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Eugene Church · 10-23-2012, 05:45 PM

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
May 1, 2034

Ruthlandian North Preseason Poll

Ranking/Team (Last Year)
1. Far Mountain Redhawks (2nd)
2. Kilkenny Cats (4th tied)
3. LaGrange Sports (1st)
4. Ranford Bulls (3rd)
5. Glasco Athletics (4th tied)
6. Ancona Red Elephants (8th)
7. Valmara Vipers (6th)
8. Taranto Tars (7th)

Favored FM Redhawks Led By 3 In RU North
Pre-season favorite Far Mountain (17-9) opened up a 3-game lead in the first month of the Ruthlandian North over second-place Glasco (14-12), 5 ahead of third-place Ranford (12-14) and 7 up on defending champ LaGrange (10-16) in fourth-place in the standings... the rest of the league is closely bunched with Valmara (9-17), Taranto (9-17) and Kilkenny (9-17) all tied for fifth and Ancona (8-18) in the basement... the Kilkenny Cats and LaGrange Sports were forecast to give the Redhawks the most competition this season.

Far Mountain has strong hitting (.280 BA) and pitching (2.70 ERA) under the leadership of manager Don Nichols... Vets Jakob Wagner (4-2/2.05), Frankie Moreland (4-1/2.41), Keith Griggs (5-2/2.55) and Jeff Cooper (2-2/4.04) lead the mound staff... Paul Zimmer (2-1/2.70/2 saves) heads up the bullpen... at the plate it's rookie OF Jeffrey Karkinos (.340), 3B Axel Bauer (.337), SS Artie Morton (.328) and rookie Wes Wernstedt (.299) pacing the attack.

Despite poor starting pitching (4.26 ERA), the Glasco Athletics, piloted by Barry McCord, have managed to power their way to the runner-up spot with an IPA-leading 38 homers in April... SS Greg Stone hit 6 in the month, followed by Dennis Kaiser and rookies Gilbert Forbes and Taylor Hampshire with 5 each... the A's were rated the fifth-best club in The Islandian Times preseason poll.

Skipper Rick Fargnoli's third-place Ranford Bulls have very good pitching with a 3.22 team ERA, but is pathetic with the bats, hitting only .229... pitchers Chad Cummings (4-3/2.25), Jimmy Collins (.3-1/3.40) and Rube Satcher (3-4/3.11) top the team starters, along with Joah Satcher (1-1/2.70) and Frank Yosarian (0-0/1.13) in the bullpen.... the Bulls ranked fourth in the preseason poll... vet 1B Elton Graff is the only productive hitter with a .310 average, 6 homers and 21 RBIs.

In LaGrange, skipper Quincy Peterson is in desparate need of a bullpen... he has high-quality starters in vets Walt Thurber (3-2/2.32), Ryan Janssen (4-2/3.10) and Mike York (0-1/2.97), but the relievers are awful with a 6.57 ERA... the Sports are only average at the plate with a .267 BA... best bats are LF Russell Watkins with a .350 BA, 11 homers and 21 RBIs, 2B Whitlow Stokes with a .308 BA and RF Anton Hymel with a .293 mark.

Rusty Denicola's Kilkenny Cats had a bad April, but is expected to contend with Far Mountain... the Cats didn't do much right in the early going despite the addition of free agent 3B Leevi Viru from Valka, a career .323 hitter and 6-time All-Star... Viri sparked the limited offense with 5 homers and 21 RBIs, while batting .283... C Bailey Wooten (.339), 1B Luis Cisneros (.323) and 2B Thomas Rutherford (.306) topped the team in average... ace Dave Whitaker fared poorly with an 0-6 record and a lofty 6.71 ERA... vets Fred Doyle (3-2/2.05) and Ike Phelps (2-2/3.25) were the best starters... rookie relievers Andy Mayfield (1-0/0.00) and Dave Stratford (1-0/0.00) looked good in the early going.

