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Eugene Church · 03-03-2011, 05:46 PM

The Islandian Times
Monday, September 20, 2021

2021 Ruthlandian South Final Recap

Cybercats Dethrone Pro Cup Crushers
The defending Pro Cup champs won't be back this year. The Grand City Cybercats made sure of that when they took the Ruthlandian South crown. The Cybercats only had a narrow one-game lead over the Crystal Lake Crushers at mid-season and two-game ahead of the amazing St. John Crusaders, who were in the division basement last year... Grand City gradually pulled away in the second half. St. John wound up in second place, beaten by 8 games. Crystal Lake came in 10 games back in third place, deadlocked with the Valka Blackhawks. They were the only clubs over the .500 mark in the division.

Grand City has steadily improved in recent years, going from fourth in 2018 to third, second and now first place in the RU South this year... Grand City was the best-hitting and top-scoring team in the division with a .265 BA (4th) and 755 runs (6th)... this was the key to victory... coupled with a better-than-average 3.59 team ERA (13th), it enabled Wade Joslin's Cybercats to beat out St. John and Crystal Lake, who had superior pitching, but no bats... leading the way were RF Nick Baldini (.302/15 HR/79 RBI/105 R), 3B Jug Slavin (.278/11 HR/57 RBI/102 R) and 2B Jim Mellencamp (.281/4 HR/61 RBI/82 R)... LF Gene Bridges (.249) paced them with 84 RBIs and C Woodrow Mason (.255) topped the club in homers with 20... 25-year-old rookie southpaw Clint Brewer (21-9 2.66) had a brilliant first season and was the team's MVP... Brent Sturgis (15-8 3.88), Randy Andrews (14-13 3.86) and Jimbo Stearns (14-17 3.27) gave Joslin quite a few quality starts this year... and closer Ralph Teague (3-5) saved 27 games and put up a solid 2.64 ERA... Grand City heads into the Pro Cup playoffs underdogs to the other three division champions, but don't count them out too quickly... it was just a year ago that the unheralded Crystal Lake Crushers won the IPA title.

The St. John Crusaders stunned Islandians when they came out of nowhere to finish second this season... new skipper Skinny Kisecawchuk improved them dramatically from a dismal 59-95 record to an 82-72 mark, a 23-game turnaround... the Crusaders ranked 8th in pitching with a 3.40 team ERA, led by Pat Long (19-14 2.76), Teddy Garson (21-11 3.71) and Andre Haglund (16-16 3.17)... rookie closer Jeremy Vincent (5-5) played a huge role in the division title with 30 saves and a 2.31 ERA... at the plate they were ranked lowly in most offensive categories... they batted only .252 (21st) and hit just 88 roundtrippers (31st)... there are no stars in the line-up, just a bunch of journeymen batters like 3B Vinny Sardisco (.275/13 HR/85 RBI) and SS Vinny Teicher (.276/19 HR/77 RBI)... rookie LF Connor Mitchell (.250) tied Teicher with 19 homers and topped the team with 90 runs.

Last year was a marvelous season for Baby George and his Crystal Lake Crushers when they surprisingly captured the Pro Cup as a sixth seed... Lack of offense caused the Crushers to dip down to a tie for third this year... Crystal Lake will not get a chance to defend its Pro Cup crown... George has outstanding pitching with a 3.04 team ERA (2nd), but his club just doesn't have much offense with a poor .247 BA (26th)... Duncan Welch (19-15 2.52) and Ralph McCollough (15-10 2.05) should never have lost 25 games between them, especially with their strong ERAs... number three and four starters Vic Bauer (13-13 3.67) and Johnny Sakelaris (15-16 3.78) deserved better, too... former starter Roger Bishop (12-6) turned in a yeoman's job in the bullpen with a 2.69 ERA and 18 saves... 1B Phil Gravelli (.308/20 HR/93 RBI/83 R) and 2B Greg Murphy (.286/13 HR/83 RBI/65 R) shouldered most of the offensive production, but they didn't have much help at all.

