OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - ISLANDIAN PRO ALLIANCE (RUTHLANDIA and TYCOBBIA BASEBALL UNIONS)

Eugene Church · 07-17-2011, 09:48 PM

The Islandian Times
Tuesday, June 24, 2025

2025 Ruthlandian East Mid-Season Recap

5-Team Tussle In RU East, BP Muskies On Top
Belle Plaine has been on the rise in the Ruthlandian East for the last couple of years. This could be the year they make it to the top after a 15-year postseason drought. But it will be quite a task. The Musketeers will have to contend with four other teams that have similar thoughts. At the halfway point Belle Plaine has a 2-game edge over the Marston Nine, 4 over last season's flag winner Sugar Valley, 5 games in front of Beechwood and 7 better than Wynnamac.

The Belle Plaine Musketeers (46-27) are on pace for the best season in the club's history... they have had only 5 winning seasons... but this year manager Dave Torregrossa has a solid club with good hitting and pitching... the Muskies sport a .266 BA (4th), score well (4th) and boast a pretty mound corps with a 3.36 team ERA (13th)... top pitchers are Mitch Graves (10-4 3.68), Rick Lafleur (9-5 3.20), Lucien Record (10-5 4.03) and Johnny Davenport (6-7 3.07)... Belle Plaine has some talented relievers with an overall 2.45 ERA (8th)... Torregrossa's line-up card is stacked with quite a few capable hitters: All-Star RF Leon Bourque (.295 BA/9 HR/34 RBI/46 R), All-Star 3B Tyler Verret (.286 BA/12 HR/39 RBI/47 R) and SS Slick Hammill (.282 BA/4 HR/43 RBI/39 R).

Johnny Walters and his Marston Nine (44-29) are poised to move it up a notch from last year's second place finish... despite losing 24-winner Ronald Schmitt (2-0 2.34) for the season in April after 5 starts, Walters still has a super-duper staff from starters to finishers... the Nine has a remarkable 2.76 team ERA (2nd), headed up by the best bullpen in the RU with a 1.40 ERA (1st)... in addition his offense takes care of business, too... Marston is batting .253 (11th) and is 8th in scoring, paced by All-Star 2B George Varsh (.315 BA/6 HR/45 RBI/35 R), All-Star CF Russ Woodward (.277 BA/13 HR/47 RBI/47 R) and SS Danny Church (.288 BA/3 HR/30 RBI/50 R)... on the hill Walters has four dependable starters: Wayne Taylor (9-7 3.13), Anson Thomas (9-8 3.17), Warren Tate (9-9 3.17) and Ron Vincent (5-5 3.57)... his closer is Alex Ehrlich (2-0 0.90), who had posted 11 saves since taking over the role.

Third place Sugar Valley (42-31), last year's Pro Cup runner-up to Tuckanarra, is still a potent ball club and a force to contend with... Gibby Bobkins' Rattlers have plenty of punch in the batting order with a .266 BA (3rd), 65 homers (3rd) and is also third in scoring runs... All-Star SS Jan Kessinger (.363 BA/4 HR/31 RBI/50 R) leads the way with good backup from 1B Dean Woods (.305 BA/16 HR/60 RBI/39 R) and 3B Conan O'Flaherty (.295 BA/4 HR/30 RBI/33 R)... Woods leads the RU with 60 RBIs and Kessinger is the number two hitter with a .363 average... Sugar Valley's pitching has slipped some from last season, but is still good enough to compete... Benny McConnell (9-5 2.73) is the ace of the staff and Dallas Casey (2-3) is still a capable closer with 15 saves and a 2.28 ERA.

