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Eugene Church · 03-02-2011, 09:23 PM

The Islandian Times
Monday, September 20, 2021

2021 Ruthlandian North Final Recap

Ancona Sweeps RU North With September Surge
The Ancona Red Elephants took their second Ruthlandian North flag in a row with a September surge that swept past the Ranford Bulls. It was Ancona third title in four seasons. Ranford went into the final two weeks of the season with a 5-game lead, but slumped badly and were beaten by the Red Elephants. The Bulls were 7-11 in September, while Ancona was a sizzling 15-3. The Red Elephants closed out the regular season by winning the last 8 games. The Taranto Tars and the Valmara Vipers wound up 9 games out and in a third-place tie. Far Mountain was a very distant fifth and 21 games off the pace.

Manny Mickens had another fine year in Ancona... his club features top-notch hitting, solid pitching and good defense... elements that should take them deep into the IPA Pro Cup playoffs... the Red Elephants are led at the plate by five fine hitters: 1B Alekos Kotas (.308/31 HR/128 RBI), 3B Todd Nasso (.341/34 HR/112 RBI/119 R), LF Kenny Willard (.290/22 HR/91 RBI/102 R), CF Ken Rutledge (.315/19 HR/71 RBI/96 R) and RF Louie DiMucci (.294/19 HR/56 RBI/97 R)... on the hill it's Clete Dukas (25-7 2.61), Bud Garner (6-3 2.76), Nikon Maragos (10-5 3.46) and Spiros Zodiates (16-11 3.93).

It was a super season for Rick Fargnoli and his Ranford Bulls, except for the late-season collapse... pitchers Archie Young (24-8 2.50), Scotty Simmons (18-13 2.89) and Jimmy Travis (18-17 3.59) almost knocked off Ancona with the some help from hitters like 3B Vic Scalzi (.286/28 HR/91 RBI/107 R) and CF Tyee Maska (.268/25 HR/90 RBI/103 R).

As per usual Taranto had the offense, but not the pitching... Tommaso Lazzorda's Tars led the RU with a .278 BA, were third with 160 homers and first with 843 runs... the big bats were RF Augie Marshall (.297/33 HR/120 RBI/98 R), LF Arnie Kennedy (.338/17 HR/90 RBI/93 R), CF Phil Buckner (.301/9 HR/63 RBI/118 R) and 1B Denny Zaffino (.330/20 HR/83 RBI/76 R)... however on the hill, it was another story... Taranto was ranked 31st with a poor 4.48 ERA... Jay Cervini (11-6 4.02) was Lazzorda's top arm... anytime Taranto pitchers can keep the team ERA down around the 4.00 mark, they are serious contenders for the pennant... it's always tough to pitch in the tiny Palazzo di Sport, but delightful to hit there.

Valmara slipped slightly from second place to a tie for third this season... skipper Jet Kazmarek has the pitching with Clem Carmouche (16-16 2.55) and Kolya Romanov (18-15 3.40) in his starting rotation, along with a strong closer Frank Favazzo (6-4), who closed out 27 wins and posted a 2.42 ERA... the Vipers just didn't have the offense to contend... 2B Ron Freiberg (.302/21 HR/97 RBI/96 R) and SS Tyler Ferguson (.328/7 HR/55 RBI/79 R) put up the best numbers on the team.

For the first time in 12 years, the Far Mountain Redhawks fell out of the first division to fifth place and 21 games out... Alex Groveland is not used to that... the dynasty days are over for the Redhawks... Woody Crawford (23-13 2.48) is the only holdover from the glory days when the club was winning pennant after pennant and three straight Pro Cups... it was the sixth time in his career that Crawford has won 20 games... the only offense is provided by 3B Mackie McAllister (.262/29 HR/98 RBI/83 R) and 40-year-old fading superstar SS Don Nichols (.290/13 HR/70 RBI/90 R).

There's not much to shout about in Kilkenny... the Cats wound up in sixth place, 29 games behind Ancona... playing manager and CF Kevin McPhail just doesn't have a lot of talent... Sidney McFarland (15-20 3.88) and Rodger Wright (12-20 3.50) are capable pitchers, but need run support... Kilkenny only a few decent bats... its leaders are 3B Rusty Denicola (.266/23 HR/97 RBI), CF Jay Roche (.307/14 HR/59 RBI/81 R) and SS Johnny Madigan (.274/5 HR/44 RBI/102 R)... McPhail (.270/4 HR/69 RBI/69 R) is still in the line-up at 38.

Charles Darby in Glasco has poor hitting and lousy pitching... Results? - the Athletics ended up 30 games out of the race and in seventh place in the RU North with a .248 team BA (24th) and a 4.90 team ERA (32nd)... Darby only has one quality pitcher and that's his closer Jack Mayer (2-2), who saved 26 games and chalked up a great 1.69 ERA... the A's have one standout bat in 1B Wayne Harris (.278/28 HR/110 RBI/100 R) and a fair bat in SS Lee Sullivan (.261/14 HR/62 RBI/102 R).

For the third time in the last five years the LaGrange Sports found themselves in the cellar and 31 games back... the Sports are a terrible team with a .231 BA (32nd) and a 4.41 ERA (29th)... manager Otto Kronvath needs are many... looking at the players stats, it all goes downhill quickly after RF Jules Nicolet, who is hitting only .278 with 14 homers and 64 RBIs... second-best average is SS Marv Marjoe with a .250 mark, 14 home runs and 84 RBIs... closer Julian Buisson (5-8) is Kronvath best pitcher with 24 saves and a 2.60 ERA... all the starters have ERAs 4.00 and higher.

