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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 19, 2028
2028 Ruthlandian North Final Recap
Valmara Wins Another RU North Crown
Winning pennants is nothing new to the vaunted Valmara Vipers, who swept to a third successive Ruthlandian North pennant... the Vipers made it 5 division crowns in the last 6 seasons, but it wasn't easy this time around... the unlikely challenger was the LaGrange Sports... the Sports were a last-place team last season, but greatly improved to second place this season... Valmara just barely beat them back by a slim 2 games.
First place Valmara (90-64), skippered by Jet Kazmarek, was sparked by CF Teddy Szymanski (.309/31/116/97), All-Star C Floyd Randolph (.260/36/105/88), LF Sonny Oliver (.292/21/86/92) and 2B Alec Laclerc (.279/1/53/109)... not very strong on the mound, the Vipers best hurler was Carroll Cain (21-7/3.33)... Teddy Lem (19-14/4.42) and Billy Ray (19-17/4.77) chalked up a lot of wins, but had high ERAs.
The surprise team in the league was the LaGrange Sports (88-66), who almost pulled off a great upset with some strong starters... leading manager Quincy Peterson's rotation was Niles Wooten (19-10/2.88) and Mike York (18-13/3.04)... Alex Gillespie (17-14/3.34) was a solid starter, too... the Sports had the second-best team ERA with a 3.32 ERA... at the plate they were average with a .260 BA and 130 homers, led by RF Russell Watkins (.306/26/104/99), 1B Chris Charbonnier (.306/30/84/79) and 3B Mitch Pope (.261/22/92/68).
No one else was close in the RU North... third place Ranford (73-81) finished 17 games behind Valmara... Jimmy Travis (19-11/3.59) was skipper Rick Fargnoli's top pitcher... All-Star C Kyle Hunt (.312/17/80/91) paced the Bulls offense with help from 1B Elton Graff (.297/18/94/86), RF Richard Lott (.284/18/71/94), SS Terry Kerr (.290/16/79/74) and CF Thomas Strickland (.276/18/80/53).
Fourth in the RU North standings were the Far Mountain Redhawks (71-83)... Alex Groveland had fairly good pitching headed up by Jakob Wagner (17-15/2.59)... RF Roy Dristoll (.280/21/83/67) was the most reliable bat.
The Ancona Red Elephants (70-84) slumped badly this year and fell to fifth place, 20 games out... Manny Mickens had pitching woes... only starter Razzy Angelis (16-16/3.66) had a decent season... All-Star closer Kenny Nikas chalked up 21 saves and a terrific 1.17 ERA with a 3-2 record... 36-year-old All-Star LF Kenny Willard sparkled again with a .336 BA, 33 HR, 99 RBI and 111 runs... veterans 1B Alekos Kotas chipped in with 26 HR and 97 RBIs, while batting at a .292 clip... SS Todd Nasso added 34 roundtrippers and 108 RBIs, but batted only .245.
The Taranto Tars (67-87) wound up 23 games off the pace in sixth... manager Tommaso Lazzorda had a mediocre ball club again this year... his Tars have not been in the postseason since 2019 and lacked pitching and hitting... All-Star 2B Greg Murphy was the most productive performer with 19 homers, 93 runs and 63 RBIs... SS Gregg Ross (.251/16/86) and 3B Cody Wilson (.257/22/86/73) also helped out a little.
The seventh-place Kilkenny Cats (63-91) missed the playoffs for the 27th year in a row and trailed by 27 games games... Kevin McPhail had two capable starters in 6-year vet Dave Whitaker (16-17/2.88) and young Dean Harris (15-16/2.93), but little else on the hill... All-Star SS Johnny Gentry tailed off after a good first half... Gentry hit only .254 with 19 homers and 64 RBIs... CF Ronnie Roussell topped the team with a .275 batting average, while hitting 30 homers and driving in 76 runs... 1B Garris Aiken smacked 32 home runs with 75 RBIs and scored 86 runs, but batted just .246.
The Glasco Athletics (59-95) hit with power, but still ended up in the cellar, 31 games back... the A's went deep 184 times (3rd)... manager Charles Darby's top guns were CF Randall Hawson with 41 homers, C Eddie Martin with 31 home runs and 1B Wallace Buchanan with 30... LF Shane Murphy and Buchanan led the club with .308 averages... SS Skippy Shearer collected 19 homers, drove in 83 and hit .279... and RF Warren Steele hit 19 out of the park, while hitting .280... the Glasco pitching corps was pretty pathetic with a 4.83 ERA (29th).
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