[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 17, 2030

2030 Ruthlandian South Final Recap

GC Cybercats Sneak By Waleska For RU South
The Grand City Cybercats came out of nowhere to sneak past powerful Waleska and defending champ Crystal Lake to capture the Ruthlandian South pennant... the C'Cats skimmed by the Westerners by game, whipped the Crushers by 6 and finished 7 ahead of the San Dimas Rancheros.

Grand City (90-64) has been stuck in the second division for the last three seasons, when they finished sixth, eighth and seventh, respectively... Grand City's last title was in 10 years ago... they have only made the playoffs twice, in 2002 and 2021... manager Wade Joslin guided them past Waleska and Crystal Lake in spite of losing three pitchers from his starting rotation... Greg Kelley (15-7/4.02) went out in early September and Charley Chisholm (11-6/2.98) suffered a season-ending injury in July... Kelley could be back for the playoffs... vet Danny Denver (3-5/4.50) was injured in Spring Training and missed 30 starts, finally returning in August, but not at his best... luckily Sammy Cagle (22-14/3.65) and Kip Day (18-15/3.19) had career seasons... they carried the team with the help of bullpen standouts Lefty Frizzell (1-2/1.14/21 saves), Ralph Teague (8-4/2.07/11 saves) and John Sheehan (7-2/2.65/2 saves)... the Cybercats also had plenty of clout in their lineup with 1B Mick Langston (.323/39/107/97), CF Thomas Hall (.317/32/93/106) and LF Wes Marlowe (.270/26/97/77) and ranked third in scoring.

For the last nine years the Waleska Westerners (89-65) have been near the top of the RU South standings, winning the division crown twice in 2024 and 2028... and skipper McGraw Johnson had his chance at the title again this year, but could only win one of the last four games... Grand City almost blew it when they were just 1-3 in the final four games... The Westerners have a potent batting order with .275 BA (5th), 148 homers (7th-tied) and topped the league in scoring with 796 runs (1st)... pitching-wise they were just average with a 3.53 team ERA (14th)... IPA super legends Roy Hobbs (.342/35/138/91) and LF Loco Dillinger (.319/42/118/119) both had monster years... Hobbs paced the IPA with 138 RBIs and Dillinger was the home-run leader and RBI leader in the Ruthlandian Union... fine young SS Yahto Sisika (.282/6/56/46) missed the last month of the season... top twirlers were Wild Bill Butler (20-13/4.01), Terry Richards (22-10/3.45) and closer Jarred Laclair (10-8/2.40/23 saves).

After leading at the All-Star break, the Crystal Lake Crushers (84-70) slowly dwindled to third place, winding up 6 games off the pace... the Crushers lived up to their name with a .287 BA (1st) and ranked second to Waleska in scoring... skipper Baby George had a decent pitching staff as far as starters, but little in the bullpen (5.13/32nd)... RF Sterling Hall (.349/5/67/70) led the RU in hitting... other top guns were CF Herm Taylor (.322/4/64/107), 2B Carl Bentley (.332/12/86/77), C Tommy Trent (.335/10/65/62), LF Ryan Ray (.259/23/92/81) and 1B Josh George (.268/20/87/101)... Crystal Lake has capable starters in Arnie Cason (20-12/2.84), T. D. Burnham (21-12/3.22) and Ben Garvik (18-14/3.95).

The fourth place San Dimas Rancheros (83-71) finished strong, ending up just 7 games back... manager Wesley Pate has very good pitching with a 3.19 team ERA (2nd), but lacks offense... the Rancheros hit just .253 (26th) and ranked low in runs (25th) and homers with only 92 (30th-tied)... heading up the mound corps were Joaquin Lima (21-10/2.49), Miguel Valdes (18-16/3.14), Shannon White (18-14/3.62) and Jay Barajas (9-3/2.43)... top run producers were CF Ramon Escobar (.307/11/87/80), 1B Joey Harris (.278/17/85/77) and 3B Gregg Mathis (.264/12/83/53)... San Dimas has not made the postseason since winning the pennant in 2008.

The St. John Crusaders (79-75) remained close until mid-season, then fizzled in the second half... the Crusaders came in fifth in the race and trailed by 11 games... manager Clayton Luck's club possessed pretty good bats with .273 BA (8th), ranked 11th in scoring and 24th in power with 106 homers... with less than average pitching with a 3.82 ERA (22nd)... sparking the Crusader attack were CF Brad Maddox (.343/2/50/99), 1B Roger Lanier (.317/15/102/91), SS Byron Johannsen (.282/11/81/93), Leon Clendennon (.309/10/69/58/ and Joey Daigrepont (.294/18/75/61)... on the hill veteran Don Baillie (20-13/3.17) and second-year man Russell Larsen (15-15/3.62) were the biggest winners... much-counted on free agent Loris Plooster, an 18-game winner for Ginza in the TU South last year, hurt his elbow in early June and was out for the year... Plooster was only 4-7 with a disappointing 4.59 ERA in his 14 starts.

The last time the Valka Blackhawks (75-79) won the pennant and made the Pro Cup playoffs was 14 seasons ago in 2017... for the second year in a row the Blackhawks have been the sixth-best team in the RU South... they wound up 15 games behind in the race this year... the Blackhawks ranked near the bottom in pitching with a 4.08 team ERA (30th), but they could score runs (5th-tied) and were rated 5th in runs and tied for fifth in homers with 150, while posting a solid .272 BA (10th)... perking up the offense were 3B Leevi Viru (.335/21/88/86), 2B Olari Ojastu (.319/18/73/95), CF Tonu Viks (.298/29/89/82), C Jaak Pajukivi (.298/18/76/61) and RF Barney Howell (.269/14/64/92)... Villem Arumaa (18-11/3.72) were the only winner on the staff.

After a third place finish last year, the Claxton Diamonds (68-86) slipped back to mediocity and seventh place, 22 games off the pace of pennant-winning Grand City... the Diamonds were tied for last place with Belair Beach... it's been 12 years since the Diamonds made the postseason playoffs... Claxton has power at the plate with 148 roundtrippers (7th-tied) and fairly good starters, but little else with a .254 BA (25th) and a 3.69 team ERA (20th)... Jack Vogel (11-18/2.90) is the most effective pitcher and Freddi Hahn (14-13/3.68) is the biggest winner... RF Ivan Krause (.279/37/84/106) and LF Jock Jumonville (.270/21/63/90) were the best bats.

Despite some stark improvements on the hill, going from a pathetic 4.79 to a respectable 3.56 ERA, the Belair Beach Sunbirds (68-86) still wound up in the cellar for the third time in four seasons... they were 22 games back in the race... Belair Beach hasn't been in the playoffs since 2016 and now have been stuck near the bottom for the last 5 years... the offense is pitiful with a .246 BA (30th) and 109 home runs (22nd), ranking near the bottom with 587 runs (31st)... 1B Kees Draeger (.296/22/83/53) and LF Pat Webb (.266/27/74/65) are the only reliable hitters that Sunbird skipper Little Jake Bungarooba has... Rob Thrasher (19-16/3.14) and Fernando Melendez (13-8/2.88) are both quality pitchers... new free agent from Ginza of the TU South, Daniel Ferguson, struggled with an 11-18 mark, but chalked up a good 3.40 ERA.