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Eugene Church · 11-11-2010, 11:39 PM

The Islandian Times
Thursday, September 21, 2017

2017 Ruthlandian South Final Recap

Blackhawks Prevail In Tight 4-Team Race
The Valka Blackhawks held off three clubs in the last week of the Ruthlandian South. Valka edged Crystal Lake by one game, Claxton by 2 and St. John by 5 games. Last season's champ, the Belair Beach Sunbirds fell to fifth this year, 9 games to the rear.

First-year manager Andrei Kokk used two fine starters and some long-ball sluggers to propel his Valka Blackhawks (80-74) to the pennant... 25-year-old Eddy Lasky was 18-12 with a 3.52 ERA and 23-year-old Arno Vainmaa was 20-19 with a 3.99 ERA... 2B Aino Vaba sparked the Blackhawks with a .313 BA and 19 homers... hit-or-miss LF Kurt Jankauskas racked up 35 homers, but hit only .225, while free-swinging RF Alyosha Vishnyakov went deep 29 times and hit only .235 for the year... Vaba topped the team with 92 RBIs, Jankauskas had 89 and Vishnyakov 82.

The Crystal Lake Crushers (79-75) suffered a serious loss of one of its primary starters for the last two months of the season... Duncan Welsh (12-5 2.31) was out from late June to the last week of the season... the Crushers came out one win short... ace Ralph McCullough (25-11 2.67) had a standout year, but couldn't do it all by himself... manager Herman "Baby" George almost snatched a pennant with some fine hitting from RF Chip Fiske, who topped the IPA with a .379 mark... Fiske scored 102 runs, batted in 82 runs and drilled 12 homers... the legendary 1B Phil Gravelli chipped in with a .318 BA, 27 home runs and 113 RBIs and 2B Herb Buck tallied 112 runs, hit .271 and had 7 homers and 46 RBIs.

Hitting was the name of the game for the Claxton Diamonds (78-76), who came in third, but just 2 games behind... Stacy Engel's club sported a .275 BA (4th) and put lots of runs in the scoring column with 192 homers (2nd)... it was a different story on the mound, where the staff had a 4.44 ERA (28th)... the Diamonds best batters were one of the best threesome in the entire IPA... superstud 1B Mike Luzzatti (.315) had 41 homers, 110 RBIs and scored 99 runs... super rookie George McKay (.312) pounded 36 out of the park, batted in 120 and scored 101 times... and RF K. C. Moerdijk (.277) belted 41 roundtrippers, scored 120 and batted in 110... Engel's top pitchers were starters Tom Dahl (14-11 4.26) and Bobby Banner (12-10 4.11), as well as closer Tony Haverkamp with 23 saves, a 2.80 ERA and an 8-5 mark.

Skipper Dickie Billings got the St. John Crusaders (75-79) going this year and cleared out of the doldrums in the cellar... the Crusaders jumped from the outhouse to inside plumbing, a fourth-place finish, only 5 games back... maybe the penthouse next year... closer Will Baxter (6-4) had a sensational season with 25 saves and a super-fine 1.20 ERA... two journeyman vets Teddy Garson (17-17 3.39) and Glynn Morgan (20-13 3.63) were quality arms for the Crusaders... a .252 team batting average (27th) just did not supply enough runs... Billings best bats belonged to his fine young 3B Vinny Sardisco (.314/20 HR/84 RBI) and aging 1B Jessie Price (.277/10 HR/56 RBI/105)... at 38 Price has his best season ever.

The Belair Beach Sunbirds (71-83) tumbled in the standings down to fifth and 9 games out, after controlling the division with 3 pennants in the last seven years... faulty hitting cost Marty Pedroza and his club... the Sunbirds ranked near the bottom in most offensive categories and batted only .252 (26th)...15-year veteran C Little Jake Bungarooba is Pedroza's only reliable bat... he hit .317 with 7 homers, 68 RBIs and 87 runs... the Sunbirds were hurt by the loss of starter Rip Flippen for 7 weeks... Flippen was 12-8 with a impressive 2.90 in 29 starts... Denny Whitaker put up a 17-15 record with a 3.11 ERA... an inadequate bullpen was also costly to Belair Beach... the Sunbirds posted a 3.84 ERA in its relief corps.

