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The Islandian Times
Thursday, September 23, 2017
2017 Tycobbian West Final Recap
BSC Bucs Rally Past Bayview In TU West
Bay St. Clair breezed to a sizeable 8-game lead in the Tycobbian West at mid-season and just managed to hold off the rebounding Bayview Vikings in the final half of the regular season. In fact, the Viks overtook the Buccaneers in August and held a one-game lead going into the final three weeks of the season. However, Bay St. Clair emerged from the second-half stupor just in time and took charge again, finally putting Bayview aside by 4 games to take the TU West pennant for the second time in the last three years. The Vikings won it last year.
The rest of the division was never in the race. Only third-place Rolling Hills broke even among the remaining six teams. The Reds wound up 14 games off the pace. Arlon and LaClaire came in fourth and trailed by 16. Sixth place went to the Kenwood Wildcats, who were 20 games behind in the standings. Chicopee was 21 out and in seventh place with Denton City winding up last and 24 games back.
Manager Guy Rondre righted the ship at just the right time... his Bay St. Clair Buccaneers (91-63) went 11-5 in September to pull out the pennant... Bayview slumped to 6-10 at the wrong time and fell to second place... the return of the injured Benny Coates was crucial... Coates was 15-5 in the second half and went 18-6 overall... Chris Van Arden was 19-12 for the Bucs... But it was the hitters that brought home the bacon with a .276 BA (2nd)... BSC was third in scoring... top bats were 2B Bud Walker (.348/13/90/125), CF Todd Bryant (.266/18/105/92), 1B Gerry Fields (.280/25/93) and LF Bruno DiPirro (.335/7/73/85)... the Bucs were second to Kenwood in fielding, .977 FA to .978 FA... Bayview had a solid .976 FA.
The Bayview Vikings (87-67) really packed some punch... they hit .272 (6th), were fifth with 184 homers and fifth in scoring... manager Walter Johanssen's batting order was power-laden with 3B Karl Benson (.300/44/106/107), RF Tommy Riddle (.286/32/93/91), LF Davey Krueger (.299/32/85/85) and 1B Stan Haddix (.309/26/93/95) leading the attack... Bayview was only average on the mound with a 3.87 team ERA (20th)... Last year's all-everything Harald Turu was human this season with an 18-18 record, but still possessing a stout 2.79 ERA... a year ago Turi was the TU MVP with a spectacular 26-4 record and a 2.19 ERA... Rick Prichard had the best record with a 19-9 mark and a 3.80 ERA... Johanssen could have used a closer... nobody he tried did the job.
Third-place Rolling Hills (77-77) had good pitching under the guidance of Matty Christianson, but poor offense... Sal Jordan (19-18 2.75) should have easily topped the 20-win mark... ditto for James Elliott (19-16 3.38)... Alfonso Gonzales (2-3) stood out in the bullpen with 28 saves and a 2.42 ERA... top bats on the club belonged to 3B Clay Hoffman (.327), who carried the club offensively with 38 homers and 120 RBIs... 8-year vet CF Donnie Lewis batted .308 and scored 93 runs.
Fourth in the standings were the Arlon Champions (75-79) and the La Claire Lynx... 16 games from first place... the Champs have decent pitching, but no bats... Armando Cruz (17-15 3.45) and Happy McManus (18-18 3.55) were skipper Gary Louis' most capable hurlers... in the bullpen was a gem in Ross Birchford with a 7-2 mark, 29 saves and a strong 2.31 ERA... at the plate Arlon's only reliable bats were 13-year vet LF Rocco Belasario (.315/29/91/120) and CF Chucky Gilton (.333/13/93/73)... Gilton is a 3-time gold glover and Belasario has made the All-Stars 6 times and has 4 gold gloves.
The La Claire Lynx (75-79) were piloted by Rip Calkin... he has three very fine players in pitcher Bernie Halsey (21-9 2.97), 3B Flash Devlin (.356/36/133/114) and RF Zeppy Deshotel (.311/18/97/93)... rookie Ralf Hartwig led the relief corps with a 6-7 mark, 23 saves and a 2.44 ERA.
Aaron Hankins in Kenwood (71-83) came in sixth because of a shortage of good bats... his Wildcats batted only .248 (28th) and ranked near the bottom in all offensive categories... Kenwood does possess some decent pitchers in Connie Gavagan (18-16 2.87) and freshman closer Glenn Kennedy, who chalked up 27 saves with a remarkable 1.68 ERA.
The Chicopee Braves (70-84) and Harry Fleetfoot had to endure another mediocre season deep in the TU West second division and 21 games back in the race... the Braves have fair pitching with a 3.57 team ERA (9th), led by two top-notch twirlers in vets Tommy Ruffin and Desmond Quatermain... Ruffin was 17-9 with a 2.95 ERA and Quartermain finished 15-17 with a fine 2.80 ERA... C Ivan Burkholder was the only reliable bat... he batted .300 with 27 homers, 81 runs batted in and scored 93 times.
The once-proud Denton City Redbirds (67-87) again ended up in the TU West basement for the second year in a row... manager Ford Whiteman is not used to this... he has won 6 flags in his 16 seasons here... Whiteman's pitching is not what it was in the glory years... his renown ace Mila Mohoski (16-17 3.68), now 38, is showing signs that his best years are behind him... 16-year vet Mohoski has a 297-208 career record with a 3.08 ERA... rookie closer Rich Hopkins (5-5) did well with 24 saves and a 2.60 ERA... Pete Gibbs is one of the better defensive catchers around and has a decent bat, too... Gibbs batted .297 and drove in 69 runs to top the team... offense is non-existent... the Redbirds batted .255 (20th) with only 97 homers (31st) and ranked 28th in runs scored.
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