The Valka Blackhawks are skippered by Andrei Kokk and they were tied with Crystal Lake for third place in the standings, 10 games out... it's the sixth successive first-division finish for them... the Blackhawks have quality pitching with a 3.50 team ERA, pretty good power with 135 homers (14th), but not much when it comes to hitting... Kokk's crew posted a poor .246 team BA (28th) and had difficulty scoring runs (23rd)... Everyone in the starting rotation were solid performers... Arno Vainmaa (16-13 3.19) and Eddie Lasky (16-12 3.55) headed up the list with dependable help from Richie Jost (15-17 3.05) and Kaupo Vershik (11-12 3.29)... Robby Riley (4-7) was the closer... he saved 26 games and registered a 2.32 ERA... CF Tomi Viikberg (.299/22/92/82) was the club most prolific batter... RF Glen Nance led in homers with 28, but batted only .211 with 78 RBIs and scored 84 runs.

After winning two straight RU South flags in 2018 and 2019, the Claxton Diamonds have floundered in the second division the last two years... this season manager Stacy Engel's Diamonds were fifth, 16 games off the pace... bad pitching is holding Claxton down... they rank 30th with a 4.43 team ERA... offensively the Diamonds hold their own with a .261 BA (10th), 718 runs (13th) and 158 home runs (4th)... LF George McKay hit .290 with 20 home runs, 77 RBIs and 94 runs scored... RF K. C. Moerdijk topped the team with 33 roundtrippers, 77 RBIs and 105 runs, but batted only .217... C Allen Lemay chipped in with a .285 BA, 25 dingers, 76 RBIs and scored 80 times... 3B Chris Cummings contributed a .305 average, 14 home runs, 67 RBIs and 62 runs and 1B Mike Luzzatti led the club with a .318 BA and 14 homers... on the hill 41-year-old Kaz Hayagawa led with a 15-14 mark, but compiled a high 4.42 ERA... closer Tony Haverkamp was a strong closer with a 7-4 record, 21 saves and a fine 1.79 ERA.

For the fifth year in a row Marty Pedroza's Belair Beach Sunbirds found themselves perched in the second division 16 games behind and in sixth place... The Birds are not much with the bats (.244 BA/29th), but decent on the mound with a 3.65 team ERA (14th), sparked by the phenomenal rookie left-hander Dan Marconi (22-13 3.29) and veteran Denny Whitaker (15-15 2.98)... number three starter Rik Flippen did well with a solid 3.22 ERA, but wound up with a 14-17 record... RF Carlos Gomez (.289/25 HR/89 RBI/84 R) and LF Ray Pelligrini (.264/28/81/68 R) were the Sunbirds most productive position players.

McGraw Johnson suffered another poor year in Waleska with a seventh-place finish... the Westerners were 27 games in back of winning Grand City... they hit for a decent average (.265-5th), but didn't score well (20th-tied)... in the pitching department Waleska is only average with a 3.77 team ERA (18th)... two players pretty much are the whole offense... superb CF Roy Hobbs (.347/40/114/109) had another great season and won his second batting crown... 1B Grant Betzer (.300/8 HR/79 RBI/83 R) had a pretty good year... Chet McNeil (13-15 3.97), Sammy Grimaldi (13-18 3.70) and Doug Watts (9-27 3.61) are quality arms that go deep in the game, but get poor run support... Marv Cook (6-6) does well in the closing spot with 21 saves and a 2.84 ERA.

Ron Armstrong had a tough time in his rookie year as manager of the San Dimas Rancheros... they plunged from fourth last year to out of sight into the RU South division basement this season, trailing by 31 games... the Rancheros ranked lowly with a .240 BA (31st), 31st in scoring, 29th in homers and 28th with a 4.39 team ERA... Shannon White (16-17 2.93) was a fine starter and vet bullpen ace Raul Marroquin (4-5) did his job with 26 saves and a 1.70 ERA... 1B Jimmy Kuhn (.268/12 HR/60 RBI/90 R) and CF Andre Drexel (.278/15 HR/72 RBI/62 R) were the best bats.