The fourth-place Beechwood Bobcats (41-32) are on an 11-year run in the first division and within 5 games of first this season... skipper Bret George only has a fair staff, fair hitting and a lousy bullpen... the Bobcat bats are hitting only .248 (16th), but are 10th in scoring because they go deep occasionally with 65 home runs (3rd)... the overall team ERA is 3.60 (19th), but is a terrible 4.34 (29th) in the bullpen... what is getting them by is three solid starters: Ken DeGraw (10-4 2.61), Frank Mullins (10-7 3.10) and Marty Panko (9-6 3.83)... top offensive performers are 1B Eric Townsend (.295 BA/9 HR/38 RBI/34 R), CF Vic Valenti (.252 BA/11 HR/38 RBI/45 R) and 3B Skipper Smith (.296 BA/4 HR/24 RBI/41 R).

Matt Donnelly's Wynnamac Sundowners (39-34) are in fifth place in the RU East and trail first place Belle Plaine by 7 games... the Sundowners are similar to Beechwood with three very fine starters: Lon Marshall (12-6 2.85), Jerry Meeks (10-6 2.62) and Jimmy Nichols (7-4 2.65)... but Donnelly has bullpen problems with a 4.22 ERA... Wynnamac is only an average team offensively with a .249 BA (15th), 19th in scoring and 17th in homers with 51... Donnelly's best batters are All-Star LF Lil Hoss Burkhalter (.296 BA/12 HR/47 RBI/40 R), 1B Pete Simmons (.318 BA/2 HR/39 RBI/34 R), 3B Liam Cadbury (.296 BA/7 HR/27 RBI/57 R) and RF Tommy Lambright (.290 BA/10 HR/40 RBI/28 R).

It's been a long time since the downtrodden Cold Creek Catamounts (36-37) have won a pennant, made the playoffs or made any noise in the RU East... they won the division in 2007 and 2012 and have made the playoffs only three times in the team's history... manager Trip Holmes got them started like a ball of fire this season... the Catamounts surprised even themselves with a great April, even leading the league with a 15-8 record, but they soon came back to reality and sixth place at the All-Star break, 10 games back... two rookies gave them the spark they needed... 1B Steve Daniels (.313 BA/8 HR/39 RBI/44 R) and C Damon Klein (.303 BA/4 HR/39 RBI/25 R) have made fine debuts in the IPA... LF Carl Glick (.286 BA/10 HR/36 RBI/49 R) has also been a dependable bat for Holmes... Mike Butler (9-8 3.25) and Jon Howard (8-9 3.49) are Cold Creek's most effective pitchers.

One-time power Eastshore (35-38) with championships four years in succession 2016-2019 and two Pro Cups, no longer has the horses to compete... this season the Elegants are next-to-last in seventh place and 11 games out... Only starter Melvin Key (8-6 2.84) and closer Milt Campbell (2-3 1.71) remain from the title seasons... manager Killer Brewster had run out of talent in Eastshore.

The last-place Elnora All-Stars (34-39) came out of nowhere and shined for one year in 2023 with a stunning 98-56 mark, but then returned to sudden oblivion and the bottom rungs of the division for the last two seasons... manager Sam Malone still has most of the players from the title year, but they are not producing like they did that season... two of his starters Mario Colon and Hal Wilkerson have really fallen on hard times... Colon went from 25-11 to 15-16 last year and to 3-12 this year with an atrocious 7.45 ERA... Wilkerson went from 16-14 in 2023 to 4-17 last year... this season Wilkerson (1-0 1.17) went down to injury in his first start and will miss the season... there are some notable exceptions like starters Lucien Vashon (8-8 1.79), who made the RU All-Star squad, and Will Hamilton (8-5 2.60), both of whom have pitched well the last two years... 1B Benny Cortazzo (.291 BA/11 HR/45 RBI/36 R) is Elnora's only decent hitter.

RU East Outlook:
The fans in the RU East can look forward to a great second half with at least four clubs fighting down-to-the-wire in a tightly-bunched pennant chase... give the edge to experience: Sugar Valley will win in the end, edging out Marston... third place will go to Belle Plaine... the Muskies don't have the pitching to stay in the hunt the whole season... and Wynnamac will take the fourth spot... the Sundowners bullpen will kill them... Beechwood will slip to fifth place... Elnora will escape the cellar and climb to sixth because of its good pitching... Cold Creek will end up seventh and Eastshore is doomed to the cellar.

