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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, June 19, 2035
What A Season For Waleska! Tops RU South!
Fortunately for the Waleska Westerners they have not lived up to their preseason billing- they were picked to finish near the bottom in the Ruthlandian South - much to the surprise of many sportswriters, the Westerners have taken charge and have a pretty confortable 7-game lead at the mid-year mark... Waleska was one of two teams given little chance of contending for the division crown... everyone else besides Valka figured to be in the running... after the Westerners, five teams are closely bunched... St. John is in the number two spot... San Dimas is third, 8 games back... Claxton is fourth and 9 games out... with Grand City and Belair Beach trailing by 11 and tied for the fifth spot in the standings... Valka and Crystal Lake are deadlocked in the basement and 15 games behind in the race.
Waleska was fifth last season with an 81-73 mark, good for fifth place... they have markedly improved on the hill with two standout starters and sufficient arms in the number three and four spots in the rotation... All-Star Terry Richards (11-3/2.58) and Craig Nash (9-7/2.38) have been rock solid with good support from Vern Bass (8-6/3.61) and Tony Haskell (8-5/3.94)... the Westerners are also the class of the division at the plate with the All-Star bats of LF Loco Dillinger (.313/18/52/38) and RF Niles Gregory (.326/10/42/40)... rookie CF Jon Lassiter (.335/3/30/48) had come on like gangbusters in his first season... 2B Dorak Aranda (.266/9/34/31) and 2B Monty McMurtry (.319/3/29/46) have done their part, too... 33-year-old free agent C Tony Brinkerhoff (.252/7/34/36) has also chipped in extra punch in the batting order.
The St. John Crusaders have adequate pitching, but are lacking in offense... heading up the hurlers are Jeremy Kirk (8-5/2.72), Mac Shaw (9-2/3.39), 30-year-old free agent from Ginza (TU) Ryuji Kaneko (4-4/3.65) and spot starter Raydon Burks (5-5/2.84/8 saves)... however, the big difference in this year and last is Nelson Hawthorne, who has floundered badly with a 4-7 record and a horrendous 6.06 ERA... Hawthorne was 17-14 in 2034... RF Nicky Farrugia (.290/11/53/39) and 3B Marty Blankenship (.282/12/42/28) are best Crusader bats... and rookie CF Gilbert Hall (.291/2/26/33) has shown well so far.
The third place San Dimas Rancheros have been dismal at bat in the first half of the season, down considerably from last year... second-year man 3B Leonard Purkey (.338/5/32/25) easily tops the club in average... CF Klaus Stordahl (.277/11/38/41) is the most reliable run producer... Gregg Hughes (11-5/4.35) is the biggest winner, but has a high ERA... he has benefitted from good run support in his starts, while Zack Dowdle (7-9/3.18) has suffered from lack of runs.
Fourth place Claxton is just a run-of-mill team... starter Tommy Brothers (8-5/3.33) is the only one having a good year... only middle reliever Hector Vargas (3-0/2.01) has looked good in the bullpen... rookie phenom LF Foxy Fuchs (.353/12/29/33) has really blistered the ball since moving into the lineup... 32-year-old free agent and star C Kyle Hunt (.281/3/31/24) has been a big plus for the Diamonds and made the All-Star squad for his eighth time... CF Ken Brennan (.290/3/25/41) and SS Stevie Wynn (.295/2/30/34) have also contributed offensively... stalwarts RF Ivan Krause (.238/8/29/29) and 1B Alekos Kotas (.260/8/19/24) have struggled at the plate this year... Claxton needs them to get hot in the second half.
The Grand City Cybercats are tied for fifth with the Belair Beach Sunbirds... both are five games under .500 at the All-Star break and have been big disappointments... in the opening half of the season neither looked like the contenders they were forecast to be... The Cybercats got 33-year-old free agent Ron Oates (7-4/2.10/4 saves) from San Alejo (TU) and he has prospered in the RU... recently he was elevated to the number three starter after doing well in the bullpen... 28-year-old free agent from High Mesa (TU) Doug Hansack (8-8/3.71) is holding his own in the new league... Mason Dodd (6-5/3.09) has done well in his sophomore season so far... the relief corps is a major problem, especially after Oates was promoted to starter... the Claxton bats are decent and led by RF Thomas Hall (.318/30/28), rookie 1B Benny Hull (.294/10/21/24) and 34-year-old free agent from Kenwood (TU) SS Jan Kessinger (.306/1/22/18).
Belair Beach has declined this year mainly because of the sub-par seasons of starters Todd Clyman (4-8/3.43) and Joel Gregg (5-9/4.14)... last year they were mainstays... Clyman was 17-12 and Gregg was 19-17... the Sunbirds would certainly be in the thick of things in the RU South if Clyman and Gregg had not fallen off win-wise... on the hand the other two starters Stefan Zeeman (10-8/2.62) and Kerstan Mak (9-5/2.92) have been impressive... offensively rookie 3B Jason Butler (.299/13/52/36) has been a real jewel... vets LF Bobby Meusel (.283/9/29/40) and SS Johnny Wofford (.294/9/24/30) have also chipped in some offense.
The big question in the IPA is what happened to the Crystal Lake Crushers?... last year they were within one win of the Pro Cup trophy... this year they are cellar-dwellers along with the hapless Valka Blackhawks... not much has gone right for Crystal Lake this year... first, ace Denny Mills (22-13) went to Denton City (TU) in free agency, which was a huge loss... then the offense went south to make this a miserable season for the Crushers... big guns 1B Big Sam Takota (.273/5/37/38), SS Mackie Cummings (.246/10/50/38) and RF Pat Dillon (.274/2/23/32) were all .300 hitters last year... this year they are a combined 196 points below last year's averages... 2034 mound stalwarts Arnie Cason (7-8/4.26) and Douglas Merrill (4-10/4.82) are also having dismal seasons... Cason posted a 21-7 mark last year and Merrill was 16-16.
Valka has been on a terrible run now for the last seven seasons with three sixth-place finishes, two times in last, one time in seventh place, and now possible another eighth-place finish... for the third successive year the mound corps has been atrocious... no team can win with a 4.67 ERA... veteran Teddy Lem (7-7/4.70) is the best of the lot... leading the way at the plate is All-Star 1B Bobby Scott (.341/11/38/30), now in just his second season... RF Kenny Mitzusaka (291/7/48/28) has also stood out, along with C Marti Kallasmaa (.308/6/26/32)... stars 2B Mikk Kukk (.252/6/24/50) and SS Olari Ojastu (.288/8/23/24) both have struggled this year in the first half.
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