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Eugene Church · 09-22-2010, 09:40 PM

The Islandian Times
Monday, September 21, 2015

2015 Ruthlandian East Final Recap

Marston Romps In Second Half, Wins Again In RU East
The Marston Nine had critical injuries in the first half of the Ruthlandian East pennant chase, but rallied to overcome them with a torrid second half to easily win its second successive pennant. Marston mauled all the opposition and easily outdistanced Beechwood by 12 games, Elnora by 13 and Eastshore by 15. Beechwood had led Elnora by 4 games at the mid-season All-Star break and had a 6-game edge over Marston.

Manager Johnny Walters lost two of his starters early in the season, when Zippy Hodge (20-17) and ace Hunk Sweitzer (22-5) sustained injuries... Hodge missed the whole year, while Sweitzer miss half of the year... They had combined for 42 victories last season... Marston (92-62) regrouped with journeyman southpaw Roberto Conception (25-8 3.43), who had a sensational year... and two rookies Dennis Townsend (20-13 3.40) and Adam Ford (11-9 3.68)... closer Bobby Daniel was crucial, too... Daniel was 4-5 with a superb 2.17 ERA and 30 saves... Sweitzer returned after the All-Star game and posted a 12-8 record with a 2.43 ERA... that when the Nine began to blitz by everybody with a marvelous 53-18 mark the rest of the year... Marston had some good bats, too... CF Russ Woodward (.317 BA/31 HR/107 RBI/100 R), 3B Jimmy Holman (.298 BA/27 HR/115 RBI/80 R), SS Danny Church (.307 BA/9 HR/65 RBI/91 R) and RF Richie Mazzone (.262 BA/15 HR/62 RBI/108 R) supplied the offense.

The runner-up Beechwood Bobcats (80-74) went into a deep second-half funk and played under .500 baseball (25-46) after leading at mid-year... manager Bret George's prime problem was his lousy bullpen (5.67 ERA)... His starters kept the Bobcats in the game, but the relievers couldn't hold any leads... Terry Kuznetsov (17-13 2.98), Dek Jumonville (17-12 3.49) and Knucks Nomellini (18-13 3.84) provided consistently solid starts... Beechwood's best bats were CF Vic Valenti, who led the RU with a sizzling .383 batting average... Valenti also homered 45 times, drove in 120 runs and scored 119... and 3B Darrell Woods with 20 roundtrippers and 99 RBIs... Woods only hit at a .261 clip.

The Elnora All-Stars (79-75) came in third and had the same problem as Beechwood - poor relievers (4.89 ERA)... Zoggy White had four capable starters in Taylor Gibbs (15-17 2.84), Stevie Howard (17-16 3.95), Robby Meredith (10-6 3.37) and Matty Wilkerson (13-11 3.84), but the bullpen couldn't get anybody out... Elnora had decent offense, led by C Leon Carter (.292 BA/23 HR/90 RBI/92 R), LF Denny Sawyer (.283 BA/22 HR/84 RBI/87 R) and RF Lloyd Voss (.331 BA/10 HR/74 RBI/93 R).

Fourth in the standings were the Eastshore Elegants (77-77), who rose up from seventh place a year ago... Manager Killer Brewster improve his pitching this season... The Elegants led the division and were 4th overall with a solid 3.42 team ERA... Heading up the staff were Al Froelich (22-13 3.20), impressive rookie Melvin Key (14-6 2.65) and Eddie Lance (14-18 3.02)... closer Rod Wright (5-6) also stood out with 31 saves and an excellent 2.65 ERA... Brewster was short on hitting with a .252 team batting average (23rd) and only 121 homers (22nd-tied)... Eastshore's top hitters were LF Stan Cuccinello (.310 BA/28 HR/97 RBI/93 R) and 3B Bob Leach (.251 BA/23 HR/81 RBI).

The Cold Creek Catamounts (76-78) placed fifth in the RU East this season, 16 games off the pace of champion Marston... T. Kelly Holmes' Catamounts were sub-par in all aspects of the game, batted only .246 (29th) with a 4.15 ERA (28th) and little power... Cold Creek hit only 113 homers (28th)... but Holmes had at least 5 quality ballplayers in his grandson CF Trip Holmes (.316 BA/32 HR/95 RBI/124 R/17 SB), RF Emile Stosha (.318 BA/19 HR/90 RBI/92 R/30 SB), 1B Terry Sauer (.268 BA/18 HR/94 RBI/75 R) and pitchers Marc Matherne (20-14 3.35) and relief specialist Shannon Robinson (5-7 1.98) with 32 saves... Robinson was second in the league in saves... only Dallas Somerville of the Colfax Blasters with 35 was better.

