[Eugene Church]

The Islandian Times
Tuesday, September 19, 2034

2034 Tycobbian South Final Recap

SA Monties TU South Champ
After a close duel with four other clubs until midseason, the Tycobbian South champion San Alejo Montaneros soared in the second half, kicked it into overdrive and left everybody far behind. The Monties swept to the title by a 10-game margin over runnerup Colchester, 12 over third place and defending champ Southport, 16 better than fourth place Turon, the preseason favorite, and 19 games ahead of fifth place Arroyo Grande. Summerland was 26 games out and ended up in sixth, followed by Ginza in the seventh spot and trailing by 33 games. Cape Coral was in the cellar and 34 games off the pace.

San Alejo (91-63) won the Pro Cup in 2032 with great pitching, then fell down to sixth place the next year as the bats and hurlers wilted... now all of the sudden, the Montaneros are back on top of the TU South... a little better hitting made the difference... manager Alberto Herrera's Monties had average hitting with a .266 BA (18th), but good power with 173 HRs (7th-tied)... in the pitching department they were rock solid with a 3.19 team ERA (2nd)... All-Star Pablo Pilar (21-9/2.47), Clete Lawson (19-9/3.08), Johnny Brown (18-16/2.86), Ollie Olivares (11-5/3.37/11 saves) and Frank Jankowski (13-11/3.41/4 saves) formed a fine starting nucleus... Lawson, Brown and Olivares were prime members of the Pro Cup team... the Monties signed a very good free agent in CF Dusty Rogan (.304/28/108/78), who came over from Tuckanarra... holdovers from the great 2032 season did their part again this year: LF Adrian Otero (.261/34/71/110), 3B Bubby Blackwell (.310/15/72/84) and 2B Dwight Dickey (.310/6/49/66)... rookie C Steve Daniels (.257/27/86/66) was a big plus at the plate with his power... San Alejo could be a big factor in the Pro Cup playoffs this year... this club is perhaps a little more talented than the 2032 IPA champion... the postseason future looks good for the Montaneros.

The Colchester Elites (81-73) played poorly in the early season and couldn't make up the deficit... they wound up 10 games behind winning San Alejo... this year's club was much improved over last season's seventh place finish... but it's been a long time since Colchester made the playoffs... 2007 was the last time... the Elites have never won the Pro Cup... better bats and better arms made the difference...Colchester batted .270 (16th), hit 178 out of the park (6th) and scored 793 runs (7th), while on the hill they chalked up a 3.88 team ERA (20th)... superstar All-Star CF Jim Lewellen (.292/50/125/110) had another terrific season and topped the IPA in homers and was second in RBIs to Eastshore's (RU) Scotty Lagrange, who drove in 127... free agent from Tuckanarra 1B-3B Billy Christianson (.288/15/78/81) was a valuable addition, along with 2B Jackie Jackson (.281/15/70/96), All-Star C Benny Donaldson (.309/14/54/46) and SS Joey Rogers (.290/4/39/81)... manager Patsy Bates had a trio of quality starters in Mackie McGinnity (18-17/3.59), Roy Watson (15-7/3.86) and Dave Lacoste (13-11/3.22).

The Southport Sun Sox (79-75) rose up from fifth place to third place in the standings this year, piloted by Charley Oscar and ending up 12 games back of the division leader... except for 2033 the Sun Sox have been regular contenders in the TU South in the last decade... they last won the pennant in back-to-back years 2027 and 2028... Southport only Pro Cup victory came in 2027... Oscar has above average bats and only average pitching... the team hit .275 (8th), scored 737 runs (13th) and totaled 146 HRs (14th-tied)... Southport pitchers posted a 3.96 team ERA (23rd)... the leading hitters were CF Billy Gray (.341/8/47/50), 2B Yancey Duvicque (.328/4/47/47) and rookie C John Paul (.290/24/62/49)... All-Star Don Pascioni (20-13/2.98) won 20 games for the fifth time in his 10 years with Southport... his overall mark is 181-131 with an impressive 3.11 ERA... at 27 he has a good shot at quite a few more years of productivity... Pascioni was one of the few pitchers to win more than they lost... reliever Ronnie Galus (8-6/3.65) was the other.

