[Eugene Church]

The Islandian Times
Tuesday, September 19, 2034

2034 Ruthlandian West Final Recap

SURPRISE! Vigilantes Best In The West!
10 years have past since the Volusia Vigilantes were in a pennant race and almost 30 years since the V's made the playoffs, but they have finally done it - Volusia is the best in the Ruthlandian West - they won the division by 7 games over the Fort Benton Defenders and the Middlefield Roosters. The Vigilantes ran up a comfortable 7-game lead at the halfway point and then just held off all comers the rest of the way. The Stoner Stars and Forest City Lumberjacks tied for fourth place, 14 games back. Rocky Rapids finished sixth and trailed by 15. Preseason pick Colfax stumbled badly and wound up 19 games out in seventh place and Sligo ended up dead last, 21 games off the pace. The RU West is one of the weaker divisions in the IPA and had only one team with a winning record.

Longtime skipper Alfonso Feliz guided Volusia (84-70) from the outhouse to the penthouse this year... forecast to finish near the bottom again, the V's surprised and won the pennant with a solid group of hitters and an adequate mound staff... the Vigilantes posted a .281 BA (4th), scored 751 runs (5th) and smacked 165 homers (6th)... on the hill they compiled a respectable 3.78 ERA (19th)... top performers at the plate were All-Star 1B Ernie Pryor (.303/31/100/82), rookie C Tubby Tarkanian (.316/29/85/77), rookie All-Star CF Antonio Diaz (.302/19/85/83), CF Ernesto Andujar (.316/25/79/96) and veteran RF Sonny Oliver (.277/18/81/71)... top hurlers were All-Star Tommy Smith (20-14/2.79), Jacy Chandler (20-8/3.40) and All-Star Marv Webb (18-9/3.57)... Volusia will be a decided underdog to the Eastshore Elegants in the opening round of the Pro Cup playoffs that start Thursday... but watch out - the V's attack could give them a shot at an upset... the Crystal Lake Crushers are heavily favored to whip the Ranford Bulls in the other RU matchup.

The Fort Benton Defenders (77-77) were the second choice to take the division in The Islandian Times preseason poll... manager Robbie Brooks has had them close in two of the last four seasons - they lost a single-game playoff for the pennant last year - and Defender fans were hoping this would be the year to finally make the Pro Cup playoffs... Fort Benton has never made the playoffs in its 33 years of IPA play... the Defenders are just a mediocre ballclub with a .259 team BA (24th) and a 3.93 team ERA (24th)... workhorse ace Augie Marquis (24-15/2.87) had a career year and was second in the IPA in victories... Chris Calsworth (17-16/3.72) had a decent year as well... All-Star rookie 3B Edmund Daisek (.280/21/87/67) led the offense with help from rookie SS D. D. Badeaux (.263/14/77/74)... the two freshmen were the best of the lot in a weak batting order.

The Middlefield Roosters (77-77) did a little better than expected with a tie for second with Fort Benton... the Roosters were ranked sixth in the preseason poll... Bailey Norcross hasn't seen his team in the postseason since 2026... the Roosters have only one Pro Cup, which came in 2005... Middlefield has good bats with a .269 BA (12th), scored 732 runs (9th) and topped the RU with 198 roundtrippers (1st)... on the hill they put up a 3.90 team ERA (23rd)... All-Star SS Kenny Johnston led the team with a .310 BA and 95 runs... longball leaders were C Brad Alexander (.270/31/69/65), All-Star 2B Paul Coker (.260/29/85/68), RF Yank Quinlan (.286/24/62/65) and CF Timmy Angelakos (.259/21/67/48)... best mound performers were Ron Sinclair (16-14/4.09) and Tyrus Cobb (14-14/3.63)... keep in mind the small ballpark helped the power numbers greatly and makes it really tough for the pitchers.

Benny Stern and his Stoner Stars (70-84) had another lackluster season... the Stars tied with Forest City for the fourth spot in the standings, 14 games out of first... neither of them challenged Volusia after the All-Star Game... Stoner last won the RU West in 2029, but has never hauled in a Pro Cup crown in its history... last year they were third in the standings and forecast for fourth this season... Stern's doesn't have much in the way of pitching or offense... the Stars hit .263 (22nd) and chalked up a 4.18 ERA (28th)... young standout LF Felix Jobin (.350/21/77/86), solid 1B Fletch Fowler (.317/13/75/65), CF Don Cain (.316/5/60/79) and reliable veteran 3B Dorak Aranda (.278/23/86/65) sparked the club at the plate, while on the mound it was Lou Neuman (18-11/3.80).

For the first time in five seasons the Forest City Lumberjacks (70-84) just barely squeezed into the RU West first division in the fourth spot tied with Stoner... manager Joe Judlin's club was picked to be the third-best team in the division... his pitching staff was respectable with a 3.69 team ERA (13th), but wasn't up to snuff offensively with a .252 BA (29th)... Rich Barstow (17-18/3.34) and Jeff Watford (17-18/3.47) had decent years on the mound... while C Bob Brisdon (.306/23/70/63) was one of the few good bats.

It's been almost 15 years since the Rocky Rapids Snappers (69-85) have won a pennant... they took four straight flags from 2017 to 2020... the Snappers copped their only Pro Cup during that great run in 2019... manager Junior Noland's team were place near the bottom in the preseason poll, but managed to come in sixth, 15 games behind in the race... the Snappers are only an average club with a .264 BA (18th) and a 3.87 team ERA (21st)... but do have a little bit of power with 152 HRs (12th-tied)... Paulie Pieroni (17-18/3.18) and Ed Ayers (13-17/3.33) were respectable pitchers... only SS Kelvin Cassidy (.316/23/70/65) put up good batting numbers.

After a disappointing fourth-place finish last year, the Colfax Blasters (65-89) looked like the team to beat in the RU West this season... they were ranked first in The Islandian Times preseason poll, but the Blasters fizzled badly, coming in seventh, 19 games off the pace of winning Volusia... Colfax won two pennants in the last five years... in its history the Blasters have won 10 flags and one Pro Cup (2010)... manager Ilya Szabo has pretty fair pitching with a 3.68 team ERA (12th), but has horrible hitting with a .246 BA (31st)... one of his hurlers, Rudy Rosario (15-13/1.83), was splendid and topped the IPA in ERA, but suffered severely from a lack of run support... 3B Lou Wilhoit (.270/24/72/48) and C Mitch Fullerton (.287/16/47/69) were just fair hitters, but the best Colfax had.

The Sligo Rovers (63-91) are a strange ballclub with a topsy-turvy history in recent years... Eddie Keys' club won the TU West in 2031 and last year, but sunk to the cellar in 2032 and this season... ranked the fourth-best club in the preseason, the Rovers tumbled to last place, 21 games in back of Volusia... Sligo hit just .263 (20th) with 152 homers (12th-tied), but scored only 642 runs (27th)... and registered a poor 4.15 team ERA (27th)... Mark Smith (17-18/3.57) led the team in wins, while the top bats were newcomer 3B Paul Newton, who came in a trade with Eastshore, sparkled at age 35 with a .301 BA, 33 HRs and 97 RBIs, LF Vasco Aguilar with 24 homers, 74 RBIs and a .283 average and SS Neil Mitchell with .289 BA, 20 home runs, 59 RBIs and 90 runs scored... C Kyell Rindahl made the All-Star squad but ended hitting only .262 with 15 roundtrippers and 53 RBIs... IPA all-time great 1B Marty Blake went over 700 homers this year in his 22nd season... he hit .270 at age 40 with 11 homers and 45 RBIs... msot of Blake's best years were with White River over in the Tycobbian Union.