[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, June 18, 2030

2030 Tycobbian West Mid-Season Recap

Wildcats 3 Games Up In TU West
It was a 4-team donnybrook last season in the Tycobbian West with only 2 games separating first place from fourth... it was quite a melee between Rolling Hills, Arlon, Chicopee and La Claire... this year it's a tight 3-team affair between Pro Cup champ Rolling Hills Reds, Kenwood Wildcats and Bay St. Clair Buccaneers... at the season's mid-point Kenwood holds a slim 3-game lead over the Reds and Bucs with the Denton City Redbirds in fourth, trailing by 7 games.

Since winning the TU West pennant in 2024, Kenwood has been up and down in the standings, but this year the Wildcats are playing superbly, coupling super hitting with fairly good pitching... They also have signed 3 talented free agents... Kenwood tops the IPA with a .295 BA and is ranked 2nd in scoring... not much power with only 41 home runs (31st), but really good contact hitters... the mound corps is adequate with a 3.55 team ERA (13th)... All-Star Babe Hankins (.339 BA/7 HR) heads up a strong batting order, helped out by Jan Kessinger (.323 BA/0 HR), rookie Randy Towns (.319 BA/0 HR), Hank Lunsford (.337 BA/0 HR) and All-Star Crash Davis (.284 BA/6 HR), who came over as a 36-year-old free agent from Ginza of the TU South... Davis is not quite the hitter he used to be, but still is an excellent defensive catcher and handler of pitchers... Davis is a big plus on the Wildcat roster... so is free agent Kessinger, formerly with the Sugar Valley Rattlers of the RU East... and powerhitter Warren Love (.257 BA/10 HR) from San Alejo of the TU South... Towns has made a solid impact in his freshman year, too.

Rolling Hills is coming off a great year... they won the IPA Pro Cup for the first time in its history... despite losing their top two pitchers, Errol Gaudet and Johnny Brown, the Reds are still in the pennant chase... Brown was 17-10 last year and 3-0 in the playoffs...Brown signed a big contract with San Alejo of the TU South this year and has posted an 8-7 mark with a fine 2.64 ERA... Gaudet, a 5-time 20-game winner and last year's Pro Cup MVP with a 7-0 record, will be out until August with an arm injury... Gaudet was injured in early May and is 2-2 with a 2.29 ERA this season... He could be a real difference maker in the stretch drive... the Reds have been forced to rely on the offense this year with a .286 BA (4th)... the team ERA has inflated from 3.34 in 2029 to 4.02 in 2030... Tom Pierson (6-3/2.14) and Buck Myers (9-5/4.23) have shouldered the pitching load... top batters are All-Star Tony Brinkerhoff (.337 BA/12 HR), All-Star Dusty Rogan (.303 BA/12 HR) and Derek Kristensen (.325 BA/3 HR).

After two down seasons in a row when they wound up next-to-last, the Bay St. Clair Buccaneers are back in contention and tied for second place... Free agents pitcher Jody Gentry from Kenwood and outfielder George McKay from Claxton in the RU South have given the team a huge lift... the Bucs feature fair to average bats with a .262 BA (21st), decent scoring capability with 324 runs (12th tied) and good pitching with a 3.49 team ERA (9th)... All-Star Gentry (10-5/2.63) seems fully recovered from rotator problems that caused him to miss most of the 2029 season... Kenwood's loss is the Bucs' gain... Kenwood would really be something if they still had a healthy Gentry in its rotation... another great addition is rookie All-Star closer Don Sawyer (2-0/0.22/14 saves), who has been simply brilliant this year... at the plate Bay St. Clair is led by Terry Adams (.316 BA/8 HR), Neil Lamont (.301 BA/11 HR), George McKay (.263 BA/12 HR), Jerry Todd (.281 BA/5 HR), Damon Klein (.305 BA/7 HR) and Fernell Peck (.306 BA/2 HR)... Klein and Peck are two more free agents added to the roster this year...

The fourth place Denton City Redbirds were an early power in the IPA with 8 playoff appearances and 6 pennants from 2002 to 2014... after that the Redbirds have pretty much wallowed in the second division... Denton City is 7 games off the pace, but not in the same league with the three primary contenders... the Redbirds are just mediocre to average as a ballclub with a .262 BA (22nd) and 3.72 ERA (16th)... Glenn Hamilton (10-5/3.10) is a standout starter, but the rest of the hurlers are just journeymen at best... Vance Diamond (.316 BA), Marvin Ferrell (.290 BA/5 HR) and Keith Ingram (.282 BA/7 HR) provide most of the offense.

Since 2023 the Bayview Vikings have been a run-of-the mill second-division club and will likely continue their ways this season... this year the fifth place Viks can hit and score with a .274 BA (11th), 334 runs (10th) and 68 roundtrippers (11th)... but they don't have the pitching to stop the opposition... the team ERA is a poor 4.37 (28th)... Daniel Shields (6-5/3.97) is the only starter with a winning record... batting-wise Bayview is paced by Wayne Kenney (.315 BA/14 HR), Roy Ricks (.292 BA/9 HR) and Todd Benson (.284 BA/3 HR).

The Chicopee Braves have been in the IPA for 29 fairly fruitless seasons... never have made the playoffs, though they have come close 5 times... nothing new this year for the Braves who are 11 games out at the All-Star Game and in sixth place in the TU West... 32-year-old Frank Mullins (8-9/3.96) is a fine starter with a career 158-123 record in his ninth season, fifth with Chicopee... Mullins deserves better... Chicopee is just a tough place to win... 25-year-old reliever Matt Reeves (0-0/1.67/12 saves) shows promise in his second season... while the Braves' team ERA (4.41/30th) is not much, at the plate they have some talent witn a .270 team BA (13th) and 77 homers (6th)... Sakima Shaman (.344 BA/8 HR), Charlie Jensen (.309 BA/13 HR), Kurt Gustavsen (.320 BA/13 HR) and Big Sam Takota (.314 BA/14 HR) can put some runs on the scoreboard.

After coming out of nowhere to win the their first pennant in 2028 and hotly contending last season, the La Claire Lynx have relapsed to the depths of the TU West again... the Lynx are 16 games back and in seventh place... they have average team stats with a .267 BA (17th) and a 3.73 team ERA (17th)... after 18 outstanding years in the IPA, future HOF-er Flash Devlin with over 500 homers and a .321 career BA, is now just a good ballplayer at age 36, but he can still hold his own... Devlin is batting .286 this season with 7 homers and 34 RBIs, down quite a bit from his 30 homers and 100 RBIs yearly... Carrol Candy (.332 BA/9 HR) is now the big gun, supported by Lonny Wright (.306 BA/8 HR), Kelly Chamberlain (.266 Ba/8 HR) and Norm Petitjean (.263 BA/10 HR)... on the mound strikeout king Pat Kovacs (7-7/2.56) is one tough customer with a 95-62 mark in his sixth season... Kovacs set the IPA strikeout record in 2028 with 391 Ks... hill talent is sparse after him.

The Arlon Champions had a string of three straight fourth-place finishes entering this season... last year they came in just 2 games behind Pro Cup champ Rolling Hills... optimism was rampant at the start of the season... however nothng has gone right... the bats are awful and the pitching is atrocious... the Champs are batting .256 (26th), rank 26th in scoring and 32nd in pitching with a 4.81 ERA... Raydon Burks (6-10/2.98) is the only starter under a 5.00 ERA... and Alan Caine (.308 BA/1 HR) is the only regular over the .300 mark... Arlon wishes the season would end at the All-Star break.