[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 17, 2030

2030 Tycobbian South Final Recap

CC 'Canes Cop TU South Crown
The Cape Coral Hurricanes hadn't won a pennant in 15 years... they last took the TU South crown in 2015... but manager Flipper Bird has the 'Canes on the rise during his tenure, going from 7th to 4th to the top spot in three years... it was a 5-team race at mid-season, but Cape Coral surged to a good cushion over San Alejo Montaneros, Colchester Elites, Southport Sun Sox and defending champ Ginza Ninjas by July, then held off Colchester's closing charge... the other clubs faded in the home stretch... the Elites wound up 4 games back, the Sun Sox were third and lost by 8, the Monties were fourth, 9 games off the pace and the Ninjas were in fifth place and trailed by 10.

The Cape Coral Hurricanes (93-61) had the second-best record in the Tycobbian Union... only Ozarka (94-60) in the TU East had more wins... the 'Canes hit well with a .282 BA (4th), scored well with 733 runs (6th), but didn't hit with power... they had only 112 homers (30th)... on the hill the Hurricanes were capable with a 3.49 team ERA (10th)... skipper Flipper Bird had some quality bats with RF Jan Krammer (.337/16/81/83), C Tonio Libertore (.323/4/37/88) and 1B Sandy Coburn (.308/6 HR/66/73)... chipped in with CF Dan Isenberg (.269/17/65/81) and 3B Roger Wilson (.223/21/74/68) and you have a good attack... pitcher-wise it was Randy Burns (23-11/3.20), Izaak Booten (16-15/3.11) and Skylar Ris (13-12/3.97) leading the way.

Manager Patsy Bates' Colchester Elites (89-65) had a very good season and ended up in the runner-up spot to Cape Coral... the Elites fell 8 games back by July and just couldn't make up the difference on the Hurricanes, who played well down the stretch... the club hit .272 for average (11th), could score with 788 runs (3rd) and could hit with power (157 HR-8th)... the Elites did well on the mound, too, with a 3.41 team ERA (6th)... standouts were Mackie McGinnity (22-7/3.01) and Mike Kierkegaard (18-10/3.00), along with Mac Flowers (18-11/3.60)... CF Jim Lewellan (.288/45/131/112) had a great year, outshined only by Southport's Triple Crown winner Lorne Evans... other major contributors were 1B Big Sam Takota (.294/27/94/88), RF Cleve Belton (.282/34/99/86), LF Carlos Manuel (.290/23/71/95), 2B Jackie Jackson (.320/9/67/79) obtained in a July trade from Forest City of the Ruthlandian Union for 1B Steve Burns (.341/28/76/82) and 3B Joel Collins (.301/2/56/79).

10 of the past 11 years third place Southport (85-69) has been a first-division team, but this season they fizzled when it counted most with a poor 4-10 September as they dropped 8 games out of first place... manager Charley Oscar had fine pitching with a 3.38 team ERA (5th), paced by his starters Bob Bondy (22-14/3.30), Mel Underwood (18-14/3.03) and Don Pascioni (17-13/3.05)... closer Tomas Taviero (5-4/2.76/12 saves) also had a quality season... magnificent Triple Crown winner RF Lorne Evans boomed 59 homers, drove in 134 runs, scored 140 times and led the league with a .386 BA... other bat leaders were C Luis Alvarado (.283/21/73/78), 1B Kyle Ross (.282/20/80/56) and LF Cody Dougherty (.255/19/70/66)... as a team the Sun Sox walloped 179 homers (2nd) with a .267 BA (15th) and ranked 13th in scoring with 701 runs.

