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The Islandian Times
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
2021 Tycobbian East Mid-Season Recap
Ozarka Still Owns TU East, Up by 7 Games
Nobody dominates in the IPA like the Ozarka Naturals. They are going for an eighth straight Tycobbian East pennant and 10th title in 12 years and the Nats have a good shot at it with a 7-game lead at mid-season. Last season Ozarka had to beat off four challengers, but not this year. Only second place Red Bluff poses any threat to them. Midway is third, but a distant 13 games back, while High Mesa is fourth and 16 out.
What a ball club Joe Mac Carney has in Ozarka... 6 All-Stars... number one with a .294 team batting average, number two in scoring with 426 runs, number three in homers with 90 and number one in pitching with a 3.00 team ERA... the Nats are on a pace to crack the all-time IPA record for wins... they are 53-20 at the All-Star game... Colfax set the record with a 107-47 mark in 2010... leading the mound corps are starters Eddie Roberts (14-1 2.59), Howard Hutch (8-2 2.25), Benny Osterman (10-5 3.02) and Yuka Nawajuk (10-6 3.59)... Roberts, Hutch and Osterman all made the All-Star team... top man in the pen is closer Josh Carpenter (0-2) with 14 saves and a minuscule 1.33 ERA... Carney has an awesome batting order with All-Stars 3B Andre Dumas (.323/25 HR), 1B Benny Rousseau (.342/20 HR) and SS James Couch (.342/8 HR)... plus RF Ken Mayberry (.323/2 HR), LF Jose Ordonez (.319/3 HR), CF Tony Genassi (.310/6 HR), CF Ryoma Nakayama (.296/4 HR) and C Frank Kiffin (.276/10 HR)... look for Ozarka to again be one of the favorites for the IPA Pro Cup... the Naturals have lost in the finals the last two years... five times they have been to the championship round and have come home empty-handed each time... this year could be the year... it is one of Carney's best teams.
Manager Bucky Frizzell has a pretty good ball team in Red Bluff, they just happen to be in the same division as Ozarka... the Red Sox are having their best season in 15 years... the Red Bluff bats can compete with the Nats, but not on the hill... they are hitting .288 (2nd), have scored 408 runs (3rd) and compiled a 3.42 team ERA (2nd)... but still are 7 games out of first... the Red Bluff batting order contains three All-Stars and seven .300 hitters: All-Star 3B and the IPA's leading hitter Jose Aguilar (.365/10 HR), All-Star C Jim Schubert (.323/7 HR), All-Star 2B James Mack (.321/19 HR), LF Ron van Riebe (.314/3 HR), 1B Scotty Zasloff (.305/11 HR), CF Terry Harrison (.302/1 HR) and SS Jerry Richardson (.301/5 HR)... even the eighth regular RF Don Montagne (.291/3 HR) is close to the .300 mark... Frizzell has one strong starter in Eddie Lance (11-3 2.93) and three quality starters in Grady Daggs (10-5 3.90), rookie Kris Kazlauskas (9-8 3.46) and Paul Nelson (8-7 3.93)... the Red Sox bullpen is also one of the best with closer Rod Westfall (1-2), who has 13 saves and a standout 2.10 ERA... Red Bluff is good, but not quite the class of Ozarka.
The Midway Wolves, piloted by Cochise Chandler, are 7 games over .500, but trail Ozarka by 13 games... pitching is the name of the game in Midway with three capable starters: Motega Wolf (9-7 2.77), Joe Wolf Warner (11-5 3.16) and Dakota Dyami (7-5 3.20)... the top hitters are All-Star 2B Rob Gigler (.362/12 HR) and All-Star CF Johnny Lee (.299/9 HR)... the Wolves are one level below Red Bluff and two below Ozarka.
The fourth place High Mesa Cowboys are 16 games off the pace, but a game above .500... Frisky Franks' Cowpokes can score a lot of runs, but so can the opposition... High Mesa is batting .268 (6th), has scored 389 times (4th) and tops the TU with 121 homers, but the team 4.78 ERA (30th) is horrific... the legendary All-Star 1B Jack Elliott (.357/32 HR) is in his 9th remarkable season and has yet to slack off... Elliott is on a pace to break the all-time IPA HR record this year... he set it in 2013 with 61... All-Star RF Jack Brown (.301/16 HR) and LF Dusty Tarleton (.311/16 HR) lend him support at the plate... Koichi Ishikawa (11-6 4.97) and Ronald Ward (7-6 3.27) pace the pitchers.
Fifth place belongs to the Hillsboro Blazers... Rawhide Marshall's crew is 17 games behind and out of the pennant race... Pat Buettner (7-4 2.67) is the ace of the mound staff... 1B Andy Jefferson (.288/15 HR), C Gil Giroux (.314/12 HR) and RF Paul Green (.281/10 HR) lead the batsmen... the Blazers pushed Ozarka last year when they finished third and 2 games back.
The Tuckanarra Blue Jays are 20 games back and in sixth place under skipper Carlton "Lefty" Stevens... Kenny Cox (7-4 3.79) is his number one pitcher and RF Danny Redd (.329/10 HR) and LF Vince Di Lazzaro (.300/11 HR) head up the hitters.
Duroche "Lips" Leon is in charge in South Fork... his Stallions are in the seventh spot in the standings behind by 22 games... 12-year vet Blackie Terranova (8-8 2.30) is the ace of the mound staff, but has no help on the hill... Leon has some good batsmen in LF Patric Giles (.285/19 HR), 1B Joe Peters (.329/15 HR) and SS Teddy Nixon (.303/5 HR).
And for the 10th time in the last 12 years, the hapless East Point Panthers are last in the TU East... it has not been a good first year for new skipper Jesse Goodwin... Bingo Long (8-7 3.90) is the top starter, along with closer Rob Mackowiak (2-3) with 16 saves and a very strong 1.61 ERA... at the plate 1B Bill McCann (.328/21 HR) is having a fine year... LF Ted Dupre (.302/12 HR) has also provided some offense.
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