After 33 years at the helm Ancona manager Manny Mickens called it a career this season and turned the reins over to Kenny Willard, who starred for the Red Elephants for most of his standout 19 seasons... Willard batted .301 lifetime with 441 HRs and was a 6-time All-Star and 6-time Gold Glover... in 2022 Willard was the Ruthlandian MVP... Willard inherited a weak ballclub that ranks near the bottom in almost everything... his best player is free agent LF Floyd McClellan, who came over from Forest City... the 12-year vet has 6 homers, 19 RBIs and is batting at a .278 pace.

After finishing sixth last year, Valmara manager Jet Kazmarek drastically revised his roster, adding 10 rookies to the squad... the Vipers have dominated the RU North the last 15 years with 8 pennants... vet J. B. Boutin (3-2/2.93) and rookie Janek Zoldak (4-3/2.97) are the only decent pitchers... ace Garry Gronek (0-6/6.65) has flopped miserably so far... keystone partners SS Pat Kaluza (.294) and 2B Miroslav Ciszek (.329) are Valmara's best hitters... star LF Benny Hooper (.235) has struggled with his average, but is productive, along with C Ted Jarzinski (.261)... Hooper has 3 homers and 13 RBIs, while Jarzinski had 5 roundtrippers and 14 RBIs.

Taranto manager Denny Radke got an abrupt heave-ho recently and was replaced by Augie Marshall, who retired in April after 21 seasons... Marshall played his first 10 years with the Tars and was a superstar slugger with 504 RBIs and a .287 BA... Marshall's first game will be May 1st and it looks like it's going to be a long first year for him... the Tars have little talent and rank poorly in the team stats... rookie flamethrower Fast Eddy Romano has stood out in relief so far with a 1-1 record, 3 saves and an impressive 2.94 ERA in 11 games... starters Rex Perrilloux (2-2/2.92) and rookie Sal Mongelli (3-2/3.75) show promise... 17-year vet 2B Greg Murphy (.301) and CF Alonzo Venacio (.305) are the only reliable bats.

