|
The Islandian Times
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
2017 Ruthlandian West Mid-Season Recap
RU West Strong, 6 Teams Contend
The Ruthlandian West is one of the strongest divisions in the IPA with 6 quality ball clubs playing over .500 ball. Rocky Rapids is atop of the standings with a 2-game edge over the Volusia Vigilantes, 6 over third place Sligo and Stoner, 8 up on fifth place Fort Benton and 9 games ahead of defending champion Colfax.
Ryan Noland, skipper of the Rocky Rapids Snappers (47-26), has come close the last four years and this year could be the year... the Snappers are quite good with four All-Stars, a .267 team BA (10th) and a 3.34 team ERA (6th)... sparking the pitching corps are All-Star Don Chaney (11-3) and Norrie Wickham (10-5), along with bullpen ace Earl Pitts (2-2), who has chalked up 17 saves with a 2.03 ERA... top bats include 11-time All-Star C Hank Bethel (.333/12 HR) and All-Star 2B Paul Shelton (.307/14 HR).
As good as Rocky Rapids looks, the Volusia Vigilantes (45-28) look even better... the V's have finished no worse than 3 games out of first place the last 5 seasons... manager Alfonso Feliz has them poised to finally get back to the playoffs after a 12-year drought... Volusia has top-notched hitting with a .270 BA (7th) and great pitching with a 3.03 ERA (2nd)... vets Alejandro Rio (12-4) and Gerry Hersh (10-4) lead a strong mound staff... at the plate two All-Stars head up the batting order... CF Joe DeLucca (.329/17) and SS Vince Wilson (.319/18 HR) are two of the best in the IPA... also helping out are 1B Rafael Garza (.310/6 HR) and rookie C Ismael Gomez (.296/10 HR).
Skipper Eddie Keys has the Sligo Rovers (41-32) on the rise and tied for third place with another club that's moving up in the standings, the Stoner Stars... Sligo was seventh in 2016 and Stoner was last... Sligo has three solid starters in Jasper LaForge (11-3), Luka Abromowitz (9-6) and rookie Lee Patterson (8-7)... Keys has some quality bats in RF Clell Renshaw (.310/18) and 3B Manny Alou (.313/15 HR).
Long-time catcher Benny Stern is now the manager of the Stoner Stars (41-32), replacing Willie Dickens... Stern played 14 seasons with the club and finished with a .288 BA, 278 homers and 1129 RBIs and retired at the end of last season...the Stars are tied for third and are 6 games behind division-leading Rocky Rapids... Strong pitching has helped the team turnaround... the staff has compiled a 3.32 ERA (5th)... the team is hitting .270 (8th), but has trouble scoring, ranking 23rd... Billy Chapel (11-6) and Don Patterson (8-4) lead the rotation... LF Mike Jaffe (.321/13 HR) and 1B Robert Dunbar (.313/10 HR) are the best batters.
Fifth place belongs to the Fort Benton Defenders (39-34)... they trail by 6 games... Robbie Brooks has a winning team for the fifth year in a row, led by a solid pitching rotation that has posted a 3.35 ERA (7th)... All-Star Cal Walger (12-4), Tucker Dawes (6-6) and Vic Kessler (8-5) are the staff leaders... at the plate the Defenders score well (5th), but do it without any firepower... they have only 36 homers (31st)... Brooks' best bats are 1B Stretch Stookey (.316/5 HR), 2B Pete Duvalier (.305/1 HR), rookie RF Joe Darwall (.318/6 HR) and C Jeff DeSaix (.313/7 HR).
Clem Rogers and his Colfax Blasters (38-35) are experiencing a down year after winning the last three RU West pennants... they have dipped to sixth place and are 9 games back, mainly because of inept hitting... the team is batting only .241 (30th) and is 24th in scoring... Colfax still has a strong set of starters in Cliff James (9-4 2.78), Jimmy Joe Cartner (9-6 2.92), Ilya Szabo (6-11 2.93) and Rodger Wright (5-7 3.05), but they get very little run support... Rogers only has one productive bat: All-Star 3B Mike Janocko (.321/12 HR).
The Forest City Lumberjacks (34-39) are in the seventh spot in the standings, 13 games off the pace of leading Rocky Rapids... dismal pitching is manager Robby Jackson's dilemma... the club has a poor 4.08 team ERA (21st)... hitting is alright with a .264 mark (14th), but the 'Jacks have difficulty putting runs on the scoreboard (19th) despite 84 homers (4th)... the biggest plus Jackson has is his All-Star closer Andy Velasco (2-1) with 18 saves and a microscopic 1.32 ERA... most of the runs come from this foursome: CF Luc St. Germain (.312/12 HR), C George Arnick (.327/10 HR), 1B Andy Doiron (.291/10 HR) and star LF Joe Judlin (.303/19 HR).
Smitty Michaels and his Middlefield Roosters (32-41) continue to languish deep in the RU West bottom rung... the Roosters haven't made the playoffs in 11 long-suffering seasons... this year they are again locked in the cellar with no way of escaping... Middlefield is 15 games out of first... Michaels' club hit well for average with a great .287 mark (1st), have some power with 74 home runs (11th) and score well (6th), but are not much when it comes to mound work... the Rooster staff has compiled a 4.36 team ERA (27th)... a lot of that is due to the small dimensions of homer-haven Middlefield Park... Michaels does have some talent with two All-Stars: 1B Ricky Tinker (.334/11 HR) and rookie LF Vic Ivarsson (.333/15 HR)... SS Jim Rose (.321/9 HR) and CF Chuck Larkin (.303/17 HR) have put up good numbers, too.
|