03-03-2011, 05:46 PM	#2389
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,896	*The Islandian Times* Monday, September 20, 2021 2021 Ruthlandian South Final Recap Cybercats Dethrone Pro Cup Crushers The defending Pro Cup champs won't be back this year. The Grand City Cybercats made sure of that when they took the Ruthlandian South crown. The Cybercats only had a narrow one-game lead over the Crystal Lake Crushers at mid-season and two-game ahead of the amazing St. John Crusaders, who were in the division basement last year... Grand City gradually pulled away in the second half. St. John wound up in second place, beaten by 8 games. Crystal Lake came in 10 games back in third place, deadlocked with the Valka Blackhawks. They were the only clubs over the .500 mark in the division. Grand City has steadily improved in recent years, going from fourth in 2018 to third, second and now first place in the RU South this year... Grand City was the best-hitting and top-scoring team in the division with a .265 BA (4th) and 755 runs (6th)... this was the key to victory... coupled with a better-than-average 3.59 team ERA (13th), it enabled Wade Joslin's Cybercats to beat out St. John and Crystal Lake, who had superior pitching, but no bats... leading the way were RF Nick Baldini (.302/15 HR/79 RBI/105 R), 3B Jug Slavin (.278/11 HR/57 RBI/102 R) and 2B Jim Mellencamp (.281/4 HR/61 RBI/82 R)... LF Gene Bridges (.249) paced them with 84 RBIs and C Woodrow Mason (.255) topped the club in homers with 20... 25-year-old rookie southpaw Clint Brewer (21-9 2.66) had a brilliant first season and was the team's MVP... Brent Sturgis (15-8 3.88), Randy Andrews (14-13 3.86) and Jimbo Stearns (14-17 3.27) gave Joslin quite a few quality starts this year... and closer Ralph Teague (3-5) saved 27 games and put up a solid 2.64 ERA... Grand City heads into the Pro Cup playoffs underdogs to the other three division champions, but don't count them out too quickly... it was just a year ago that the unheralded Crystal Lake Crushers won the IPA title. The St. John Crusaders stunned Islandians when they came out of nowhere to finish second this season... new skipper Skinny Kisecawchuk improved them dramatically from a dismal 59-95 record to an 82-72 mark, a 23-game turnaround... the Crusaders ranked 8th in pitching with a 3.40 team ERA, led by Pat Long (19-14 2.76), Teddy Garson (21-11 3.71) and Andre Haglund (16-16 3.17)... rookie closer Jeremy Vincent (5-5) played a huge role in the division title with 30 saves and a 2.31 ERA... at the plate they were ranked lowly in most offensive categories... they batted only .252 (21st) and hit just 88 roundtrippers (31st)... there are no stars in the line-up, just a bunch of journeymen batters like 3B Vinny Sardisco (.275/13 HR/85 RBI) and SS Vinny Teicher (.276/19 HR/77 RBI)... rookie LF Connor Mitchell (.250) tied Teicher with 19 homers and topped the team with 90 runs. Last year was a marvelous season for Baby George and his Crystal Lake Crushers when they surprisingly captured the Pro Cup as a sixth seed... Lack of offense caused the Crushers to dip down to a tie for third this year... Crystal Lake will not get a chance to defend its Pro Cup crown... George has outstanding pitching with a 3.04 team ERA (2nd), but his club just doesn't have much offense with a poor .247 BA (26th)... Duncan Welch (19-15 2.52) and Ralph McCollough (15-10 2.05) should never have lost 25 games between them, especially with their strong ERAs... number three and four starters Vic Bauer (13-13 3.67) and Johnny Sakelaris (15-16 3.78) deserved better, too... former starter Roger Bishop (12-6) turned in a yeoman's job in the bullpen with a 2.69 ERA and 18 saves... 