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Eugene Church · 11-12-2010, 07:53 PM

The Islandian Times
Thursday, September 23, 2017

2017 Ruthlandian West Final Recap

RR Snappers Best in the West
The best team in the best division in the Ruthlandian Union is the Rocky Rapids Snappers. They won the RU West this season by 7 games over Fort Benton and Volusia. In the fourth spot were the Stoner Stars, 10 games behind. The fifth spot went to the Sligo Rovers, who trailed by 12 and sixth went to the defending champion Colfax Blasters, 17 games off the pace. Colfax had won the pennant the last three seasons. All of the top six clubs finished well above .500 this year. Rounding out the division were seventh-place Forest City and basement-dwelling Middlefield. The Lumberjacks ended up 26 games out and the Roosters were 35 games back in the race.

Rocky Rapids (97-57) had the second-most victories in the RU... manager Ryan Noland finally ended four years of frustration... the Snappers were close all four years, but failed to make the playoffs each time... Noland has strong pitching (3.27 ERA) and adequate offense (.272 BA)... Don Chaney (26-7) had another super season and topped the RU with a 2.05 ERA... Junior Noland (22-11 3.17), Ryan's oldest son, won 20 games for the second time in his 5-year career... Noland also has his youngest son, 21-year-old Tiger Noland, on the squad... Tiger hit .312 as a parttime rookie outfielder... Milt Baker (4-2) was brilliant in the closing role with 17 saves and an astronomically-low 0.78 ERA... Baker was so good, the regular closer Earl Pitts (3-5 2.50) was move to middle relief in mid-season... Pitts was no slouch with 19 saves... 2B Paul Shelton (.327/33/131/95) and IPA legend C Hank Bethel (.327/25/108/90) paced the team offensively... Look for the Snappers to make their presence known in the Pro Cup playoffs - Rocky Rapids' time may have come.

The Volusia Vigilantes (90-64) are a good ball club in a very strong division... the V's tied with Fort Benton for the runner-up position... manager Alfonso Feliz has solid starters and a great relief corps, along with solid bats... top players are starters Alejandro Rio (22-11 3.66)) and Gerry Hersh (18-11 3.60)... Mark Carey (2-2) is the closer... Carey saved 18 games and has a 1.47 ERA... CF Joe DeLucca (.339/34/121/117), SS Vince Wilson (.303/33/117/100) and 1B Rafael Garza (.307/11/72/95) head up the batting order.

Skipper Robby Brooks has made steady progress the past few seasons... his Fort Benton Defenders (90-64) had their best season ever and are a well-balanced team... the Defenders handle the bats well (.272 BA), but don't hit with power (30th)... on the hill they compiled a 3.40 ERA (5th) and have the best defensive team in the RU West with a .975 FA... Brooks' starting foursome rivals the best in the IPA with Vic Kessler (19-11 2.91), Tucker Dawes (18-11 3.11), Cal Walger (18-13 3.42) and rookie Pete Varisco (17-10 3.84)... coupled with a fine closer David Osborn (8-5 2.50), who posted 23 saves... Fort Benton has a good group of consistent contact hitters, led by 1B Stretch Stookey (.324/17/82/99), RF Joe Darwall (.294/20/101/75), C Jeff DeSaix (.299/12/94/61), SS Pete Duvalier (.310/4/67/80) and CF Ryan Smith (.265/16/77/97).

The Stoner Stars (87-67) improved their pitching and climbed up out of the cellar to fourth place in the RU West... under the guidance of new skipper Benny Stern, a former catcher, the Stars lowered the team ERA to 3.44 (7th)... Stern has a good starting four in Billy Chapel (22-13 3.11), Don Patterson (16-7 3.34), Charley Norton (14-20 3.29) and Tony Dundee (17-13 4.05)... Stoner's best bats are LF Mike Jaffe (.322/29/98/96) and 1B Robert Dunbar (.335/17/74/77)... to really challenge the division's big boys, the Stars need more hitting... the Stars batted .267 this season (16th), ranked 16th in runs and 25th in homers.

Eddie Keys had a turnaround season with the Sligo Rovers (85-69), who wound up in the fifth spot in the RU West standings, after a seventh-place finish in 2016... better offense lifted the Rovers up in the standings... they hit .266 (14th) with 161 roundtrippers (5th) and ranked 8th in run scoring... on the hill they were decent with a 3.75 team ERA (13th)... Keys' top players were RF Clell Renshaw (.305/27/80/101), SS Vic Carlin (.248/27/102/90) and CF Chris Michel (.276/15/51/91)... on the mound it was Les Patterson (20-14 2.62) leading the way... backed up by Luka Abromowitz (18-12 3.61) and Jasper LaForge (19-14 4.12).

