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The Islandian Times
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
2024 Ruthlandian East Final Recap
SV Rattlers Outdistance Marston and BP For RU East Flag
Six teams were in the running at the season's halfway point, but it soon settled down to a three-team fight between the Sugar Valley Rattlers, Marston Nine and Belle Plaine Musketeers... The Rattlers took charge of the Ruthlandian East the last six weeks and beat the Nine by 5 games and the Muskies by 7 with Beechwood coming in fourth 14 games out... last year's division winner Elnora had a dismal year and finished out of the running in seventh place.
Gibby Bobkins coupled strong pitching and solid hitting to capture Sugar Valley's (88-66) first flag in four years and its seventh in history... the Rattlers had three 20-game winners: Nick Moore (20-13 2.70), Benny McConnell (20-15 3.04) and Harry Diefendorf (21-11 3.75)... Bobkins had plenty of bats, too, with RF Randell Hawson (.300 BA/37 HR/85 RBI), 2B Jan Kessinger (.335 BA/7 HR/71 RBI/94 R), 1B Dean Woods (.288 BA/29 HR/95 RBI) and LF Marty Beckett (.278 BA/30 HR/94 RBI)... they were second in the RU with 162 home runs... Sugar Valley is solid on defense with a .975 FA (6th-tied).
The runner-up Marston Nine (83-71), skippered by Johnny Walters, moved up from deep in the second division this year... the Nine were seventh last season and in the basement two years ago... they were led at the plate by long-time star CF Russ Woodward (.291 BA/26 HR/102 RBI/97 R)... in his 13th season Woodward reached the 400-homer milestone and is a career .324 hitter... 1B Mel Hawkins (.264 BA/31 HR/110 RBI/95 R) put up some fine numbers, too... also helping out were LF Carlton Curtis (.316 BA/15 HR/62 RBI/84 R) and SS Danny Church (.296 BA/5 HR/55 RBI/90 R)... Church is 44, has 3300 hits and a .277 BA after 24 seasons... Marston had four quality starters in its rotation with Ronald Schmitt (24-11 2.67), Anson Thomas (16-13 3.38), Wayne Taylor (17-16 3.81) and Warren Tate (16-17 3.89)... closer John Wilson was inconsistent with a 5-10 record and a 3.49 ERA, but he saved 36 games.
The Belle Plaine Musketeers (81-73) have been exiled to the division doldrums since 2014... manager Dave Torregrossa finally had some success and climbed up to the first division, ending up in third place, 7 games out of first... Johnny Davenport (23-13 2.61) was outstanding as he won 20 games for the second successive season... Mitch Graves (17-17) also a steady starter for the Muskies... closer Tiny Ladrieux (3-5) saved 24 games and posted a fine 2.33 ERA... 6-time All-Star SS Slick Hammill (.313 BA/21 HR/87 RBI/81 R), RF Leon Bourque (.285 BA/29 HR/87 RBI/106 R) and 3B Tyler Verret (.283 BA/18 HR/95 RBI/83 R) led the club at bat.
The other five teams finished with losing records... after two years in the runner-up position, the Beechwood Bobcats (74-80) came in fourth and trailed Sugar Valley by 14... manager Bret George has a good starting foursome led by Ken DeGraw (20-15 2.83)... Bobcat offense was spotty this year... IPA icon CF Vic Valenti again led the club, but he only had a modest year for the 3-time Golden Bat winner with a .292 BA, 21 HR, 96 RBIs and 82 runs... Valenti is a lifetime .329 batter... RF Jojo Davis hit .343 with 10 homers, but only drove in 62 runs and scored 69... 1B Eric Townsend walloped 22 out of the park, while hitting .262 and driving in 89 runs... but Townsend did most of it for LaGrange... he came over from the Sports in an August trade... the Bobcats stood out on defense with a .977 FA (2nd-tied).
The Wynnamac Sundowners (72-82) were looking good, tied for first with Eastshore at the All-Star game... many experts thought they might be the team to beat with its standout pitching.. however Matt Donnelly's Sundowners fizzled in the second half and dropped to fifth place, 16 games back, despite a group of fine starters... Lon Marshall (15-20 2.53) and Jason Meeks (14-16 2.71) were both terrific, but suffered greatly from a poor offense... Jimmy Nichols (11-11 3.42) and Brit Webber (10-15 3.62) were reliable starters, too... Jim Horton (6-4) had a fine season as the closer with 29 saves and a 2.64 ERA... but only 3B Dorak Aranda was productive at the plate with 23 homers and 94 RBIs... Aranda hit for a .287 BA... as a team Wynnamac batted only .245 (20th) and were tied for 27th in scoring runs.
The Eastshore Elegants (68-86) also went into a tailspin after being tied for the RU East lead at mid-season... Killer Brewster's Elegants fell down to a sixth-place tie with Elnora and were 20 games off the pace... Melvin Key (19-15 3.47) led the pitchers, while 2B Gerry Garner (.280 BA/27 HR/84 RBI/80 R) and LF Larry Lowe (.293 BA/11 HR/39 RBI/101 R) topped them at the plate.
Last year Elnora won 98 games, more than anyone in the IPA... but that changed drastically this season... Lousy hitting doomed the Elnora All-Stars (68-86) to a sixth-place finish... Sam Malone's All-Stars batted a paltry .241 (28th) and were 30th in scoring... only RF Travis Glass (.291 BA/26 HR/94 RBI/93 R), 1B Benny Cortazzo (.291 BA/18 HR/76 RBI) and 3B Jeff Matthews (.280 BA/11 HR/71 RBI/74 R) put up respectable numbers... for the most part the pitchers held up their end of the bargain with a very good 3.14 team ERA (3rd)... Will Hamilton (16-17 2.24) was superb... Lucien Vachon (16-21 2.80) was strong... and Mario Colon (15-16 3.29) was solid... only Hal Wilkerson (4-17 4.17) faltered... in the bullpen, closer Bud Foster (6-5) compiled an impressive 2.03 ERA and notched 22 saves.
It was another dismal year for the Cold Creek Catamounts (58-96) and manager Trip Holmes... for the fourth time in six seasons the Catamounts were last in the RU East, trailing by 30 games... terrible hitting was the reason... they hit only .228 (32nd) and were last in scoring, too... LF Carl Glick was the only reliable bat with a .290 BA, 20 homers, 84 RBIs and 82 runs scored... and Jon Howard (12-22 3.15) was the only reliable pitcher.
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