[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Sunday, April 1, 2035

CC 'Cats Choice In Strong RU East
The Eastshore Elegants ran away with the Ruthlandian East last year by running up an IPA best 98 victories. The Elegants easily won the division by a dozen games. It may be tough to repeat in a division where six of the eight teams finished above .500. The Islandian Times preseason predictions show the RU East is still strong, but it's going to be a dogfight between number-one rated Cold Creek, second choice Sugar Valley and third-ranked Wynnamac. Last year's titlewinner Eastshore is forecast to come in fourth in the standings. The Marston Nine and Elnora All-Stars should also have winning season, but will be second-division clubs behind the Big 4. As far as the prognosticators are concerned Beechwood and Belle Plaine will likely share the bottom rungs of the division.

Cold Creek has had excellent pitching the last three years and it could be even better this season. The Catamounts will feature three impressive pitchers with J. J. Gillespie (26-13/2.06), who has won the RU Golden Arm the last two years and was the league MVP in 2033, Harvey Fullerton (20-11/3.22) and George Bailey (19-14/3.17). Cold Creek thinks they picked up another good arm in free agent Jules Capet. He was only 8-18 with mediocre Arroyo Grande last year, but he notched a 20-16 mark as a rookie in 2032 and 16-14 the following season. Capet is expected to be the fourth starter. The offense is sufficient with CF Guy St. Laurent (.283/25 HR/92 RBI/92 R/43 SB), RF Pat Foreman (.298/18 HR/54 RBI/90 R/32 SB), 1B Steve Daniels (.283/15 HR/84 RBI) and 3B Maska Chandler (.258/21 HR/74 RBI/73 R).

Last year Sugar Valley was tied for last, but better things are expected this time around. Sugar Valley has decent pitching, actually quite good, considering the small ball park they play in, along with a good offense that has a good bit of power. The Rattlers pulled off a coup by signing free agent infielder Roger Hobbs, son of IPA icon Roy Hobbs, away from Waleska. Hobbs is only 19 and he debuted with a .324 BA, 10 HR, 55 RBI, 91 R and 21 SB. Add him in with CF Bobby Gamble (.305/28 HR/97 RBI/106 R/32 SB), LF Tyler White (.237/31 HR/111 RBI/94 R/14 SB), SS Jesse Burns (.318/2 HR/44 RBI/83 R) and RF Carlo Velucci (.271/20 HR/55 RBI/87 R/25 SB) and you've got a potent batting order. Bayview free agent Jergen Fyelstad (16-10/3.61) will be a good addition to the starting rotation that includes Jeremy Blanchard (12-18/4.15) and Juan Navarro (13-18/3.26).

For the last decade Wynnamac has been a competitive club and many scribes think this could be a pennant year for the Sundowners. Three talented veterans Killara Bardo (21-15/2.64), Jason Meeks (19-12/4.13) and Jeremy Vincent (14-13/3.53) will head up a good mound staff. They will be matched up with a fairly good line-up that consists of LF Allen Dundee (.329/20 HR/106 RBI/92 R), CF Terry Weigand (.275/21 HR/71 RBI/65 R), 3B Lou Borcellino (.360/8 HR/68 RBI/52 R), 1B Mick Saunders (.317/8 HR/43 RBI/65 R) and 2B Ed Lane (.281/7 HR/57 RBI/80 R/24 SB).

Eastshore had it all last year. They won 98 games, tied for the best in the IPA with Tuckanarra of the Tycobbian Union, were favored to win the Pro Cup, but didn't - unheralded and low-seeded Volusia upset them in seven games in the first round. The Elegants still have everybody from last year's great team and have even added a couple of seasoned bats with 1B Radley Singleton (.297/20 HR/68 RBI/71 R) from Valmara and LF Kelly Chamberlain (.251/16 HR/65 RBI/90 R) from La Claire to go along with the fence busters CF Scotty Lagrange (.332/41 HR/127 RBI/111 R), the 2034 RU Golden Bat and MVP winner, RF Neil Richard (.367/16 HR/78 RBI/82 R), the batting champion, rookie phenom 2B Johnny Petrak (.296/22 HR/90 RBI/94 R) and Golden Glove SS and good stick Larry Romney (.290/21 HR/73 RBI/64 R). And if that's not enough, Eastshore has four darn good starters in Don Klingenberg (21-10/2.90), Koy Clampett (22-13/2.90), Ramon Contreras (18-11/2.76) and Randy Boone (14-8/3.36), along with fine relievers Delaney Moss (6-8/2.37/17 saves) and Terry Noble (5-2/3.04). It's hard to believe the sportwriters placed them fourth behind Cold Creek, Sugar Valley and Wynnamac. Only time will tell - we'll know for sure in mid-September.