10-23-2012, 05:45 PM	#3317
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,905	*THE ISLANDIAN TIMES* May 1, 2034 Ruthlandian North Preseason Poll Ranking/Team (Last Year) 1. Far Mountain Redhawks (2nd) 2. Kilkenny Cats (4th tied) 3. LaGrange Sports (1st) 4. Ranford Bulls (3rd) 5. Glasco Athletics (4th tied) 6. Ancona Red Elephants (8th) 7. Valmara Vipers (6th) 8. Taranto Tars (7th) Favored FM Redhawks Led By 3 In RU North Pre-season favorite Far Mountain (17-9) opened up a 3-game lead in the first month of the Ruthlandian North over second-place Glasco (14-12), 5 ahead of third-place Ranford (12-14) and 7 up on defending champ LaGrange (10-16) in fourth-place in the standings... the rest of the league is closely bunched with Valmara (9-17), Taranto (9-17) and Kilkenny (9-17) all tied for fifth and Ancona (8-18) in the basement... the Kilkenny Cats and LaGrange Sports were forecast to give the Redhawks the most competition this season. Far Mountain has strong hitting (.280 BA) and pitching (2.70 ERA) under the leadership of manager Don Nichols... Vets Jakob Wagner (4-2/2.05), Frankie Moreland (4-1/2.41), Keith Griggs (5-2/2.55) and Jeff Cooper (2-2/4.04) lead the mound staff... Paul Zimmer (2-1/2.70/2 saves) heads up the bullpen... at the plate it's rookie OF Jeffrey Karkinos (.340), 3B Axel Bauer (.337), SS Artie Morton (.328) and rookie Wes Wernstedt (.299) pacing the attack. Despite poor starting pitching (4.26 ERA), the Glasco Athletics, piloted by Barry McCord, have managed to power their way to the runner-up spot with an IPA-leading 38 homers in April... SS Greg Stone hit 6 in the month, followed by Dennis Kaiser and rookies Gilbert Forbes and Taylor Hampshire with 5 each... the A's were rated the fifth-best club in The Islandian Times preseason poll. Skipper Rick Fargnoli's third-place Ranford Bulls have very good pitching with a 3.22 team ERA, but is pathetic with the bats, hitting only .229... pitchers Chad Cummings (4-3/2.25), Jimmy Collins (.3-1/3.40) and Rube Satcher (3-4/3.11) top the team starters, along with Joah Satcher (1-1/2.70) and Frank Yosarian (0-0/1.13) in the bullpen.... the Bulls ranked fourth in the preseason poll... vet 1B Elton Graff is the only productive hitter with a .310 average, 6 homers and 21 RBIs. In LaGrange, skipper Quincy Peterson is in desparate need of a bullpen... he has high-quality starters in vets Walt Thurber (3-2/2.32), Ryan Janssen (4-2/3.10) and Mike York (0-1/2.97), but the relievers are awful with a 6.57 ERA... the Sports are only average at the plate with a .267 BA... best bats are LF Russell Watkins with a .350 BA, 11 homers and 21 RBIs, 2B Whitlow Stokes with a .308 BA and RF Anton Hymel with a .293 mark. Rusty Denicola's Kilkenny Cats had a bad April, but is expected to contend with Far Mountain... the Cats didn't do much right in the early going despite the addition of free agent 3B Leevi Viru from Valka, a career .323 hitter and 6-time All-Star... Viri sparked the limited offense with 5 homers and 21 RBIs, while batting .283... C Bailey Wooten (.339), 1B Luis Cisneros (.323) and 2B Thomas Rutherford (.306) topped the team in average... ace Dave Whitaker fared poorly with an 0-6 record and a lofty 6.71 ERA... vets Fred Doyle (3-2/2.05) and Ike Phelps (2-2/3.25) were the best starters... rookie relievers Andy Mayfield (1-0/0.00) and Dave Stratford (1-0/0.00) looked good in the early going. After 33 years at the helm Ancona manager Manny Mickens called it a career this season and turned the reins over to Kenny Willard, who starred for the Red Elephants for most of his standout 19 seasons... Willard batted .301 lifetime with 441 HRs and was a 6-time All-Star and 6-time Gold Glover... in 2022 Willard was the Ruthlandian MVP... Willard inherited a weak ballclub that ranks near the bottom in almost everything... his best player is free agent LF Floyd McClellan, who came over from Forest City... the 12-year vet has 6 homers, 19 RBIs and is batting at a .278 pace. After finishing sixth last year, Valmara manager Jet Kazmarek drastically revised his roster, adding 10 rookies to the squad... the Vipers have dominated the RU North the last 15 years with 8 pennants... vet J. B. Boutin (3-2/2.93) and rookie Janek Zoldak (4-3/2.97) are the only decent pitchers... ace Garry Gronek (0-6/6.65) has flopped miserably so far... keystone partners SS Pat Kaluza (.294) and 2B Miroslav Ciszek (.329) are Valmara's best hitters... star LF Benny Hooper (.235) has struggled with his average, but is productive, along with C Ted Jarzinski (.261)... Hooper has 3 homers and 13 RBIs, while Jarzinski had 5 roundtrippers and 14 RBIs. Taranto manager Denny Radke got an abrupt heave-ho recently and was replaced by Augie Marshall, who retired in April after 21 seasons... Marshall played his first 10 years with the Tars and was a superstar slugger with 504 RBIs and a .287 BA... Marshall's first game will be May 1st and it looks like it's going to be a long first year for him... the Tars have little talent and rank poorly in the team stats... rookie flamethrower Fast Eddy Romano has stood out in relief so far with a 1-1 record, 3 saves and an impressive 2.94 ERA in 11 games... starters Rex Perrilloux (2-2/2.92) and rookie Sal Mongelli (3-2/3.75) show promise... 17-year vet 2B Greg Murphy (.301) and CF Alonzo Venacio (.305) are the only reliable bats. Last edited by Eugene Church; 10-24-2012 at 05:24 PM.