Clem Rogers and the Colfax Blasters (80-74) have won 7 pennants in the last 9 years, dominating the RU West with excellent pitching, but not this year... they fell to sixth place after winning the last three years... Rogers saw his team ERA rise up to 3.50 (8th) from an IPA-leading 2.92 the year before... youngster Cliff James (16-12 3.31) and veterans Ilya Szabo (15-19 3.23), Jimmy Joe Cartner (18-13 3.97) and Rodger Wright (10-14 3.45) all saw their ERAs take a significant hike... Colfax batting was pretty much like in the past and only sufficient, so the blame goes to the pitching staff for the decline... C Joe Alexander led the hitters with 26 homers and 112 RBIs, but hit only .258... 3B Mike Janocko (.273/26 HR/97 RBI) gave him some offensive support.

The Forest City Lumberjacks (71-83) dropped to seventh this season... mainly because of mediocre hitting (.264 BA) and pitching (4.06 ERA)... however, Robby Jackson's Lumberjacks did hit 159 home runs (6th)... his best bats were his rock-solid and reliable LF Joe Judlin (.292/30/92/98), who chalked up another good year at age 35... other productive hitters were 1B Andy Doiron (.292/24/93/84), CF Luc St. Germain (.305/21/76/91) and C George Arnick (.316/20/64/76)... closer Andy Velasco (7-4) got credit for 31 saves and posted a 2.56 ERA... vet Al Thibaut suffered through a 13-24 season, but had an acceptable 3.78 ERA.

The Middlefield Roosters (62-92) finished last again, the fourth time in the last seven seasons it happened... they wound up 35 games out of first place... the only thing the Roosters do well is hit the ball... they batted .278 (3rd) with 169 homers (4th), but were only 9th in scoring... in the pitching department they were woeful with a 4.43 team ERA (27th)... manager Smitty Michaels has some talent... remarkable rookie Vic Ivarsson, who batted .343 with 29 roundtrippers and 101 RBIs, topped the team in average... CF Chuck Larkin socked 40 homers, drove in 124 runs and scored 98 times... 1B Ricky Tinker also had a fine season with a .304 BA, 20 home runs, 98 RBIs and scored 96 runs.