Unless they get improved mound performance this year the Elnora All-Stars will fight it out for fifth place with the Marston Nine. Last year the All-Stars fell off drastically to sixth place after three super seasons, which included taking the Pro Cup in 2033. But they still wound up 8 games over the .500 mark. Elnora suffered on the hill and in the bullpen... Jeremy Sellers (13-17/4.02) and Freddy Pfeffer (12-12/4.53) had sub-par seasons... Jesus Robles (18-8/3.50) and Stan Kivas (15-14/2.82) were the only dependable starters... however the offense was still there, sparked by LF Clint Thomas (.320/19 HR/85 RBI/100 R), 2B Akihiro Samurakami (.328/11 HR/48 RBI/90 R), 3B Matt Boyd (.295/20 HR/80 RBI/71 R) and RF Travis Glass (.266/30 HR/89 RBI/82 R).

Marston had a good year with a winning record, but could only tie Elnora for fifth place. Pat Brown was brilliant with a 25-11 mark with a 2.69 ERA and pretty much carried the team. He got some help from Alex Ehrlich, who finished with a good 3.31 ERA, but was only 17-18 because of spotty offense. Rookie Jimbo McGinnity (6-8/2.14/10 saves) helped out, too. At the plate it was 1B Marco Ameche (.314/24 HR/92 RBI/83 R), RF Warren Cleveland (.279/23 BA/81 RBI/89 R) and SS Johnny Church (.302/13 HR/53 RBI/89 R) leading the way. The Nine may not be able to come out as high as they did last season. Seventh place looks good to me.

The Beechwood Bobcats are surprisingly picked to come in seventh in The Islandian Times preseason poll despite deadlocking with Cold Creek for second place last year. The Bobcats still have three fine starters in Neil Palmer (21-10/2.90), who came out of nowhere to win 21 games in his second year in the league, and strong vets Maury Patterson (20-10/3.34) and Ken Arby (18-16/3.15). They are no slouches in the batter's box either... standouts were CF Howie Baldwin (.320/19 HR/85 RBI/100 R), LF Herb Douglas (.303/6 HR/66 RBI/99 R), 1B Kelly Hardison (.313/9 HR/69 RBI/71 R), SS Leonard Mason (.262/8 HR/42 RBI/94 R) and 3B Joey Hagburn (.320/14 HR/70 RBI/51 R).

To show how strong the RU East was last year, the last place Belle Plaine Musketeers and Sugar Valley Rattlers almost broke even with 76-78 records. The Muskies top pitchers were pretty good with Lou Neuman going 18-11 with a 3.80 ERA, Leon Lacombe 13-6 with a 3.53 ERA and Benny Lucas 15-12 and a 4.10 ERA... though he was only 12-22 Rocket Richard posted a good 3.35 ERA and completed 19 games... Belle Plaine also boasted two impressive hitters in CF Harry Tashina (.316/15 HR/59 RBI/114 R) and RF Noel Martin (.297/25 HR/109 RBI/98 R). The Musketeers are destined for the basement again this year. The Ruthlandian East is just too strong for them.

My Ruthlandian East Forecast: To heck with the experts, I'm picking Eastshore to roll again and win the RU East flag... Cold Creek will end up second... could be a very close second because of their outstanding staff... and Wynnamac will beat Sugar Valley for the third spot because of better pitching. I also think Beechwood will be battling for a first division berth. They have a good ball club and could wind up as high as third place in the standings... Wynnamac will be fourth... Sugar Valley is more than likely going to end up fifth with Elnora sixth.