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Eugene Church · 01-22-2011, 02:07 PM

The Islandian Times
Monday, September 21, 2020

2020 Ruthlandian East Final Recap

Bobcats Upset Elegants In RU East
Beechwood ended 19 long frustrating years of failure and finally captured its first Ruthlandian East flag, but it didn't come easy. To do it the Bobcats had to beat out of of the best teams in the IPA, the powerful Eastshore Elegants, who had ruled the division with an iron fist with 4 consecutive titles. Beechwood always played second fiddle to the Elegants, at least in the last 4 seasons, when the Bobcats finished second or third. Beechwood took a close race by 2 games over Eastshore. The Bobcats also had to fight off the revitalized Wynnamac Sundowners, who closed out the season playing their best ball and came up 3 games short in third place, after trailing by 7 games at mid-year. The Sugar Valley Rattlers were fourth and wound up 9 games back.

Beechwood relied on strong pitching (6th) to subdue the Elegants, led by two standout starters in Billy Ray (19-13 2.96) and rookie Marty Panko (17-10 2.96)... Bret George's number three was no slouch either... Stephen Ladd was 18-10 with a fine 3.37 ERA... number four starter Kevin Timms did well at times with a 12-8 mark and a decent 4.06 ERA... closer Jeff Lyons (3-5) was outstanding with 34 saves and a 2.59 ERA in 51 appearances... offense was adequate with a .265 BA (6th)... the Bobcats bats were 11th with 148 homers, but did not score well (19th)... star CF Vic Valenti again led the club with a .342 BA, 39 home runs, 122 RBIs and 118 runs... LF Ryan Ray (.292/34/93/78) and RF Freddie Baxter (.287/10/84/79) chipped in some power and run production... If strong pitching can win the Pro Cup, the Bobcats have a shot... George really needs a little more firepower to get past the current Pro Cup holder, the Rocky Rapids Snappers... the Snappers possess a balanced attack, but are not as strong as they have been over the past four years when the won the division crown... if Beechwood can get by Rocky Rapids, they will likely encounter another club with good pitching and good bats, the talented Ancona Red Elephants... Ancona is favored to whip Crystal Lake in the RU Elite 8.

Runner-up Eastshore was the same good team it has been for the past 5 years, they just had better competition... Killer Brewster had the best pitching in the RU (3.18 ERA), led by veterans Melvin Key (22-9 2.71), Bix Hansen (17-10 3.53) and Al Froelich (18-11 3.73)... ace Danny Siegfried suffered from a lack of runs and finished with a 13-21 record, but with an impressive 22 complete games and a 2.55 ERA... the Elegants came up short at the plate this season... only LF Stan Cuccinello (.273/30/106/94) and 2B Gerry Garner (.274/35/103/96) had good years... the rest of the line-up let Brewster down.

The third-place Wynnamac Sundowners under manager Matt Donnelly rose up from sixth place to contend quite well, just 3 games off the pace... Donnelly has not had a good team since the pennant-winning 2013 season... the Sundowners have been deep in the second-division for the last 5 seasons... but not this year... improvement on the hill and at the plate made a big difference... 34-year-old starter Jerry Meeks and 26-year-old closer Jim Horton carried the club this year... Meeks crossed the 200-win milestone with an excellent 24-10 season and a 2.44 ERA... this was the sixth time he has won 20 or more games, quite an accomplishment when you are playing for a perennial also-ran... Horton racked up 31 saves with a 3-5 mark and a fine 2.60 ERA... Wynnamac's hitting was better this year, but not where it needs to be to be a strong challenger... the Sundowners hit only 118 homers (24th), but batted .265 (7th) and scored well (7th)... 1B Pete Simmons (.324/15/80/80) and LF Joey Eaton (.304/16/77/76) and rookie Ian Holmes (.306/2/60/101) furnished most of the offense.

The Sugar Vally Rattlers edged out Elnora and Marston for fourth place, ending up 9 games off the pace... The Rattlers strong points were the long ball and defense... they topped the entire IPA with 202 roundtrippers and led the RU with a .978 FA... other than that Smitty Michaels has only a fair ball club... rookie sensation CF Randell Hawson (.286) led the team with 41 home runs and 100 RBIs, followed by star C Hal Stevenson (.295) with 31 homers and 96 RBIs and RF Terry Goudeau (.254) with 32 homers and 90 RBIs... on the mound the Rattlers had two fine pitchers in young Benny McConnell, who was 25-12 with a 2.90 ERA in his second season at age 23... and 24-year-old Fernando Vargas, who took over the closer role and excelled with a 7-3 record, 23 saves and a microscopic 0.90 ERA in 50 games.