It's been a little better year for new skipper Wade Joslin and his Grand City Cybercats (69-85), who wound up sixth in the RU South, trailing by 11 games... closer Ralph Teague (6-3) led the club with 22 saves and a very low 1.41 ERA... rookie starter Rusty Eisenbaum registered an 18-16 record with 3.58 ERA to head up the rotation... RF Ricky Rich had an awesome year with a .347 BA, 16 homers, 90 RBIs and 96 runs scored.

Paco Banderos saw the San Dimas Rancheros (62-92) lose the most games ever in its IPA history, winding up 18 off the lead in seventh place... 38-year-old Toivo Jarvi led the staff with a 16-16 mark and a 3.95 ERA... He was obtained this season from Valka... the top bat was steady RF Norm Owens with a .276 batting average, 22 roundtrippers and 92 RBIs... 2B Hank Maddox added 16 home runs, 87 RBIs and a .304 BA.

McGraw Johnson's Waleska Westerners (57-97) had their worst season in history... dropping from second place to the basement, 23 games off the pace... Despite having one of the best all-around offensive player in the IPA, the Westerners are one of the worst when it comes to scoring... Waleska's pitching corps is not so good, either... Superstar CF Roy Hobbs is a lifetime .360 hitter in his 5 seasons... this year Hobbs had another steller season with a .372 BA, second-best in the Ruthlandian Union, with 42 home runs, 117 runs batted in and 116 runs scored... also lending some support was 2B DePaul Labat, who hit .270 with 13 homers, 112 runs and 45 RBIs.