Matt Donnelly's Wynnamac Sundowners (70-84) fell on hard times this year and dropped from third down to sixth... the disappointing Sundowners wound up 22 games behind because of weak pitching and hitting... they won the pennant just two seasons back... this year ended a string of 7 consecutive seasons in the first division... Wynnamac's top hurler is Jerry Meeks (18-11 2.86)... top batters are CF Clive Farnham (.284 BA/25 HR/111 RBI/88 R) and LF Big Hoss Burkhalter (.310 BA/27 HR/110 RBI/99 R)... the 37-year old Burkhalter is one of the IPA greats with over 400 homers and 1500 RBIs... He is hitting .290 in his 15-year career.

The seventh place Belle Plaine Musketeers (68-86) also took quite a tumble this year, falling from a strong second in 2014 to near the basement, 24 games out... Boo Ladrieux has decent pitching with a 3.70 team ERA (10th), but is woefully weak at the plate with only 75 home runs (32nd) and a .247 BA (27th)... Brad Anderson has a terrific year with a 22-10 record and a 2.77 ERA... Jorge Bonilla was dependabe with a 15-15 mark and a 3.17 ERA... poor bat support undoubtedly cost both Anderson and Bonilla some victories... the Muskies only had one good hitter... that was LF Juan Mendez (.306 BA/5 HR/62 RBI/94 R).

In the early years of the IPA the Sugar Valley Rattlers (67-87) were one of the premier franchises, but not so since 2007... Gibson Bobkins has 5 pennants flying in the ball park, but the Rattlers have finished no higher than seventh the last four seasons... and for the second year in a row they are last... this year Sugar Valley trailed the division winner by 25 games... Very poor pitching is at the core of the problem... the Rattlers were ranked 31st with a 4.58 ERA... Ed Clavell (16-16 3.48) is Bobkins' best... good pitchers are non-existent once you get past Clavell... Sugar Valley hits with some power... the Rattlers went deep 155 times (6th), but batted only .258 (18th)... C Hal Stevenson is one of the all-time best in the IPA... the 32-year-old Stevenson batted .321 with 45 homers, 120 RBIs and 102 runs to lead the club... RF Kent Swain added a .291 BA with 24 home runs, 91 RBIs and scored 95 times.