The Elnora All-Stars were fifth for the third season in a row, winding up 10 games out... Skipper Sam Malone had no real standouts... Lou Horn was the best pitcher with a 19-14 mark and a 3.90 ERA... veteran star C Leon Carter had a down year, hitting only .274 with 22 home runs and just 76 RBIs... 2B Michael Griffin paced the All-Stars with 24 homers, 99 RBIs and 92 runs, but hit only .245.

In just two seasons the Marston Nine has slipped from a fine ball club to a mediocre one... Johnny Walters has seen his team drop from a strong second in 2018 to a weak fourth in 2019 to the sixth spot in 2020, but only 12 games behind... Marston only has one standout player... 26-year-old CF Russ Woodward is one of the IPA elite players... Woodward hit .330 with 38 roundtrippers, 109 RBIs and 90 runs, but missed a month in the season with a bad knee... He went out in July, but returned and had good months in August and September, looking completely healed... 24-year-old starter Ronnie Flynn led the Nine on the hill with an 18-18 record and a 3.64 ERA.

The Cold Creek Catamounts had another dismal season under Trip Holmes with a seventh-place finish, but just 14 games behind Beechwood, much better than 2019 when the Catamounts were last and out of the running by 32 games... only 36-year-old closer Shannon Robinson and 2B Keith Hull had decent years... Robinson was 10-2 with 29 saves and a 3.02 ERA, while Hull batted .300 and scored 102 runs.

For the sixth successive season the Belle Plaine Musketeers have been either last or next-to-last in the RU East... this year manager Lou Dozier finished deep in the cellar, 32 games out... the only thing Musketeer fans had to cheer about were closer Fabian Moreau, who chalked up 21 saves with an excellent 2.03 ERA in 47 games, while posting a 3-4 record... and two talented position players: SS Slick Hammill (.321/22/103/106) and LF Jim Beauregard (.314/21/102/70), who both had good years.