07-17-2011, 09:48 PM	#2630
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,998	*The Islandian Times* Tuesday, June 24, 2025 2025 Ruthlandian East Mid-Season Recap 5-Team Tussle In RU East, BP Muskies On Top Belle Plaine has been on the rise in the Ruthlandian East for the last couple of years. This could be the year they make it to the top after a 15-year postseason drought. But it will be quite a task. The Musketeers will have to contend with four other teams that have similar thoughts. At the halfway point Belle Plaine has a 2-game edge over the Marston Nine, 4 over last season's flag winner Sugar Valley, 5 games in front of Beechwood and 7 better than Wynnamac. The Belle Plaine Musketeers (46-27) are on pace for the best season in the club's history... they have had only 5 winning seasons... but this year manager Dave Torregrossa has a solid club with good hitting and pitching... the Muskies sport a .266 BA (4th), score well (4th) and boast a pretty mound corps with a 3.36 team ERA (13th)... top pitchers are Mitch Graves (10-4 3.68), Rick Lafleur (9-5 3.20), Lucien Record (10-5 4.03) and Johnny Davenport (6-7 3.07)... Belle Plaine has some talented relievers with an overall 2.45 ERA (8th)... Torregrossa's line-up card is stacked with quite a few capable hitters: All-Star RF Leon Bourque (.295 BA/9 HR/34 RBI/46 R), All-Star 3B Tyler Verret (.286 BA/12 HR/39 RBI/47 R) and SS Slick Hammill (.282 BA/4 HR/43 RBI/39 R). Johnny Walters and his Marston Nine (44-29) are poised to move it up a notch from last year's second place finish... despite losing 24-winner Ronald Schmitt (2-0 2.34) for the season in April after 5 starts, Walters still has a super-duper staff from starters to finishers... the Nine has a remarkable 2.76 team ERA (2nd), headed up by the best bullpen in the RU with a 1.40 ERA (1st)... in addition his offense takes care of business, too... Marston is batting .253 (11th) and is 8th in scoring, paced by All-Star 2B George Varsh (.315 BA/6 HR/45 RBI/35 R), All-Star CF Russ Woodward (.277 BA/13 HR/47 RBI/47 R) and SS Danny Church (.288 BA/3 HR/30 RBI/50 R)... on the hill Walters has four dependable starters: Wayne Taylor (9-7 3.13), Anson Thomas (9-8 3.17), Warren Tate (9-9 3.17) and Ron Vincent (5-5 3.57)... his closer is Alex Ehrlich (2-0 0.90), who had posted 11 saves since taking over the role. Third place Sugar Valley (42-31), last year's Pro Cup runner-up to Tuckanarra, is still a potent ball club and a force to contend with... Gibby Bobkins' Rattlers have plenty of punch in the batting order with a .266 BA (3rd), 65 homers (3rd) and is also third in scoring runs... All-Star SS Jan Kessinger (.363 BA/4 HR/31 RBI/50 R) leads the way with good backup from 1B Dean Woods (.305 BA/16 HR/60 RBI/39 R) and 3B Conan O'Flaherty (.295 BA/4 HR/30 RBI/33 R)... Woods leads the RU with 60 RBIs and Kessinger is the number two hitter with a .363 average... Sugar Valley's pitching has slipped some from last season, but is still good enough to compete... Benny McConnell (9-5 2.73) is the ace of the staff and Dallas Casey (2-3) is still a capable closer with 15 saves and a 2.28 ERA. The fourth-place Beechwood Bobcats (41-32) are on an 11-year run in the first division and within 5 games of first this season... skipper Bret George only has a fair staff, fair hitting and a lousy bullpen... the Bobcat bats are hitting only .248 (16th), but are 10th in scoring because they go deep occasionally with 65 home runs (3rd)... the overall team ERA is 3.60 (19th), but is a terrible 4.34 (29th) in the bullpen... what is getting them by is three solid starters: Ken DeGraw (10-4 2.61), Frank Mullins (10-7 3.10) and Marty Panko (9-6 3.83)... top offensive performers