It's been 15 years since the Turon Typhoons (75-79) have participated in the Pro Cup playoffs... and 16 years since they won their fourth Pro Cup, an IPA league record... the Typhoons came in a very close second a year ago, losing by just one game... Turon was the choice to win the flag this year in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES preseason poll... they were in the race trailing by just two games at the mid-point of the season, but then faded to fourth place, 16 games back by season's end... skipper Alan Hansen had good pitching with a 3.61 team ERA (10th), but only average offense with a .269 BA (17th)... All-Star and rookie closer Ralph Fulton (10-4/1.76/10 saves) had a fine year... the Typhoons most dependable starters were Jonathan Pitri (11-7/3.58), Victor Suarez (13-12/3.54) and Wes Brynnton (16-19/3.24)... at age 40 longtime IPA star Errol Gaudet (11-22/4.06) added to his career victory total and now is 283-193 with a great 2.97 ERA in 15 seasons... leading the offense were rookie 2B C. C. Kingford (.308/21/85/95), CF Clint Dunn (.299/17/60/63), LF Dennis Kaiser (.280/15/58/55), along with 32-year-old star 3B Michael Page, who hit only .241 with 18 homers and 64 RBIs... Page had his first off-season in his 14 years with Turon.

For the tenth year in a row the Arroyo Grande Suns (72-82) did not make the postseason playoffs... they came in fifth this year, 19 games behind San Alejo... manager Buddy Brechtel suffered from poor hitting with a .242 BA (32nd) and only modest pitching with a 3.83 ERA (18th)... Mateus Castro (17-14/3.67) and Matt Stevens (15-18/3.15) were the most dependable starters... closer John Nelson (6-2/2.09/7 saves) was strong in relief... the only productive bats were 2B Frank Marcello (.245/38/108/79) and RF Gregorio Oliviera (.243/20/93/71), but neither hit for much of an average.

The Summerland Sunsets (65-89) enjoyed brief success last year by winning its first pennant ever in the IPA, but it didn't last long, they tumbled back to sixth place this season, 26 games out of first... manager Will Hackett's Sunsets didn't hit much and only had decent pitching... they batted only .246 (28th) and ranked 30th in scoring with a 3.92 team ERA (22nd)... Freddi Rossi (14-18/3.06) was the only quality starter on the team, but down from last year's 22-12 record... of the regulars CF Antonio Vasquez (.287/6/48/62) had the best BA... RF Eamon O'Toole (.260/16/70/72) led the team in RBIs, while 2B Ken Wyman (.273/18/60/73) had the most home runs and scored the most runs... 1B Oscar Pendleton (.313/16/47/44) did quite well in his freshman season and looks to be a budding star of the future... Pentleton played only against right-handers and appeared in 83 games... he will probably be 35-year-old 1B Mandu Purula's (.280/5/17/17) successor when the aging star retires.

This was the worst year ever for the Ginza Ninjas (58-96)... prior to this season, the worst record manager Huroko Uchiyama had ever endured was 70-84 in 2010... five times in the last 11 years the Ninjas won the TU South flag... this season Ginza sunk to seventh place, 33 games off the pace... the Ninjas' mound staff simply stunk this year with an atrocious 5.17 team ERA (32nd), ranking very last in the entire IPA... Uchiyama had a decent offense with a .260 team BA (20th)... Hollis Pace (17-14/2.94) and Ryuji Kaneko (10-13/4.44) were the only pitchers with ERAs under 5.00... Ginza's best batters were LF Sadaharu Uchiyama (.303/16/88/93), 2B Roger Lanier (.284/27/73/76), RF Scott Sparks (.282/26/78/60), 1B Kazzy Nishimura (.284/17/70/69) and SS Johnny O'Rourke (.262/20/68/68).

Flipper Bird had another terrible year as his Cape Coral Hurricanes (57-97) finished last for the third year in a row... they last won the TU South in 2030 and haven't challenged since... the 'Canes pitching is almost as bad as Ginza... they compiled a pathetic 5.06 team ERA (31st), second worst in the IPA... offensively Cape Coral is capable with a .275 BA (7th), but lacks firepower with only 101 HRs (31st)... the Hurricanes are 16th in scoring with 726 runs... leading the lineup are All-Star RF William Snyder (.324/20/90/89), SS Joel Collins (.299/12/81/76), CF Alan Ellis (.273/9/52/90) and 2B Vic Hayes (.324/5/57/63)... on the hill Billy Trakas (12-16/4.82) and Angelo Coppolo (12-15/4.76) were the best of the lot.