[Eugene Church]

The Islandian Times
Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Valmara-Tuckanarra Repeat Forecast
It's Elite 8 Time all across the Islands. Beginning tomorrow afternoon 8 elite squads and division winners will start their quest in search of the Holy Grail in Islandian baseball - the Pro Cup. The Islandian Times released its annual Pro Cup poll today and if the pro baseball experts are right, the 2024 IPA Pro Cup will be a repeat of last year's title clash between Tuckanarra and Valmara. The Blue Jays got the best of the Vipers in a six-game set and are favored to do it again. But they each will have to dispose of several pretty fair teams to get there. Upsets are not a rarity in Pro Cup circles. Top-seeded Tuckanarra will open at home against the eighth-seeded Kenwood Wildcats. Number-two seed Valmara and the seventh-seeded Waleska Westerners will clash on the Vipers home field. Fourth-seeded Sugar Valley will slug it out at home with the Middlefield Roosters, the sixth seed. Number-five seed Arroyo Grande will entertain third-seeded White River in another match-up between heavy-hitting teams.

By the Numbers:
Best Record - Valmara 97-57 (1st)
Best Team BA - Arroyo Grande .269 (1st)
Most Runs - Arroyo Grande 795 (1st)
Most Home Runs - Middlefield 211 (1st)
Best Team ERA - Tuckanarra 2.85 (1st)
Best Starters ERA - Tuckanarra 3.03 (2nd)
Best Bullpen ERA - Kenwood 1.98 (2nd)
Best Fielding - Valmara .977 FA (2nd-tied)

Worst Record - Middlefield 85-69 (13th)
Worst Team BA - Kenwood .243 (27th)
Fewest Runs - Kenwood 659 (21th)
Fewest Home Runs - Waleska 105 (18th)
Worst Team ERA - Arroyo Grande 3.77 (17th)
Worst Starters ERA - Arroyo Grande 3.71 (18th)
Worst Bullpen ERA - Middlefield 3.52 (25th)
Worst Fielding - Waleska .968 FA (57th)

#1 Seed - Tuckanarra Blue Jays (96-58) Tycobbian Union
Pro Cup champ is even better than last season... the Tucks have brilliant pitching with three super starters and an exceptional bullpen... early this season they lost 20-game winner Dean Peterson (20-11 2.92) with a career-ending injury at age 25... Peterson won the title game last year... the addition of rookie starter Croc Wedgedale (20-8 2.81) greatly eased the loss of Peterson... coupled with Glynn Starr (19-12 2.56) and Quinn Starr (17-17 2.61), this gives manager Carlton "Lefty" Stevens one of the best rotations in the IPA... closer Archie Desmond (6-4) heads up a top-notch bullpen with 33 saves and a 1.80 ERA... the Blue Jays have a solid core of hitters led by star 1B Lynn Starr (.342 BA/29 HR/104 RBI/97 R), along with RF Danny Redd (.274 BA/13 HR/55 RBI/117 R), 3B Koora Nawajuk (.264 B/18 HR/88 RBI/70 R), LF Jeff Johns (.258 BA/21 HR/87 RBI) and SS Narra Gilyinju (.268 BA/21 HR/76 RBI/83 R).

#2 Seed - Valmara Vipers (97-57) Ruthlandian Union
Last year's Pro Cup runner-up, skippered by former IPA and Viper great Jet Kazmarek, 8-time All-Star, .350 lifetime average... best overall IPA record... best defense... two Pro Cup seasoned starters in Clem Carmouche (20-8 2.52) and Billy Ray (20-11 2.93)... fine closer Chris Phillips (5-4) with 34 saves and great 1.01 ERA... good offense led by CF Teddy Szymanski (.333 BA/27 HR/110 RBI/104 R) and LF Sonny Oliver (.299 BA/30 HR/111 RBI/85 R)... key will be number three starter Johnny Vasylenko (21-11 3.97), who labored last year with a poor postseason. He was 0-2 with a 5.28 ERA in 4 starts... lost crucial sixth game.

#3 Seed - White River Rascals (88-66) Tycobbian Union
Mick Cronyn has a well-balanced club with fine pitching and hitting... Pro Cup success depends on star pitcher Jon French (3-3 3.39), who was on the DL most of the season, but came back late with modest success, but nothing like the 16-6 and 1.96 ERA he had in 2023... if he is sharp, the Rascals will be right up there with Tuckanarra and Valmara... the two prime starters Paul Sardini (17-10 2.11) and Ron Hendrix (24-9 2.63) are as good as anybody in the IPA... big shortcoming is the closer... Carl Dreux (5-10 6.96) struggled badly this year and was replaced in late season by Arnie Montel (0-1 2.12)... Cronyn has some real good bats, sparked by superstar Marty Blake (.292 BA/34 HR/89 RBI/92), CF Hal Littleton (.316 BA/11 HR/59 RBI/82 R) and RF Kenneth Kent (.280 BA/18 HR/92 RBI/80 R), plus four others who have hit 10 or more homers.

