Veteran Tommy Ruffin (8-6 3.65) and young 23-year-old Scotty Simmons (7-6 3.02) are solid starters, too... Closer Rich Taylor (5-2 1.19) has been a standout with 11 saves... However, Chicopee can't compare with the two teams ahead of them on the scoreboard... 37-year-old well-traveled journeyman RF Matty McDermott is the Braves best batter... McDermott is hitting .297 with 3 homers, 25 RBIs and 41 runs scored... Chicopee's home run leader only has 7 for the year... Poor offense will cost the Braves dearly this year... they probably will not be able to hold off Denton City and Kenwood in the second half and could fall into the second division.

Kenwood Wildcats (39-34)

Skipper Aaron Hankins and the Kenwood Wildcats still have all of the prime time players that won the 2014 Pro Cup... Hankins still has strong pitching with an impressive 3.24 team ERA (5th)... Kenwood's problems are two-fold: lousy hitting and lack of a competent closer... Last year the Wildcats batted .270... this year they are down to .243 (29th) with the same line-up... it will take a second-half surge at the plate to get back into the pennant chase... LF Dennis Riley (.323 BA/16 HR/56 RBI/35 R) is carrying the ball club and needs help... Kenwood's starters are excellent and one of the better foursome in the IPA... Heading Hankins' rotation are Sammy Shaw (8-6 2.95), Tank Tucker (9-8 3.18), Connie Gavagan (8-8 3.02) and Todd Combs (7-7 3.12)... closer Rick Brickell (0-3) has been inconsistent this season... Brickell has saved 15 games, but his ERA has ballooned to 4.56... last season Brickell posted a fine 2.66 ERA... Defensively the Wildcats are one of the best in the IPA with a .980 fielding percentage.

Denton City Redbirds (39-34)

Ford Whiteman's Denton City Redbirds are always hanging close and contending in the TU West, having won it six times in their history... The Redbirds still have two strong starters in 35-year-old ace Mila Mohoski (11-4 2.77) and 24-year-old Jeff Russell (10-5 3.85) and three quality bats in the line-up: 3B Jay Petit (.305 BA/13 HR/51 RBI/42 R), LF Rod MacCormack (.267 BA/13 HR/41 RBI/45 R) and 1B Maury Duncan (.284 BA/11 HR/38 RBI/32)... a better second half by a pitcher or two, a dependable closer and a few more bats could make the Redbirds a solid contender.

Bayview Vikings (37-36)

The Bayview Vikings continue to live and die with the home run ball... Walter Johanssen's Viks are third with 94 homers, but they hit only .246 (26th)... Better pitching is a must, too... a 4.23 ERA (28th) just will not cut it in the IPA, if you want to win the pennant... In the good old days when the Vikings won their three pennants, the team ERA was around the 3.60 mark... Johanssen's best arms are veteran starter Norm Roy (9-7 3.88) and closer Ivar Bergmann (2-1 1.88)... Bergmann has looked good with 10 saves this season... hard-luck 23-year-old Rick Pritchard shows potential, but has suffered from a lack of run support in his starts... Pritchard has a good 3.25 ERA, but is only 4-9 record-wise... Leading the Bayview bomb squad are All-Star LF Davey Krueger (.306 BA/21 HR/50 RBI/44 R), 3B Karl Benson (.294 BA/15 HR/46 RBI/35 R) and 1B Stan Haddix (.337 BA/17 HR/38 RBI/60 R)... the Vikings handle the gloves well, too, with a solid .976 FA.

Rolling Hills Reds (36-37)

Rolling Hills is a pretty decent team that suffers from playing in a strong division... Matty Christianson has three quality starters in J. R. Beresford (8-7 3.03), Sal Jordan (8-8 2.59) and Keir McNamara (5-5 3.27)... the Reds also have a capable closer in Alfonso Gonzales (0-3 2.19)... Rolling Hills has a respectable 3.80 ERA (12th) and a .261 batting average (13th) with 81 homers (9th-tied), numbers that should get you better than 7th in the standings... leading Christianson's bat brigade are All-Star 3B Clay Hoffman with 26 home runs, 60 RBIs and a .309 BA... Hoffman, a 6-year vet, is headed for a career year... All-Star CF Donnie Lewis is also having a terrific season with a .345 BA, 51 runs scored, 34 runs scored and 4 homers... 1B Michael Griffin has 10 homers and 52 RBIs, but is batting only .251... SS Bobby Farias at 37 has 13 roundtrippers with 42 runs batted in and 44 runs, but just a .259 average.

La Claire Lynx (32-41)

Rip Calkin's La Claire Lynx are a pretty good last-place team, maybe the best last-place team in the IPA... they are batting .265 (11th) with 86 home runs (6th) and are 9th in scoring, but the thing that dooms them to the basement is a 4.21 team ERA (27th)... offense fills the stands and might make you a winner at the box office, but pitching makes you a winner where it counts - in the standings... Calkin needs some new blood in his pitching corps and roster... La Claire is headed nowhere with too many aging veterans... Leading the Lynx is 41-year-old Doug Lyons (9-7 3.24)... the rest of the rotation is only mediocre at best and 35 or older... Calkin's best bats are 21-year-old phenom All-Star 3B Flash Devlin, a crackerjack hitter, who is hitting .340 with 20 homers, 52 RBIs and 55 runs scored... In his third season Devlin will put up HOF numbers, if he continue to play in this fashion... Devlin has hit .328 lifetime so far... 36-year-old 2B Dale Pace is a solid performer with a .298 average, 13 roundtrippers, 42 RBIs and 42 runs... 31-year-old CF Zeppy Deshotel has dropped off the last two years, but has put up good stats this year with a .284 BA, 9 home runs, 50 runs and 28 RBIs... however they do not approach his career .307 average... Deshotel's power numbers are also way down from 30 homers and 100 RBIs a year... Calkin's club has a better-than-average defense with a .975 fielding percentage.