are 1B Eric Townsend (.295 BA/9 HR/38 RBI/34 R), CF Vic Valenti (.252 BA/11 HR/38 RBI/45 R) and 3B Skipper Smith (.296 BA/4 HR/24 RBI/41 R). Matt Donnelly's Wynnamac Sundowners (39-34) are in fifth place in the RU East and trail first place Belle Plaine by 7 games... the Sundowners are similar to Beechwood with three very fine starters: Lon Marshall (12-6 2.85), Jerry Meeks (10-6 2.62) and Jimmy Nichols (7-4 2.65)... but Donnelly has bullpen problems with a 4.22 ERA... Wynnamac is only an average team offensively with a .249 BA (15th), 19th in scoring and 17th in homers with 51... Donnelly's best batters are All-Star LF Lil Hoss Burkhalter (.296 BA/12 HR/47 RBI/40 R), 1B Pete Simmons (.318 BA/2 HR/39 RBI/34 R), 3B Liam Cadbury (.296 BA/7 HR/27 RBI/57 R) and RF Tommy Lambright (.290 BA/10 HR/40 RBI/28 R). It's been a long time since the downtrodden Cold Creek Catamounts (36-37) have won a pennant, made the playoffs or made any noise in the RU East... they won the division in 2007 and 2012 and have made the playoffs only three times in the team's history... manager Trip Holmes got them started like a ball of fire this season... the Catamounts surprised even themselves with a great April, even leading the league with a 15-8 record, but they soon came back to reality and sixth place at the All-Star break, 10 games back... two rookies gave them the spark they needed... 1B Steve Daniels (.313 BA/8 HR/39 RBI/44 R) and C Damon Klein (.303 BA/4 HR/39 RBI/25 R) have made fine debuts in the IPA... LF Carl Glick (.286 BA/10 HR/36 RBI/49 R) has also been a dependable bat for Holmes... Mike Butler (9-8 3.25) and Jon Howard (8-9 3.49) are Cold Creek's most effective pitchers. One-time power Eastshore (35-38) with championships four years in succession 2016-2019 and two Pro Cups, no longer has the horses to compete... this season the Elegants are next-to-last in seventh place and 11 games out... Only starter Melvin Key (8-6 2.84) and closer Milt Campbell (2-3 1.71) remain from the title seasons... manager Killer Brewster had run out of talent in Eastshore. The last-place Elnora All-Stars (34-39) came out of nowhere and shined for one year in 2023 with a stunning 98-56 mark, but then returned to sudden oblivion and the bottom rungs of the division for the last two seasons... manager Sam Malone still has most of the players from the title year, but they are not producing like they did that season... two of his starters Mario Colon and Hal Wilkerson have really fallen on hard times... Colon went from 25-11 to 15-16 last year and to 3-12 this year with an atrocious 7.45 ERA... Wilkerson went from 16-14 in 2023 to 4-17 last year... this season Wilkerson (1-0 1.17) went down to injury in his first start and will miss the season... there are some notable exceptions like starters Lucien Vashon (8-8 1.79), who made the RU All-Star squad, and Will Hamilton (8-5 2.60), both of whom have pitched well the last two years... 1B Benny Cortazzo (.291 BA/11 HR/45 RBI/36 R) is Elnora's only decent hitter. RU East Outlook: The fans in the RU East can look forward to a great second half with at least four clubs fighting down-to-the-wire in a tightly-bunched pennant chase... give the edge to experience: Sugar Valley will win in the end, edging out Marston... third place will go to Belle Plaine... the Muskies don't have the pitching to stay in the hunt the whole season... and Wynnamac will take the fourth spot... the Sundowners bullpen will kill them... Beechwood will slip to fifth place... Elnora will escape the cellar and climb to sixth because of its good pitching... Cold Creek will end up seventh and Eastshore is doomed to the cellar. Last edited by Eugene Church; 07-18-2011 at 01:05 AM.