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Eugene Church · 09-23-2010, 02:34 PM

The Islandian Times
Monday, September 21, 2015

2015 Ruthlandian West Final Recap

Colfax Skims By Volusia and Rocky Rapids For RU West Flag
It took great pitching for Colfax to capture the 2015 Ruthlandian West flag in one of the tightest races around the Islands. The Blasters mound corps were the "best in the West" and the best in the entire IPA, too. Colfax just barely nipped the tough Volusia Vigilantes by 2 games and the feisty Rocky Rapids Snappers by 5 games. Fort Benton took fourth and were 9 games off the pace.

Colfax (91-63) and manager Clem Rogers nabbed back-to-back division crowns this season, giving them 6 in the last 8 years... Fantastic pitching brought home the RU West trophy again this year... it was even better than last year... Rogers' rotation registered an extraordinary 2.84 ERA (1st) and was led by two 20-game winners, Ilya Szabo (23-12 1.99) and Rodger Wright (23-9 2.39) and closer Dallas Somerville (6-2), who chalked up 35 saves to lead the league with a brilliant 1.55 ERA... Colfax suffered in the batter's box with an anemic .247 average (28th) and had trouble scoring (28th)... Only CF Ryan Raines hit with any regularity... Raines batted .302 BA with 29 homers, 94 runs batted in and 92 scored.

Year in and year out the Volusia Vigilantes ((89-65) are a contender... manager Alfonso Feliz guided the V's to a victory in the first IPA Pro Cup in 2001 and to the playoffs the first six years in the league, but Volusia hasn't been in the postseason since 2006, mainly because of the dominance of the Colfax Blasters... two years ago the Vigilantes came up 1 game short, last year 3 games back and this year just 2 games behind the winner... Volusia is a well-rounded club with a 3.37 ERA (3rd), .272 BA (3rd), 148 homers (9th) and 791 runs (2nd)... Feliz's staff had four capable starters: Alejandro Rio (16-5 2.83), Todd Wolfe (16-14 3.07), Gerry Hersh (16-16 3.55) and Tanner Jacobs (19-15 3.72)... and four quality hitters... slugging CF Joe DeLucca (.328 BA/24 HR/97 RBI/90 R), who missed the last month of the season with a torn shoulder... the loss of DeLucca really hurt the V's chances to overtake Colfax... other top players were SS Vince Wilson (.305 BA/30 HR/102 RBI/95 R), 1B Rafael Garza (.345 BA/15 HR/87 RBI/106 R) and RF Briscoe Crowder (.294 BA/14 HR/73 RBI/88 R).

Skipper Ryan Noland has his Rocky Rapids Snappers (86-68) headed in the right direction with a third-place finish this season, only 5 games back... the Snappers have never played in the postseason, but hung close on the tails of Colfax and Volusia the entire year with adequate hitting and excellent pitching... they posted a .261 BA (14th) with 138 homers (14th) with 710 runs (17th) and a strong 3.18 ERA (2nd)... Noland has two 20-game winners... Don Chaney (26-12 2.36) led the IPA with 26 wins... and his son, Junior Noland (22-13 2.94)... closer Earl Pitts (2-3) was outstanding with a super 1.37 ERA and 24 saves... Rocky Rapids line-up is stocked with fine hitters: 38-year-old LF Scott Camden (.325 BA/40 HR/104 RBI/114 R) is headed for the IPA Hall of Fame and had his best season ever... 9-time All-Star C Hank Bethel (.287 BA/22 HR/94 RBI/77 R) continues to do it year after year and is only 32 years old... along with solid performers 3B Paul Shelton (.260 BA/24 HR/98 RBI/87 R), CF Carl Johnson (.282 BA/23 HR/81 RBI/89 R) and SS Cooter Bermudez (.283 BA/5 HR/47 RBI/97 R).

The Fort Benton Defenders (82-72) also have never been in the Pro Cup playoffs, but Robbie Brooks over the past few seasons has built a pretty good ball club that wound up fourth in the RU West this year and trailed Colfax by 9 games... the Defenders top players are pitchers Hec Skurgan (19-11 4.02) and Cal Walger (14-11 3.64)... and position players CF Ryan Smith (.319 BA/21 HR/110 RBI/109 R), LF Forest Cummings (.283 BA/24 HR/89 RBI/85 R) and 3B Bobby Josker (.285 BA/13 HR/74 RBI/105 R).