03-02-2011, 09:23 PM	#2388
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,700 Blog Entries: 1	*The Islandian Times* Monday, September 20, 2021 2021 Ruthlandian North Final Recap Ancona Sweeps RU North With September Surge The Ancona Red Elephants took their second Ruthlandian North flag in a row with a September surge that swept past the Ranford Bulls. It was Ancona third title in four seasons. Ranford went into the final two weeks of the season with a 5-game lead, but slumped badly and were beaten by the Red Elephants. The Bulls were 7-11 in September, while Ancona was a sizzling 15-3. The Red Elephants closed out the regular season by winning the last 8 games. The Taranto Tars and the Valmara Vipers wound up 9 games out and in a third-place tie. Far Mountain was a very distant fifth and 21 games off the pace. Manny Mickens had another fine year in Ancona... his club features top-notch hitting, solid pitching and good defense... elements that should take them deep into the IPA Pro Cup playoffs... the Red Elephants are led at the plate by five fine hitters: 1B Alekos Kotas (.308/31 HR/128 RBI), 3B Todd Nasso (.341/34 HR/112 RBI/119 R), LF Kenny Willard (.290/22 HR/91 RBI/102 R), CF Ken Rutledge (.315/19 HR/71 RBI/96 R) and RF Louie DiMucci (.294/19 HR/56 RBI/97 R)... on the hill it's Clete Dukas (25-7 2.61), Bud Garner (6-3 2.76), Nikon Maragos (10-5 3.46) and Spiros Zodiates (16-11 3.93). It was a super season for Rick Fargnoli and his Ranford Bulls, except for the late-season collapse... pitchers Archie Young (24-8 2.50), Scotty Simmons (18-13 2.89) and Jimmy Travis (18-17 3.59) almost knocked off Ancona with the some help from hitters like 3B Vic Scalzi (.286/28 HR/91 RBI/107 R) and CF Tyee Maska (.268/25 HR/90 RBI/103 R). As per usual Taranto had the offense, but not the pitching... Tommaso Lazzorda's Tars led the RU with a .278 BA, were third with 160 homers and first with 843 runs... the big bats were RF Augie Marshall (.297/33 HR/120 RBI/98 R), LF Arnie Kennedy (.338/17 HR/90 RBI/93 R), CF Phil Buckner (.301/9 HR/63 RBI/118 R) and 1B Denny Zaffino (.330/20 HR/83 RBI/76 R)... however on the hill, it was another story... Taranto was ranked 31st with a poor 4.48 ERA... Jay Cervini (11-6 4.02) was Lazzorda's top arm... anytime Taranto pitchers can keep the team ERA down around the 4.00 mark, they are serious contenders for the pennant... it's always tough to pitch in the tiny Palazzo di Sport, but delightful to hit there. Valmara slipped slightly from second place to a tie for third this season... skipper Jet Kazmarek has the pitching with Clem Carmouche (16-16 2.55) and Kolya Romanov (18-15 3.40) in his starting rotation, along with a strong closer Frank Favazzo (6-4), who closed out 27 wins and posted a 2.42 ERA... the Vipers just didn't have the offense to contend... 2B Ron Freiberg (.302/21 HR/97 RBI/96 R) and SS Tyler Ferguson (.328/7 HR/55 RBI/79 R) put up the best numbers on the team. For the first time in 12 years, the Far Mountain Redhawks fell out of the first division to fifth place and 21 games out... Alex Groveland is not used to that... the dynasty days are over for the Redhawks... Woody Crawford (23-13 2.48) is the only holdover from the glory days when the club was winning pennant after pennant and three straight Pro Cups... it was the sixth time in his career that Crawford has won 20 games... the only offense is provided by 3B Mackie McAllister (.262/29 HR/98 RBI/83 R) and 40-year-old fading superstar SS Don Nichols (.290/13 HR/70 RBI/90 R). There's not much to shout about in Kilkenny... the Cats wound up in sixth place, 29 games behind Ancona... playing manager and CF Kevin McPhail just doesn't have a lot of talent... Sidney McFarland (15-20 3.88) and Rodger Wright (12-20 3.50) are capable pitchers, but need run support... Kilkenny only a few decent bats... its leaders are 3B Rusty Denicola (.266/23 HR/97 RBI), CF Jay Roche (.307/14 HR/59 RBI/81 R) and SS Johnny Madigan (.274/5 HR/44 RBI/102 R)... McPhail (.270/4 HR/69 RBI/69 R) is still in the line-up at 38. Charles Darby in Glasco has poor hitting and lousy pitching... Results? - the Athletics ended up 30 games out of the race and in seventh place in the RU North with a .248 team BA (24th) and a 4.90 team ERA (32nd)... Darby only has one quality pitcher and that's his closer Jack Mayer (2-2), who saved 26 games and chalked up a great 1.69 ERA... the A's have one standout bat in 1B Wayne Harris (.278/28 HR/110 RBI/100 R) and a fair bat in SS Lee Sullivan (.261/14 HR/62 RBI/102 R). For the third time in the last five years the LaGrange Sports found themselves in the cellar and 31 games back... the Sports are a terrible team with a .231 BA (32nd) and a 4.41 ERA (29th)... manager Otto Kronvath needs are many... looking at the players stats, it all goes downhill quickly after RF Jules Nicolet, who is hitting only .278 with 14 homers and 64 RBIs... second-best average is SS Marv Marjoe with a .250 mark, 14 home runs and 84 RBIs... closer Julian Buisson (5-8) is Kronvath best pitcher with 24 saves and a 2.60 ERA... all the starters have ERAs 4.00 and higher.