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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 17, 2030
2030 Tycobbian East Final Recap
Ozarka Nats Prevail Over Panthers and Blue Jays in TU East
The Ozarka Naturals have just been a lackluster team over the past decade after a wonderful run where they captured 11 division pennants from 2005 to 2021... manager Frank Kiffin snapped a 9-year postseason dry spell by leading the Nats to the Tycobbian East title this season... Ozarka built up a helfty lead with a strong 20-8 record in July and then held off its only two challengers, the East Point Panthers and Tuckanarra Blue Jays by 6 and 8 games respectively... the South Fork Stallions finished a distant fourth 14 games behind them.
First place Ozarka (90-64) had the best record in the Tycobbian Union, outdistancing Cape Coral (93-61) of the TU South and Bay St. Clair (92-62) of the TU West... Frank Kiffin has a well-rounded team with a .279 BA (5th), 735 runs (5th), but is weak in the power department with only 105 home runs (31st)... the Nats have fairly good pitching with a 3.42 team ERA (8th)... Stan Carey (21-10/3.22), Brady Bell (19-9/3.18), Sam Tate (16-10/3.41) and Norm Phillips (17-15/3.68) stood out on the hill... and the bullpen was fairly effective with a 3.63 ERA (17th)... the team's top batters were 1B George Jenkins (.321/22/89/81), SS James Couch (.342/10/66/112), RF Byron Glenn (.276/22/72/57) and CF Lonnie Gillespie (.303/1/58/86).
The second place East Point Panthers (88-66) had a fine first half, but slipped at the plate and on the mound in the latter half of the campaign... they were under .500 during the months of July and August and that slump cost them the pennant... the Panthers have finished in the runner-up spot in three of the last four seasons... they were third the other year... Sadly, you have to go back to 2008 for East Point's only pennant... skipper Karol Zodoka's pitchers combined for a 3.34 team ERA (3rd) and his bats compiled a mediocre .256 BA (27th)... however the offense was productive with 709 runs (10th-tied) and 178 homers (3rd)... the loss of starter Joe Foley (11-4/2.57) was critical... he went out with an arm injury in late June... Despite the effort of the three remaining starters Frank Blair (18-14/2.47), Dixie Brooks (18-14/3.51) and Stephen Edwards (17-8/3.72), the Panthers folded in the second half... at the plate 2B Tetsu Tanaka (.296/33/107/108) and CF Kenji Aoki (.262/42/121/95) were outstanding with some help from LF Wally Wright (.282/15/74/82).
Carlton "Lefty" Stevens' Tuckanarra Blue Jays (86-68) have dominated the TU East in recent years with 5 flags and 2 Pro Cups in 8 years... the talented Tucks fell 8 games short this season and wound up in third place... injuries hampered the Blue Jays when starter Philip Marston (15-15/3.93) was lost in September, 1B Lynn Starr (.262/24/78/76) missed the final two weeks and RF George McKay (.272/21/73/78) went out in mid-August... a .265 team BA (18th), 665 runs (21st), 120 homers (22-tied) and a 3.42 team ERA (7th) just wouldn't win it this year... Stevens' top twirlers were veterans Quinn Starr (17-13/2.84) and Croc Wedgedale (14-14/3.87), along with number three starter Ganan Crenshaw (18-13/3.54), who emeged this year as a starter... Matt Stevens was the king of the bullpen with a 9-5 record, 21 saves and a fine 2.14 ERA... in the batter's box SS Jed Turchin topped the team with a .323 BA, 20 homers, 90 RBIs and 88 runs... also RF Dingo Southcott (.312/9/47/61), C Trevor Dowd (.282/9/61/40) and 2B Eddie Darby (.283/6/66/68) lent some offensive support.
It was a pretty good year for the South Fork Stallions (80-74), headed up by manager Duroche "Lips" Leon, but they were never serious contenders... the Hosses wound up in fourth place in the standings and trailed by 14 games... the Stallions had minimal offense and only average pitching with a .251 BA (29th), 636 runs (27th) and a modest 3.71 team ERA (16th), but they could go deep with 181 homers (1st)... 1B Dean Woods (.282/33/89/65), LF Corbett Brooks (.264/25/84/80) and C Mel Danley (.282/30/77/540 led the power parade... Duncan Welch (17-15/3.22) and Richie Raeburn (15-15/3.46) paced the starters and closer Al Thompson (4-3/2.42/32 saves) was the bullpen ace and topped the IPA in saves... Ozz Gatsby (15-18/4.44) was a disappointment this season after winning 21 games last year.
After three straight losing seasons the Red Bluff Red Sox (77-77) reached the .500 mark this year and came in fifth, 17 games out of first... it's been quite a spell since the Red Sox made the playoffs.. the last time was in 2009... manager Jim Schubert's best performers were 12-year vet Trini Corona (19-11/3.19) and 22-year-old Tony DeFazio (16-16/3.56) on the mound... Red Bluff's best position players were 2B Pat Ellis (.326/17/81/87), who was the only reliable threat in the batting order and CF Billy Barton (.295/10/48/85), who played well, too.
The Mahaska Haymakers (69-85) continued their three-year decline since taking the TU East in 2027, descending down to a sixth-place tie with Hillsboro and 25 games back... the Haymakers strong point is the longball with 150 (10th)... otherwise nothing impresses you... top hitters were CF Lanky Mato (.294/11/57/95), 3B Rusty Graves (.261/23/86/83) and 1B Jake Welsh (.281/25/78/64)... at age 30 Bobby Dorignac (18-13/3.01) is still a top-notch starter... Dorignac should reach the 200-win milestone early next year... he is 194-119 in his 10 seasons... the only effective reliever is Hiamovi Wolf (6-6/2.54/13 saves).
The Hillsboro Blazers (69-85) bolted from sixth to second last year, but returned to the second division and sixth place just as suddenly when the pitching went south... Last year it was an impressive 3.02 ERA, this year up to 3.54... for the 29th year in a row the Blazers missed the Pro Cup playoffs... they have never appeared in the postseason... manager Andy Jefferson has limited talent, however Gregg Hughes (14-10/2.16) is a gifted pitcher playing with a bad team... CF Biggy Washington (.275/20/71/64) and RF Bill Kelly (.297/12/60/89) are the best bats in the line-up.
2030 was the worst year in the High Mesa Cowboys (57-97) history... they broke the old club loss record by 10 games this season as the Cowpokes missed the playoffs for the 27th successive season as they ranked near the bottom in just about every category... .245 BA (32nd), 582 runs (32nd) and a 4.32 team ERA (31st)... High Mesa was last in the TU East, a whopping 37 games off the pace... RF Bill Andrews (.276/29/82/51) was the batting leader... IPA icon, first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and super-super star 1B Jack Elliott had his second consecutive down year and looks headed for retirement at age 36... Elliott batted just .255 with 16 homers and 43 RBIs, his worst stats in his splendid 18-year career.... lifetime Elliott has a .334 BA, 845 home runs and 2104 RBIs... the High Mesa slugger is the all-time IPA home run hitter and fourth in batting average... Roger Hart (15-17/3.62) was the only decent pitcher this year.
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