11-11-2010, 11:39 PM	#2109
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,695 Blog Entries: 1	The Islandian Times Thursday, September 21, 2017 2017 Ruthlandian South Final Recap Blackhawks Prevail In Tight 4-Team Race The Valka Blackhawks held off three clubs in the last week of the Ruthlandian South. Valka edged Crystal Lake by one game, Claxton by 2 and St. John by 5 games. Last season's champ, the Belair Beach Sunbirds fell to fifth this year, 9 games to the rear. First-year manager Andrei Kokk used two fine starters and some long-ball sluggers to propel his Valka Blackhawks (80-74) to the pennant... 25-year-old Eddy Lasky was 18-12 with a 3.52 ERA and 23-year-old Arno Vainmaa was 20-19 with a 3.99 ERA... 2B Aino Vaba sparked the Blackhawks with a .313 BA and 19 homers... hit-or-miss LF Kurt Jankauskas racked up 35 homers, but hit only .225, while free-swinging RF Alyosha Vishnyakov went deep 29 times and hit only .235 for the year... Vaba topped the team with 92 RBIs, Jankauskas had 89 and Vishnyakov 82. The Crystal Lake Crushers (79-75) suffered a serious loss of one of its primary starters for the last two months of the season... Duncan Welsh (12-5 2.31) was out from late June to the last week of the season... the Crushers came out one win short... ace Ralph McCullough (25-11 2.67) had a standout year, but couldn't do it all by himself... manager Herman "Baby" George almost snatched a pennant with some fine hitting from RF Chip Fiske, who topped the IPA with a .379 mark... Fiske scored 102 runs, batted in 82 runs and drilled 12 homers... the legendary 1B Phil Gravelli chipped in with a .318 BA, 27 home runs and 113 RBIs and 2B Herb Buck tallied 112 runs, hit .271 and had 7 homers and 46 RBIs. Hitting was the name of the game for the Claxton Diamonds (78-76), who came in third, but just 2 games behind... Stacy Engel's club sported a .275 BA (4th) and put lots of runs in the scoring column with 192 homers (2nd)... it was a different story on the mound, where the staff had a 4.44 ERA (28th)... the Diamonds best batters were one of the best threesome in the entire IPA... superstud 1B Mike Luzzatti (.315) had 41 homers, 110 RBIs and scored 99 runs... super rookie George McKay (.312) pounded 36 out of the park, batted in 120 and scored 101 times... and RF K. C. Moerdijk (.277) belted 41 roundtrippers, scored 120 and batted in 110... Engel's top pitchers were starters Tom Dahl (14-11 4.26) and Bobby Banner (12-10 4.11), as well as closer Tony Haverkamp with 23 saves, a 2.80 ERA and an 8-5 mark. Skipper Dickie Billings got the St. John Crusaders (75-79) going this year and cleared out of the doldrums in the cellar... the Crusaders jumped from the outhouse to inside plumbing, a fourth-place finish, only 5 games back... maybe the penthouse next year... closer Will Baxter (6-4) had a sensational season with 25 saves and a super-fine 1.20 ERA... two journeyman vets Teddy Garson (17-17 3.39) and Glynn Morgan (20-13 3.63) were quality arms for the Crusaders... a .252 team batting average (27th) just did not supply enough runs... Billings best bats belonged to his fine young 3B Vinny Sardisco (.314/20 HR/84 RBI) and aging 1B Jessie Price (.277/10 HR/56 RBI/105)... at 38 Price has his best season ever. The Belair Beach Sunbirds (71-83) tumbled in the standings down to fifth and 9 games out, after controlling the division with 3 pennants in the last seven years... faulty hitting cost Marty Pedroza and his club... the Sunbirds ranked near the bottom in most offensive categories and batted only .252 (26th)...15-year veteran C Little Jake Bungarooba is Pedroza's only reliable bat... he hit .317 with 7 homers, 68 RBIs and 87 runs... the Sunbirds were hurt by the loss of starter Rip Flippen for 7 weeks... Flippen was 12-8 with a impressive 2.90 in 29 starts... Denny Whitaker put up a 17-15 record with a 3.11 ERA... an inadequate bullpen was also costly to Belair Beach... the Sunbirds posted a 3.84 ERA in its relief corps. It's been a little better year for new skipper Wade Joslin and his Grand City Cybercats (69-85), who wound up sixth in the RU South, trailing by 11 games... closer Ralph Teague (6-3) led the club with 22 saves and a very low 1.41 ERA... rookie starter Rusty Eisenbaum registered an 18-16 record with 3.58 ERA to head up the rotation... RF Ricky Rich had an awesome year with a .347 BA, 16 homers, 90 RBIs and 96 runs scored. Paco Banderos saw the San Dimas Rancheros (62-92) lose the most games ever in its IPA history, winding up 18 off the lead in seventh place... 38-year-old Toivo Jarvi led the staff with a 16-16 mark and a 3.95 ERA... He was obtained this season from Valka... the top bat was steady RF Norm Owens with a .276 batting average, 22 roundtrippers and 92 RBIs... 2B Hank Maddox added 16 home runs, 87 RBIs and a .304 BA. McGraw Johnson's Waleska Westerners (57-97) had their worst season in history... dropping from second place to the basement, 23 games off the pace... Despite having one of the best all-around offensive player in the IPA, the Westerners are one of the worst when it comes to scoring... Waleska's pitching corps is not so good, either... Superstar CF Roy Hobbs is a lifetime .360 hitter in his 5 seasons... this year Hobbs had another steller season with a .372 BA, second-best in the Ruthlandian Union, with 42 home runs, 117 runs batted in and 116 runs scored... also lending some support was 2B DePaul Labat, who hit .270 with 13 homers, 112 runs and 45 RBIs. Last edited by Eugene Church; 11-11-2010 at 11:44 PM.