01-22-2011, 02:07 PM	#2315
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,699 Blog Entries: 1	The Islandian Times Monday, September 21, 2020 2020 Ruthlandian East Final Recap Bobcats Upset Elegants In RU East Beechwood ended 19 long frustrating years of failure and finally captured its first Ruthlandian East flag, but it didn't come easy. To do it the Bobcats had to beat out of of the best teams in the IPA, the powerful Eastshore Elegants, who had ruled the division with an iron fist with 4 consecutive titles. Beechwood always played second fiddle to the Elegants, at least in the last 4 seasons, when the Bobcats finished second or third. Beechwood took a close race by 2 games over Eastshore. The Bobcats also had to fight off the revitalized Wynnamac Sundowners, who closed out the season playing their best ball and came up 3 games short in third place, after trailing by 7 games at mid-year. The Sugar Valley Rattlers were fourth and wound up 9 games back. Beechwood relied on strong pitching (6th) to subdue the Elegants, led by two standout starters in Billy Ray (19-13 2.96) and rookie Marty Panko (17-10 2.96)... Bret George's number three was no slouch either... Stephen Ladd was 18-10 with a fine 3.37 ERA... number four starter Kevin Timms did well at times with a 12-8 mark and a decent 4.06 ERA... closer Jeff Lyons (3-5) was outstanding with 34 saves and a 2.59 ERA in 51 appearances... offense was adequate with a .265 BA (6th)... the Bobcats bats were 11th with 148 homers, but did not score well (19th)... star CF Vic Valenti again led the club with a .342 BA, 39 home runs, 122 RBIs and 118 runs... LF Ryan Ray (.292/34/93/78) and RF Freddie Baxter (.287/10/84/79) chipped in some power and run production... If strong pitching can win the Pro Cup, the Bobcats have a shot... George really needs a little more firepower to get past the current Pro Cup holder, the Rocky Rapids Snappers... the Snappers possess a balanced attack, but are not as strong as they have been over the past four years when the won the division crown... if Beechwood can get by Rocky Rapids, they will likely encounter another club with good pitching and good bats, the talented Ancona Red Elephants... Ancona is favored to whip Crystal Lake in the RU Elite 8. Runner-up Eastshore was the same good team it has been for the past 5 years, they just had better competition... Killer Brewster had the best pitching in the RU (3.18 ERA), led by veterans Melvin Key (22-9 2.71), Bix Hansen (17-10 3.53) and Al Froelich (18-11 3.73)... ace Danny Siegfried suffered from a lack of runs and finished with a 13-21 record, but with an impressive 22 complete games and a 2.55 ERA... the Elegants came up short at the plate this season... only LF Stan Cuccinello (.273/30/106/94) and 2B Gerry Garner (.274/35/103/96) had good years... the rest of the line-up let Brewster down. The third-place Wynnamac Sundowners under manager Matt Donnelly rose up from sixth place to contend quite well, just 3 games off the pace... Donnelly has not had a good team since the pennant-winning 2013 season... the Sundowners have been deep in the second-division for the last 5 seasons... but not this year... improvement on the hill and at the plate made a big difference... 34-year-old starter Jerry Meeks and 26-year-old closer Jim Horton carried the club this year... Meeks crossed the 200-win milestone with an excellent 24-10 season and a 2.44 ERA... this was the sixth time he has won 20 or more games, quite an accomplishment when you are playing for a perennial also-ran... Horton racked up 31 saves with a 3-5 mark and a fine 2.60 ERA... Wynnamac's hitting was better this year, but not where it needs to be to be a strong challenger... the Sundowners hit only 118 homers (24th), but batted .265 (7th) and scored well (7th)... 1B Pete Simmons (.324/15/80/80) and LF Joey Eaton (.304/16/77/76) and rookie Ian Holmes (.306/2/60/101) furnished most of the offense. The Sugar Vally Rattlers edged out Elnora and Marston for fourth place, ending up 9 games off the pace... The Rattlers strong points were the long ball and defense... they topped the entire IPA with 202 roundtrippers and led the RU with a .978 FA... other than that Smitty Michaels has only a fair ball club... rookie sensation CF Randell Hawson (.286) led the team with 41 home runs and 100 RBIs, followed by star C Hal Stevenson (.295) with 31 homers and 96 RBIs and RF Terry Goudeau (.254) with 32 homers and 90 RBIs... on the mound the Rattlers had two fine pitchers in young Benny McConnell, who was 25-12 with a 2.90 ERA in his second season at age 23... and 24-year-old Fernando Vargas, who took over the closer role and excelled with a 7-3 record, 23 saves and a microscopic 0.90 ERA in 50 games. The Elnora All-Stars were fifth for the third season in a row, winding up 10 games out... Skipper Sam Malone had no real standouts... Lou Horn was the best pitcher with a 19-14 mark and a 3.90 ERA... veteran star C Leon Carter had a down year, hitting only .274 with 22 home runs and just 76 RBIs... 2B Michael Griffin paced the All-Stars with 24 homers, 99 RBIs and 92 runs, but hit only .245. In just two seasons the Marston Nine has slipped from a fine ball club to a mediocre one... Johnny Walters has seen his team drop from a strong second in 2018 to a weak fourth in 2019 to the sixth spot in 2020, but only 12 games behind... Marston only has one standout player... 26-year-old CF Russ Woodward is one of the IPA elite players... Woodward hit .330 with 38 roundtrippers, 109 RBIs and 90 runs, but missed a month in the season with a bad knee... He went out in July, but returned and had good months in August and September, looking completely healed... 24-year-old starter Ronnie Flynn led the Nine on the hill with an 18-18 record and a 3.64 ERA. The Cold Creek Catamounts had another dismal season under Trip Holmes with a seventh-place finish, but just 14 games behind Beechwood, much better than 2019 when the Catamounts were last and out of the running by 32 games... only 36-year-old closer Shannon Robinson and 2B Keith Hull had decent years... Robinson was 10-2 with 29 saves and a 3.02 ERA, while Hull batted .300 and scored 102 runs. For the sixth successive season the Belle Plaine Musketeers have been either last or next-to-last in the RU East... this year manager Lou Dozier finished deep in the cellar, 32 games out... the only thing Musketeer fans had to cheer about were closer Fabian Moreau, who chalked up 21 saves with an excellent 2.03 ERA in 47 games, while posting a 3-4 record... and two talented position players: SS Slick Hammill (.321/22/103/106) and LF Jim Beauregard (.314/21/102/70), who both had good years. Last edited by Eugene Church; 01-22-2011 at 05:13 PM.