[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, June 18, 2030

2030 Tycobbian South Mid-Season Recap

5-Club Ruckus In TU South, 'Canes On Top
Two perennial also-rans are making some noise in the Tycobbian South this season... Cape Coral and San Alejo are challenging two of the division elite, last season winner, the Ginza Ninjas, who have won the title 3 times in 5 years and the Southport Sun Sox, who have won pennants twice in three seasons... at the All-Star hiatus the Cape Coral Hurricanes have chalked up a 3-game advantage over the runner-up San Alejo Montaneros... the 'Canes haven't contested for 15 seasons and haven't made the playoffs since 2015... the Monties won pennants the first two years in the IPA (2002-2003) and haven't grace the postseason since... Southport is third and trails by 4 games... Colchester is fourth and 5 games back... defending champ Ginza is 6 games behind in fifth... the soothsayers see a 5-team dogfight before the dust settles in the TU South.

First place Cape Coral moved up to fourth and the first division last year and now are a solid contender... the Hurricanes are hitting .282 (6th), but don't possess much power... they have only 51 homers (28th) and are tied for 14th in scoring... in team ERA they are 14th with a 3.66 ERA... and strong on defense with a .979 FA... only East Point of the TU East has won more games... the Panthers are 46-25, while the Hurricanes are 44-27... Cape Coral has a bevy of good bats with Jan Krammer (.325 BA/8 HR), Steve Fitzgerald (.323 BA/7 HR), Tonio Libertore (.318/1 HR), Sandy Coburn (.304 BA/3 HR) and Dan Isenberg (.284 BA/9 HR)... on the hill Kris Bogaard (11-5/3.42) and Randy Burns (11-7/3.15) stand out... Curt Garrett (3-3/2.84/11 saves) has impressed in the bullpen.

San Alejo has come out of nowhere, climbing up from seventh in 2029 to second place this year... greatly improved pitching and greatly improved batting has done it... the Montaneros are one of the big surprises in the IPA with a 3.24 team ERA (3rd) and a .275 BA (8th) with 86 homers (2nd)... top mound performers are Johnny Brown (7-7/2.64), taken in free agency from Rolling Hills of the TU West, John Kaltenbach (7-7/3.88) and Juan Navarro (7-3/3.83)... spot starter/reliever Roland Oates (8-3/2.50) had been outstanding, too... heading up the bullpen are Clete Lawson (2-3/1.14) and Herb Stewart (3-1/1.99/10 saves)... top batters are Bubby Blackwell (.338 BA/7 HR), Mark Delaney (.314 BA/12 HR), Ramon Escabedo (.291 BA/12 HR) and Orlando Ybarra (.281 BA/14 HR)... San Alejo is a rising power with some very talented players... don't seem to be a one-year wonder.

The Southport Sun Sox won the division flags in 2027 and 2028 and came in second last year... the third place Sun Sox are still very much in the hunt, only 4 games in back of Cape Coral, featuring good bats with power, pitching and excellent defense... Southport is batting .272 (12th), ranks 11th in scoring with 327 runs and leads in home runs with 88, best in the IPA... pitching-wise the team ERA is 3.35 (4th)... defensively they have a fine .982 FA... the Sun Sox have an impressive starting foursome: Don Pascioni (8-6/3.38), Mel Underwood (8-6/3.18), Bob Bondy (9-8/3.11) and Ronnie Galus (6-3/3.21)... bullpen ace is Tomas Taviero (3-1/1.82/7 saves)... IPA superstar and All-Star Lorne Evans is having a fantastic season with a.389 BA, 30 homers, 70 RBIs and 60 runs scored... Evans could be headed for a Triple Crown... he leads the IPA in BA, RBIs, runs and homers... Evans is tied for the hits' lead with Tuckanarra's Jed Turchin... But Evans is not the whole show... he gets plenty of support from Kyle Ross (.319 BA/15 HR), Rick Cabrini (.286 BA/6 HR) and Sam Cousins (.307 BA/8 HR)... Southport is a strong contender for the TU South pennant... and maybe for the Pro Cup, too.