#4 Seed - Sugar Valley Rattlers (88-66) Ruthlandian Union
Solid offensively with good power, can score runs... strong starting pitching and great bullpen... Nick Moore (20-13 2.70) and Benny McConnell (20-15 3.04) give manager Gibby Bobkins two fine starters... closer Dallas Casey (5-5) heads up an excellent relief corps with 28 saves and a 1.70 ERA... needs some good starts from number-three man Harry Diefendorf (21-11 3.75) to go deep in playoffs... top bats are 2B Jan Kessinger (.335 BA/7 HR/71 RBI/94 R), RF Randall Hawson (.300 BA/37 HR/86 RBI/76 R), 1B Dean Woods (.288 BA/29 HR/95 RBI/79 R) and LF Marty Beckett (.278 BA/30 HR/ 94 RBI/72 R).

#5 Seed - Arroyo Grande Suns (89-66) Tycobbian Union
Cyclone Cobb has the best hitting team in the playoffs and the worst pitching, at least statistically... superstar 1B Rusty Vizcarra had another colossal season with an IPA-leading 54 homers, 161 RBIs and 129 runs, while hitting .341... and he got plenty of help from SS Andy Pearson with 26 roundtrippers, 124 runs, 80 RBIs and a .315 BA and C Gary Troxell with 34 home runs, 95 runs batted in and a .289 average... the Suns also have several other capable bats in the line-up... they hit .269 overall with 187 home runs (2nd) and 795 runs (2nd)... Cobb's pitchers are better than you might think with a 3.77 team ERA... starters Sixto Moreno (24-14 3.00) and Ernie Matthews (20-14 3.48) are very capable... the Suns needs the number three starter to step it up in the postseason... Cesar De Leon (15-10 4.37) and Earl Reilly (13-11 4.06) were off-and-on during the regular season and will have to be better in the playoffs... closer Jason Patrick was somewhat spotty at times with a 7-9 record and 31 saves with a 2.93 ERA.

#6 Seed - Middlefield Roosters (85-69) Ruthlandian Union
The name of the game in Middlefield is home-run power... the Roosters smacked 211 out of the park to top the IPA and they wound up second in scoring with 758 runs... all eight of manager Bailey Norcross's regulars totaled 10 or more homers, paced by 1B Allan Stewart with 53, LF Floyd McClellan with 32 and CF Tom Daniels with 29... Stewart batted .302, drove in 113 runs and scored 108 times... McClellan hit .318 with 99 runs batted in and 90 runs scored... 3B Stu Butterworth chipped in with 19 homers, 86 RBIs, while batting .280 for average... Middlefield only has one quality starter... Frank Dean is the Rooster ace with a 17-12 record and a fine 2.81 ERA, considering he has to pitch in such a small home stadium... Glenn Tackett (14-17 3.10) is wild-and-wooly as the number-two starter... Danny Denver (17-12 3.73) is number three in the rotation

#7 Seed - Waleska Westerneers (91-63) Ruthlandian Union
McGraw Johnson led Waleska to its best season ever with strong pitching and a fairly good offense... the Westerners had four quality starters: Pete Herrmann (21-13 3.04), Chet McNeil (17-10 3.15), Charlie Chan (15-14 3.21) and Sammy Grimaldi (16-15 3.47)... and a wealth of relievers led by closer Jarred Laclair (3-2), who posted 33 saves with a standout 1.55 ERA... most of the offense was supplied by superstar CF Roy Hobbs (.325 BA/32 HR/106 RBI/102 R), 1B Glenn Childress (.305 BA/19 HR/97 RBI/92 R) and C Stu Milligan (.285 BA/9 HR/80 RBI).

#8 Seed - Kenwood Wildcats (90-64) Tycobbian Union
Aaron Hankins noted that "the last time his Wildcats were in the playoffs they were rated the seventh-best team... that was in 2014, the year Kenwood won the Pro Cup... so it's nothing new to be seeded eighth... look at Valmara last year... they were seeded last and almost won it... you still have to play the games to determine the Pro Cup champ... and we've got good pitching this year... I think my Wildcats can compete"... Hankins has two strong starters with Jody Gentry (21-10 2.15) and Thomas Norman (19-15 2.59), plus a superb closer in Glenn Kennedy, who chalked up 26 saves with an extraordinary 0.96 ERA and a 5-2 record... Kenwood's relief corps was the second best in the TU with a 1.98 ERA... RF Babe Hankins (.279 BA/20 HR/81 RBI/80 R) and LF Nicky Carpenter (.299 BA/26 HR/86 RBI/88 R) lead a so-so offense and will need a lot of help for the Wildcats to win the Pro Cup again.