Forest City (76-78) was a surprise pennant winner in 2013, going from seventh to first, but Rob Jackson's club failed miserably and fell to last place in 2014... this season they rebounded a bit and climbed up to the fifth spot, tied with Sligo, 15 games out... the Lumberjacks still have three veterans on the mound: Al Thibaut (14-14 3.20), Paul Crews (16-17 3.17) and Ernie Hill (21-12 4.35)... Hill benefited from great run support... 21-year-old closer Andy Velasco blossomed in his second season with a 7-7 record, a 2.57 ERA and 28 saves... Leading the offense were two fine vets: LF Joe Judlin (.309 BA/29 HR/113 RBI/90 R) and 1B Andy Doiron (.310 BA/17 HR/91 RBI/90 R).

After winning the division crown in 2012, the only year the Sligo Rovers (76-78) have made the playoffs, they have slowly dipped down to the second division... this year the Rovers tied with Forest City for fifth place... manager Eddie Keys needs help on the hill to get back into the running... Sligo's only consistent hurler was Luka Abromowitz (16-12 3.20)... vets Jasper LaForge (14-14 3.88) and Vinnie Rastelli (14-18 4.17) had sub-par seasons... 15-year veteran and future HOF-er LF Fred Collins (.333 BA/25 HR/74 RBI/106 R) did a fine job as he always does... young CF Chris Michel (.311 BA/12 HR/72 RBI/94 R) had a good season, too.

It's been quite a spell since the Stoner Stars (72-82) have had any success in the RU West... Willie Dickens' Stars won the title in 2007 and it's been all downhill ever since... this year Stoner again wound up near the bottom in seventh place, 19 games behind first place Colfax... Dickens just doesn't have the ballplayers... his best are pitchers Billy Chapel (13-19 3.62) and Dave Pierre (14-14 3.31)... Stoner's best position player is LF Mike Jaffe, who hit .324 with 35 roundtrippers, 109 RBIs and scored 98 runs.

The glory days of the Middlefield Roosters (59-95) are long gone... skipper Smitty Michaels' club prospered in its first five seasons, winning the Pro Cup in 2005 and making the postseason all five years with two RU West pennants... the Roosters have not had anything to crow about since... they ended up dead last and a whopping 32 games out of first place... Middlefield has decent bats, but terrible pitching with an outrageously high 5.38 ERA... Michaels only has one top-notch talent... that's 2B Jim Rose (.331 BA/35 HR/117 RBI/114 R)... 1B Ricky Tinker (.310 BA/23 HR/88 RBI/87 R) and rookie starter Fred Dean (15-14 3.83) both had creditable seasons.