1B Phil Gravelli (.308/20 HR/93 RBI/83 R) and 2B Greg Murphy (.286/13 HR/83 RBI/65 R) shouldered most of the offensive production, but they didn't have much help at all. The Valka Blackhawks are skippered by Andrei Kokk and they were tied with Crystal Lake for third place in the standings, 10 games out... it's the sixth successive first-division finish for them... the Blackhawks have quality pitching with a 3.50 team ERA, pretty good power with 135 homers (14th), but not much when it comes to hitting... Kokk's crew posted a poor .246 team BA (28th) and had difficulty scoring runs (23rd)... Everyone in the starting rotation were solid performers... Arno Vainmaa (16-13 3.19) and Eddie Lasky (16-12 3.55) headed up the list with dependable help from Richie Jost (15-17 3.05) and Kaupo Vershik (11-12 3.29)... Robby Riley (4-7) was the closer... he saved 26 games and registered a 2.32 ERA... CF Tomi Viikberg (.299/22/92/82) was the club most prolific batter... RF Glen Nance led in homers with 28, but batted only .211 with 78 RBIs and scored 84 runs. After winning two straight RU South flags in 2018 and 2019, the Claxton Diamonds have floundered in the second division the last two years... this season manager Stacy Engel's Diamonds were fifth, 16 games off the pace... bad pitching is holding Claxton down... they rank 30th with a 4.43 team ERA... offensively the Diamonds hold their own with a .261 BA (10th), 718 runs (13th) and 158 home runs (4th)... LF George McKay hit .290 with 20 home runs, 77 RBIs and 94 runs scored... RF K. C. Moerdijk topped the team with 33 roundtrippers, 77 RBIs and 105 runs, but batted only .217... C Allen Lemay chipped in with a .285 BA, 25 dingers, 76 RBIs and scored 80 times... 3B Chris Cummings contributed a .305 average, 14 home runs, 67 RBIs and 62 runs and 1B Mike Luzzatti led the club with a .318 BA and 14 homers... on the hill 41-year-old Kaz Hayagawa led with a 15-14 mark, but compiled a high 4.42 ERA... closer Tony Haverkamp was a strong closer with a 7-4 record, 21 saves and a fine 1.79 ERA. For the fifth year in a row Marty Pedroza's Belair Beach Sunbirds found themselves perched in the second division 16 games behind and in sixth place... The Birds are not much with the bats (.244 BA/29th), but decent on the mound with a 3.65 team ERA (14th), sparked by the phenomenal rookie left-hander Dan Marconi (22-13 3.29) and veteran Denny Whitaker (15-15 2.98)... number three starter Rik Flippen did well with a solid 3.22 ERA, but wound up with a 14-17 record... RF Carlos Gomez (.289/25 HR/89 RBI/84 R) and LF Ray Pelligrini (.264/28/81/68 R) were the Sunbirds most productive position players. McGraw Johnson suffered another poor year in Waleska with a seventh-place finish... the Westerners were 27 games in back of winning Grand City... they hit for a decent average (.265-5th), but didn't score well (20th-tied)... in the pitching department Waleska is only average with a 3.77 team ERA (18th)... two players pretty much are the whole offense... superb CF Roy Hobbs (.347/40/114/109) had another great season and won his second batting crown... 1B Grant Betzer (.300/8 HR/79 RBI/83 R) had a pretty good year... Chet McNeil (13-15 3.97), Sammy Grimaldi (13-18 3.70) and Doug Watts (9-27 3.61) are quality arms that go deep in the game, but get poor run support... Marv Cook (6-6) does well in the closing spot with 21 saves and a 2.84 ERA. Ron Armstrong had a tough time in his rookie year as manager of the San Dimas Rancheros... they plunged from fourth last year to out of sight into the RU South division basement this season, trailing by 31 games... the Rancheros ranked lowly with a .240 BA (31st), 31st in scoring, 29th in homers and 28th with a 4.39 team ERA... Shannon White (16-17 2.93) was a fine starter and vet bullpen ace Raul Marroquin (4-5) did his job with 26 saves and a 1.70 ERA... 1B Jimmy Kuhn (.268/12 HR/60 RBI/90 R) and CF Andre Drexel (.278/15 HR/72 RBI/62 R) were the best bats.