|
The Islandian Times
Monday, September 21, 2020
2020 Tycobbian North Final Recap
Z's Zip To 4th TU North In A Row
The Luxora Zorros logged their fourth Tycobbian North title in a row by nipping the Hartsdale Hellcats by 3 games. But it was a little close for comfort. Going into the last two weeks the Hellcats had a slight edge. Luxora really had no other challengers. Luxora and Hartsdale were the only two teams in the division to have winning records. Third place Blue Lake wound up 20 games behind and fourth place Fairfax was 23 games off the pace.
Luxora won again because of two talented pitchers... starter Tiago Torres (25-10 2.06) and closer Jay Brewer (12-5) pretty much carried the load... Torres led the TU with a 2.06 ERA and the IPA with 8 shutouts and 23 complete games... Brewer saved 21 games with a 2.67 ERA... manager Cristo Viamonte didn't have much offense... 3B Pablo Santa Cruz (.283/6/61/102), C Jim Thorpe Chandler (.277/23/87/84) and RF Jon Stafford (.264/24/86/97) put up most of the team's modest offense... it will be tough for Luxora to get very far in the postseason... the Z's just don't have the talent of other playoff teams... the only reason they get into the playoffs is because they play in one of the weakest divisions in the IPA.
The second-place Hartsdale Hellcats really revved it up this year on the mound and in the batter's box and almost snatched the flag from Luxora... it took a superb September by the Zorros to whip the Hellcats... skipper Zim Donner had a fine starting rotation in Bobo Boisseau (22-9 3.61), 40-year-old Don Weill (19-15 2.70) and Jim Starks (19-15 3.31)... closer Virgil Bowden (4-8 3.42) was unsteady at times and gave up a lot of runs, but posted 38 saves... the Hellcats could handle the bats well, too... top batters were long-time star 3B 37-year-old Kendry Moulton (.325/29/107/93), who seems to get better with age...RF Billy Potter (.302/26/102/96) and CF Alec Unruh (.302/23/56/102) also enjoyed good seasons.
Cobb Tyson's Blue Lake Blue Sox were within striking distance halfway through the season and trailed by only 6 games, but quickly fizzled and faded in the second half, ending up in third place and 20 games behind the leader... which was much improved over seventh the year before... it has been 5 years since the Blue Sox were in the first division... Blue Lake had fairly good pitching and were led by Randy Eldridge (19-16 3.12) and closer Irv Kuykendall (4-2), who racked up 28 saves and posted a splendid 1.37 ERA... Tyson's team was woeful at the plate, ranking 31st in BA and in scoring... CF Bryan Miles was the best of the lot with a .287 BA, 19 homers, 82 RBIs and 81 runs scored.
The fourth-place Fairfax Frogs, guided by Harry Buckley, improved a little this season, going from sixth to fourth... The Frogs are just a so-so club without a lot of talent... Not a lot of pitching or hitting... Buckley does have a fine pitcher in 30-year-old Ken Hill, who just reached a major milestone... Hill is 200-148 in 11 seasons with an outstanding 2.85 career ERA... Hill has never played for anything but a .500 ball club... this year he was 17-16 with a 3.27 ERA... Fairfax's best batter is RF Dane Wesner, who hit .318 with 27 homers and 97 RBIs...Wesner topped the 400-mark in homers this season... prior to 2014 Wesner was just about the best hitter in the IPA, but a shoulder injury put him out an entire season and he has never been the same... Wesner won the Golden Bat and MVP Award in back-to-back years, 2010 and 2011.
The White River Rascals with John Grandison at the helm came in fifth in the TU North, 25 games behind champ Luxora... the Rascals are a one-man gang... superstar 1B Marty Blake shoulders the whole team with his marvelous bat... in another great season, the 26-year-old Blake batted .341 with 50 home runs, 128 RBIs and 106 runs... 23-year-old closer Arnie Montel (5-2) is also a gifted performer... Montel chalked up 28 saves and compiled a fine 2.68 ERA.
Campy Roy's Oxford Red Caps were sixth this season, 30 games out of first... terrible hitting and bad pitching will do it every time... Tony Mack was the Red Caps only decent starter with a 17-15 mark and a 3.80 ERA... LF Ron Berry was the only halfway decent bat with a .278 BA, 59 RBIs and 78 runs scored... Oxford ranked last with a .242 BA and in runs scored... on the hill the starters put up a 4.28 ERA (24th).
After two second-place finishes in 2017 and 2018, The Mahaska Haymakers had another bad year, falling from fourth to the seventh spot in the standings... Rusty Tanussa's team wound up 34 games out... the Haymakers are heading in the wrong direction with no hitting (26th), no power (26th) and no pitching (29th)... Mahaska's only players of note are star C Bucky O'Brian (.299/30/93/78) and capable closer Ivan Belakov (2-3) with 21 saves and a very strong 2.15 ERA.
For the third year in four, the North Hills Hawks are basement dwellers... Hub Carlson's Hawks were 35 games back... ranking 24th at the plate and 31st on the mound... North Hills has an abundance of average to poor players... 1B Lou Hooper (.302/13/70/72) led the team in batting, 3B Rod Haynes (.290/17/79/69) in homers and RBIs and RF Al Bowden (.281/10/52/100) in runs scored... Ben Garland (2-6) was the only pitcher to have a good year with 25 saves and a 2.36 ERA.
|