09-22-2010, 09:40 PM	#1986
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,704 Blog Entries: 1	The Islandian Times Monday, September 21, 2015 2015 Ruthlandian East Final Recap Marston Romps In Second Half, Wins Again In RU East The Marston Nine had critical injuries in the first half of the Ruthlandian East pennant chase, but rallied to overcome them with a torrid second half to easily win its second successive pennant. Marston mauled all the opposition and easily outdistanced Beechwood by 12 games, Elnora by 13 and Eastshore by 15. Beechwood had led Elnora by 4 games at the mid-season All-Star break and had a 6-game edge over Marston. Manager Johnny Walters lost two of his starters early in the season, when Zippy Hodge (20-17) and ace Hunk Sweitzer (22-5) sustained injuries... Hodge missed the whole year, while Sweitzer miss half of the year... They had combined for 42 victories last season... Marston (92-62) regrouped with journeyman southpaw Roberto Conception (25-8 3.43), who had a sensational year... and two rookies Dennis Townsend (20-13 3.40) and Adam Ford (11-9 3.68)... closer Bobby Daniel was crucial, too... Daniel was 4-5 with a superb 2.17 ERA and 30 saves... Sweitzer returned after the All-Star game and posted a 12-8 record with a 2.43 ERA... that when the Nine began to blitz by everybody with a marvelous 53-18 mark the rest of the year... Marston had some good bats, too... CF Russ Woodward (.317 BA/31 HR/107 RBI/100 R), 3B Jimmy Holman (.298 BA/27 HR/115 RBI/80 R), SS Danny Church (.307 BA/9 HR/65 RBI/91 R) and RF Richie Mazzone (.262 BA/15 HR/62 RBI/108 R) supplied the offense. The runner-up Beechwood Bobcats (80-74) went into a deep second-half funk and played under .500 baseball (25-46) after leading at mid-year... manager Bret George's prime problem was his lousy bullpen (5.67 ERA)... His starters kept the Bobcats in the game, but the relievers couldn't hold any leads... Terry Kuznetsov (17-13 2.98), Dek Jumonville (17-12 3.49) and Knucks Nomellini (18-13 3.84) provided consistently solid starts... Beechwood's best bats were CF Vic Valenti, who led the RU with a sizzling .383 batting average... Valenti also homered 45 times, drove in 120 runs and scored 119... and 3B Darrell Woods with 20 roundtrippers and 99 RBIs... Woods only hit at a .261 clip. The Elnora All-Stars (79-75) came in third and had the same problem as Beechwood - poor relievers (4.89 ERA)... Zoggy White had four capable starters in Taylor Gibbs (15-17 2.84), Stevie Howard (17-16 3.95), Robby Meredith (10-6 3.37) and Matty Wilkerson (13-11 3.84), but the bullpen couldn't get anybody out... Elnora had decent offense, led by C Leon Carter (.292 BA/23 HR/90 RBI/92 R), LF Denny Sawyer (.283 BA/22 HR/84 RBI/87 R) and RF Lloyd Voss (.331 BA/10 HR/74 RBI/93 R). Fourth in the standings were the Eastshore Elegants (77-77), who rose up from seventh place a year ago... Manager Killer Brewster improve his pitching this season... The Elegants led the division and were 4th overall with a solid 3.42 team ERA... Heading up the staff were Al Froelich (22-13 3.20), impressive rookie Melvin Key (14-6 2.65) and Eddie Lance (14-18 3.02)... closer Rod Wright (5-6) also stood out with 31 saves and an excellent 2.65 ERA... Brewster was short on hitting with a .252 team batting average (23rd) and only 121 homers (22nd-tied)... Eastshore's top hitters were LF Stan Cuccinello (.310 BA/28 HR/97 RBI/93 R) and 3B Bob Leach (.251 BA/23 HR/81 RBI). The Cold Creek Catamounts (76-78) placed fifth in the RU East this season, 16 games off the pace of champion Marston... T. Kelly Holmes' Catamounts were sub-par in all aspects of the game, batted only .246 (29th) with a 4.15 ERA (28th) and little power... Cold Creek hit only 113 homers (28th)... but Holmes had at least 5 quality ballplayers in his grandson CF Trip Holmes (.316 BA/32 HR/95 RBI/124 R/17 SB), RF Emile Stosha (.318 BA/19 HR/90 RBI/92 R/30 SB), 1B Terry Sauer (.268 BA/18 HR/94 RBI/75 R) and pitchers Marc Matherne (20-14 3.35) and relief specialist Shannon Robinson (5-7 1.98) with 32 saves... Robinson was second in the league in saves... only Dallas Somerville of the Colfax Blasters with 35 was better. Matt Donnelly's Wynnamac Sundowners (70-84) fell on hard times this year and dropped from third down to sixth... the disappointing Sundowners wound up 22 games behind because of weak pitching and hitting... they won the pennant just two seasons back... this year ended a string of 7 consecutive seasons in the first division... Wynnamac's top hurler is Jerry Meeks (18-11 2.86)... top batters are CF Clive Farnham (.284 BA/25 HR/111 RBI/88 R) and LF Big Hoss Burkhalter (.310 BA/27 HR/110 RBI/99 R)... the 37-year old Burkhalter is one of the IPA greats with over 400 homers and 1500 RBIs... He is hitting .290 in his 15-year career. The seventh place Belle Plaine Musketeers (68-86) also took quite a tumble this year, falling from a strong second in 2014 to near the basement, 24 games out... Boo Ladrieux has decent pitching with a 3.70 team ERA (10th), but is woefully weak at the plate with only 75 home runs (32nd) and a .247 BA (27th)... Brad Anderson has a terrific year with a 22-10 record and a 2.77 ERA... Jorge Bonilla was dependabe with a 15-15 mark and a 3.17 ERA... poor bat support undoubtedly cost both Anderson and Bonilla some victories... the Muskies only had one good hitter... that was LF Juan Mendez (.306 BA/5 HR/62 RBI/94 R). In the early years of the IPA the Sugar Valley Rattlers (67-87) were one of the premier franchises, but not so since 2007... Gibson Bobkins has 5 pennants flying in the ball park, but the Rattlers have finished no higher than seventh the last four seasons... and for the second year in a row they are last... this year Sugar Valley trailed the division winner by 25 games... Very poor pitching is at the core of the problem... the Rattlers were ranked 31st with a 4.58 ERA... Ed Clavell (16-16 3.48) is Bobkins' best... good pitchers are non-existent once you get past Clavell... Sugar Valley hits with some power... the Rattlers went deep 155 times (6th), but batted only .258 (18th)... C Hal Stevenson is one of the all-time best in the IPA... the 32-year-old Stevenson batted .321 with 45 homers, 120 RBIs and 102 runs to lead the club... RF Kent Swain added a .291 BA with 24 home runs, 91 RBIs and scored 95 times. Last edited by Eugene Church; 09-22-2010 at 10:21 PM.