It's been 24 years since the Colchester Elites were in the Pro Cup playoffs... but they have been in the TU South first division the previous four seasons, almost winning the flag in 2026, 2027 and coming close in 2028... the Elites are fourth this year and just 5 games off the pace... they are the best-scoring club in the TU with 373 runs (1st), 5th in roundtrippers (82) and are hitting at a .275 clip (7th)... the Elites line-up card ranks with the best in the IPA with All-Star Steve Burns (.370 BA/15 HR), Jim Lewellan (.252 BA/20 HR), Joel Collins (.323 BA/0 HR), Carlos Manuel (.325 BA/10 HR) and All-Star Cleve Belton (.293 BA/18 HR)... Colchester is decent on the mound with a 3.69 team ERA (15th)... Mike Kierkegaard (8-4/3.11), Mac Flowers (9-5/3.38) and Mackie McGinnity (8-6/3.91) are all capable starters... only missing link is a top-notch bullpen (3.73 ERA/15th).

The Ginza Ninjas may be in fifth place and 6 games out of first, but the defending division champion will have to be reckoned with before the pennant is decided... they hit very well with a .289 BA (2nd), score well (6th) and play very good defense (.978 FA)... but they are only average with a 3.76 team ERA (18th) and lack firepower with only 56 HRs (23rd-tied)... the Ninjas are led at the plate by Taro Mori (.356 BA/2 HR), All-Star Cotton Cornwall (.326 BA/15 HR), Johnny O'Rorke (.312 BA/11 HR), Sadaharu Uchiyama (.286 BA/7 HR), Russell Van Kleek (.329 BA/4 HR) and Howard Winston (.302 BA/4 HR)... the Ninjas are missing Crash Davis, longtime catching standout... Davis signed with Kenwood of the TU West... the 36-year-old Davis (.284 BA/6 HR) was great with the pitchers and was a solid bat... Kenwood is leading its division this year... Ginza has two quality starters: Hollis Pace (6-4/3.21) and Harlan Wilson (10-5/3.12)... Ryuji Kaneko (5-3/3.35) is dependable in a spot starter/long relief role... if Ginza had one more quality starter, they would win in a breeze... still they have a shot at the pennant this year because of the strong bats.

The rest of the division are just playing out the season... Turon, Summerland and Arroyo Grande are all tied for last place, 11 games behind leading Cape Coral... the Turon Typhoons have been a hapless team for the last decade after winning 4 Pro Cups and 11 pennants from 2006 and 2019... the Typhoons have a good offense with a .287 BA (3rd) and score well (347 runs/6th tied), but have bad pitching (4.22 ERA-25th)... All-Star Michael Page (.351 BA/16 HR) and All-Star Yancy Duvicque (.366 BA/2 HR) lead the attack... Sal Quattrone (10-5/3.53) and Victor Suarez (10-6/4.24) are the top starters.

In its history Summerland has never won a pennant and has made the playoffs only one time... that was in 2005 when the Sunsets finished second and won a wild card spot... the IPA abandoned wild cards after the 2006 season... from 2001 to 2003 the top four teams in each division qualified for the Pro Cup playoffs... from 2004 to 2006 the top two clubs in each division made the postseason... Summerland has good pitching with a 3.47 team ERA (7th) with very good starters, led by All-Star Scotty Ellison (10-4/2.62), Ron McDonald (8-5/2.98) and Clive Coxford (7-8/2.38)... however the bullpen is lousy with a 4.57 ERA (27th)... the Sunsets are not much at the plate with a .261 BA (23rd)... but they do have some talented hitters in Joe DeLucca (.316 BA/10 HR), Gregg Proctor (.305 BA/12 HR), Jay Hagedorn (.315 BA/3 HR) and Mandu Purula (.291 BA/5 HR).

For ten years from 2018 to 2027 the Arroyo Grande Suns were a powerful club in the TU South, winning 4 divisional crowns and finishing no worse than third... but that is no longer the case... for the last two seasons the Suns came in 8th and 6th respectively... this year they will have to battle to avoid last place... the talent level has dropped drastically in the last few years... only IPA great and probable Hall-of-Famer Rusty Vizcarra remains... the 31-year-old Vizcarra has 23 homers, 57 RBIs and is hitting .280 to lead the attack... but he has little help except for Robbie Kiner, who is hitting .327 with 4 homers, 30 RBIs and 46 runs scored... the only dependable hurler is rookie Neil Strickland with a 7-1 mark and a 3.17 ERA... 20-game winner Cesar DeLeon has dropped to 6-9 with a 3.98 ERA this season at age 35.