|
The Islandian Times
Monday, September 22, 2025
2025 Tycobbian South Final Recap
Ninjas Dethrone Suns In TU South
Four teams contested most of the year for the Tycobbian South... the Ginza Ninjas took charge in July and prevailed by one game over the tough Turon Typhoons, 5 better than last year's champ Arroyo Grande Suns and 6 up on the Southport Sun Sox... the Ninjas ran off a terrific 19-10 July, while the other three dipped below .500 for the month... Ginza then held off last-minute challenges to capture the division flag in one of the strongest divisions in the IPA... 5 clubs finished above .500 and 2 more barely missed winning seasons with 76-78 marks... This was the Ninjas second title in the last three years.
1st - Ginza Ninjas (93-61)... was second last season, lost by a game in a playoff to Arroyo Grande... pitching (2.98 ERA) and power (146 HR) won it for manager Huroko Uchiyama... top pitchers were All-Star Daniel Ferguson (21-12 1.97), Yutaka Yoshida (20-12 2.82) and Ron Koehler (16-13 3.08)... and number four Yuko Takata (11-11 3.85) was also effective... offense was led by All-Stars 1B Johnny O'Rorke (.309/31/97/89) and C Crash Davis (.310/14/64/82).
2nd - Turon Typhoons (92-62)... one game behind Ninjas... up from fifth last year (75-79)... good turnaround season for manager Whitey Richburn... strong pitching by All-Star Nicky Engstrom (20-9 2.60) and Sal Quattrone (18-11 2.85) led the way... Engstrom has been brilliant in his 16 seasons with a 340-158 record with a remarkable lifetime 2.29 ERA... 36-year-old Engstrom will be gunning for Cody Burg's IPA record of 369 victories in the next two years... Quattrone is only 22 with 2 years' experience... Bobby Byrd (15-14 3.59) was a good number three starter... Turon may have found a closer in the second half of the year... Gil Donahue (6-4 2.19) saved 15 games after taking over for vet Merle Studebaker (7-7 3.36)... the Typhoons played very well down the stretch, but fell a game short... 1B Michael Page carried the offense with 31 homers, 90 runs batted in and 80 runs scored... Page batted .266 for average... he didn't have much help.
3rd - Arroyo Grande Suns (88-66)... 5 GB... defending division champ... 89-66 last season... high-powered offense... led TU with .277 BA and 170 homers... top-scoring team, too... leading the attack were All-Stars SS Andy Pearson (.343/18/74/97) and 1B Rusty Vizcarra (.296/33/130/98)... Vizcarra paced the IPA in RBIs... manager Cyclone Cobb has a wealth of quality bats in his batting order: RF Buddy Bechtel (.292/30/93/97), LF Eduardo Villanueva (.315/23/85/123) and C Gary Troxell (.257/34/93/76)... lack of pitching cost them the crown this year (4.15 ERA-26th)... much of the pitching problem is caused by the short fences in Capet Stadium... the Suns perform much better on the road... they were 41-36 at home and 47-30 out of town... top pitchers were Ernie Matthews (20-17 4.00), Earl O'Reilly (19-9 4.31), Cesar De Leon (19-17 4.25) and Ricky Lemos (17-11 4.78)... closer Steve Sampson (2-3) did his job very well with 34 saves and an impressive 1.93 ERA.
4th - Southport Sun Sox (87-67)... 6 games out... much-improved pitching this year... wound up 7th last season (67-87)... Charley Oscar has three fine starters and a standout closer... 18-year-old All-Star Don Pascioni (18-13 2.94) had a super freshman season... 22-year-old Wiley Wheeler was sensational with a 24-11 record and 3.22 ERA... 6-year vet Al Laclair was solid, too, with a 14-11 mark and 3.28 ERA... in the bullpen All-Star Ronnie Galus posted a 10-3 record with a super 1.00 ERA and he racked up 27 saves... Southport lacked offense, but did find a very promising rookie RF Lorne Evans, who joined the club in July and became a regular by mid-month... Evans slammed 15 homers with 52 RBIs, while batting .311 in 79 games... 23-year-old 3B Timmy Gilbert performed well with a team-high .314 BA and 82 runs.
5th - Colchester Elites (78-76)... 15 games behind... was sixth last year (73-81)... Uncle Robbie Wilbertson needs some bats to contend in the TU South... his mound corps is looking good with Mac Flowers (15-14 2.88), Brian Britt (20-11 3.87) and Brandy Snow (14-20 3.28)... however Flowers went down to injury in September and will be out 7 months... the Elites have a good closer in Cholly Burdette (3-5), who chalked up 23 saves and a fine 1.66 ERA... Colchester's only reliable bats were 1B Steve Burns (.337/17/93/79) and CF Terry Thorsen (.263/17/79/81).
6th tied - San Alejo Montaneros (76-78)... 17 games behind... finished last with a 62-92 record in 2024... the Monties are managed by Alberto Herrera... his club improved on the mound and at the plate this year... San Alejo has good power with 151 home runs (5th) and scores well (4th)... they don't hit well with a .250 BA (25th), but are first in walks... pitching is average with a 3.77 team ERA (16th)... rookie John Kaltenbach (20-11 2.96) led the hill corps with help from Jose Dominguez (17-10 3.86) and Vet Trini Corona (16-17 3.72)... closer Konrad Koch (4-7) had a fine season with 33 saves and a 1.28 ERA... vets RF Lou Browning (.277/26/73/101) and LF Warren Love (.279/31/106/89) were Herrera's top producers... Browning led the IPA with 155 walks, while Love chipped in 105 more... rookie CF Vince Barbieri showed good promise with 21 homers and 75 RBIs in 96 starts... Barbieri batted .265.
6th tied - Summerland Sunsets (76-78)... 17 GB... was third last season (81-73)... manager Will Hackett was very disappointed this year as he thought his Sunsets would be contenders... not so... 19-game winner Sparky DeWey (19-12 3.62) fizzled this year with a 6-8 mark and a 5.28 ERA and lost his roster spot... and Jason Castille dipped from 18-17 to 15-21 this season... however Hackett had a 20-game winner... James Beckworth blossomed this year with a 21-9 record and a 3.21 ERA... Willie Baldwin (6-6 3.16) joined Summerland in late July in a trade with pitching-rich Crystal Lake of the RU... Overall Baldwin was 20-13 with a 3.05 ERA... Hackett is optimistic about the future with a solid core of hitters: 1B Mandu Purula (.334/22/86/94), SS Greg Proctor (.292/21/119/65) and All-Star CF Clell Renshaw (.263/11/68/96)... C Archie Shanahan drove in 90 runs and hit 13 home runs, but batted only .242.
8th - Cape Coral Hurricanes (55-99)... 38 GB... 4th last year (80-74)... it was a terrible season for Huggy Miller's Hurricanes... last season they had broken a string of five straight years in seventh place and looked forward to 2025... but his bats went on the fritz and the pitching was the pits... the 'Canes batted only .234 (32nd), were near the bottom in homers (29th) and last in runs scored... the starting rotation was atrocious with a 4.55 ERA (27th)... only one starter Karl Zenger (14-20 2.95) had a good year... the other starters' ERAs were sky-high at 4.35, 4.90 and 5.79... however the bullpen was fine, led by Flapper Bird, who totaled 24 saves with an excellent 1.45 ERA, but an 0-5 record... offense was almost non-existent... 1B Neil Ribbens hit .311 with 16 homers, but had only 59 RBIs... no one else came close to his numbers.
|