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The Islandian Times
Monday, September 23, 2015
2015 Tycobbian North Final Recap
Mahaska Top Team In TU North
Granted the Tycobbian North may be the weakest division in the IPA, but Mahaska could care less - the Haymakers copped their first pennant in the club's history and made the playoffs for the first time since 2002, when Mahaska finished in fourth place. The top four teams qualified for the postseason that year. The Haymakers took charge in the race in the second half of the season and won by 7 games over second place Oxford, 8 games better than third place Fairfax and White River, who tied for that spot.
Mahaska (83-71) was the only team in the TU North to finish above the .500 mark... Rusty Tanussa depended on his pitchers to win the crown... Third-year man Joey Wallace had a sensational season with a 23-9 mark and a very strong 2.05 ERA... Another key man was 39-year-old Yuri Dozhenko (11-1 3.10), who was inserted into the starting rotation in August and he responded with 8 wins and no losses to solidify the pennant... the Haymakers had a fine 3.22 team ERA (3rd)... Mahaska didn't have much offense... top hitters were LF Dalton Leeds (.333 BA/15 HR/83 RBI/84 R) and C Bucky O'Brian (.305 BA/22 HR/73 RBI/73 R).
Campy Roy's Oxford Red Caps (76-78) came in second, the best they have done since taking the flag in 2007... the Red Caps won the division four times in the first six years, but have not approached that success since... Roy needs more mound power to go with his firepower... Oxford will never win with a 4.60 team ERA (30th)... Del Anderson (16-16 3.91) and Emerson Carnell (15-15 4.35) were the best pitchers Roy had to offer... But the Red Caps has some solid bats in 3B Carl Graeme (.277 BA/36 HR/108 RBI/91 R), 1B Eddy Dowler (.311 BA/17 HR/91 RBI/87 R), CF Ron Berry (.311 BA/11 HR/67 RBI/100 R), RF Ozzie Takach (.273 BA/20 HR/76 RBI/93 R) and LF Mack Spencer (.283 BA/27 HR/63 RBI/92 R).
The Fairfax Frogs (75-79) and White River Rascals deadlocked for third, winding up 8 games off the pace... Harry Buckley's best performers in Fairfax were starters Ken Hill (18-17 2.99), Kaz Hayagawa (15-12 3.78) and Joe Hampton (15-14 3.39), along with RF Dane Wesner (.299 BA/18 HR/94 RBI/79 R), who was slow rebounding from an injury... Wesner perked it up in the second half and looked a little like his old self... a normal year for him is at least 30 homers, 110 RBIs, 100 runs and a .337 batting average... other offensive contributors were long-time 1B Chancey Quibedeaux (.279 BA/16 HR/75 RBI/90 R) and 3B Robby Franklin (.272 BA/23 HR/83 RBI/68 R).
White River (75-79) has never made the postseason in its 14-year IPA history... it has never been higher than third in the standings and has been over .500 only twice... So a third-place finish is relatively good for John Grandison's Rascals... Randison has good pitching with a 3.64 team ERA (10th), led by two quality arms: Joe Hudson (17-12 2.80) and Milt Roberts (14-10 3.22)... Mick Cronyn (15-13 3.93) was also effective... Offensively White River boasts one of the best bats in the IPA in 1B Marty Blake (.327 BA/45 HR/128 RBI/110 R)... unexpectedly 38-year-old journeyman RF Johnny Stratton put up career numbers this year by hitting .330 with 30 homers, 83 RBIs and 90 runs... overall the Rascals only hit .256 (20th) as a team.
The fifth place Luxora Zorros (73-81) are a so-so club and haven't made the postseason since 2008 when they won their second division title... manager Alejandro Rodrigo's Z's have no power and mediocre hitting with average pitching... Luxora's top players are closer Connie Jahnke (8-6 2.04) with 29 saves, LF Gene Watson (.290 BA/21 HR/104 RBI/79 R) and 1B Billy Whitley (.289 BA/13 HR/75 RBI/102 R).
This season the defending champion Hartsdale Hellcats (72-82) took quite a tumble and fell from the top spot in the TU North to a sixth place tie with North Hills, 11 games behind in the race... blamed mainly on the hitters as several players had down years and did not produce as in the past... star 1B Tom Brabant (.318 BA/39 HR/112 RBI/91 R) is prolific with the bat... 3B Kendry Moulton (.322 BA/32 HR/80 RBI/87 R) had a good season... and SS Jud Turchin (.271 BA/20 HR/74 RBI/91 R) only had a decent year, not up to his usual output... Turchin is a lifetime .308 hitter... skipper Zim Donner still has pretty fair pitching with a 3.55 team ERA (8th)... leading the rotation were Ronnie Jernigan (14-16 2.74), Tony Lane (15-18 3.11) and Don Weill (16-11 3.91)... closer Ben Clermont (2-5) posted 29 saves with a fine 2.70 ERA.
Another team that took a drastic drop in the standings this year was the North Hills Hawks (72-82)... they plunged from second a year ago to a tie for sixth in 2015... Hub Carlson just doesn't have the talent... he had only one quality pitcher and two dependable bats... Tyrone Barlow was 14-8 with a solid 3.37 ERA... RF Brodie Blackburn batted .300 with 10 homers, 54 RBIs, 99 runs and 42 stolen bases... and C Todd Simons had a .314 batting average with 13 roundtrippers, 77 RBIs and 81 R.
Last place belonged to the Blue Lake Blue Sox (71-83), who were 12 games behind the leader... Cobb Tyson's ball club slipped from fourth place to the cellar in just one year... a decline in pitching caused the fall... starters Nick Walker (15-20 3.96) and Justin Eckhardt (11-21 3.69) both had poor years... the Blue Sox most productive performers were C Justin Kucks (.329 BA/89 RBI/74 R) and SS Loren Babcock (.262 BA/26 HR/72 RBI/101 R).
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