09-23-2010, 02:34 PM	#1988
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,695 Blog Entries: 1	The Islandian Times Monday, September 21, 2015 2015 Ruthlandian West Final Recap Colfax Skims By Volusia and Rocky Rapids For RU West Flag It took great pitching for Colfax to capture the 2015 Ruthlandian West flag in one of the tightest races around the Islands. The Blasters mound corps were the "best in the West" and the best in the entire IPA, too. Colfax just barely nipped the tough Volusia Vigilantes by 2 games and the feisty Rocky Rapids Snappers by 5 games. Fort Benton took fourth and were 9 games off the pace. Colfax (91-63) and manager Clem Rogers nabbed back-to-back division crowns this season, giving them 6 in the last 8 years... Fantastic pitching brought home the RU West trophy again this year... it was even better than last year... Rogers' rotation registered an extraordinary 2.84 ERA (1st) and was led by two 20-game winners, Ilya Szabo (23-12 1.99) and Rodger Wright (23-9 2.39) and closer Dallas Somerville (6-2), who chalked up 35 saves to lead the league with a brilliant 1.55 ERA... Colfax suffered in the batter's box with an anemic .247 average (28th) and had trouble scoring (28th)... Only CF Ryan Raines hit with any regularity... Raines batted .302 BA with 29 homers, 94 runs batted in and 92 scored. Year in and year out the Volusia Vigilantes ((89-65) are a contender... manager Alfonso Feliz guided the V's to a victory in the first IPA Pro Cup in 2001 and to the playoffs the first six years in the league, but Volusia hasn't been in the postseason since 2006, mainly because of the dominance of the Colfax Blasters... two years ago the Vigilantes came up 1 game short, last year 3 games back and this year just 2 games behind the winner... Volusia is a well-rounded club with a 3.37 ERA (3rd), .272 BA (3rd), 148 homers (9th) and 791 runs (2nd)... Feliz's staff had four capable starters: Alejandro Rio (16-5 2.83), Todd Wolfe (16-14 3.07), Gerry Hersh (16-16 3.55) and Tanner Jacobs (19-15 3.72)... and four quality hitters... slugging CF Joe DeLucca (.328 BA/24 HR/97 RBI/90 R), who missed the last month of the season with a torn shoulder... the loss of DeLucca really hurt the V's chances to overtake Colfax... other top players were SS Vince Wilson (.305 BA/30 HR/102 RBI/95 R), 1B Rafael Garza (.345 BA/15 HR/87 RBI/106 R) and RF Briscoe Crowder (.294 BA/14 HR/73 RBI/88 R). Skipper Ryan Noland has his Rocky Rapids Snappers (86-68) headed in the right direction with a third-place finish this season, only 5 games back... the Snappers have never played in the postseason, but hung close on the tails of Colfax and Volusia the entire year with adequate hitting and excellent pitching... they posted a .261 BA (14th) with 138 homers (14th) with 710 runs (17th) and a strong 3.18 ERA (2nd)... Noland has two 20-game winners... Don Chaney (26-12 2.36) led the IPA with 26 wins... and his son, Junior Noland (22-13 2.94)... closer Earl Pitts (2-3) was outstanding with a super 1.37 ERA and 24 saves... Rocky Rapids line-up is stocked with fine hitters: 38-year-old LF Scott Camden (.325 BA/40 HR/104 RBI/114 R) is headed for the IPA Hall of Fame and had his best season ever... 9-time All-Star C Hank Bethel (.287 BA/22 HR/94 RBI/77 R) continues to do it year after year and is only 32 years old... along with solid performers 3B Paul Shelton (.260 BA/24 HR/98 RBI/87 R), CF Carl Johnson (.282 BA/23 HR/81 RBI/89 R) and SS Cooter Bermudez (.283 BA/5 HR/47 RBI/97 R). The Fort Benton Defenders (82-72) also have never been in the Pro Cup playoffs, but Robbie Brooks over the past few seasons has built a pretty good ball club that wound up fourth in the RU West this year and trailed Colfax by 9 games... the Defenders top players are pitchers Hec Skurgan (19-11 4.02) and Cal Walger (14-11 3.64)... and position players CF Ryan Smith (.319 BA/21 HR/110 RBI/109 R), LF Forest Cummings (.283 BA/24 HR/89 RBI/85 R) and 3B Bobby Josker (.285 BA/13 HR/74 RBI/105 R). Forest City (76-78) was a surprise pennant winner in 2013, going from seventh to first, but Rob Jackson's club failed miserably and fell to last place in 2014... this season they rebounded a bit and climbed up to the fifth spot, tied with Sligo, 15 games out... the Lumberjacks still have three veterans on the mound: Al Thibaut (14-14 3.20), Paul Crews (16-17 3.17) and Ernie Hill (21-12 4.35)... Hill benefited from great run support... 21-year-old closer Andy Velasco blossomed in his second season with a 7-7 record, a 2.57 ERA and 28 saves... Leading the offense were two fine vets: LF Joe Judlin (.309 BA/29 HR/113 RBI/90 R) and 1B Andy Doiron (.310 BA/17 HR/91 RBI/90 R). After winning the division crown in 2012, the only year the Sligo Rovers (76-78) have made the playoffs, they have slowly dipped down to the second division... this year the Rovers tied with Forest City for fifth place... manager Eddie Keys needs help on the hill to get back into the running... Sligo's only consistent hurler was Luka Abromowitz (16-12 3.20)... vets Jasper LaForge (14-14 3.88) and Vinnie Rastelli (14-18 4.17) had sub-par seasons... 15-year veteran and future HOF-er LF Fred Collins (.333 BA/25 HR/74 RBI/106 R) did a fine job as he always does... young CF Chris Michel (.311 BA/12 HR/72 RBI/94 R) had a good season, too. It's been quite a spell since the Stoner Stars (72-82) have had any success in the RU West... Willie Dickens' Stars won the title in 2007 and it's been all downhill ever since... this year Stoner again wound up near the bottom in seventh place, 19 games behind first place Colfax... Dickens just doesn't have the ballplayers... his best are pitchers Billy Chapel (13-19 3.62) and Dave Pierre (14-14 3.31)... Stoner's best position player is LF Mike Jaffe, who hit .324 with 35 roundtrippers, 109 RBIs and scored 98 runs. The glory days of the Middlefield Roosters (59-95) are long gone... skipper Smitty Michaels' club prospered in its first five seasons, winning the Pro Cup in 2005 and making the postseason all five years with two RU West pennants... the Roosters have not had anything to crow about since... they ended up dead last and a whopping 32 games out of first place... Middlefield has decent bats, but terrible pitching with an outrageously high 5.38 ERA... Michaels only has one top-notch talent... that's 2B Jim Rose (.331 BA/35 HR/117 RBI/114 R)... 1B Ricky Tinker (.310 BA/23 HR/88 RBI/87 R) and rookie starter Fred Dean (15-14 3.83) both had creditable seasons. Last edited by Eugene Church; 09-23-2010 at 02:43 PM.