11-12-2010, 07:53 PM	#2111
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,695 Blog Entries: 1	The Islandian Times Thursday, September 23, 2017 2017 Ruthlandian West Final Recap RR Snappers Best in the West The best team in the best division in the Ruthlandian Union is the Rocky Rapids Snappers. They won the RU West this season by 7 games over Fort Benton and Volusia. In the fourth spot were the Stoner Stars, 10 games behind. The fifth spot went to the Sligo Rovers, who trailed by 12 and sixth went to the defending champion Colfax Blasters, 17 games off the pace. Colfax had won the pennant the last three seasons. All of the top six clubs finished well above .500 this year. Rounding out the division were seventh-place Forest City and basement-dwelling Middlefield. The Lumberjacks ended up 26 games out and the Roosters were 35 games back in the race. Rocky Rapids (97-57) had the second-most victories in the RU... manager Ryan Noland finally ended four years of frustration... the Snappers were close all four years, but failed to make the playoffs each time... Noland has strong pitching (3.27 ERA) and adequate offense (.272 BA)... Don Chaney (26-7) had another super season and topped the RU with a 2.05 ERA... Junior Noland (22-11 3.17), Ryan's oldest son, won 20 games for the second time in his 5-year career... Noland also has his youngest son, 21-year-old Tiger Noland, on the squad... Tiger hit .312 as a parttime rookie outfielder... Milt Baker (4-2) was brilliant in the closing role with 17 saves and an astronomically-low 0.78 ERA... Baker was so good, the regular closer Earl Pitts (3-5 2.50) was move to middle relief in mid-season... Pitts was no slouch with 19 saves... 2B Paul Shelton (.327/33/131/95) and IPA legend C Hank Bethel (.327/25/108/90) paced the team offensively... Look for the Snappers to make their presence known in the Pro Cup playoffs - Rocky Rapids' time may have come. The Volusia Vigilantes (90-64) are a good ball club in a very strong division... the V's tied with Fort Benton for the runner-up position... manager Alfonso Feliz has solid starters and a great relief corps, along with solid bats... top players are starters Alejandro Rio (22-11 3.66)) and Gerry Hersh (18-11 3.60)... Mark Carey (2-2) is the closer... Carey saved 18 games and has a 1.47 ERA... CF Joe DeLucca (.339/34/121/117), SS Vince Wilson (.303/33/117/100) and 1B Rafael Garza (.307/11/72/95) head up the batting order. Skipper Robby Brooks has made steady progress the past few seasons... his Fort Benton Defenders (90-64) had their best season ever and are a well-balanced team... the Defenders handle the bats well (.272 BA), but don't hit with power (30th)... on the hill they compiled a 3.40 ERA (5th) and have the best defensive team in the RU West with a .975 FA... Brooks' starting foursome rivals the best in the IPA with Vic Kessler (19-11 2.91), Tucker Dawes (18-11 3.11), Cal Walger (18-13 3.42) and rookie Pete Varisco (17-10 3.84)... coupled with a fine closer David Osborn (8-5 2.50), who posted 23 saves... Fort Benton has a good group of consistent contact hitters, led by 1B Stretch Stookey (.324/17/82/99), RF Joe Darwall (.294/20/101/75), C Jeff DeSaix (.299/12/94/61), SS Pete Duvalier (.310/4/67/80) and CF Ryan Smith (.265/16/77/97). The Stoner Stars (87-67) improved their pitching and climbed up out of the cellar to fourth place in the RU West... under the guidance of new skipper Benny Stern, a former catcher, the Stars lowered the team ERA to 3.44 (7th)... Stern has a good starting four in Billy Chapel (22-13 3.11), Don Patterson (16-7 3.34), Charley Norton (14-20 3.29) and Tony Dundee (17-13 4.05)... Stoner's best bats are LF Mike Jaffe (.322/29/98/96) and 1B Robert Dunbar (.335/17/74/77)... to really challenge the division's big boys, the Stars need more hitting... the Stars batted .267 this season (16th), ranked 16th in runs and 25th in homers. Eddie Keys had a turnaround season with the Sligo Rovers (85-69), who wound up in the fifth spot in the RU West standings, after a seventh-place finish in 2016... better offense lifted the Rovers up in the standings... they hit .266 (14th) with 161 roundtrippers (5th) and ranked 8th in run scoring... on the hill they were decent with a 3.75 team ERA (13th)... Keys' top players were RF Clell Renshaw (.305/27/80/101), SS Vic Carlin (.248/27/102/90) and CF Chris Michel (.276/15/51/91)... on the mound it was Les Patterson (20-14 2.62) leading the way... backed up by Luka Abromowitz (18-12 3.61) and Jasper LaForge (19-14 4.12). Clem Rogers and the Colfax Blasters (80-74) have won 7 pennants in the last 9 years, dominating the RU West with excellent pitching, but not this year... they fell to sixth place after winning the last three years... Rogers saw his team ERA rise up to 3.50 (8th) from an IPA-leading 2.92 the year before... youngster Cliff James (16-12 3.31) and veterans Ilya Szabo (15-19 3.23), Jimmy Joe Cartner (18-13 3.97) and Rodger Wright (10-14 3.45) all saw their ERAs take a significant hike... Colfax batting was pretty much like in the past and only sufficient, so the blame goes to the pitching staff for the decline... C Joe Alexander led the hitters with 26 homers and 112 RBIs, but hit only .258... 3B Mike Janocko (.273/26 HR/97 RBI) gave him some offensive support. The Forest City Lumberjacks (71-83) dropped to seventh this season... mainly because of mediocre hitting (.264 BA) and pitching (4.06 ERA)... however, Robby Jackson's Lumberjacks did hit 159 home runs (6th)... his best bats were his rock-solid and reliable LF Joe Judlin (.292/30/92/98), who chalked up another good year at age 35... other productive hitters were 1B Andy Doiron (.292/24/93/84), CF Luc St. Germain (.305/21/76/91) and C George Arnick (.316/20/64/76)... closer Andy Velasco (7-4) got credit for 31 saves and posted a 2.56 ERA... vet Al Thibaut suffered through a 13-24 season, but had an acceptable 3.78 ERA. The Middlefield Roosters (62-92) finished last again, the fourth time in the last seven seasons it happened... they wound up 35 games out of first place... the only thing the Roosters do well is hit the ball... they batted .278 (3rd) with 169 homers (4th), but were only 9th in scoring... in the pitching department they were woeful with a 4.43 team ERA (27th)... manager Smitty Michaels has some talent... remarkable rookie Vic Ivarsson, who batted .343 with 29 roundtrippers and 101 RBIs, topped the team in average... CF Chuck Larkin socked 40 homers, drove in 124 runs and scored 98 times... 1B Ricky Tinker also had a fine season with a .304 BA, 20 home runs, 98 RBIs and scored 96 runs.