It's been a severe pennant drought in San Alejo. The club hasn't made the postseason since 2003... however in recent years skipper Alberto Herrera has seen his San Alejo Montaneros (84-70) make good progress as the club climbed up from 7th to 4th place, finishing up 9 games out in the pennant chase... the Monties were a well-balanced team with a .276 BA (8th), 170 roundtrippers (5th), 725 runs (7th) and a solid 3.37 team ERA (4th)... the bullpen was the best in the TU with a 2.30 ERA (1st)... Roland Oates (18-7/2.77) and Johnny Brown (17-17/2.94) excelled on the mound, while relievers Herb Stewart (6-2/1.59/16 saves) and Clete Lawson (3-4/1.19/13 saves) were a tough duo... at the plate the attack was led by 3B Bubby Blackwell (.356/15/68/98), LF Orlando Ybarra (.287/26/92/83), 1B Ramon Escabedo (.305/26/83/74) and CF Mark Delaney (.276/23/65/57).

Powerhouse Ginza (83-71) has won four TU South division flags in the last eight seasons, but slipped to fifth place this year, losing out by 10 games... manager Huroko Uchiyama's pitching corps failed him as they slumped to a 3.93 team ERA (21st)... last year it was a very respectable 3.19... only Ryuji Kaneko (17-7/2.82) and Hollis Pace (18-9/3.04) had good years... the Ninjas bats were still prolific with a .288 BA (3rd), 776 runs scored (4th) and 131 home runs (17th), led by CF Cotton Cornwall (.345/36/124/109), 1B Johnny O'Rorke (.288/23/99/87), SS Russ Van Kleek (.327/19/89/81), LF Sadaharu Uchiyama (.310/11/62/119), 3B Taro Mori (.317/2/45/95), 2B Howard Winston (.307/7/61/54) and RF Hideo Kojima (.312/8/53/54)... Uchiyama has hitters in abundance.

The rest of the teams in the division never challenged and spent the entire season deep in the basement... the Turon Typhoons and Summerland Sunsets deadlocked in sixth place in the standings and finish out of the running 24 games behind... the Arroyo Grande Suns came in last, 29 games off the pace.

Once-proud Turon (69-85) languished near the bottom of the division for the fifth year in a row... the Typhoons have won four Pro Cups in its history, but not recently... Turon won it last in 2018 and last made the playoffs in 2019... skipper Alan Hansen has a pretty fair bunch of hitters with a .278 team BA (6th), rank decently with 689 runs (15th) and has some power with 120 homers (22nd-tied)... on the hill the Typhoons put up a 3.94 team ERA (22nd)... 3B Michael Page (.331/32/99/69) is Turon's only standout stick... on the mound the most reliable hurlers are Victor Suarez (16-15/3.68), Sal Quattrone (14-13/3.93) and James Newland (.12-12/3.50).

Perennial also-ran Summerland (69-85) has made the first division only twice in the last 18 seasons, played in only one postseason and the Sunsets have never come close to winning the Pro Cup... manager Will Hackett's club batted only .258 (24th), scored only 651 runs (24th-tied), but had decent power with 129 roundtrippers (18th-tied)... Summerland had three capable starters in Ron McDonald (17-13/3.34), Scotty Ellison (15-12/2.85) and Clve Coxford (14-15/3.12), but not much of a relief corps... the bullpen chalked up a 4.08 ERA (26th)... at the plate the most productive Sunsets were 1B Mandu Purula (.290/21/90/77), SS Gregg Proctor (.281/23/88/62) and LF Joe DeLucca (.278/13/60/79).

The Arroyo Grande Suns (64-90) have seen their fortunes drop drastically in recent years... for the third consecutive season they are at the bottom or near to the bottom of the division... for the second year in three the Suns are in last place and 29 games back of this year's champ Cape Coral... the once-potent offense is non-existent except for homers... the Suns slammed 166 homers (7th), but ranked only 30th with 627 runs, while batting only .245 (31st)... not any better on the mound with a 4.17 team ERA (28th)... reliever John Nelson (9-8/2.69/19 saves) was the only pitcher of note... longtime star 1B Rusty Vizcarra still swings with power and drives in runs... Vizcarra slammed 39 homers and batted across 103 runs, but hit only .255... no one else in the lineup posed any threat at all... not much talent left in Arroyo Grande... only Vizcarra remains from the glory years 2018 to 2027 when the Suns challenged almost every year and won four division titles.