|
The Islandian Times
Thursday, September 23, 2017
2017 Tycobbian South Final Recap
Another TU South Title For Turon
For the 9th time in the last 12 years, the Turon Typhoons have nabbed the Tycobbian South title. They did it with a second-half surge, going 49-32 after the All-Star Game to overtake the Colchester Elites, who had a 5-game edge at mid-year. Whitey Richburn's club won the flag by 5 games over Colchester and Ginza, which tied for the runner-up spot. Long-time rival Cape Coral was fourth and 8 games out. The Arroyo Grande Suns finished fifth, trailing by 9. Summerland was 14 games behind and sixth with Southport seventh and 17 games off the pace. Last place went to San Alejo. The Montaneros were eighth for the fourth consecutive season, way back by 27 games.
The Turon Typhoons (87-67) got better pitching in the last half of the year and turned the season around... Ace Nicky Engstrom was 8-6 at mid-season and wound up 21-10 with 2.20 ERA... it was the eighth time Engstrom has won 20 games... Engstrom has never failed to be a 20-game winner in his 8 seasons in the IPA... rookie Shane Farmer (24-11 3.66) was solid all year long and Ted Farentino recovered in the final half by going 9-5 to end up 14-15 for the year... closer Merle Studebaker (4-6) did his job with 26 saves and a very strong 1.27 ERA... 1B Clyde Kingsford (.286/37/121/109), who struggled some the first half, put on a charge to lead the second-half surge, along with trusty CF Mac McCurnan (.297/37/118/119)... Turon has a fine bench of platoon players... Richburn has his sights set on a fourth Pro Cup... the Typhoons will be in the thick of battle this postseason... they are finally playing good baseball.
Uncle Robbie Wilbertson kept his Colchester Elites (82-72) in the race until the last 10 games of the season, when they folded and went 3-7, while Turon was winning 8 of 10... starters Jon McGinn (19-11 3.07) and Shannon Hayden (16-11 3.08), along with closer Don Richard (6-10) kept them neck-and-neck with the Typhoons until the late stages... Richard posted a 2.30 ERA with 32 saves... at the plate 1B Harlan Roscoe led the club with 29 homers and 82 RBIs, but hit only .271, the worst of his career... Roscoe is a lifetime .312 hitter.
The Ginza Ninjas (82-72) are a fundamentally-sound ball club under manager Huroko Uchiyama... the Ninjas tied Colchester for second place... two veteran starters paced the team... Joji Azuma was 19-15 with a 2.41 ERA, but faltered late in the season... Azuma was 5-8 over the last two months... Carl Trebek was 16-13 with a 3.67 ERA... Uchiyama got a good job from relief specialist Kakuzo Harimoto (8-7 2.51), who saved 30 games... star C Crash Davis led the team with a .332 BA... he was second with 30 homers and 88 RBIs... 1B Ralph Hart (.254 BA) led with 31 home runs and 94 RBIs... RF Jack Vorland hit .285 with 17 homers and 93 runs batted in.
The Cape Coral Hurricanes (79-75) dropped back in the standings to fourth place due to sub-par hitting and pitching... Marty Pedroza's crew were not on-par with the teams above them... Cody Burg, the winningest pitching in IPA history, went over the 300 mark with a 20-14 record... Burg has put up a brilliant 310-191 record in his 17 seasons... Ray Salisbury, a 20-game winner in each of his first two seasons, fell to a disappointing 13-15 with a 5.52 ERA this year... closer Bobby Maas notched 30 saves with a 2.47 ERA, but was only 3-7 in the won-lost column... 2B Lonnie Moon (.294/21/109) and CF Derek Ryckman (.254/22/93) were the 'Canes most productive bats.
First-year skipper Cyclone Cobb brought the Arroyo Grande Suns (78-76) in over .500 and a fifth-place finish, 9 games out... the Suns faded in the tough second half... they stayed in the race because of home-run power... the Suns slammed 200 for the year, sparked by 22-year-old phenom C Gary Troxell (.277 BA) with 39 homers and 105 RBIs... however, Arroyo Grande's top player is its outstanding SS Andy Pearson, who batted .335 with 27 roundtrippers, 100 RBIs and 104 runs scored, while playing brilliantly on defense... third-year starter Ray Reed (19-13 3.58) was the ace of the mound staff... Cobb needs more quality arms to make his Suns a serious contender in the TU South.
The Summerland Sunsets (73-81) were 14 games out of first in sixth place this season... manager Will Hackett has some talent, but not enough of it... Denny Coulon is one of the better pitchers in the IPA, but only has a 274-235 record, in spite of an outstanding 2.93 career ERA... Coulon topped the club with a 15-18 mark with a 3.01 ERA... closer Leon Muller was 7-4 with a fine 2.13 ERA and 21 saves... offensively veteran star CF Jim Garrison (.326/36/112) and sensational rookie RF Vann Kelter (.298/34/107) carry the load.
The seventh-place Southport Sun Sox (70-84) were 17 games behind Turon... manager Charley Oscar has decent pitching and hitting, but has trouble in the runs department... CF Walt Muller is the best bat in the line-up with a .300 average and 25 homers, but with only 81 RBIs, followed by 2B Skippy Jones with 27 homers, but only 68 RBIs and a .248 BA, and by RF Wayne Rutledge with 23 roundtrippers, but just 68 RBIs and a .257 BA.
For the fourth year in a row the San Alejo Montaneros (60-94) have been mired in the cellar... new manager Marcellino Zuniga had the same fate of the previous manager - terrible hitting and pathetic pitching... the Monties batted only .233 for the season, ranked 64th in the IPA... no team is worse... LF Lou Roche is the best hitter with a .289 mark, 9 homers and 47 RBIs, followed by 1B Dominique Poirot with a .277 BA, 14 homers and 53 RBIs... top pitcher is second-year man Jock Giacomo (16-19 3.57).
|