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The Islandian Times
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
2019 Tycobbian South Final Recap
No Contest In TU South, Turon Triumphs Again
For the fourth year in a row the defending Pro Cup champ Turon Typhoons will hoist the Tycobbian South flag over Typhoon Stadium... Again Turon had an easy task, copping its 11th crown in the last 14 years and doing it by 11 games over second-place Ginza, 12 games over third-place Arroyo Grande and fourth-place Colchester by 16.
Manager Whitey Richburn has Turon primed and ready for another bid for the IPA Pro Cup... the Typhoons are a complete ball club with no apparent weakness, solid in all respects... Turon led the TU with 99 victories and were ranked high in all statistical categories... they were tops in pitching and scoring... Nicky Engstrom (22-9 2.02) won 20 games for the 9th time in his 10 years... Shane Farmer (24-10 2.02) was just as good... together they may be the best tandem starters in the IPA... they tied Harald Turi (21-13 2.02) of Bayview for the best ERA... last year's Pro Cup MVP Ted Farentino (19-13 3.67) was a valuable number three starter... Richburn has a wealth of hitters, paced by future HOF-er 1B Clyde Kingsford, who had the best year of his wonderful career... Kingsford led the IPA with 54 homers and the TU with 151 RBIs, while batting .339 and scoring 127 times... RF Dominick DiCaprio (.306/22/108) and CF Mac McCurnan (.279/25/89) also chipped in with good seasons... the Typhoons will be one of the favorites to win the Island championship, along with Ozarka, Eastshore and Rocky Rapids.
The Ginza Ninjas gave chase until the All-Star Game and trailed by just 3 games, but couldn't keep up with the Typhoons in the second half... Huroko Uchiyama has molded a fine team in Ginza with strong pitching, good offense and excellent fielding... his top pitchers are Joji Azuma with 19 complete games and a 2.38 ERA, but only a 17-16 record, along with Alec Sasek (19-13 3.66)... the Ninjas relief corps was outstanding and led by closer Juzo Takaki (7-6)... he posted 26 saves and a superb 1.99 ERA... superstar C Crash Davis (.346/28/101/104), RF Jack Vorland (.282/19/77/103), CF Augie Vitanza (.259/26/100/98) and 2B Ralph Hart (.266/28/103/85) provided the offense.
The third-place Arroyo Grande Suns had punch in their bats and decent mound work... leading the Cyclone Cobb powerful line-up were super SS Andy Pearson (.321/22/85/98), rookie sensation LF Eduardo Villanueva (.321/28/110/84), RF Buddy Brechtel (.297/30/60/100) and C Gary Troxel (.275/40/111/73)... the Suns were 4th with 195 homers... on the hill, leaders were Earl O'Reilly (20-14 2.71) and Sixto Zamora (18-12 2.43), who was even better in his sophomore season... closer Jason Patrick (6-4) had a great 1.74 ERA and 24 saves.
Uncle Robbie Wilbertson has a youthful and talented staff in Colchester, headed up by Brian Britt (15-9 2.92), Jon McGinn (18-12 3.16) and Tommy Tuckman (16-12 3.49)... in the bullpen Don Richard excelled with 37 saves, a brilliant 0.57 ERA and a 6-2 mark... better offense would have lifted the fourth-place Elites higher in the standings... C Tommy Booker (.316/24/88) and 1B James McCall (.310/18/81) carried the offense.
The Summerland Sunsets came in fifth under the guidance of manager Will Hackett, 21 games off the pace of division champ Turon... the Sunsets had solid pitching, but feeble bats... Hackett's top hurlers were Sparky DeWey (18-14 3.24) and Ryan McGhee (17-12 3.84)... Summerland's best pitcher is 39-year-old Denny Coulon, who had another fine season with a standout 2.61 ERA, but suffered badly from poor defense and poor run support... Coulon was only 12-18... last year he was 9-23 with a superb 2.48 ERA... in the bullpen Leon Mullin (4-5) stood out with 34 saves and a 3.08 ERA... the Sunsets were not much in the batter's box... RF Vann Kelter (.274/22/75), 1B Johnny Brenner (.264/19/74) and CF Jim Garrison (.282/14/73) were only average hitters at best.
The Southport Sun Sox wound up in sixth place, 23 games behind... skipper Charley Oscar had a good pitching corps, but not much in the way of offense... on the hill Bob Montgomery (18-14 2.47) had another very good year... Neil Howell (15-19 3.40) was also steady and consistent... they both didn't get the run support they deserved... 1B Bill McCann (.280/27/103/80) and SS Walt Brown (.299/4/51/82) were the most productive bats.
It was another down year for Huggy Miller and his Cape Coral Hurricanes... they ended up in the seventh spot in the standings, 29 games out... CF Derek Ryckman was the only quality bat in the batting order with a .284 BA, 23 home runs, 83 RBIs and 107 runs... Santiago Castillo (21-15 3.99), a 35-year-old rookie, topped the staff... the biggest winner in IPA history Cody Burg had to endure another 20-loss season, his second in a row... Burg still can compete... he was 10-22, but with a solid 3.15 ERA and 247 strikeouts... the 37-year-old Burg has a fair chance of going over the 5000 mark in Ks next season... lifetime the brilliant Burg is 333-234 with a 2.69 ERA.
For the sixth straight year the San Alejo Montaneros finished at the bottom of the TU South, 32 games behind... manager Marcellion Zuniga has no hitting and only average pitching... closer Robby Franks is his best moundsman with a 7-5 record, 2.96 ERA and 22 saves... RF Warren Love is his best bat with 37 roundtrippers, 98 RBIs and 93 runs scored, but he batted only at .259 pace.
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